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History has given us sporting moments that defy all odds and expectations. Join us as we count down the most unbelievable feats in sports that we'll likely never witness again! From underdog victories to record-shattering performances, these moments transcended sports and etched themselves into history. Which impossible achievement amazed you most?
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00:00The Boston Red Sox earned a celebration here at Yankee Stadium.
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo.
00:08And today, we're counting down our picks for the most unique moments in sporting history
00:13that we will likely never see again.
00:165,000 to 1, I don't think there's many other things that you're going to get better on, Tom.
00:20Number 10.
00:21South Africa's 1995 Rugby World Cup win.
00:25Any sporting moment that brings a nation a little closer to peace and resolution
00:29deserves to be considered on a list like this.
00:32The atmosphere at the 1995 Rugby World Cup final was nothing short of electric.
00:38It was an amazing place.
00:40In the 1990s, South Africa was still adjusting to its post-apartheid era,
00:46backed by the support of the national icon Nelson Mandela, their president,
00:50what seemed like a divided country found common ground in the sport of rugby.
00:55Not in my wildest dreams did I think that Nelson Mandela would pitch up at the final
00:59wearing a spring mark on his heart.
01:01And when he walked into our changing room to say good luck to us,
01:04and he turned around and my number was on his back.
01:07It was just an amazing feeling.
01:10And in the 1995 World Cup final, they saw off Jonah Lomu and the All Blacks by a narrow margin,
01:17with Joel Stransky scoring a crucial extra-time drop goal to unite his nation and applause.
01:23It wasn't just a huge moment for South African sports.
01:27It was a huge moment for South African history, period.
01:30There it is.
01:32Francois Pina and Nelson Mandela is cheering along with the whole of the stadium.
01:41Number 9.
01:42Nadia Komenich's Perfect Ten.
01:44In 1976, the idea of an athlete receiving a perfect ten score in gymnastics was so far-fetched
01:51that the official scoreboards weren't even calibrated to go higher than 9.99.
01:56I didn't really, I mean, I knew that ten was a big deal because I've done gymnastics
02:01for eight, nine years before, and I've done competitions, and I did the same routines before.
02:08But when 14-year-old Nadia Komenich managed to flawlessly execute a number of highly technical
02:13maneuvers, and the board displayed a 1.00, the crowd were understandably confused.
02:20I didn't come here to Montreal to make history.
02:22I didn't even know what that meant to make history.
02:26Nobody told me that a perfect ten was never scored in Olympic history.
02:30But when the realization set in, it became clear that we had just witnessed history.
02:35It was one of seven perfect scores she would turn in during the 1976 Olympic Games, setting
02:43a brand new standard for gymnastics performance levels in the process.
02:47All that I get, I realize that what I've done was such a big thing, which I didn't realize
02:56then.
02:57Number 8.
02:58Usain Bolt stuns athletics.
03:01Heading into the 2008 Olympics, there was considerable hype surrounding the fast-rising
03:07runner, Usain Bolt.
03:09He was clearly a different level of athlete, and the general expectation was that he would
03:14truly come into his own on the world stage.
03:17But we didn't realize exactly how successful this man would be.
03:22Beijing played host to a truly remarkable display from Bolt as he broke three separate world
03:28records, taking home gold in the 100-meter, 200-meter, and as part of the Jamaican relay team.
03:34This run of sheer dominance would carry through the next two Olympic Games in 2012 and 2016.
03:42But 2008 showcased the performances that truly blew the door off its hinges.
03:48Number 7.
03:49The Hand of God.
03:51Only a player as great as Diego Maradona would score two of the most famous goals in the
03:57history of football in one match.
04:00The match against England proved to be one of the most memorable contests of any FIFA World
04:05Cup.
04:05His first goal in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinals, known as the Hand of God, involved Maradona
04:13going up for an aerial battle with the English keeper, Peter Shilton, and clearly using his
04:19hand to swat the ball into the open goal.
04:21He gave Argentina the lead in the 51st minute by scoring with what he famously called the
04:27Hand of God.
04:29Diego later admitted that he had in fact touched the ball with his hand, but the goal stood.
04:36Somehow, he then scored a second goal, which was called the Goal of the Century, a run that
04:41saw him cover half the field and beat half the English squad before slotting the ball home.
04:47Argentina's talisman had covered an incredible 68 meters, weaving his way through the England
04:52defense and into FIFA World Cup history.
04:56Number 6.
04:57Jesse Owens debunks the Aryan superiority myth.
05:01In 1936, the world was on the verge of a major collapse in an all-out war, and the year's
05:08Olympic Games in Berlin served up quite a lot of tension.
05:11Part of the idea around Aryan superiority really is rooted in this idea of genetics, that you
05:17can engineer the master race.
05:20And so a lot of emphasis was to reproduce the best specimens, and the idea that the best
05:28breeding stock was Aryan breeding stock.
05:30Adolf Hitler's belief that the Aryan race was superior was about to be ripped apart by U.S.
05:36track and field athlete Jesse Owens.
05:38With the German dictator watching on, Owens stormed his way to four different gold medals,
05:44taking the top spot in the 100-meter race, the 200-meter, the relay, and the long jump.
05:50I had jumped farther than any man on Earth.
05:53Hitler was annoyed by Owens' performance, as he had planned to use the Games as an opportunity
05:58to showcase just how much better German athletes were than their rivals.
