100 Greatest Moments

Just weeks after getting crushed by the Soviet Union 10-3, the U.S. Olympic team came back from a 3-2 deficit and defeated the defending champs 4-3. A Sports Illustrated Original.

Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play in the major leagues when he debuted for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. A Sports Illustrated Original.

Known as "The Buckeye Bullet”, Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Summer Olympics. Adolf Hitler expected the Games to be a showcase of Aryan supremacy, but the United States won 11 gold medals - six of which were won by African-American athletes, and four of which were won by Owens. A Sports Illustrated Original.

The 1958 championship game was the first NFL playoff game to go into sudden death overtime and it is commonly referred to as "The Greatest Game Ever Played". A Sports Illustrated Original.

Often regarded as the most brutal heavyweight fights of all time, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier faced off for the third time in their careers. Ali won the series 2-1 by TKO after the 14th round. A Sports Illustrated Original.

With a record eighth gold medal on the line, Michael Phelps and his teammates set the world record in the men's 4x100-meter medley relay, making Phelps the most decorated swimmer of all time. A Sports Illustrated Original.

Twenty-one year-old Tiger Woods took the golf world by storm in his first major championship as a professional. He won the Masters with an 18-under 270, beating the runner-up by 12 strokes. A Sports Illustrated Original.

Bill Mazeroski hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning in Game 7 of the World Series as the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the New York Yankees. A Sports Illustrated Original.

Three days before Super Bowl III, "Broadway Joe” Namath told reporters that he guaranteed a Jets victory over the heavily-favored Colts. Jets coach Weeb Ewbank first heard of it the next day when the guarantee was front-page news. A Sports Illustrated Original.

With a two-run shot in the bottom of the fourth inning Hank Aaron became the all-time home run leader with 715 career home runs, surpassing Babe Ruth. A Sports Illustrated Original.

Trailing 103-102 with 2.1 seconds left and the entire court to cover in overtime of the East Regional Final, Grant Hill inbounded the ball the length of the court to Christian Laettner, who stood around the free-throw line. Laettner faked, turned, and drilled the shot as time expired to give Duke the victory. A Sports Illustrated Original.

Down by one in the closing seconds of Game 6 of the NBA Finals, Michael Jordan drove to his right, "pushed off" of Bryon Russell and sank a go-ahead jumper to clinch the title for Chicago, the team's third straight championship and sixth in eight years. A Sports Illustrated Original.

In the final race of the Triple Crown, Secretariat won by a record 31 lengths, with a record time of 2:24 that still stands today. With that victory, Secretariat became the first horse in 25 years to win the Triple Crown. A Sports Illustrated Original.

A heavy underdog, Muhammad Ali knocked out undefeated world heavyweight champion George Foreman in eight rounds. A Sports Illustrated Original.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, down 4-2 to the Brooklyn Dodgers, the New York Giants' Bobby Thompson came up to the plate with runners on second and third. After taking the first pitch, Thompson swung at the second and launched it into the left field stands. A Sports Illustrated Original.

Philadelphia Warriors star Wilt Chamberlain set a single-game record with 100 points in a win over the New York Knicks. A Sports Illustrated Original.

Starting the final round tied for ninth place, Nicklaus's final major victory was one of his most improbable. He shot a 30 on the back nine and a 65 for the round, winning his 18th and final major championship. A Sports Illustrated Original.

In 1954, Englishman Roger Bannister rewrote the record books when he became the first person to run a sub-four-minute mile. A Sports Illustrated Original.

Down 14-10 with 1:16 left in Super Bowl XLII against the 18-0 New England Patriots, the Giants faced a third-and-five on their own 44-yard line. On that play, quarterback Eli Manning escaped several New England defenders and threw up a desperation heave to David Tyree. Tyree caught the ball by pinning it against his helmet, securing a 32-yard gain. A Sports Illustrated Original.

In Game 5 of the World Series the New York Yankees' Don Larsen became the first pitcher in history to throw a perfect game in the postseason as he blanked the Brooklyn Dodgers in a 2-0 win. A Sports Illustrated Original.

The underdog Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, took on defending champion Sonny Liston, who had been the heavyweight champion since 1962. Liston conceded after the sixth round after suffering cuts on his face and an injured shoulder. Ali won by technical knockout, becoming the heavyweight champion. A Sports Illustrated Original.

A few weeks after ALS forced him to retire from baseball, New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig addressed the crowd at Yankee Stadium and said that despite his health issues, he considers himself the "luckiest man on the face of the earth." A Sports Illustrated Original.

Texas Western met Kentucky in the 1966 NCAA basketball title game, becoming the first school ever to start five black players in an NCAA championship game. In a stadium full of almost exclusively white fans, officials and coaches, Texas Western defeated No. 1 Kentucky and changed the college basketball landscape forever. A Sports Illustrated Original.

Brandi Chastain converted the fifth kick in a penalty shootout between the U.S. and China to give the Americans the win in the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup Final. It was the U.S. women's second World Cup title. A Sports Illustrated Original.