Fraser Kesteven from University of Birmingham’s Redbrick counts down the greatest Olympic moments:
5. Nadia Comăneci scores a perfect 10
The Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci became the first female in her sport to have ever been given a perfect score of 10. Her routine on the uneven bars at the 1976 Montreal Olympics was so spectacular that it catapulted her into sporting superstardom and positioned her well to convincing wins in most of her remaining events. Not content with performing the feat just once, she eventually received another six 10s on her way to claiming the gold medal in the all-around, bar and beams competition, something which helped to characterise her as the best athlete of the games. As such accomplished routines had never before been performed, the scoreboards displaying the marks were not technically calibrated to give a perfect score.
What makes this achievement all the more outstanding and exceptional was the fact that she was only 14-years-old at the time and was competing against gymnasts with far greater experience of international competition.
4. Michael Phelps wins eight golds at one games
At the 2008 Olympic Games, Michael Phelps won an unprecedented eight gold medals in a variety of swimming events to cement his place in sporting folklore…
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