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1[[foldercontrol]]
2
3[[folder:London 1908]]
4* The story of Italian long-distance runner Dorando Pietri starts as a {{Tearjerker}} before resolving as this. Running the marathon, he managed to gain first place in the last few kilometres, but the exertion and the dehydration brought on by an unusually hot weather had a heavy toll on him. Once inside the stadium, with the finish line in sight, he repeatedly stumbled and had to be picked up by race judges and medical personnel, taking 10 minutes to "run" the last 500 metres. Despite being the first to cross the line, he was disqualified because he had received outside help, and the gold medal went to American Johnny Hayes. However, the sad scene moved the audience -- including one Creator/ArthurConanDoyle, who was on site as a reporter -- and Pietri was gifted a gilded silver cup by Queen Alexandra and a crowdfunded sum of 300 pounds (more than £300,000 in 2020 money) as [[ConsolationPrize Consolation Prizes]]. He then became an international running superstar, including eventually beating Hayes in a marathon-long indoor race the next year.
5[[/folder]]
6
7[[folder:Berlin 1936]]
8* At the 1936 Summer Olympics, the pole vault competition culminated with American Earle Meadows winning the gold medal, which left the competition for the silver and bronze medals between two Japanese athletes, Sueo Oe and Shuhei Nishida. The competition stretched out into the evening as neither Oe or Nishida could clear the height that would determine who would come second. In the end, Olympic officials told Nishida and Oe to decide between themselves who the medals would go to--Nishida accepted the silver medal and Oe the bronze. The two men agreed to cut their medals in half and join half the silver and half the bronze together. These medals are now known in Japan as the 'Medals of Eternal Friendship'.
9[[/folder]]
10
11[[folder:Rome 1960]]
12* Abebe Bikila performing a little jig for joy after winning the marathon, even though he just ran the whole thing bare-footed.
13[[/folder]]
14
15[[folder:Innsbruck 1964]]
16* The Italian pilot of the Two Man Bobsleigh, Eugenio Monti, ended up lending Great Britain's Tony Nash and Robin Dixon a spare axle bolt he had when one of their’s broke on their sleigh, and possibly sacrificing his own medal chances if his then broke, as he now didn't have another one. Nash and Dixon went on to win gold, while Monti and his partner Sergio Siorpaes managed to win bronze. However, someone had noticed what Monti had done, because a year later he became the first person to win the Pierre de Coubertin World Fair Play Trophy for his sportsmanship in helping the British crew.
17[[/folder]]
18
19[[folder:Mexico City 1968]]
20* In 1968 Mexico City, after the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qck5arjMGBg controversial Black Power Salute]] that Tommie Smith, Peter Norman (the white guy) and John Carlos were a part of, they remained life-long friends. Norman, an Australian, was putting his career on the line as much as the black men were. He lost any further chance to be in the Games and faced [[http://www.theage.com.au/news/film-reviews/breviewb-emsaluteem-is-a-film-worthy-of-our-praise-and-our-thanks/2008/07/17/1216163014304.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1 anger and hatred]] in his home country all his life (those black gloves they're wearing are his, and he's got an Olympic Project for Human Rights badge -- given to him by U.S. rower Paul Hoffman). Look up "White Australia Policy". He didn't salute because he thought it wasn't his place, [[NiceGuy just wanted to show he was an ally]]. When a statue of the salute was made, he declined to be in it because 1) the focus should be on the black men, and 2) this way anyone could stand in the empty place and participate in it. [[TearJerker After Norman's death in 2006, Smith and Carlos traveled all the way to Australia to be his pallbearers]].
21[[/folder]]
22
23[[folder:Lake Placid 1980]]
24* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_on_Ice The Miracle on Ice]] at the 1980 Winter Olympics.
25[[/folder]]
26
27[[folder:Barcelona 1992]]
28* After winning the women's 10,000m at the 1992 Summer Games, Ethiopian athlete Derartu Tulu embraced the silver medalist, white South African Elana Meyer and ran a victory lap with her. Made special by the fact that the 1992 games were the first games UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica were allowed to participate in after being banned from competition by the IOC for nearly 30 years because of [[UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra apartheid]].
29* One of the most memorable images of the Barcelona 1992 Olympics came from somebody who technically failed to finish. Derek Redmond of Great Britain had won his heat, and his quarterfinal race in the competition for the men's 400m. But in his semifinal, he pulled up with 250m left with a torn hamstring. Rather than having his Olympic career ended on a stretcher, he got up and, with help from his father, finished the race to a standing ovation.[[note]]His father helping him is why he ''technically'' didn't finish; officially, he was disqualified, and his semifinal was scored a DNF.[[/note]] One of the first people to console him afterwards was Linford Christie, with both men in tears; before the Games, the two had an openly hostile relationship.
30[[/folder]]
31
32[[folder:Albertville, 1992]]
33* In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMLFs1SUgLg&t=295s this footage]] of Paul Wylie's skating performance, as he goes into his final spin, a man in beige is seen applauding wildly in the stands behind him, joyfully punching the air and then hugging the person sitting next to him. When Paul leaves the rink, it turns out the man is his coach.
34[[/folder]]
35
36[[folder:Lillehammer 1994]]
37* At the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary, speed skater Dan Jansen received word just prior to the medal event that his sister Jane had died of leukemia. He had tried to talk to her on the telephone earlier that day, but she was unresponsive. Wanting badly to dedicate his medal to her memory, instead he fell and did not complete the race. The same thing happened days later in another event. 1992 in Albertville, he came up short and did not medal. When he finally won gold in Lillehammer in 1994, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWYRH5jnQBo he carried his one-year-old daughter]]--[[DeadGuyJunior named Jane]]--during his victory lap.
