Some of the Greatest Olympic Moments

Inspiration for your day-to-day lives… and moments of honor for these teams and people.

Green

Published in

Dancing Elephants Press

4 min readNov 29, 2023

Special Softball game

As this looked like the end for softball to be on the Olympic calendars for future games, this Women’s Softball match felt way more important. Two teams and old rivals would be playing on the softball field for the Olympic final. The match was Japan vs. the U.S.A.

About Team U.S.A

The U.S. team for softball had been on a streak. At the past three Olympics games, one in 1996, 2000, and the other in 2004, they won gold in all three of the softball finals. Along with this, the United States team had won 22 Olympic matches for softball, in the years 2000 and 2004 in the Olympics. With this, they were ready to defend their title in the final game in Beijing.

About Team Japan

Team Japan had a deep motivation and ambition to win gold. They had originally won bronze and silver, so it made sense for their drive to win gold. While they were seen in U.S.A’s shadow, they were still a fantastically strong team, with star players.

Game Day

On the day of the match, Japan delivered an unexpected game. They were the first to hit a home run, and first to climb that scoreboard. Except, team U.S.A’s star slugger, Crystal Bustos did what she does best, which is hitting continuous home runs. So she went up to the home plate, and delivered, getting team U.S.A on the scoreboard.

Then came a moment of tension, Japan was at three, and U.S.A. was at one, but there was a U.S. player on each base which meant that if a home run was hit, then Team U.S.A would be up at 5 home runs on the scoreboard. Yukiko Ueno was pitching, and as being considered the fastest pitcher in the game, she did her thing and didn’t let 4 home runs happen.

After, Japan tried to get three U.S. players out in the last inning of the game. Meaning that if they could they would win. So one by one, Japan made two outs. The last U.S. player swung her bat but got out too.

Japan had won. Through a lot of hard work, determination, and drive they continued preserving from the 2000 and 2004's game and took home gold in the 2008 game the last softball game in the Olympics, before it was introduced into the Olympic calendar again in 2020.

2 golds, 1 person and a National Hero

Kelly Holmes was not expected to run in the 800m and 1500m race. This race was held in the 2004 Olympic games in Athens, and she was representing Great Britain.

In the 800m race, she stayed in the middle of the group of runners ranging from 4th–5th place as she ran. This pace was kept in the first whole lap and half of the second or final lap. Except near the last half of the final lap, Kelly Holmes came out to the side tracks and made her way up the leaderboard. At the end of the race, she came inches away from the finishing line, which she crossed securing her gold.

For the 1500m race, Kelly Holmes started dead last and stayed between second last to third last for the first lap. While running her second lap, she came out to the side tracks and started making her way up, landing in the middle of the group of runners for lap two. On the final lap, many runners were on the outerlaps, pushing Kelly Holmes further on the side tracks, but she continued pushing her way to the top. With a clear look of determination, her face was shining with this trait and the desire to keep climbing the leaderboard. Then, she made it to the front, and despite starting last, she left a margin of space between her crossing the finish line, and the others who crossed after her.

This was an extraordinary set of wins, and the International Olympics Committee states, “made her a national hero” about these wins, which is certainly true.

Bouncing Back

Greg Louis representing the U.S. participated in diving at the 1988 Olympic games.

The Setback

At the Seoul 1988 games, as Greg Louis was diving, he hit his head on the diving board which resulted in him messing up the rest of his dive. Due to this, he also developed a scratch on his head, mostly affecting his hair. While he was walking out of the swimming pool after his dive, he was holding onto his head.

This occurred in the preliminary rounds putting the actual diving day at risk. Except, Greg bounced back and on the judging day of diving he did a perfect dive. For this, he won gold, which he could take back home to the United States. This shows his perseverance and what it means to have an athlete's mind because athletes never give up, and neither did Greg Louis.