Top 10 Greatest Sports Highlights of All Time

After being part of the gold medal-winning 4x400 meter relay team at the 1991 World Championships, the pressure was on for Derek Redmond at the 1992 Summer Olympics. However, he was struggling with injury issues. Near the last stretch of the 400-meter semi-final, the British runner’s hamstring tore, and he went down. Redmond got back onto his feet and tried to hop the rest of the way, determined to finish. But he wasn’t going to achieve this feat alone. His father, Jim Redmond, arrived to let his son use him as a crutch to cross the finish line as the pain and disappointment enveloped the athlete. While the Olympics didn’t register Redmond’s finish, this magical moment was immortalized in its history.

In 1990, the undisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was set to take on Buster Douglas at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. With Tyson’s undefeated streak at 37-0, all the odds were against Douglas. But tragedy struck the underdog when his mother passed away only 23 days before the title bout, while his son’s mother had a severe kidney ailment. Yet even with all this going on and with all the odds stacked against him, Douglas put on the performance of a lifetime as he dominated Tyson. By the tenth round, he knocked out Iron Mike with a series of head strikes, becoming the new undisputed champion!

When people talk about the greatest golfer ever, Tiger Woods is one of the first names mentioned. Yet, in 2019, he was deemed a former shell of his former glory. It became evident that years of severe injuries and dealing with personal problems had worn him out. After all, Woods hadn’t won a major championship since the 2008 U.S. Open. But then The Masters was held. On the final day, Francesco Molinari was leading comfortably. However, that lead soon began to slip. Woods needed to putt on the 18th green to achieve a two-under-par and the Masters title. As the world held its breath, Woods slotted away comfortably, and all those years of frustration exploded from him, enjoying his return to glory.

In 1995, South Africa hosted the Rugby World Cup. During that time, the country was barely out of apartheid, with the democratic election in 1994 voting Nelson Mandela as president, who watched as his nation battled overwhelming favorites New Zealand in the final. With the score tied, the match went into extra time. Led by Captain Francois Pienaar and the kicking ability of Joel Stransky, South Africa won 15-12! The image of Mandela wearing a rugby shirt and handing the trophy to Pienaar will live in people’s minds forever.

Super Bowl LI didn’t break not one, but several records on its way to writing itself into American football lore. The Atlanta Falcons dominated the New England Patriots for the majority of the game; they were leading halfway through the third quarter 28-3. Then, Tom Brady stepped up his game and turned things around dramatically. By the end of the fourth quarter, the Patriots had evened things up and the game would be decided in overtime. The Falcons couldn’t get any points on the board as the Patriots were a revitalized side, eventually achieving the biggest comeback in Superbowl history after winning 34-28. Unbelievable.

In 1919, Babe Ruth was shipped to the New York Yankees by the Boston Red Sox. From that moment, fans believed in the Curse of the Bambino, where the Sox struggled to win a championship for years to come. But in 2004, they faced their fiercest rival, the Yankees, in the American League Championship Series. The New York side dominated the series, but the tide turned in game 4. Facing elimination, the Red Sox went on to win the next 4 games and won the series. They then faced and subsequently beat the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series, finally breaking the curse.

In 1958, disaster struck English football’s Manchester United. The plane carrying their side crashed during takeoff at the Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, Germany. Eight players lost their lives, and two suffered career-ending injuries, and numerous club officials, journalists, and flight staff also lost their lives. Manager Matt Busby rebuilt with the support of the football world. By 1968, United was in the European Cup final against Benfica. With the score tied after regulation time, the Red Devils took over and ended up winning 4-1, becoming the first English side to win the trophy. Two goals were scored by United’s captain, Bobby Charlton, a survivor of the Munich air disaster.

Not only is this one of the many defining moments that turned Michael Jordan into a legend, but it's arguably the most iconic in NBA history period. In 1989, the Chicago Bulls faced the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first-round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. In game 5 with the series tied 2-all and with 6 seconds left, it looked like Jordan had won it. Yet Larry Nance of the Cavaliers responded, giving Cleveland a 100-99 lead. With 3 seconds remaining, all seemed lost for the Bulls. But then the ball came to Jordan again near the foul line. With a jump shot, he sank the basket at the buzzer, giving the Bulls the win at 101-100 and advancing into the next round of the playoffs. Remarkable.

In 1936, Adolf Hitler, who had taken charge of Germany with his fascist regime, wanted to showcase his warped ideology of Aryan racial supremacy to the world. When Germany hosted the Olympic games that year, his government attempted to ban non-white athletes from competing. Fortunately, the threat of a boycott reversed that. And in the end although Germany did lead the medal table, not everything went their way. Jesse Owens, an African-American athlete, won four gold medals at the event, in the long jump, the 4x100 meter relay, the 200 meter, and the 100 meter, even breaking records along the way. Owens also began a friendship with long-jump silver medalist Germany’s Luz Long, as the two walked arm-in-arm to celebrate their achievements.

Coming into the 1980 Winter Olympics, the Soviet Union ice hockey team was the overwhelming favorite. After all, they hadn’t lost in the tournament since 1968 and were expected to win their fifth gold medal in a row, while the host nation, the United States, was a team mostly of amateurs. When the two faced off in the semi-final round of matches, tensions were high. After two periods, the Soviets were cruising comfortably with a 3-2 lead. But by the third period, the US turned the tide by firing in two goals in quick succession. And then began the longest 10 minutes in sporting history as the clock ticked down. Yet they did it! They then went on to defeat Finland and secure gold!

Which of these sporting moments stands out to you? Let us know below!