“The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part;
the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.”
– Pierre de Coubertin

Muhammad Ali with the torch at the Atlanta Games in 1996.

In only his second major international tournament, Rulon Gardner upset three-time Olympic champion Aleksandr Karelin in the super-heavyweight Greco-Roman competition. Sydney, 2000.

Derartu Tulu (Ethiopia) and Elena Meyer (South Africa) had just finished first and second in the 10,000 meters. The two Africans celebrated with a victory lap hand in hand.

Huo Liang of China competes during the Men’s 10m Platform Final diving at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. He earned a gold medal.

Michael Phelps (left) and Serbia Milorad Cavic (right) touch the wall to finish the Men’s 100M Butterfly Final at the Games in Beijing. Phelps won the gold medal by .01 second.

Romanian Nadia Comaneci earned the first-ever perfect 10 for her uneven parallel bar routine in Montreal, 1976.

British runner Derek Redmond’s hamstring snapped during the 400-meter competition at the Games in 1992. He was helped across the finish line by his father.

Usain Bolt’s 100m/200m sprint double in Beijing won him both gold medals.

Argentina’s men’s football team won their first gold medal in Athens, 2004.

Favored to win, Mary Decker of the USA falls during the women’s 3,000m race at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. She blames the barefoot Zola Budd for tripping her.

(Photo credits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)