Steve Redgrave wins his fifth Olympic gold, 2000

A serious candidate for the title of ‘Greatest Ever Olympian’, Steve Redgrave joined the ranks of the genuine sporting giants when he picked up his fifth consecutive Olympic rowing gold medal at the Sydney 2000 games. After winning his first in Los Angeles in 1984, then winning again in Seoul in 1988, Barcelona in 1992, and Atlanta in 1996, Redgrave jokingly asked anyone seeing him going near a boat again to ‘shoot’ him! But get in a boat again he did, and at the age of 38 he joined Matthew Pinsent, Tim Foster and James Cracknell in Great Britain’s coxless four in Sydney. They won gold after edging a dramatic race — in which they held off a late surge from the Italians to win by the narrowest of margins (0.38 seconds) — to ensure Sir Steve’s status as a rowing and Olympic legend.

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 gruelling  endurance 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

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’.

Garfield Sobers hits six sixes, 1968

 Swansea was the unlikely location for one of the greatest feats in cricket history when West Indian Sir Garfield Sobers, playing for Nottinghamshire against Glamorgan, became the first batsman to hit six sixes off one over in first-class cricket. Glamorgan bowler Malcolm Nash — usually a seam bowler — opted to try spin, with disastrous consequences! The first two balls were hit into the stand, the third went into the pavilion, the fourth went over the scoreboard, the fifth was caught but the fielder fell over the boundary rope, and the sixth flew straight out of the ground. This amazing feat has been repeated several times since, with Indian Ravi Shastri, South African Herschelle Gibbs, and Indian Yuvraj Singh hitting six sixes in an over.

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 programme 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.

Liverpool clinch the European cup for the fifth time, 2005

For undeniable football theatre, no European final has ever come close to matching this Champions League final in Istanbul. At 3-0 up at half-time, Italian giants AC Milan were singing in the dressing room expecting victory, while Liverpool players were fearing an even worse drubbing during the second half.

However, urged forward by their captain, Steven Gerrard, Liverpool hit back with three goals in six minutes to level matters, then saw their keeper produce a miracle save moments before the end of extra time, and finally won the match in a nail-biting penalty shoot-out. There has probably never been a comeback of such proportions and drama as this in any other significant football match.

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.

Steve Ovett and Seb Coe’s rivalry, 1980

British runners Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe were at the height of their powers — and were serious rivals — when they clashed at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow in both the 800m and 1500m finals. In the 800m race, favourite Coe — known for his sprint finish — allowed Ovett to dictate the race, only to find that his legs were not up to the job of catching his rival in the home straight. Ovett took the gold and Coe the silver. The 1500m was a different story, however, where the highly fancied Ovett was beaten by a lightning burst from Coe over the last 100m, and cracked under the pressure to come in third. Coe won the gold, and many years later he also became a major player in securing the Olympics for London in 2012.