Top 20 Heartwarming Olympics Moments

Top 20 Heartwarming Olympic Moments

Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most emotional moments that tugged on our heartstrings from the history of the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.

#20: The Sisterhood of Sportsmanship

2016 Summer Olympics, Rio

During one of the heats for the women's 5000-meter race at the 2016 Summer Olympics, disaster struck as the athletes grouped together. New Zealand’s Nikki Hamblin tripped in the crowd, causing the US’s Abbey Cooper, previously known as D'Agostino, to fall over her. While Cooper got to her feet first, once the adrenaline wore off, she realized she was in agony. The two women helped each other to finish the race. Despite Cooper and Hamblin finishing last and second last respectively, they qualified for the final due to their sportsmanship actions. However, Cooper sustained a torn ACL and meniscus, making it even more incredible that she even finished. Afterwards, the duo were awarded by The International Fair Play Committee.

#19: Hidilyn Diaz's Gold

2020 Summer Olympics, Tokyo

Since making their Olympic debut in 1924, the Philippines had achieved several medals, but a gold medal had eluded them. Coming into the 2020 Summer Olympics, which were delayed to 2021, weightlifter Diaz had hopes of bettering her silver medal from the previous games. However, her preparations were thrown into chaos when she was stuck in Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic, with additional restrictions forcing her to make a homemade gym. Understandably, this played havoc with her mental health. Yet when Diaz was able to compete at the Games in the 55-kilogram category, she was phenomenal. Not only did she set two Olympic records, but Diaz took the gold medal, securing the Philippines' first gold and turning her into a national icon.

#18: Eric Moussambani Swims

2000 Summer Olympics, Sydney

Even with everything against him, Moussambani became not only an Equatorial Guinea hero, but also an Olympic one. Having only taken up swimming eight months before the 2000 Games, with the country only setting up a swimming federation six months before, Moussambani had to train in hotel pools. So, when he arrived at the Olympics, he’d never used a pool that size before. Nicknamed “Eric the Eel,” the legend competed in the 100-metre freestyle via a wildcard draw. While he finished last with the slowest time in the games’ history, it didn’t matter as he even set a national record. While he couldn’t attend the 2004 event due to a visa issue, Moussambani would later become a coach for Equatorial Guinea’s swimming team.

#17: Iivo Niskanen Waits for Everyone to Finish

2022 Winter Olympics, Beijing

After winning a race, many athletes would go on to celebrate, take part in press events, and leave the venue. It’s understandable. Yet Finland’s Niskanen is different. At the 2022 Winter Olympics, he grabbed the gold medal at the men's 15-kilometre classical in cross-country skiing. Despite being exhausted from his achievement, Niskanen wasn’t ready to celebrate. Instead, he waited until every other participant had crossed the finish line, wanting to show them all the respect they deserved, especially for countries that don’t typically do well at Winter events due to their smaller budgets. The last to cross was Colombia’s Carlos Quintana, who finished nearly 18 minutes after the Fin, causing the two to celebrate together.

#16: The Determination of Gabriela Andersen-Schiess

1984 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles

The women’s marathon event at the 1984 Olympics was especially memorable for two reasons. Firstly, it was the first time women were able to compete in the event at the Olympics. The second, the incredible drive of Andersen-Schiess. Twenty minutes after the US’s Joan Benoit won the race, the Swiss runner entered the stadium. With temperatures peaking to 90 degrees Fahrenheit, mixed in with Andersen-Schiess missing the last water station, she was suffering from heat exhaustion and dehydration. Her limbs seized as medical staff spoke to her, yet she kept running. After spotting that Andersen-Schiess was still sweating, showing she had some fluid, they let her continue. Even with several stops and limping around the track, Andersen-Schiess sensationally crossed the finish line.

#15: Volunteer Helps Hansle Parchment to Gold

2020 Summer Olympics, Tokyo

Before the semi-final of the men's 110 metres hurdles at the 2020 Olympics, Jamaica’s Parchment was lost in Tokyo, Japan, after taking the wrong bus and ending up at a different venue. However, with time running out and looking like he’d miss the event, he met Olympic volunteer Tijana Stojkovic, who gave him money to get a taxi. Amazingly, after qualifying from the semi, Parchment went on to win the gold medal. He went back to meet Stojkovic and pay her back, as well as show her the medal she helped him win and give her an Olympic shirt. On top of that, Jamaican officials were so grateful for her kind gesture that they offered her an all-expenses-paid trip to the Caribbean country.

#14: John Stephen Akhwari Never Gives Up

1968 Summer Olympics, Mexico City

With the 1968 Olympics taking place in Mexico City, which has an altitude of around 7,350 feet, many athletes were going to struggle. This became clear for Tanzania marathon runner Akhwari, who’d never trained as high up as this before. During the intense race, Akhwari’s muscles began cramping. Yet rather than join the other 18 athletes who couldn’t finish the race, he kept persevering. Even when he fell, giving him an injured shoulder and a dislocated knee, Akhwari wouldn’t quit, receiving brief medical attention before continuing. While he came last, his words afterwards resonated with everyone when he stated, “My country did not send me 5,000 miles to run the race; it sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race.”

#13: Bjørn Dæhlie & Philip Boit's Friendship

1998 Winter Olympics, Nagano

While Norway’s Dæhlie is one of the country’s most successful Olympic athletes, it was his actions away from competition that solidified his legend. After winning a gold medal in the men's 10-kilometre classical cross-country skiing event at the 1998 Winter Olympics, Dæhlie declined to leave until everyone competing had finished. This refusal even caused the medal ceremony to be delayed. Yet, regardless, Dæhlie wanted to show respect to everyone. The last to cross the line, 20 minutes after Dæhlie, was Kenya’s Boit, who was the first to represent his nation in the Winter Olympics. After sharing a hug, this sparked a lifelong friendship between the two, so much so that Boit named his child after Dæhlie.

#12: Kerri Strug Breaking the Pain Barrier

1996 Summer Olympics, Atlanta

As part of the “Magnificent Seven” US gymnastic team that was filled with talent, it was the teenager Strug who shone with her courage. Coming down to the US and Russia for the gold in the women's artistic team all-around, Strug was set to perform the vault. However, when she landed, she severely sprained her ankle, with some reports stating she tore multiple ligaments. Yet, with their opponents racking up scores in other events, Strug was required to do one more vault. After limping up to the event, she fought through her pain to achieve the vault before collapsing and needing to be carried off. However, Strug’s effort wasn’t in vain as her score was enough to give the US gold!

#11: Dan Jansen Finally Gets a Medal

1994 Winter Olympics, Lillehammer

In 1988, the US’s Jansen arrived at the Winter Olympics as the world champion. However, before he could compete in the speed skating events, he got the devastating news that his sister, Jane, had leukemia, which she passed away from hours later. Understandably, after that terrible news, he struggled at this one and the next Olympics. Yet, in 1994, Jansen arrived at the Olympics desperate to get a medal. Incredibly, not only did he win a gold in the men's 1000 metres, but he broke a world record! After all his heartache, Jansen had achieved his goal. He celebrated with his daughters, one of whom was named after his sister. After retiring from the sport shortly after, Jansen created a foundation to combat leukemia.

#10: Jamaican National Bobsled Team

1988 Winter Olympics, Calgary

The 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada featured some world class performances and amazing gold medal wins. But one of the most popular teams of the games was the 4-man bobsled team from Jamaica. They didn’t win any medals. In fact, they crashed in their final run and never officially finished, but that really didn’t matter because just being there was a victory. The team didn’t have the experience the other teams had, they didn’t even have all the equipment they needed and had to borrow some of it from other teams at the games. And let’s not forget they come from a country that doesn’t have snow. They were an inspiration worthy of a Disney movie. Oh ya, Disney made a movie about them.

#9: US & Botswana Runners Finish the Race Together

2020 Summer Olympics, Tokyo

Something amazing happened in 2021 during the men's 800-meter semifinal race at the Tokyo Olympics and it had nothing to do with who finished first. On the final curb of the race, American runner Isaiah Jewett was preparing to make his push to qualify for the finals when Nijel Amos from Botswana accidentally tripped him from behind. In that moment, Jewett could have gotten aggressive towards Amos, and/or he could have gotten angry at him for costing him his chance at an Olympic final. But he didn’t. Instead, seeing how devastated Amos was as well, Jewett helped him up off the ground and told him, "Hey man, let's finish this race, we're not done yet. Let's finish it together." And that’s what they did.

#8: Cathy Freeman Lights the Flame & Wins Gold

2000 Summer Olympics, Sydney

The 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia were great for the host country, which ended up in fourth place in the overall medal count. But while every one of those medals was meaningful, one of them meant a little more to the often-marginalized indigenous people of the country. Aussie sprinter Cathy Freeman is an indigenous person who was also selected to light the Olympic flame. And when Freeman won the 400m gold, she became the first Australian Aboriginal person to win an Olympic gold medal as an individual (as opposed to as part of a team). She even carried the Australian and the Aboriginal flags during her victory lap.