38[[/folder]]
39
40[[folder:Atlanta 1996]]
41* At the Centennial Olympic Games, UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli was the final torchbearer and part-way through the basketball finals, Ali was given an Olympic Gold Medal to replace the one he had won in Rome during the 1960 Summer Games, but which had gone missing later on in his life. Although he had lost his ability to speak to Parkinson's disease, he remained lucid and fully aware of what was going on, and released a statement of gratitude proclaiming how touched he was by the public's outpouring of love and goodwill to him.
42** Video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9OlmPyjsNU here]]. The American players come up to get their photo taken with him, and he starts to leave...when the Yugoslav team approaches him for the same.
43* Abdul Baser Wasiqi of Afghanistan [[{{Determinator}} refused to drop out]] of the men's marathon despite having injured his leg two weeks prior to the Games. He was the final competitor to finish the race, nearly an hour and a half behind the second-slowest competitor. Wasiqi was so far behind, in fact, that the stadium was being prepared for the Games' closing ceremonies by the time he got there. But when he did arrive, all of the workers dropped what they were doing and lined up around the track to congratulate him, with two people even holding up a ribbon for him to cross once he reached the finish line.
44* A much smaller moment, but the brief tribute to Atlanta native Martin Luther King Jr. during the opening ceremony was pretty touching as well.
45* Evander Holyfield stops in the middle of his leg of the torch relay to invite Greek athlete Voula Patoulidou to join him.
46* Rudy Galindo had lost his father, brother and coach in the space of three years and taken eight months off after the 1995 US championships due to grief. After a stunning performance to a standing ovation, he embraced his older sister (also his coach) and called out "I love you!" to them.
47[[/folder]]
48
49[[folder:Nagano 1998]]
50
51* The Czech Republic ice-hockey team crossed swords with Canada in the semi-final of Ice Hockey Olympic Tournament in Nagano 1998. During the nerve-biting penalty shootouts, the bench of Czech players did a line version of GroupHug, all putting their arms around their neighbours, [[ManHug united as one man and emotionally supporting each other]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otDlogDWDLk Have a look here]][[note]]The hug starts at about 4:00 minutes[[/note]]. Many ice-hockey teams started doing the same later at key moments of important matches. Both teams were strong but Canada was favored. DarkhorseVictory made it all the more heartwarming.
52** The look on Wayne Gretzky's face[[note]]See 9:38 in the video linked above[[/note]] and his later words: "It's not our game anymore" makes this a TearJerker as well.
53** The momentum gained by this victory carried the Czech team through the [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome 1-0 victory over Russia in the final game]] of what was dubbed The Tournament of the Century. To put this in perspective, Nagano was the first ever Olympic ice-hockey tournament during which the NHL was halted so that the national teams could present their very best professional players. The victory led to immediate celebrations in the streets and town-squares all across Czech Republic, and their arrival to Prague airport and the subsequent victory parade to Old Town Square was attended by nearly a million people in the streets and watched in TV by over four and half million others...in a country with a population of ten million.
54* Louis Zamperini, himself a former Olympic champion back in 1936 and ex-Japanese WW2 POW, running a leg of the Olympic Torch Relay. Doubles as Awesome since the man was nearly 81 at the time.
55[[/folder]]
56[[folder:Sydney 2000]]
57* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Moussambani Eric Moussambani]] of Equatorial Guinea was the only competitor in his 100m freestyle heat after his two opponents were disqualified for a false start. Having only learned how to swim eight months beforehand, he gained entry into the Olympics via a wildcard draw to encourage developing countries without expensive training facilities to participate. Eric had never raced for more than 50m in his life and he struggled to finish the last 50m with commentators doubting he would make it and the crowds cheering him on. He won his solo heat with 1:52.72, a personal best and an Equatoguinean national record. The man knew he was out of his league but he did his best and in 2012 is a coach for Equatorial Guinea's swimming team.
58[[/folder]]
59
60[[folder:Salt Lake City 2002]]
61* The pilot who started Operation: Little Vittles, which is essentially the NATO Army dropping off candy to German children after World War II, was Gail Halvorsen, a native of Salt Lake City, Utah. During the Parade of Nations at the Opening Ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics, he was invited to hold the placard for the German athletes as they entered the stadium.
62[[/folder]]
63
64[[folder:Athens 2004]]
65* At the 2004 marathon, Brazilian Vanderlei de Lima was leading...then halfway through a crazy priest, who had previously invaded a UsefulNotes/FormulaOne race, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiA4JfOiLgY&feature=related pushed him off-track]]. After a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome for a Greek bystander, Polyvios Kossivas, who helped him get free--and whom the Brazilian committee even paid a trip to their country--Lima got surpassed by two racers, but still won the bronze with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnR7pJdjbd8 a cheerful arrival that's a clear CMOH]].
66[[/folder]]
67
68[[folder:Turin 2006]]
69* At the 2006 Winter Olympics, Canadian speed skater Clara Hughes, who won gold, invited her teammate, Cindy Klassen, who won bronze, on the top of the podium to join her.
70[[/folder]]
71
72[[folder:Beijing 2008]]
73* During the 2008 Beijing Olympics Games, Matthias Steiner won the gold medal for weightlifting and he did it all for his wife. He was unashamed of crying when he did win and when he went up on the podium, he was carrying a picture of his late wife, whom he wanted to win for.
