In the countdown to the 2012 London Olympics, we retrace some memorable achievements in the history of the Games. In part seven of our Olympic moments recall, a look at the 1992 Barcelona Games where Carl Lewis and the men's basketball team bring glory to USA and Chris Boardman saves face for Great Britain.
1992: Carl Lewis anchors the US relay team to victory
By the end of 1991, Carl Lewis was starting to fade from greatness. At the 1992 Barcelona, aged 31, he failed to qualify for the 100m event, in which he had won the last two Olympic gold medals.
But like a true great athlete, Lewis picked himself up to win gold in the long jump. He was not supposed to run on the 4x400m relay team, but was added when a team-mate was injured. What happened next was the stuff of legend.
Lewis, in a superior display of speed and athleticism, anchored the 4x100m relay squad comprising Mike Marsh, Leroy Burrell, Dennis Mitchell and him to a world-record victory for his eighth career gold medal. The 'Fantastic Four' ran a time of 37.40 seconds – a record that stood for 16 years. This win became one of the most memorable performances in Olympic history.
1992: Chris Boardman lights up Barcelona
The Barcelona Olympics were not very memorable Games for Great Britain, but when a 24-year-old carpenter overcame his opponents to win the country's first cycling gold in 72 years, he turned into a sensation.
Chris Broadman not only gave Team GB something to cherish, but became a rallying call for the nation. Dubbed 'The Professor' due to his meticulous training habits, Boardman landed in Barcelona as the world record holder for the 500m. His Lotus Engineering 'super bike' was an innovation that the cycling world had not come across before; its ground-breaking aerodynamic structure allowed Boardman cruise through the group stage of the 400m individual pursuit.
Boardman set a new world record against Denmark's Jan Petersen, which he himself shattered a few days later by beating New Zealand's Gary Anderson in the semi-final. Within 30 minutes Boardman resumed action on the track and, displaying outstanding physical strength, went pass the German Jens Lehmann to clinch gold – with a lap to spare.
1992: The Dream Team demolishes all before them
In 1992, the US men's basketball team featured arguably the greatest collection of athletic talent in Olympic team history. Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Scotty Pippen and Patrick Ewing were names that symbolized basketball greatness. And, with an array of adrenalin-fueled athleticism, the Dream Team brought home a gold medal.
With a line-up like that, it was perhaps inevitable that they would do so. The all-star American team put up triple-digit scores in all seven rounds, beating teams by huge margins, as much as by 60 points. This outrageous form was carried into the final, where the US knocked aside Croatia with a final score of 117-85.
In 2010, 18 years after that display of superiority in Barcelona, the Dream Team was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, one of only eight squads to ever earn the honor.
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