# The 16 Most Iconic Moments in Olympic History

> Some of these lasted ten seconds; one was a man walking slowly with a torch. Nine decades, and the argument never settles.

*By YPB Team · Published August 9, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-16-most-iconic-moments-in-olympic-history*

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## Current results (0 votes)

1. **Simone Biles' Paris All-Around**
   Biles reclaimed the Olympic all-around title in 2024, three years after withdrawing in Tokyo.
2. **Jesse Owens' Four Golds**
   Owens won four track golds at the 1936 Berlin Games in front of Adolf Hitler.
3. **Nadia Comaneci's Perfect 10**
   The first perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics, scored on uneven bars in Montreal in 1976.
4. **The 1968 Black Power Salute**
   Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised gloved fists on the 200m podium in Mexico City.
5. **Muhammad Ali Lights the Cauldron**
   A visibly shaking Ali lit the flame at the 1996 Atlanta opening ceremony.
6. **The Miracle on Ice**
   American college players beat the Soviet ice hockey team at Lake Placid in 1980.
7. **Bob Beamon's Long Jump**
   Beamon jumped 8.90m in Mexico City in 1968, beating the world record by 55 centimetres.
8. **Derek Redmond and His Father**
   Redmond tore a hamstring in the 1992 400m semi-final and finished the lap with his dad.
9. **Michael Phelps' Eight Golds**
   Phelps won eight swimming golds at a single Games in Beijing in 2008.
10. **Kerri Strug's One-Foot Vault**
   Strug landed a vault on an injured ankle to seal team gold in Atlanta in 1996.
11. **Abebe Bikila Runs Barefoot**
   Bikila won the 1960 Rome marathon without shoes, the first gold for a Black African athlete.
12. **The Dream Team**
   The 1992 United States basketball team turned the Barcelona tournament into an exhibition.
13. **Cathy Freeman's 400m**
   Freeman won the 400m in Sydney in 2000 after lighting the cauldron at the same Games.
14. **Usain Bolt's Beijing 100m**
   Bolt broke the world record in 2008 while slowing down before the line.
15. **Greg Louganis Hits the Board**
   Louganis struck his head on the springboard in Seoul in 1988 and still won both diving golds.
16. **Eddie the Eagle Ski Jumps**
   Britain's Eddie Edwards finished last in both ski jump events in Calgary and became a folk hero.

Tags: sports, olympics, all-time, moments