74* [[http://www.gymn-forum.net/Articles/NYT-1996_LiDonghua.html Donghua and Esperanza Li]]. What that article doesn't mention? He won gold in Atlanta. And from the top of the podium, he waved to Esperanza in the stands while the Swiss anthem played.
75* Eric Lamaze's gold medal in 2008 in show jumping. He was banned from previous Olympics for testing positive for cocaine and was banned for life, but after convincing the FEI and the Canadian Equestrian federation to give him another chance, he made a comeback which all culminated in his gold medal in individual show jumping and a team silver in 2008.
76* In the Gold Medal race for the men's 100m sprint, if you didn't actually watch the 10 seconds of the race, you might be hard-pressed to point out whether Usain Bolt of Jamaica, Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago, or Walter Dix of the United States, was the one that won the Gold medal. All three celebrated winning medals as if they were the winner in one of the many pure expressions of universal joy at the Beijing Olympiad.[[note]]Of course, Usain Bolt [[Awesome/OlympicGames demolished the World Record]] for the Gold medal.[[/note]]
77[[/folder]]
78
79[[folder:Vancouver 2010]]
80* At the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Canada wins the freestyle skiing gold medal on home soil for the first time. The winner, Alexandre Bilodeau, stated his older brother Frederic, who has cerebral palsy, was his inspiration.
81** And at the medal ceremony, when they played the Canadian national anthem, he was [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal strongly serenaded by a stadium-full of his super-supportive]] countrymen. You could hear the audience singing...over the music.
82* In the 2002 Olympics, Canadian skip Kevin Martin and his team had taken home the silver because a miscalculated shot cost them the gold medal. So another 2010 heartwarming moment for Canada was the men's curling gold medal match. Near the end of the game, Martin had to make one last shot against Norway. [[https://youtu.be/2rQzRMSR1x0?t=8850 Just before he could launch the rock down the ice, the audience stood and sang the Canadian national anthem.]] It became ''so loud'' both teams could not resume play until the crowd finished singing. Even the Norwegians were in awe of such support for the Canadian men. And this time, they took the gold!
83* China's figure skating coach Yao Bin was considered one of the first pioneer Chinese skaters. But during the 1980 World Championships, he and his partner came last in the event, having only pictures to study from and learn moves from. They were ridiculed and laughed at for years. Guess what? Now he is the coach of Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, the first Chinese pair skaters to win a medal in the Olympics, three-time World Champions, six-time Grand Pix Final champions and as of Vancouver 2010, [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome the first Chinese skaters to win ]]''[[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome gold]]'' in any figure skating category. The joy and pride in his face as he watched his former students finally getting the Olympic gold after all these years was just that sweet.
84** Not only that, another one of his teams won the silver. SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome for Chinese figure skating.
85* Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette, who skated the performance of her life after the death of her mother a few days before her performance. She decided to remain in competition and ''won bronze'', against Kim Yuna, Mao Asada and Mikki Ando. To make it worse, earlier she was struggling through practice and eventually left the rink as "[[SoundtrackDissonance I'm Gonna Live Forever]]" was blaring.
86** She won bronze after the women's free skate. Despite it not being gold or silver, the crowds went nuts for her. And the smile on her face, as she looks upwards towards the crowds of Canadians and family who supported her and perhaps to her own mother watching her, was indescribable.
87** This triples as a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, and a TearJerker!
88* "The Difference Makers" section from the CTV broadcast of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, where Canadian athletes talk about their special someone who changed their lives and helped them in their journey to Olympic athletes. One athlete[[note]]Whose name is still currently unavailable[[/note]] talked about how he didn't have a great family life and during high school, began spiraling down a dangerous path. Fortunately for him, his best friend talked him out of it, took him into his own family and helped him get focused on what he enjoyed the best: sports.
89* In the opening of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, one of the four pillars of the indoor cauldron did not rise, leaving one of the torchbearers, Catriona Le May Doan, unable to light it with the others--Steve Nash, Nancy Greene and Wayne Gretzky. In the closing ceremonies, after a SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}} [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JVEKaaurlI where that same pillar is still down and a clown "fixes" it]], Catriona comes out to finally do what she was denied in the opening ceremonies.
90* At the 2010 Olympic Games, the Canadian Women's Hockey Team won 2-0 against the American team in the gold medal game. After Team USA received their silver medals and bouquets, the entire audience, who were mostly Canadian, chanted "USA! USA!" in appreciation. The team responded to the crowd by raising their bouquets in thanks. Video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpMxF20x5wk here]].
91* At the 2010 Vancouver Games' closing ceremony, Creator/MichaelJFox's surprise appearance was a massive relief to many of his fans who had feared, after his long disappearance from public life, that his condition had deteriorated due to his Parkinson's Disease, Fox put those fears to rest with his hilarious and brilliant speech. Hats off, Mike!
92* [[https://www.cbc.ca/sports/2.722/a-self-deprecating-celebration-of-canadiana-1.973960 The Canadian stereotypes were everywhere that night...]] Mounties, giant moose, beavers, maple leaves[[note]]they even sang "The Maple Leaf Forever"[[/note]], unbelievable sweaters, curling humor, Bill Shatner and Neil Young.
93[[/folder]]
94
95[[folder:London 2012]]
96* 2012 Summer Olympics: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Olympic_Athletes_at_the_2012_Summer_Olympics 4 athletes]] are independently affiliated. 3 are from a recently dissolved country, the Netherlands Antilles. One is from South Sudan, which doesn't have a National Olympic Committee yet, and he refuses to compete for North Sudan due to the violence that happened during the civil war. And yet the first three[[note]]The South Sudanese athlete wasn't able to make it to the opening ceremony because of visa issues[[/note]] make the most memorable entrance: goofing off in front of the audience and dancing as the parade continues.
