Jamaican bobsleigh, strange gold win and death: moving Olympic moments

COOL RUNNING: A bobsled from Jamaica stunned the 1988 Calgary Games. The idea came from two Americans who used a soapbox race as inspiration for “Cool Runnings”. The story of the Jamaican bobsleigh was later made into a film. Jamaicans are also competing in the ice track in Pyeongchang: the national colors black, yellow and green are represented in both bobsleigh and skeleton.

MAIER’S NAGANO SENSATION: Hermann Maier sailed 40 meters through the air in Nagano before falling painfully in the snow. “He’s doing a somersault,” shouted the Austrian commentator after Maier’s heavy and spectacular fall in the Olympic downhill. The “Herminator” escaped with minor injuries and later sensationally won two gold medals in giant slalom and super-G.

TRAGIC TOBOGGAN FALL: The 2010 Vancouver Games had their tragedy even before it opened. The Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili was carried beyond the edge of the curve during training and had a fatal accident. At the opening ceremony, the Olympic family paused for a moment and remembered the Georgian with a minute's silence. For the following toboggan competitions, the run-up was shortened and the ice profile was changed.

THE LAST WILL BE FIRST: One of the strangest Olympic champions in history is the Australian Steven Bradbury. The short tracker won gold in Salt Lake City in 2002 through the most unusual of circumstances. He finished the quarterfinals in third place, but was advanced because Canadian Marc Gagnon was disqualified. In the semi-finals he was clearly in last place before three runners ahead of him fought and fell in the fight for the last semi-final place. So Bradbury went into the final in second place. The man from Sydney was also lucky to fall in the final. In the last corner of the race, a competitor fell and knocked down all the other short track ice sprinters. Except for Bradbury, who was already well behind and was able to win sensational gold.

BOB PUSH ACROBATICS: Acrobatics instead of embarrassment, gold instead of metal. With an artistic performance, pusher Kevin Kuske saved his pilot André Lange's chance of winning gold in Turin 2006. Kuske initially couldn't get into the sled in the two-man bobsleigh, but managed to do so with an acrobatic move and thus saved the duo's chance of Olympic victory , which subsequently succeeded.

Football

Italy

International leagues

International

Winter sports

Tennis

Other sports

Motorsport

Cycling

Watersports

Events

Favorites

Jamaican bobsleigh, strange gold win and death: moving Olympic moments

Olympia lives from its stories. There have been more than enough of these over the past 30 years: curiosities, sensations, but also tragedies characterized the games. Before the sports highlight starts this weekend, let's take another look at the most moving Olympic moments.

Suggestions

Comments (0)