S&Co’s Favorite Olympic Moments
As we count down the final days this week to the Opening Ceremonies of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, S&Co looks back at our favorite Summer Olympic memories from Games past:
Alafair Hall
Seeing Keri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor take home gold at the 2012 Games and then learning Keri Walsh was pregnant at the time. What a rockstar!!
Allie Weber
My favorite Olympic moment was the 1992 Men’s Olympic basketball team’s journey to the gold medal. Their dominance (winning every game by an average deficit of 44 points) was undeniable. The Admiral, MJ, Magic & Larry, Scotty Pippen, and even the hated Christian Laettner were all out on the court being coached by Chuck Daly! What was possibly the greatest sports team of all time represented the United States on the biggest stage in the entire world! It was some amazing basketball.
Amy Stanton
When Mary Lou Retton won the first-ever American gold for the all-around in gymnastics in 1984. I remember the pep in her step, the sparkle in her eye and the enormous smile on her face. I could never do a cartwheel (and have still never done one) which made her even more impressive.
Cara Losito
My favorite Olympics was this past 2012 London Olympics when the U.S. women’s gymnastics team won gold! The only other summer Olympics I remember was in 2008, when the women’s gymnastics team lost the gold to China, so it was amazing to see them come back and win it!
Denege Prudhomme
My greatest memory from the Summer Olympics would have to be the Magnificent Seven from the 1996 Atlanta Games. Dominique Dawes, Kerri Strug, Shannon Miller, Amy Chow, Dominique Moceanu, Amanda Borden and Jaycie Phelps; those girls made American history that summer. 32,000 people in the Georgia Dome yelling “USA, USA, USA,” with millions more at home watching, anticipating, cheering, and later crying with joy. Those seven girls captured the hearts of America and possibly the world that day! That’s a moment that will never escape me, a moment I will always cherish as I watched with my mom in Small Town, USA, just living the American dream!
Hannah Holmes
My favorite Olympic moment was when Derek Redmond, a British runner, tore his hamstring during his race and limped to the finish line with the help of his father. The resilience and bravery Derek displayed in that moment never ceases to amaze and inspire me.
Jessica Hofmann
My favorite Olympic moment is less of a single moment but more of the entire saga of Michael Phelps in 2008. I think it was so amazing to watch him continue to win medal after medal, and break record after record (even his own records) to continue to be the best athlete he can be. It’s very inspiring, and I also like how much attention it has brought to the Summer Olympics and American swimming. GO U.S.A!
Jill Coy
The Olympic Games are my most favorite, favorite time of year. Choosing one memorable moment has been particularly difficult, but rather than a memory from watching when I was young, I think my favorite would have to be watching the U.S. women’s gymnastics team win gold in London 2012. Having worked on and off with the USA Gymnastics organization for 8 years prior, I’d watched in Athens and Beijing as the U.S. Team came within tenths of the top of the podium. And then in 2012, watching from that (all pink!) arena in London, alongside the parents and family members of the entire team, listening to our anthem playing, I felt a sense of overwhelming pride and achievement for those athletes and coaches I knew so well. I’m so looking forward to watching the U.S. Team repeat with gold again in Rio!
Jody Sowa
My most memorable Summer Olympic moment was when my close friend from home in Edmonton, Canada won the bronze medal for Canada at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney in synchronized swimming. It was particularly memorable as I clearly remember her working so hard through high school and college to achieve her dream of medaling at the Olympics.
Nicole Callas
My favorite Olympic moment is the 2008 Olympics in Beijing when Michael Phelps, aka “The Fish”, blew his competitors out of the water, taking home eight gold medals….what!? How that is even humanly possible is beyond me.
Tatum Marshall
I remember it like it was yesterday… the U.S. women’s Olympic gymnastics team won the United States’ first women’s team gold medal in Atlanta. Sure, I was only six, but I had been following Team USA for what had felt like all summer. My favorite gymnast from the Magnificent Seven was Dominique Dawes, and I wanted to be her when I grew up. Watching them win was so inspiring, and it even prompted my VERY short-lived gymnastics career.