97** And for the first time [[http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1273086-summer-olympics-2012-athletes-who-will-make-history-in-london/page/7 women from Saudi Arabia]] get to compete in the Olympics, making this the first time women from all competing countries partake in the Olympics.
98*** This is kind of tempered, though, when you learn that Saudi Arabia only let them compete cause the IOC threatened to bar the country from competing at all in the future if they didn't. And that they still [[http://sports.yahoo.com/news/olympics--saudi-arabia-media-ignore-historic-olympic-games-of-women-athletes-sarah-attar-and-wojdan-shaherkani.html faced sexist vitriol, accusations of immorality just for going, and were almost completely ignored by the Saudi press]].
99*** Same thing with Iranian competitor Kimia Alizadeh (bronze medal for taekwondo in the 2016 games). She reveals all in [[https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/irans-olympic-medalist-kimia-alizadeh-says-shes-defected/ar-BBYRYCo her January 2020 public statement on why she's defecting]] from her home nation.
100** In the women's keirin event, Lee Wai Sze from Hong Kong won the bronze medal. But from her reaction, she might as well have won the gold; she was absolutely ''ecstatic''.
101** After winning the 100m in the 2012 games, Usain Bolt was being interviewed by an American journalist when a medal ceremony started, Bolt ''stopped the interview'' to watch the American women's running winners receive their gold and silver medals, telling the interviewer he thought she'd want to pause for her nation's athletes. Crowning Moment of Good Sportsmanship, bar none!
102*** During the Paralympics, Bolt tweeted that it's ''these'' games which are truly inspirational.
103** Canadian triathlete Simon Whitfield fell and took out Costarican Triathlete Leonardo Chacon. After the race, Chacon posted a message on Whitfield's Facebook wall, expressing his admiration for Whitfield, and invited Whitfield to Costa Rica.
104** One in the Closing Ceremony: the tribute to Music/JohnLennon. Beautifully done.
105*** And then the video footage of Music/FreddieMercury doing his "Day-O" routine...and the audience doing it back. Just think how long it's been since that happened, and how his band mates must have felt hearing that for the first time in years.
106** While the whole opening ceremony was basically a love letter to Great Britain, during the brief pause in the Pandemonium segment featuring tributes to the soldiers of World Wars I and II, the whole public audience stood as a sign of respect.
107* Kyla Ross and [=McKayla=] Maroney met in the gym at age five and spent the next ''ten years'' training and competing together. At age nine, Kyla whispered to [[HeterosexualLifePartners her best friend]] [=McKayla=], "Let's work really hard so we can go to the Olympics!" Seven years later, in London, Alexandra Raisman's floor exercise score came in, giving Team USA the gold medal...and standing right next to each other, holding hands for dear life, were Team USA members Kyla Ross and [=McKayla=] Maroney.
108* The joyous Medal Ceremony for women's football, as the Gold, Silver, and Bronze medal teams (USA, Japan, and Canada, respectively) came out together, dancing and holding hands. All three teams had reason to celebrate a triumphant end to the four-year women's football cycle. The USA and Japan had contested both the 2011 Women's World Cup Final, and the Gold Medal match at London, with Japan taking the World Cup, and the U.S. taking the Olympic Gold. And Canada went from dead last at the World Cup to Bronze at the Olympics. The Canadian team had rushed back to London from their Bronze Medal match in Coventry.
109* Peng Peng Lee, by far the greatest Canadian gymnast of her generation, was an absolute lock for the Canadian Olympic team in 2012...until a torn ACL forced her to scratch the rest of the season and, by extension, the Olympic Games. Lee was also noted, throughout her career, for wearing [[SignatureHeadgear a white flower in her hair during competitions]]. She was named team captain anyway and joined them in London, where she watched with mingled shock and pride as Canada[[note]]Dominique Pegg, Elsabeth Black, Victoria Moors, Brittany Rogers, and Kristina Vaculik[[/note]] qualified for their first-ever team final and finished in an absolutely ''historic'' fifth place, just behind the dominant "Big Four" of Russia, Romania, China, and the United States. The kicker? All throughout the Games, every female Canadian gymnast wore a white flower in their hair.
110* There was a group of Canadian runners who had placed third in the relay, and would have gotten a bronze medal, but were stripped of it [[SeriousBusiness because one of the athletes stepped on a line]]. A kid then wrote a heartwarming message to them telling them not to give up hope, and gave them his Timbits soccer medal, the only medal he'd won sports-wise, as a ConsolationPrize. Said kid got a lot of publicity for this act of kindness; Tim Hortons gave out a replacement Timbits medal, and the athletes got to meet the kid, though the meeting was delayed somewhat due to a tropical storm.
111* [[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/news/9470454/Tom-Daley-talks-about-his-awesome-celebration-after-winning-Olympics-bronze.html English diver Tom Daley winning bronze at the 2012 games]]. Some athletes might be disappointed not to get the gold or silver, especially when competing in their home nation. We Brits are a cheerful lot underneath though. You can't fail to grin when you see Daley and his team scream for joy upon realizing he medalled, swiftly followed by them all jumping in the pool, most of them fully clothed.
112[[/folder]]
113
114[[folder:Sochi 2014]]
115* In Sochi for the 2014 Olympics, Bilodeau wins gold yet again, and tells the world his brother continues to be an inspiration to him. It's just as heartwarming as the first time.