#7: Matthias Steiner Holds Photo of His Late Wife

2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing

In 2005, Austrian-German weightlifter Matthias Steiner married a German woman and moved to Germany. Tragically, just two years later, his wife passed away in a car accident. Steiner was crushed. He lost upwards of 15 pounds, but was able to continue his training and went to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, competing for Germany in the +105kg category. The competition was tight, but Steiner out-lifted the field and won gold. It was a very emotional moment, especially knowing that his wife would have been there to see it had he not lost her the previous year. To honor her and have her with him, he held up a picture of the late Susann while on the podium accepting his gold medal.

#6: Post-Apartheid Victory Lap

1992 Summer Olympics, Barcelona

In 1962, due to their racist national policy of apartheid, South Africa was banned from Olympic competition. In 1990, there began negotiations within South Africa to end apartheid and in 1992, the nation was allowed back into the Olympic fold at the summer games in Barcelona. In the women's 10,000m race, Ethiopia's Derartu Tulu took home the gold with the silver medal going to South African runner Elana Meyer. Following the race, the runners came together for a victory lap. South Africa still had a ways to go to heal nationally as well as internationally. But seeing these two runners together and even holding hands, provided a heartwarming glimmer of hope that humanity could one day emerge victorious.

#5: The Shared Gold Medal

2020 Summer Olympics, Tokyo

In sports, we are taught that for one person to win, someone else has to lose. Well, at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, two men showed us that that doesn’t always have to be the case. High-jumpers Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar and Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi had been close friends for over 10 years by the time they arrived in Tokyo. During the competition, both jumpers cleared the same high and the rules required a jump-off to determine the winner. Or, if there was no jump-off, then the two athletes would tie. And that’s exactly what they chose to do: joyfully deciding to share the gold medal. As Barshim said, “This is beyond sport. This is the message we deliver to the young generation.”

#4: Georgian Athletes Compete after Losing a Teammate

2010 Winter Olympics, Vancouver

On February 12th, 2010, during his final training run, Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili suffered a fatal crash in the final turn of the course. Following their countryman’s tragic death, the entire Georgian contingent considered leaving and skipping the Olympics entirely. However, the Georgian sports and culture minister later announced that they would stay to compete and "dedicate their efforts to their fallen comrade." During the opening ceremonies, the entire team, now down to only seven athletes, showed respect for Kumaritashvili in a number of ways, including wearing black ribbons and leaving a space among them during the procession.

#3: Lawrence Lemieux Saves Competitors

1988 Summer Olympics, Seoul

Lawrence Lemieux was a Canadian Olympic sailor who competed at both the 1984 and 1988 Olympic games. It was at those 1988 games in Seoul, South Korea that Lemieux won the medal that people are still talking about, and it wasn’t gold, silver or bronze. Lemieux was in the middle of a race when he noticed that the team from Singapore’s boat had capsized in the strong winds and the sailors had been thrown from the dinghy. Lemieux steered off course from his race to go and save the capsized sailors and wait for a rescue boat to pick them up. For this amazing act, he was awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal for sportsmanship.

#2: Derek Redmond & His Dad

1992 Summer Olympics, Barcelona

Usually it is the winners of a race that are forever remembered. But, alongside his father, at the men’s 400m semi-final at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona it was Derek Redmond, the man who crossed the finish line last who has gone down in Olympic history. Redmond, a sprinter from Britain tore his hamstring during the race. Rather than just hobble off the track he was determined to cross the finish line. And that’s when this emotional moment came into being. Seeing his son limping along, Derek’s father ran out onto the track and helped him complete the full 400 meters as the crowd rose to their feet and cheered them on.

#1: Joannie Rochette Skates for Her Mom

2010 Winter Olympics, Vancouver

A two-year old Joannie Rochette was first brought to the local skating rink by her mother, Thérèse Rochette. 22 years and six consecutive Canadian championships later, Rochette was skating for her country in the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. Her mother came to see her compete, but shortly after arriving in Vancouver she had a heart attack and passed away. She was only 55 years old. Rochette was given the sad news while practicing for her short program skate. A heartbroken Rochette remained in the competition and just days later, skating for her mother, she had the best short skate of her career, ending with tears in her eyes. She followed that with a strong long program skate and the bronze medal.

Did we miss any other heartwarming Olympic moments in the video? Let us know which incident tugged on your heartstrings below!