This was always going to be a hugely contentious article. There are hundreds of famous sporting moments that could and probably should have made the list. The following is thus an attempt to take as neutral a stance as possible and to look at each famous moment based on its own merit and the enormity of what each individual or team achieved by completing the various feats. Some are one-off moments others represent the culmination of great careers. So without further ado here is the realbuzz.com verdict on the top 10 sporting moments of all time.  Maybe their efforts will inspire you to get into sport.

Kerry Strug’s one footed vault wins USA gold, 1996

In a truly herculean effort Olympic gymnast Kerry Strug triumphed over adversity to win gold in the vault at Atlanta 1996. During her first vault Strug under-rotated and damaged her ankle upon landing. Shrug could be seen to limp painfully back to her mark for her second attempt. Needing to land a vault to clinch victory the injured Shrug psyched her self up and faced the runway for attempt two. On her damaged ankle she sprinted to the board, executed her vault and landed having to hop onto one foot to hold the attempt. She was given a score 9.712 before collapsing and having to be carried off the mat.

Lance Armstrong defies the odds with Tour de France win, 1999

Cycling great Lance Armstrong defied the odds to beat cancer and triumph in one of the most gruellingendurance events ever. After having extensive chemotherapy to treat testicular cancer that had spread to his brain and lungs — he was given around a 40 per cent chance of survival — he returned to win the 1999 Tour de France, beating his nearest rival by more than seven minutes. Not content with that, the remarkable athlete went on to win the Tour de France — later christened by some as the ‘Tour de Lance’ due to his dominance — a further six times, before retiring in 2005.

Jesse Owens' four Olympic golds, 1936

America’s Jesse Owens spoiled the plans of the Nazi regime when he claimed four golds at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The Nazis had carefully choreographed the Olympics to support their ideology of an Aryan race, but hadn’t bargained on Owens, who swept all before him to win four titles: the 100m, 200m, long jump and 4 x 100m relay. In the long jump, Owens beat the German Luz Long, and after the medal presentation the pair embraced and paraded around the stadium arm-in-arm — which wasn’t exactly the showpiece that Hitler had envisaged! Owens’ feat would not be repeated until US athlete Carl Lewis did the same at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.

Ali v Foreman, ‘Rumble in the Jungle’, 1974

Muhammad Ali, already considered to be a great boxer, wanted at the age of 32 to regain the world heavyweight title from George Foreman, who was six years his junior. Foreman was heavily fancied, as he was unbeaten in 40 fights — just three of which had gone the distance. For financial reasons the fight was staged in Zaire, and anyone who was anybody flocked out there to watch a fight that would subsequently go down in boxing legend. After the first round, Ali opted to back off and took everything that the giant Foreman could throw at him — but by the sixth round Foreman was exhausted. In the eighth round, Ali counterattacked and sent in a superb right-hander, which ended the champion’s reign. Ali had regained his title. The events before and during the bout are well captured in the documentary ‘When We Were Kings’.

Michael Jordan’s series winning shot, 1998

There could be an individual article dedicated to Basketball’s greatest moments. Arguably the greatest individual achievement would be Wilt Chamberlain’s famous 100 point game in 1962 for the Philadelphia Warriors – which remains the highest individual score in the sport’s history. However, arguably the most memorable moment in basketball history is Michael Jordan’s game and playoff winning basket in the NBA finals of 1998. With 10 seconds remaining on the clock and with the Bulls trailing the Utah jazz by a point (85-86) Jordan stole the ball from a preoccupied Karl Malone, dribbled up-court, cut right then left and, gaining a yard of space on guard Bryon Russell, released the most famous shot in the history of the game to win the Larry O’Brian trophy by a point. The game remains the most watched in NBA history.

Mark Spitz's seven Olympic golds, 1972

At the 1972 Olympics in Munich, US swimmer Mark Spitz claimed an as then unprecedented seven Olympic gold medals in the pool — a feat later beaten by Michael Phelps' eight golds in 2008. Despite an exhausting program of 13 races in a little over a week, Spitz kept on winning and winning, claiming titles in the 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly, 4 x 100m freestyle, 4 x 200m freestyle, and the 4 x 100m medley — as well as the world record in each of the events! Going out on top, the swimmer opted to quit his swimming career at the tender age of 22.

Roger Bannister breaks the four-minute mile, 1954

No milestone in middle-distance running has ever been so revered as the moment when British runner Roger Bannister became the first athlete to break the magical four-minute mark for completing a mile. Bannister was so upset not to pick up a medal at the 1952 Olympics that he vowed to redeem himself by ducking under the mark in a race in Oxford. Despite only being able to train for just 45 minutes each day due to being a full-time medical student, history was made on 6th May 1954 when he ran the mile in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds. Over 50 years later, the mile record has progressed so that it now stands at 3:43.13 — which was set by Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj at Rome in 1999.

John McEnroe v Bjorn Borg Wimbledon final, 1980

Few tennis rivalries have ever matched up to that between the ice-cool Swede Bjorn Borg and the brash American John McEnroe — and their 1980 Wimbledon final in particular has gone down in legend. McEnroe was booed as he walked onto Centre Court, having had one of his famous outbursts with an umpire in his semi-final, but he was not put off his stride and took the opening set 6-1. Borg took the next two sets, and in the unforgettable fourth set tie break Borg saved six set points and McEnroe saved five match points before McEnroe finally won the tie break 18-16. The strain eventually told on McEnroe, who went on to lose the fifth set 8-6, giving Borg his fifth consecutive Wimbledon title. However, the American had his revenge when he won the final in 1981, and Borg bowed out from the game in 1982, despite several later attempts at a comeback.

Jack Nicklaus 6^th Masters victory, 1986

Despite the rise of the mighty Tiger, Jack Nicklaus, the golden bear, remains the most successful golfer in the history of the game with a huge 18 PGA tour championship wins. A man of incredible heart and skill Nicklaus’ crowning achievement, and one of the all-time great sporting moments, is surely his win at the 1986 masters. At the age 46, with a top finish of 39^th in his previous 7 tournaments, it was considered impossible for Nicklaus to win at Augusta and collect his 6^th green jacket. Despite this the golden bearcame back from four shots behind Australian Greg Norman to finish with a round of 65 and claim victory.

'Miracle on ice' Olympic hockey final victory, 1980

It is a hockey game that holds the honor of being voted the Sports Illustrated official greatest sporting moment of all time. The game in question is the 1980 winter Olympic final between bitter rivals the USA and the USSR. In the run up to the Olympics the Soviet Union had dominated international hockey. They had torn apart the NHL all-stars to record a demoralizing 6-0 victory in 1979 and had humiliated team USA in a 10-3 annihilation at Madison Square Garden shortly before the start of the Olympics. After a flawless qualifying campaign the veteran Soviet team, victors at every Olympic Games since 1964, came face to face with their country’s biggest political and military rival again. Team USA was a team comprised of a group of inexperienced and un-fancied college students but in the final they sensationally came from 3-2 down to take the game 4-3 in the third period with Mark Eruzione scoring the game winning goal. Set, as it was, amongst a backdrop of increasing hostilities between the two nations, the game is one of the most significant in the history of sport and has been dubbed the “miracle on ice”.