116* In the opening ceremony, five giant snowflakes were supposed to open up and form the Olympic rings, but [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtd1QxjcHDA one remained closed]]. At the closing ceremonies, five groups of dancers portrayed the snowflakes, with one group remaining closed. As the audience laughed and applauded, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-qO1AfdbmY the last snowflake finally opened]]. ([[https://www.businessinsider.com/olympics-website-404-error-page-2018-2 The closed-snowflake ring display was the 404 page for the IOC website]] for a long time.)
117* The specialized jackets made by Nike for any American who won a medal in 2014. Hidden inside are the messages "This is your moment" and "Land of the free."
118* Canadian speed skater Denny Morrison failed to qualify for the 1000m long-track speed skating event at 2014 Sochi. Teammate Gilmore Junio announced a day before the event he has given up his spot for Morrison, citing "how Denny is skating now, I believe it's in the best interest of the team if he races." Morrison went on to win the silver medal in the 1000m and bronze in the 1500m.
119** Post-competition, Morrison has nominated Junio on social media to be Canada's flag-bearer at the closing ceremonies.
120* At the respective ages of 8 and 9, Charlie White and Meryl Davis were paired up in ice dancing, with him annoyed at breaking in a new partner and her too shy to even look at him[[note]]Davis has always felt intimidated by her severe dyslexia. Although her intelligence is normal and she did fine in many school subjects, she couldn't read until she was seventeen.[[/note]]. Then the partnership went on to last 17 years and counting, climbing to the top of their sport, and culminating with becoming America's first-ever ice dancing gold medalists at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, in great part thanks to their [[PlatonicLifePartners incredibly close friendship]]. And their moms have been at every competition, together, for all those 17 years. Just to top it off, the silver medalists at these Games--which is the same pair that White and Davis came in second to in Vancouver--are their training partners and longtime friends, Canadians Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue.
121* Russian figure skating legend Evgeni Plushenko and Japanese gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu's mutual admiration. Yuzuru always said that he took up skating because of Plushenko, especially after watching his performance in 2002 Olympics. [[NotSoStoic Plushenko]] replies: "I might have been his hero, but now, he's become my hero." [[http://this-is-chris-colfers-world.tumblr.com/post/77541294839#notes Here's the link]]. And Plushy's another word to Hanyu; he wishes that Hanyu would win many more medals in the future, but most importantly, not to forget to take care of his own health too. [[http://this-is-chris-colfers-world.tumblr.com/post/77601453685/a-surprise-message-to-yuzuru-hanyu-from-his-hero *Sobs*]]. The passing-the-torch thing is bittersweet, because Plushenko himself has been plagued by lots of health problems which forced him to withdraw before facing Hanyu in the individual competition.
122** After all the controversies surrounding Vancouver 2010 gold medal, Plushenko and Lysacek seems to be in good terms now. Lysacek once called out NBC on twitter for discrediting Plushenko. He even praised Plushenko's performance in the team event. And in the TV interview after his withdrawal, Plushenko personally thanked Lysacek and Michelle Kwan for their support during the team events.
123* At the 2014 Olympics, figure skating legend Mao Asada, at what would eventually turn out to be her final Olympics, had a disastrous short program that left her in ''16th'' going into the long program, despite being one of the challengers to win. With the pressure off, Asada skated [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH9AA39jPJY a beautiful and flawless long program]] that left her in TearsOfJoy at the end. Although she didn't finish on the podium like she wanted, she had her Olympic moment and skated what is still considered to be one of the greatest performances of all time.
124[[/folder]]
125
126[[folder:Rio 2016]]
127* In 2016, Brazil picks marathon runner [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1HBw70CH1E Vanderlei de Lima to light the Olympic Cauldron]] during the Opening Ceremony, a huge honor. And he did it as a fill-in for football legend Pelé, who had been scheduled to do the honors but had to bow out for health reasons.
128* Michael Phelps' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmIYanq5gH8 final Olympic race]], which resulted in one more gold. After the race, the crowd gives him a roaring ovation, and you can tell he's getting emotional over the moment. All in all, a great way to say goodbye to one of the greatest Olympic athletes of all time.
129* The Refugee Olympic Team, a team of ten athletes from Syria, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, not only being able to participate but during the opening ceremonies, they received the warmest reception of ''any'' team and the crowd went nuts.
130* Colombian weightlifter Óscar Figueroa cries TearsOfJoy when he ''finally'' gets the gold medal in the 62 kg. event, in his last Olympics ever. He then takes off his sport shoes[[note]]Which weightlifters usually do as they announce retirement[[/note]] and thanks the public.
131* [[https://twitter.com/CBCOlympics/status/763892909276102656 This]] was spotted outside a bank not long before the men's rugby sevens finals, which would give Fiji its first ever medal no matter how the game went. Then they won. The country ''[[https://twitter.com/JacqueeSpeight/status/763875922839687168 roared]]''.
132* South Africa, another strong competitor in Olympic Rugby Sevens, had their star player Seabelo Senatla get a wrist injury in the quarterfinal match against Australia. When the team got the bronze, the player who substituted in, Francois Hougaard, [[https://twitter.com/Francoishougi/status/763967994900819968 gave his medal to Senatla]][[note]]For context, Senatla wasn't on the roster of the medals phase since getting substituted in on the event of injury, and so wasn't granted a medal[[/note]], feeling he deserved it more.
