47 Historical Images From Past Olympics That Must Be Seen To Be Believed

1. The 100 meters sprint at "the first Olympic Games of the Modern Era" which took place in Athens, Greece in 1896:

2. And the crowd at that same 1896 Olympics:

3. The American track and field athletes at the 1900 Olympics in France:

4. An athlete "barrel jumping" at the 1904 summer Olympics held in St. Louis, Missouri:

5. Female archers competing in the National Round at the 1908 London Olympics:

6. Dorando Pietri — a marathon runner from Italy — on the verge of collapse and being helped across the finish line:

7. Howard P. Drew, an American track and field athlete dubbed "the first great Black sprinter" traveling to Sweden for the 1912 summer Olympics:

8. A crowd gathered at the pier, watching American athletes sail into Stockholm:

9. Italian rowers Ercole Olgeni and Giovanni Scatturin celebrating their gold medal win with a kiss at the 1920 Games in Belgium:

10. The Canadian ice hockey team scoring a goal against the United States at the first winter Olympics in 1924:

11. The first ever Olympic Village at the 1924 games in France:

12. American runner Betty Robinson winning the women's 100-meter dash in 1928, making her the first woman to win a gold medal in a track and field race:

13. The torch being lit during the opening ceremony of the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin:

14. American track and field athlete Jesse Owens — who Hitler refused to congratulate — winning gold for long jump:

15. A make-shift radio station set up in the St. Moritz Hotel to cover the Games:

16. The lighting of the torch at Wembley Stadium in London for the Summer Olympics in June of 1948:

17. Australian swimmer Murray Rose signing autographs at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics:

18. The aftermath of a brawl that broke out during the final moments of a water polo game between the USSR and Hungary, dubbed the "Blood in the Water" match:

19. Crowds inside Blythe Arena at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California:

20. A protest during the opening ceremony of the 1960 Summer Games in Rome due to the Olympic committee forcing Taiwan to complete as "Formosa" rather than "The Republic of China":

21. American track and field star Wilma Rudolph crossing the finish line during the 100-meter dash semi-finals in Rome:

22. Ethiopian athlete Abebe Bikila running the marathon barefoot:

23. Austrian soldiers carrying snow to the slopes in Innsbruck, Austria — which hosted the 1964 Games — due to a shortage of snow and ice:

24. The lighting of the cauldron at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo — the first games to be held in Asia:

25. Two American athletes — Tommie Smith and John Carlos — raising their fists in a Black Power Salute during the U.S. national anthem after being awarded their respective gold and bronze medals for the 200-meter race during the 1968 Games:

26. Sally Welford modeling a uniform worn by guides during the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, which combined aesthetics of Indigenous Mexican art with '60s psychedelia:

27. The U.S. basketball team (above) vs. the USSR team (below) reacting to the controversial outcome of the men's basketball final at the 1972 Olympics, in which the USSR won by one point, taking home the gold:

28. Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci on the balance beam at the 1976 Olympics in Canada. She was the first gymnast in Olympic history to be awarded a perfect score of 10.0:

29. Queen Elizabeth II and her son, Prince Edward, watching Princess Anne compete in a cross-country equestrian event at the 1976 Olympics in Canada:

30. And here's Princess Anne competing:

31. Polish pole vaulter Władysław Kozakiewicz reacting to his gold medal-winning and world record setting-performance at the 1980 Moscow Olympics by flashing the crowd this "up yours" gesture that later became known as "Gest Kozakiewicza":

32. The " Miracle on Ice ," in which the underdog U.S. men's hockey team defeated the Soviet Union's team and went on to win the gold at the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, New York:

33. U.S. swimmer Greg Louganis hitting his head on the diving board during the preliminary dive for the three-meter competition at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Louganis got a concussion from the incident but still went on to compete in the finals, where he successfully executed a "Dive of Death" and won the gold:

34. American runner Florence Griffith-Joyner celebrating her gold medal win in the 100-meter final at the 1988 games. She set a world record for both the 100-meter and 200-meter events, which still stand all these years later:

35. British runner Derek Redmond being assisted by his father after tearing his right hamstring 150m into his semifinal race at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona:

36. Members of the U.S. men's basketball "Dream Team" at the 1992 Olympics celebrating their win. They took home the gold and are considered by many to be "the best basketball team of all time":

37. American figure skater Tonya Harding crying as she leaves the ice in the midst of her 1994 free program performance:

38. U.S. figure skater Nancy Kerrigan (left) — who Harding and her husband had tried to sabotage from reaching the Olympics that year — winning the silver medal:

39. U.S. gymnast Kerri Strug being carried by her coach, Bela Karolyi, during the team competition. Strug injured her ankle after landing poorly in her first vault attempt, but continued on despite her injury and scored a 9.712:

You can watch Strug perform despite her injured ankle below:

40. Muhammad Ali lighting the Olympic Cauldron at the 1996 Summer Games held in Atlanta, Georgia:

41. North and South Korea marching as one at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia:

42. 22-year old swimmer Eric Moussambani of Equatorial Guinea competing alone in the men’s 100m freestyle event after his two competitors — Karin Bare of Nigeria and Farkhod Oripov of Tajikistan — were disqualified for false starts:

43. Brazilian long-distance runner Vanderlei de Lima being shoved into the crowd during his marathon run by an audience member, " defrocked Irish priest " Cornelius Horan:

44. Jamaican runner Usain Bolt after winning the men's 100m final at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing:

45. U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps reacting to his win in the men's 100m butterfly race, which awarded him his seventh gold of the Games:

46. Usain Bolt running in the 100m semifinal at the 2016 Rio Olympics:

47. And finally, Nikki Hamblin of New Zealand and Abbey D'Agostino helping each other after a collision during the women's 5000m race at the 2016 Rio Games:

You can watch the collision — and how they expertly handled it — below: