[one-half-first]Freeman’s 400m Gold 2000 Olympics

Lulu Cathro

The longest minute in Australia’s sporting history belongs to Cathy Freeman and her unforgettable victory at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.  Freeman glided across the finish line of the 400m final in her iconic hooded bodysuit, running a gold medal time of 49.11 seconds in front of 110,000 live spectators, and millions of viewers around the world. Fittingly, this was Australia’s 100th gold medal, with arguably no other athlete deserving the honour more than Freeman herself. It was undoubtedly the greatest minute of the 2000 Olympics and one of the greatest sporting moments of all time.[/one-half-first]

[one-half]Steven Bradbury unexpected gold

Lulu Cathro

One of the most unexpected gold medals in history was Steven Bradbury’s victory in the 2002 Winter Olympics short track speed skating 1000 metre event. Fortunate to be there, Bradbury was coming a clear last for the entirety of the final. However, as competitors entered the last 50 metres, jostling amongst leading athletes caused them all to crash metres before the finish line. Bradbury, 10 metres behind the collision was in disbelief, standing tall, and crossing the finish line in first place. He was the first ever athlete from the southern hemisphere to win a Winter Olympics event.[/one-half]

[one-half-first]Rio Olympics Weightlifting

John Dunlop

History was created at the recent Rio Olympic Games weightlifting competition. In the men’s 77kg category, China’s Liu Xiaojun was the clear favourite. He set a snatch world record of 177kg, accompanied by a impressive 202kg clean-and-jerk, resulting in his record total of 379kg. The commentators, extremely confident, called the gold medal and Xiaojun began celebrating. Nijat Rahimov, a Kazakhstani national, had previously snatched 165kg, placing him a notionally unrecoverable 12kg behind Xiaojun. However, Rahimov was not to be outdone. His clean-and-jerk of 214kg, a 7kg personal best and staggering 4kg world record saw him sneak through and snatch gold from Xiaojun by a hair’s breadth on weight differential.[/one-half-first]

[one-half]Michael Jordan: The ‘Shot’

Albert Patajo

It’s 1982 – the finals of the NCAA Tournament between University of North Carolina and the University of Georgetown. Clock at 32, Georgetown up by 1. Inbound pass to a freshman, number 23. He’s being guarded by future Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing. He passes to another teammate and sets up a play: an overhead pass to Sam Perkins while James Worthy sets a screen. 17 seconds left. Number 23 moves to the bottom of the court, Ewing is caught in Worthy’s screen. With Georgetown up by 1 point, the freshman sinks the 16-foot jump shot for North Carolina’s win. On this day, a star in born. Michael Jordan’s winning shot to seal the NCAA Tournament win for North Carolina propelled him to greatness.[/one-half]

[one-half-first]15 Grand Slams: The Record

Albert Patajo

He steps onto the court in a white jacket, the letters’ RF’ emblazed in gold trim. Roger Federer smiles as he makes his way onto Centre Court. The challenger, the American Andy Roddick, is nervous. He has been here before, twice. And lost twice. The first set goes to Roddick; 7-5. The second set tiebreaker went to Roger, but a netted backhand volley by Roddick could have set him up 2 sets to love. This was followed by another tiebreaker in the 3rd to Roger, and a quick break in the 4th to set it 2 sets a piece. The final set went to 14 all – the longest fifth set in Wimbledon history. Both men want it: Roddick, to cement his position after losing two straight Wimbledons, and Federer, to seal his position as the Greatest of All Time. Roddick is broken for the first time in the match and Federer takes the fifth set 16-14. The Greatest of All Time, Roger Federer, cries as he lifts his trophy.[/one-half-first]

[one-half]5km, 10km, Marathon: Golds

Bronte McHenry

Having already won Gold in the 5km and 10km at the 1952 Summer Olympic Games, Emil Zatopek decided last-minute to run the marathon – for the first time in his entire life. His strategy was to race alongside Englishman Jim Peters, the World Record holder. At the 15km mark Peters was tiring, and comically, Zatopek turned to him and asked what he thought of the race thus far. Peters, in an attempt to shake him, told him it was “too slow”, and then watched in sheer disbelief as Zatopek accelerated off into the distance. Peters did not finish the race and Zatopek won his third Gold – and because that wasn’t impressive enough, also broke the Olympic Record in all three events. Even today, with all our sporting advancements, Zatopek is the only person to ever win Gold in the 5km, 10km and marathon at the same Olympics.[/one-half]