133* In the Rio 2016 men's 100m butterfly, a young swimmer from Singapore named Joseph Schooling went up against the American Michael Phelps, South African Chad le Clos, and Hungarian Laszlo Cseh, three of the fastest and most decorated Olympians in history. To the shock of both himself and the world, [[http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/2016-rio-summer-olympics/phelps-loses-21-year-old-joseph-schooling-who-idolized-him-n629876 Schooling beat them for the gold medal]]. And what makes it even better? Phelps was Schooling's idol as a child and had been his inspiration in swimming, an abstract goal that Phelps had wished to accomplish by the end of his career. In the words of several sportscasters: "The Kid Beat the King."
134* Among the many celebrations Usain Bolt had around the stadium after winning the Rio men's 100m, which made him the first man to win that event in three consecutive Olympics, he took time out to stop and congratulate Wayde van Niekerk, the winner of the 400m and new world record holder for that event.
135* In the women's 5000m race at the 2016 Olympics, runners Nikki Hamblin of New Zealand and Abbey D'Agostino of the USA were both running with about four laps to go when D'Agostino tripped and collided with Hamblin. Instead of running ahead, D'Agostino helped Hamblin up, but had injured her ankle in the collision and fell after taking a few steps. [[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/athletics/2016/12/27/unlikely-heroes-2016-one-simple-act-helped-nikki-hamblin-win/ Hamblin then helped D'Agostino up]], and didn't run ahead until she saw that the injured D'Agostino could run by herself. When D'Agostino eventually made it to the finish, Hamblin was waiting there to give her a hug. A protest was filed and accepted, allowing both runners to have spots in the finals if they're healthy.
136** They were not. D'Agostino was hauled away in a wheelchair that night, and found to have a torn right ACL and meniscus and a strained medial collateral ligament. She watched and cheered from the stands as Nikki Hamblin ran in the final, finishing in 17th place. Miss Hamblin said, "You can make friends in the moments that really should break your heart." Now ''that's'' Olympic spirit. There was a movement to allow Miss D'Agostino to carry the U.S. flag in the closing ceremonies. The U.S. team eventually voted for four-time Olympic champion Simone Biles, an Afro-American, to be the flag carrier.[[note]]She was not the first black athlete to carry the U.S. flag; that would be Rafer Johnson, at the 1960 opening ceremonies. The first black woman was relay racer Evelyn Ashford in 1988. Basketball player Dawn Staley carried the flag in the 2004 opening ceremonies.[[/note]]
137* Despite many complaints about the unsportsmanlike behavior of the Brazilian crowds, the love and support given to Cape Verde rhythmic gymnast Elyane Boal, who finished last and did not score nearly as high as her competitors, during qualifications was very heartwarming to see.
138* The Rio Opening Ceremony taking the time to show us that the environment matters and that we must take care of our planet. And then they create the Olympic Rings out of greenery.
139** Every single athlete carried in a seed into the stadium, which were planted after the end of the Games to create the Athletes' Forest. There are 11,000 in total.
140* After Brazil's gold medal win against Germany in the Men's Soccer finals, the absolutely ''wonderful'' sound of the stadium singing along to the Brazilian national anthem is mesmerizing.
141* The camaraderie among the [[TrueCompanions 2016 US gymnastics team]]. One cute moment came after Aly Raisman's semi-final floor routine: she finished [[TearsOfJoy in happy tears]] and gave Simone Biles a hug. Simone could be heard saying, "No crying"--she knew full well that it'd just make her start crying as well before her routine. A few minutes later, when Simone was confirmed as champion after her own floor routine, she pulled Aly up to the podium with her to give the victory wave to the crowd.
142** There's also how nice they were to gymnasts from other countries. They were incredibly friendly to their chief competitors from Brazil, the United Kingdom, China, and Russia. Aly and Simone even tried to bring over Aliya Mustafina[[note]]The Russian gymnast who got bronze in the all-around[[/note]] for a picture following their victories, and Aliya was the first to hug and congratulate them afterward.
143*** Note that [[https://www.thecut.com/2018/08/larry-nassar-fierce-five-sexual-abuse.html these amazing women had all been]] [[https://www.thecut.com/2018/01/usa-gymnastics-larry-nassar-trial-aly-raisman-mckayla-maroney.html molested by the team doctor]] [[FridgeHorror for years.]]
144* Speaking of gymnastics, Brazil winning silver ''and'' bronze for the men's floor exercise. Both athletes were in floods of tears.
145* In the women's individual vault final, Giulia Steingruber of Switzerland won her country's first-ever medal in women's gymnastics (and the first Olympic medal won by any native Swiss gymnast, male or female, since 1952). When it was revealed that Steingruber had clinched a medal position, she shared a huge hug with her coach while crying TearsOfJoy, and was positively ''beaming'' when she stepped up to the medal podium.
146* In the balance beam final, Sanne Wevers of the Netherlands also won ''her'' country's first-ever medal in women's gymnastics -- and it was a ''gold''. Her reaction by itself is heartwarming enough, but even more heartwarming is the fact that when it became clear she would win[[note]]there was still one score pending, but it was clear that gymnast wouldn't score high enough to challenge Wevers[[/note]], she hugged her closest competitors (Americans Simone Biles and Laurie Hernandez) before celebrating her victory.
147* Simone Biles had a fairly rough routine in the balance beam final that nearly took her off the podium (she managed to just squeak out a bronze), but met teammate Laurie Hernandez after Hernandez' hit routine with a huge smile and a SoProudOfYou. Despite her own disappointment, it was clear that Biles was genuinely happy to see her teammate and longtime friend perform so well.