06:03Unfortunately for him, he didn't count on Jesse Owens single-handedly ruining things.
06:09I think that's the greatest moment of my whole athletic career.
06:125.
06:14Abebe Bekila wins 1960 Olympic Marathon
06:17Winning a gold medal under any circumstances is one of the hardest things an athlete can do.
06:23But for the Ethiopian marathon runner Abebe Bekila, he well and truly flipped the script.
06:29Taking up running at the age of 19 is by no means a good foundation for elite success,
06:34and yet in the 1960 Olympics, at the age of 28, he stunned the world by taking home a gold medal,
06:42becoming the first black African athlete to do so.
06:45And to make matters even crazier, he did it all in his bare feet.
06:50There were no fancy sneaker endorsements here.
06:53No, Bekila ran like a man possessed, and somehow, he replicated his feat in 1964 as well.
07:00A truly bizarre, but brilliant performance.
07:044.
07:05Red Sox Overcome 3-0 Deficit
07:07The Red Sox had been fighting off a long-standing drought that left them without a single World
07:12Series win in 86 years.
07:15The curse of the Bambino started the Red Sox, sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees for $100,000.
07:21Ruth, of course, won four World Series with the Yanks, hit 659 home runs with them.
07:26It took the Red Sox 86 years to win their next World Series.
07:30But in 2004, momentum seemed to favor them.
07:34And with their rivals, the New York Yankees, standing between them and progressing to the
07:38World Series, they somehow overcame a 3-0 series deficit to turn the tables against the
07:43Yankees and seal the win in Game 7.
07:45The Boston Red Sox have won the pennant.
07:49The fact that they went on to win the World Series was impressive as is, but in overturning
07:54what seemed like a certain defeat, they became the first team to ever claw their way back
07:59from such a gulf.
08:012004 was a year that any MLB team would have had a hard time besting.
08:06I'll spread the news, all right.
08:08Number 3, the Miracle on Ice.
08:11The Soviet hockey team was a truly dominant force in the 1970s.
08:16Coming into the 1980 Winter Olympics,
08:18The hockey team was better than everybody else.
08:22They won their games with ease.
08:23There was nothing to celebrate for them.
08:25They were supposed to win.
08:26In an era where professional players were not able to represent their countries, the
08:31Soviets still had a truly stellar team assembled.
08:34As for the Americans, not so much.
08:37Their roster was made up of youthful amateurs, and the notion of them finding victory against
08:42their rivals was considered laughable.
08:44They were treating some of us not with respect.
08:48And I think in the world of sport, you have to respect all your opponents.
08:51So they just kept telling them, someone's going to beat them, someone's going to beat
08:55them, someone's going to beat them.
08:56And yet, they managed to edge them out 4-3 by the time the game had ended, leading to a
09:02hugely unifying cultural moment within the United States.
09:06We restored the pride and patriotism that makes this country so great, not even knowing
09:10it.
09:10It was a win that never should have happened, eventually earning the title, the Miracle
09:16on Ice.
09:17And it's easy to see why.
09:19Number 2.
09:20Muhammad Ali defeats George Foreman.
09:22Muhammad Ali already told the world he was the greatest.
09:25And yet, they still counted him out at the age of 32 when he attempted to win his old
09:30title back from the younger and more powerful George Foreman.
09:3425-year-old George Foreman was the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
09:40Undefeated in 40 straight fights, Foreman had destroyed Joe Frazier inside two rounds to
09:45win the title and had demolished Ken Norton in equally devastating fashion.
09:50Big George had KO'd Ken Norton, he had mauled Joe Frazier, and as Ali walked out to meet
09:56him in a packed Zaire area, it was almost as if the commentary team were writing his
10:01obituary.
10:02One thing that's very important as we take a look across the ring at Muhammad Ali bouncing
10:06around is Dr. Ferdi Facheco, a physician, a man that certainly has the ability to help
10:12the aging former champion Muhammad Ali should he get in trouble.
10:17But Ali had a plan, and with the famed rope-a-dope approach, he let the big man punch himself
10:24out for seven rounds before nailing him in the eighth.
10:27It was the more unlikely and utterly enthralling career comeback, and from there, it became
10:33near impossible to doubt him ever again.
10:35I had lost my title.
10:37Never been so devastated in my life to lose the title until the most braggadocio in the
10:42world, Muhammad Ali.
10:43It took me a long time, maybe a year before I could sleep again.
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11:031.
11:04Leicester City Wins the Premier League
11:06Anything with 5,001 odds of happening is supposed to be a novelty bet.
11:11We were basically dead and buried.
11:13It's like saying Tom Cruise will win the 2028 U.S. presidential election.
11:18But for Leicester City, predictions that they might not even be in the Premier League the
11:23following season made their 2015-16 title run even more unbelievable.
11:28At first, it just seemed like these underdogs were simply finding some healthy early season
11:42form.
11:42But when the new year came and went and people were forced to take them seriously, football
11:48fans across the world could not believe what they were witnessing when they eventually sealed
11:53the league title.
11:54It was instantly declared to be the most shocking and unlikely achievement in English football
11:59history by a long margin.
12:01Leicester City, Leicester City are the champions of England.
12:08But did we miss any other truly shocking sports moments?
12:12Be sure to let us know your favorites in the comments.
12:15John Norman has played off the miracle that no one thought possible.
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