By The Capital Sports Report Staff
Sport is so much more than just a game. Sport has the power to unite people and divide them. Sport has the power to change cultures, politics, and economics, while also lighting the spark for some of the greatest celebrations that the world has ever seen. Whatever your allegiance, the sport has probably played a role in bringing you together with your fellow fans and even your opponents.
All of us have sporting memories that have left a lasting impact on us, some of which hold singular importance in our lives. While everyone has their own unique sporting memories, there are some global sporting events that have undoubtedly left a lasting impact on global culture. With that in mind, check out our round-up of the seven iconic sporting moments that have made history.
1. Jesse Owens’ Four Golds at the Berlin Olympics
The African American sprinting superstar Jesse Owens gave Hitler’s Germany a legendary drubbing at the 1936 Olympics that sent shock waves around the world and proved to be a lasting rebuttal to Nazi racist politics. Owens annihilated Germany’s athletes and went on to pick up four gold medals, in a legendary series of races that are still played and replayed around the world today.
2. The 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa
The 1995 Rugby World Cup was widely heralded as South Africa’s return to the world stage after being banned from the competition for years due to its policy of racial apartheid. Recently-released leader Nelson Mandela was present in the stands for all the games, which saw South Africans unite around the national team as they blitzed their way to an iconic victory against New Zealand in the final, which was watched by hundreds of millions of people.
3. Michael’s Jordan’s “The Shot”
Michael Jordan has a reputation for pulling a victory out of the bag at the last second, and his final game with the Chicago Bulls at the 1998 NBA Finals is no exception. With only five seconds left on the clock, Jordan stole the ball from Karl Malone and scored a two-pointer right before the end, propelling the Bulls to victory. There are few NBA moments that are talked about decades later, but this one will never be forgotten.
4. India and Pakistan at the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup
India and Pakistan have a complicated historical relationship but are united in their love for cricket. Although Pakistan did not make it to the finals, their match against India will go down as one of the biggest cricket moments in world history. According to the cricket betting experts as asiabet.org, this ICC match between India and Pakistan, played on a rainy field at England’s Old Trafford, was one of the most viewed matches ever, with a staggering 300 million people tuning in. Given the popularity of cricket betting in India, you can imagine the huge amounts of money wagered on this iconic game.
5. The First Four-Minute Mile
Let’s bring it all the way back to the 1950s for a moment, to the day when the first person in history managed to run a four-minute mile. The feat was completed at Oxford by British runner Roger Bannister, who completed the mile in 3 minutes and 59 seconds. Although the record has since been beaten many times, this world-first was all the more impressive given that Bannister was a full-time medical student at the time who only had 45 minutes per day to train.
6. Michael Phelps Breaks the Gold Medal World Record
Despite his career ups and downs, Michael Phelps will forever remain an icon of the Olympics. His position in the hall of fame was cemented at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where he scooped up a staggering eight gold medals in the swimming category. This feat still remains the world record for the most gold medals ever won in any category in a single Olympics.
7. The Rumble in the Jungle
Anyone who has even a passive interest in heavyweight boxing will know exactly what is meant by “rumble in the jungle”. This was the iconic fight that took place in Kinshasa in 1974, where Muhammad Ali, who had been trash-talking his opponent for weeks before the big fight, took the title of world heavyweight champion from George Foreman. Ali’s eight-round knockout punch cemented his status as one of the most legendary figures in sporting history, a title that no other boxer before or since has come close to.
These are the sporting moments that we believe have had the most significant lasting impact on the world. If you think we have missed something from this list, let us know in the comments.
