Inspirational Olympic Moments

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali provided one of the most emotionally-charged moments of the modern Olympic Games when he lit the Olympic torch at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Ali, whose hands were shaking uncontrollably because of Parkinson's Disease, showed the world his will and heart were as strong as ever in this emotional and poignant moment.

Oscar 'Blade Runner' Pistorius will represent South Africa in the London Olympics, in the 400 metres race and the 4x400 metres relay. It is a historic achievement, marking the first time ever that an amputee will compete in both the Olympics and Paralympics.

North and South Korean teams marched together under The Unification Flag in the opening ceremonies of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. The flag represents North and South Korea. The background is white and i the centre there is a blue silhouette of the Korean peninsula. The flag has no status as the official flag of either country.

American diver Greg Louganis suffered a concussion after hitting his head on the springboard during the preliminary rounds while performing a reverse 2½ pike of the 3 metre springboard event at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. He completed the preliminaries despite his injury, earning the highest single score of the qualifying for his next dive, and went on to repeat the dive during the finals, earning the gold medal by a margin of 25 points. Louganis also won the gold medal in the 10 metre platform event at Seoul.

Wilma Rudolph won three gold medals - 100 metres, 200 metres and 4x100 metres relay - at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games. This made her the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field during a single Olympic Games. Rudolph was born prematurely and contracted infantile paralysis (caused by the polio virus) at age four. She recovered, but wore a brace on her left leg and foot (which had become twisted as a result) until she was nine. She was required to wear an orthopaedic shoe for support of her foot for another two years. By the time she was 12, she had also survived bouts of scarlet fever, whooping cough, chickenpox, and measles.

Austrian-born German weightlifter Matthias Steiner won the gold medal in the +105kg category at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. At the medals ceremony, Steiner stood on the medalists' podium with a photo of his late wife, Susann, who would otherwise have accompanied him to the Games. Susann died in a car accident on 16 July 2007.

Former British athlete Derek Redmond had a successful but injury-plagued career; and it was an injury that made for his most famous Olympic moment. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, Redmond tore his hamstring in the 400 metres semi-final but fought through the pain and, with assistance from his father, managed to complete a full lap of the track as the crowd gave him a standing ovation.

The incident has become a well-remembered moment in Olympic history, having been the subject of one of the International Olympic Committee's 'Celebrate Humanity' videos and been used in advertisements by Visa as an illustration of the Olympic spirit and featured in Nike's "Courage" commercials in 2008.

South African swimmer Natalie du Toit became the first amputee ever to qualify for the Olympics at the 2008 Beijing Games, where she placed 16th in the 10K, "Marathon", swim.

Canadian sailor Lawrence Lemieux is still remembered for his selfless act at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. Lemieux, who at the time was in second place in the fifth of a seven-race event, broke away and rescued injured Singapore sailors Joseph Chan and Shaw Her Siew after they were thrown into the rough water. After Lemieux rescued Chen and Siew, he waited for and transferred the two sailors onto an official patrol boat. He then finished 22nd in his race.

Soon after the race, the jury of the International Yacht Racing Union unanimously decided that Lemieux should be awarded second place, the position he was in when he went to the aid of the Singapore crew. At the medal awards ceremony, Juan Antonio Samaranch, President of the International Olympic Committee, awarded Lemieux the Pierre de Coubertin Medal for Sportsmanship.

Cathy Freeman will have fond memories of the 2000 Olympic Games at Sydney for two reasons - she lit the Olympic Flame and also won the gold medal in the women's 400 metres. This made Freeman only the second Australian Aboriginal Olympic champion (the first was Nova Peris-Kneebone for field hockey in Atlanta). After the race, Freeman took a victory lap, carrying both the Aboriginal and Australian flags.

Equatorial Guinea swimmer Eric Moussambani won brief international fame at the 2000 Summer Olympics when he swam his heat of the 100m freestyle in 1:52.72. His time was more than twice that of his faster competitors, and outside even the 200 metres world record; but Moussambani kept his wits around him and finished the race as he enjoyed his participation in the biggest stage of them all.

United States of America's Kerri Strug is best remembered for performing the vault at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games despite having injured her ankle. The moment reads like a Hollywood script: USA vs. Russia, gold medal on the line, one team (the U.S.) about to choke away a lead with just one gymnast left, only she's just sprained her ankle.

It was high drama being played out on live television in front of a worldwide audience: Strug standing at the foot of the runway on one good leg and one gimpy one, the gregarious Bela Karolyi urging her on, telling her she could do it even though no one knew if she could run, spring and land on that injured left ankle.

And then, without hesitation, she was off. She ran, she sprung, she landed, she lifted her tender left ankle in the air as she turned on one leg to salute the judges.

9.712.

Strug's courageous vault clinched the United States' first Olympic gold medal ever in the women's team competition, and with room to spare. [Text Courtesy: Yahoo! Sports Staff]

Abebe Bikila won the gold medals in marathon at the 1960 and 1964 Olympic Games. Bikila ran the marathon barefoot at the 1960 Games and was the first Sub-Saharan African to win an Olympic gold medal. After the race, when Bikila was asked why he had run barefoot, he replied, “I wanted the world to know that my country, Ethiopia, has always won with determination and heroism." When he won gold medal at the 1964 Games, Bikila became the first athlete to win the Olympic marathon twice. (IMAGE SOURCE: Wiki Commons)

Michael Phelps' eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games are the most golds won by an athlete in a single Olympics. Phelps also holds the all-time record for most gold Olympic medals, at 14.

Yael Arad became the first Israeli to win an Olympic medal when she won the silver in the half middleweight category (women's judo) at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. Arad is one of Israel's most successful athletes and is credited with bringing judo into the athletic mainstream. (IMAGE SOURCE: Wiki Commons)

Michael Johnson is the only male athlete in history to win both the 200 metres and 400 metres events at the same Olympics, a feat he accomplished at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Johnson is also the only man to successfully defend his Olympic title in the 400 metres.

Usain Bolt won three gold medals - 100 metres, 200 metres and 4x100 metres - at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. This made him the first man to win three sprinting events at a single Olympics since Carl Lewis in 1984, and the first man to set world records in all three at a single Olympics.

Retired British rower Sir Steven Redgrave won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000 as well as a bronze medal at the 1988 Summer Games. Redgrave is one of only four Olympians to have won a gold medal at five consecutive Olympic Games. This achievement led to him being hailed as Britain's greatest Olympian.

Former American wrestler Rulon Gardner won the gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2000 Olympic Games when he defeated Russian Aleksandr Karelin, who was previously undefeated in 13 years of international competition.

Nadia Comaneci became the first female gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic gymnastic event at the 1976 Games. Since the scoreboards were not equipped to display scores of 10.0, Nadia's perfect marks were flashed as 1.00 instead. The crowd was at first confused, but soon understood and gave her a rousing ovation. Over the course of the Olympics, Comaneci got six more 10s, en route to capturing the all-around, beam, and bars titles and a bronze medal on the floor exercise.

Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He was also the most successful athlete at the 1936 Olympics, a victory more poignant and often noted because Adolf Hitler had intended the 1936 games to showcase his Aryan ideals and prowess. Later, Hitler sent Owens a commemorative inscribed cabinet photograph of himself.

Jeff Blatnick won a gold medal in the Super Heavy Weight category of the Greco-Roman wrestling event. Blatnick's win was all the more impressive because it came only a couple of years after he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. Radiation therapy helped to hold the cancer in remission and Blatnick to win Olympic gold.