Before Michelle Kwan was forced to bid a sad adieu to her gold-medal dreams... before Ted Ligety came from nowhere to win the alpine combined... and before the world had ever heard of a Flying Tomato, these Winter Olympians gave TV-viewers much to talk about and forever remember.
1. Heiden's Fantastic Five — Lake Placid 1980In the speed-skating equivalent of running — and winning — a sprint, a mile, a marathon and nearly everything in between, Eric Heiden achieved what fellow Olympian Dan Jansen calls "the single greatest feat in the history of sports." Hard to disagree. Looking more superhero than mere mortal in his skin-tight uniform, the thunder-thighed skating machine collected five individual gold medals, setting four Olympic records and smashing a world record in his last event, the grueling 10,000-meter race, by more than six seconds. His incredible accomplishment has never been duplicated.
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Before Michelle Kwan was forced to bid a sad adieu to her gold-medal dreams... before Ted Ligety came from nowhere to win the alpine combined... and before the world had ever heard of a Flying Tomato, these Winter Olympians gave TV-viewers much to talk about and forever remember.
1. Heiden's Fantastic Five — Lake Placid 1980In the speed-skating equivalent of running — and winning — a sprint, a mile, a marathon and nearly everything in between, Eric Heiden achieved what fellow Olympian Dan Jansen calls "the single greatest feat in the history of sports." Hard to disagree. Looking more superhero than mere mortal in his skin-tight uniform, the thunder-thighed skating machine collected five individual gold medals, setting four Olympic records and smashing a world record in his last event, the grueling 10,000-meter race, by more than six seconds. His incredible accomplishment has never been duplicated.
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2006 Winter Olympic Games: Opening CeremonyIt's a little ridiculous how excited I am that this night has arrived! There's something so magical and exciting about the Winter Olympics that I just can't explain. I can't believe it's already been four years since I was tearing up when little Sarah Hughes took the gold in Salt Lake City. But before the madness begins, it's the mother of all events: Opening Ceremony. During this extravagant four-hour affair, we were taken on a journey of passion, fire, ice and endless clichés. Not to mention the obvious push for a time of peace during the one moment when the entire world is united. It all kicked off with NBC's Brian Williams reminding us how "dicey" our world is now and that "sports can do what diplomats and p
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