148* When Chinese gymnast Shang Chunsong burst into tears upon learning that she would miss the all-around podium by a tiny margin (just over a tenth), French gymnast Marine Brevet, whom Shang had met only once before, walked over, hugged her, and kissed her forehead to comfort her. Speaking of the moment later, Shang stated that, "Compared to the bronze that I’ve always wanted, I think I treasure the friendship more...for her to come over with this gesture of kindness, it really warmed my heart."
149* One moment that went viral was a selfie taken by gymnasts Lee Eun Ju of South Korea and Hong Un Jong of North Korea. A moment of friendliness that we can only hope encourages peace between the rival countries.
150* Even though she didn't medal, seven-time (yes, really) Olympian Oksana Chusovitina got huge applause from the crowd every time she walked onto the floor. She is a ''legend'' in the sport, and the audiences know it.
151[[/folder]]
152
153[[folder:[=PyeongChang=] 2018]]
154* Upon seeing Canadian bobsledders Justin Kripps and Alexander Kopacz achieve the ''same time'' as them in their final run for two-man bobsledding, awarding both teams the gold medal, German bobsledders Francesco Friedrich and Thorsten Margis immediately went to give their competitors a hug. The elation on the German team's faces were such a sight, given the 2018 Pyeongchang Games was redemption for Friedrich, who didn't make the podium in the event at the 2014 Sochi Games.
155* Figure skating has a lot of those:
156** Although Canada has been a history maker in singles figure skating, producing its fair share of World and Grand Prix Champions, has never earned a Men's Singles Olympic Gold, with most of their Olympians getting silver. It included Sochi Silver medalist, Patrick Chan, who also decided [=PyeongChang=] would be the last competition of his career. So, what does Team Canada do? They put out one of their best performances in the Team Event, finishing ahead of Olympic Athletes from Russia and USA just to make sure that Chan will retire with at least one Olympic gold. (For extra heart-warming, [[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/olympics/2018-pyeongchang-winter-olympics-patrick-chan/article37956475/ knowing that Chan was putting pressure on himself not to let the team down, teammates Eric Radford and Scott Moir went out their way to help boost his confidence.)]]
157** Yuzuru Hanyu makes history by being the first man to win back-to-back golds in 66 years and only fourth in history of men's singles skating, doing so on painkillers with a still injured ankle, so it's understandable that he shed tears after the scores came up. However, as he explains later, there was one more reason to them: bronze medalist, Spain's Javier Fernández was Yuzuru's longtime training partner. He missed out on the Sochi podium due to a jumping mistake, and Hanyu admitted that he saw how hard it actually was for the Spaniard, so he was doubly happy to share the podium with him.
158** At the victory ceremony, right after the event, Hanyu had to gesture several times for his fellow medalists (Shoma Uno and Javier Fernandez) to join him on the top step. When they finally realized that he wanted them to step up, Hanyu pulled them both closer for a hug. Awwww...
159** The friendship between Brian Orser's pupils in general. They have been training for six years together, went through their ups and downs, and never have anything but good words to say about each other. During a group hug rinkside with the medalists, Javier told Yuzuru that Pyeongchang would be their last competition together. Yuzuru's reaction to the retirement of his alleged top rival is to start crying into Javier's chest and sob, "I can't do this without you." Crosses right back into Funny because (1) Shoma Uno, who wasn't as good at English as the other two, had no idea what was going on and why Yuzuru was crying, and (2) when Yuzuru, after he had finished crying, rounded on Javier and exclaimed "You are ''so bad!''". Unfortunately, after the 2022 Beijing Olympics, Fernandez made some remarks [[https://twitter.com/blau_angel/status/1495407157537386496 on Spanish media]] that indicates he thinks Hanyu was lying about there being a hole on the ice (which Hanyu's skate got caught on, and of which there were [[https://enby-axels.tumblr.com/post/676735748425318400/going-as-far-as-saying-he-doesnt-think-there-was-a media pictures]]) and making excuses. Fans unearthed evidence of Fernandez trash-talking Hanyu in Spanish-language sources and being nothing but complimentary in English-language sources.
160** Pairs skater Bruno Massot admitting that he didn't want his partner Aliona Savchenko to leave her fifth Olympics with another bronze. They won gold. Many of their fellow competitors were thrilled for Savchenko.
161* Dutch-born Canadian speed skater Ted-Jan Bloemen had originally grown up and trained in the Netherlands, known for a heavily saturated pool of Olympic speed skating champions. After years of inconsistent support (sometimes, they wouldn't even allocate him a coach), Bloemen made a difficult decision to accept an offer from Canada, where his father had been born, to join their speed skating team and received the support and resources he lacked. The change turned out for the best for Bloemen and Canada - Bloemen won a silver medal in the 5000m and then beat Sven Kramer for the gold medal in the 10000m, while becoming the first non-Dutch skater to win a speed skating event at the 2018 Games and also setting the new Olympic Record for that distance, breaking the record that had been set minutes earlier by Dutch skater Jorrit Bergsma.
162* RealMenWearPink: Meanwhile, [[https://www.npr.org/sections/thetorch/2018/02/13/585556301/finland-takes-olympic-chill-to-the-next-level-team-knitting Finland's snowboarding coach Antti Koskinen was casually knitting]], [[https://www.nhpr.org/2018-02-18/the-knitting-finns-for-finnish-athletes-needles-and-yarn-are-part-of-the-olympic-routine along with ski jumper Eetu Nousiainen]], and other Finland team members have taken to working on giant projects during the Games.
163[[/folder]]
164[[folder:Tokyo 2020]]
165* Norway’s Lotte Miller [[https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/tokyo-olympics-triathon-lottie-miller-b1893345.html?amp cheering on Belgium’s Claire Michel]], who finished last in the women’s triathlon. Video may be NSFW due to language.
