Saturday, August 16, 2008

Greatest Summer Olympics Moments

Well, in honor of the Summer Olympics, I thought I'd run a series of "greatest moments" from Summer Olympics past. Now, a caveat: these are moments that I actually remember watching, so of course many (possibly greater ones) occurred before I was around. They also don't include ths current Olympics, but I think we could all agree that Michael Phelps' accomplishments would make the top of the list. Finally, since I was a gymnast for most of my youth, I always watched the women's gymanstics competition...making my choices slightly biased, perhaps.

But that's OK, 'cause it's my blog, right? Anyway, here's my first choice, from the 1984 Games in LA:

Mary Lou Retton Wins the First US Women's All-Around Title ~ She was THE gymnastics icon for my generation of girls growing up in the sport. She received a perfect 10 on her vault, then went on to win the all-around title, and I remember her celebration. Compared to what the girls do now, her vault looks pretty tame, but it was monumental then. (And did you see her in the audience when Nastia Luikin won the same gold medal, last week?)

So awesome!

6 comments:

Dru said...

That was simply awesome. Her smile and enthusiasm made us smile and it getting a 10 on homecourt was excellent.

Thanks for sharing one of the greatest moments.

Liz said...

I remember that! I've been watching this year - staying up late and dragging myself to work in the morning.

Marianne Arkins said...

I LOVED Mary Lou Retton... awww... the memories.

Anonymous said...

I totally remember that!

windycindy said...

I remember this like it was yesterday! I have been seeing her in the stands watching the current Olympics. Thanks for sharing.....Cindi

Unknown said...

I actually got to meet Mary Lou Retton a little over a year ago when she was speaking at a company function. She is an excellent speaker and does an awesome impression of Bella. I did a post of it on my blog. The best part was standing next to a professional athlete who is almost a foot shorter than me. ;-)