# The 15 Greatest Sporting Moments of the 20th Century

> Fifteen afternoons and evenings people still describe by where they were watching. A few changed a record; a couple changed a sport.

*By YPB Team · Published August 2, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-15-greatest-sporting-moments-of-the-20th-century*

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## Current results (0 votes)

1. **The Miracle on Ice**
   A US college hockey team beat the Soviet Union 4-3 at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics.
2. **The Rumble in the Jungle**
   Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman in Kinshasa in October 1974 to regain the heavyweight title.
3. **Jesse Owens in Berlin**
   Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics in the 100m, 200m, long jump and relay.
4. **Jackie Robinson's debut**
   Robinson broke Major League Baseball's colour line with the Brooklyn Dodgers in April 1947.
5. **The four-minute mile**
   Roger Bannister ran a mile in 3:59.4 at Oxford in 1954, breaking a barrier thought impossible.
6. **Bob Beamon's long jump**
   Beamon jumped 8.90m in Mexico City in 1968, beating the world record by more than half a metre.
7. **Nadia Comaneci's perfect 10**
   The 14-year-old Romanian scored gymnastics' first perfect 10 at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
8. **The Hand of God**
   Diego Maradona punched the ball past England's goalkeeper at the 1986 World Cup and the goal stood.
9. **Michael Jordan's Last Shot**
   Jordan's jumper with 5.2 seconds left won the Bulls the 1998 NBA Finals in Utah.
10. **Hank Aaron's 715th home run**
   Aaron passed Babe Ruth's career home-run record in Atlanta in April 1974.
11. **Secretariat's Belmont Stakes**
   Secretariat won the 1973 Belmont by 31 lengths to complete the Triple Crown.
12. **Wilt Chamberlain's 100 points**
   Chamberlain scored 100 points in a single NBA game in Hershey, Pennsylvania, in 1962.
13. **The Immaculate Reception**
   Franco Harris caught a deflected pass and ran it in for the Steelers in the 1972 NFL playoffs.
14. **Kerri Strug's vault**
   Strug landed a vault on an injured ankle to seal US gymnastics team gold in Atlanta in 1996.
15. **Torvill and Dean's Bolero**
   The British pair took perfect artistic scores for their ice dance at the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics.

Tags: usa, sports, legends, all-time