166* The outpouring of support that Simone Biles received from the gymnastics community after she withdrew from the team and all-around finals due to developing the "twisties" (a dangerous loss of spatial orientation in the air); while the media at large was more critical of her decision, [[https://www.si.com/olympics/2021/08/02/simone-biles-twisties-physical-risk-former-gymnasts-left-paralyzed those closest to the sport were quick to defend Biles]] and tell her that they cared about her and were glad she was taking care of herself. Perhaps the crowing moment of them all was from John Lee, whose daughter, Biles' teammate Suni Lee, won gold in the all-around in Biles absence; he told the media that Biles "truly is the GOAT[[note]]Greatest Of All Time[[/note]] because she let my baby girl bring me a gold medal".
167* More heartwarming awesomeness: Lee is the first Hmong American ''ever'' to compete in the Olympic Games, and her family ended up having to move the Olympic watch party from their home to a community center because so many members of the community wanted to come out and support her.
168* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJKbtnp9p0I As seen here]], British BMX silver medalist Kye Whyte jumping up and down in celebration when his team mate Bethany Shriever wins gold, and then lifting her up in a BridalCarry when she collapses after the finish line. And then two-time Olympic champion Mariana Pajon (who took silver) being a GracefulLoser and photobombing Shriever’s interview to declare Shriever number one.
169* After having identical scorecards during the high jump competition and being tied for first place, an official went over to both Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy and told them that there would be a jump off to decide who won gold or silver. Barshim then asked the official, "Can we have two golds?", and the official said "It's possible! Depends if you both decide--" and they both immediately and wordlessly hug to declare that they'll do exactly that!
170--> From Barshim: "I look at him, he looks at me, and we know it. We just look at each other and we know, that is it, it is done. There is no need. He is one of my best friends, not only on the track, but outside the track. We work together. This is a dream come true. It is the true spirit, the sportsman spirit, and we are here delivering this message."
171** And so they were both Olympic champions. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjSCT97GSsA Tamberi’s reaction has to be seen to be believed!]] It was also the first time there had been a tie in an Olympic athletic event since 1912.
172** Tamberi was then waiting at the end of the 100m track for teammate Lamont Marcell Jacobs, who won gold, and the two celebrated their wins together.
173** The celebrations on the track for that entire evening are sportsmanship at its finest. When Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela broke the world record in the women's triple jump, bronze medallist Ana Peleteiro of Spain was jumping up and down in celebration and was the first to hug her, followed quickly be silver medallist Patricia Mamona of Portugal. The triple jumpers then hurried over to congratulate Tamberi (and presumably Barshim) for their wins, and then congratulated Jacobs for his win, too.
174* RealMenWearPink: The knitting thing seems to be catching. British diver Tom Daley [[https://www.today.com/today/amp/tdna227070 knits stuff while sitting in the stands]]. He says it helps him stay sane.[[note]]There is a certain amount of TruthInTelevision to that. Knitting has been scientifically proven to help lower blood pressure, help with depression and anxiety, distract from chronic pain, and be a great stress buster. Overall, it’s not a bad hobby for an athlete to take up.[[/note]] He sells his creations for charity (as well as for friends and family), in particular for the UK based The Brain Tumour charity, after his father died from one in 2011.
175* Right as an Argentinian fencer was being interviewed following her elimination, [[https://twitter.com/Llavedegol/status/1419494014164869122 she received a proposal from her coach]].
176* The sportsmanship and friendship shown between all the competitors in the women's skateboarding park final. Whenever one of them finished a run, be it a successful one or not, all of the other competitors would hurry over for a group hug. British Bronze medallist Sky Brown said in an interview afterwards that they were all friends.
177* Iranian-born Mongolian judoka Saeid Mollaei winning the silver medal in the men's 81 kg judo event. For context, he was forced by Iranian authorities to intentionally lose the semi-finals at the 2019 World Championships to avoid a potential final match against Israeli judoka Sagi Muki. In response, he refused to return to Iran and moved to Germany, then became a Mongolian citizen in late 2019, and after winning the silver medal, Mollaei dedicated his victory to Israel, thanking them for their support. Even more heartwarming is the [[https://www.timesofisrael.com/winning-judo-silver-in-tokyo-iranian-defector-mollaei-dedicates-medal-to-israel/ congratulations he'd gotten from Muki]], whom he became very good friends with following the incident at the 2019 World Championships.
178* And the heartwarming moments didn't stop with the closing ceremony. Shortly after Poland's Maria Andrejczyk returned to her homeland after winning a silver medal in javelin, she heard about an 8-month-old boy who needed to travel from Poland to the San Francisco Bay Area (specifically Stanford University) for lifesaving heart surgery. The family had raised about half of the US $400K needed, and Andrejczyk—herself a cancer survivor—and the family decided that she would [[https://sports.yahoo.com/polish-olympian-auctions-silver-medal-for-infants-heart-surgery-keeps-it-thanks-to-winning-bidder-230743208.html auction off her Olympic medal]]. Five days later, a Polish convenience store chain submitted the winning bid, which put the family over its fundraising goal. Even better: the winning company publicly declined to accept the medal.
179[[/folder]]
180[[folder:Beijing 2022]]
181* Finland’s Iivo Niskanen won his third gold medal in the Men’s cross country skiing 15km classic. Instead of going off to celebrate or recover, he waited for all 94 competitors behind him to complete the race before he celebrated. Some 20 minutes went by before the last skier Carlos Andres Quintana crossed the finish line, and Niskanen gave him a big hug, showing true Olympic spirit.

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