Phelps, Bolt will go down as Beijing's main men

Barcelona hosted the 1992 Games, and that was all Dream Team all the time. The other crystal-clear memory of Barcelona — aside from rambles on Las Ramblas and spending three weeks in one of the world’s greatest cities — was of Derek Redmond, who tore his hammy in a 400-meter heat. He finished the race in tears while being supported by his father, who came out of the stands to help his son cross the finish line. No gold there. Great memory, though.

The Olympics came to Atlanta in 1996, and that was Kerri Strug and that vault landed on one leg. What’s funny about that is that it turned out Strug didn’t need to land the vault for the U.S. women to win team gold. But no one knew that when she did it, and so she’s the person we remember even more than her teammate, Shannon Miller, who established herself in Atlanta as perhaps the greatest female American gymnast ever.

Atlanta was also Michael Johnson’s golden double, the 200 and 400 sprints. No one had ever won those two races, and Johnson set an Olympic record in the 400 and a world record in the 200 that stood until Usain bolt broke it her. He also wore nifty gold spikes. The other name everyone knows from Atlanta is Richard Jewell, the man who was not responsible for the Olympic Park bombing.

For the 2000 Games, we went Down Under to Sydney. I remember Ian “Thorpedo” Thorpe in swimming, but I doubt many other Americans do — he's an Aussie after all. I also remember Rulon Gardner, the American super-heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestler who beat previously undefeated Alexander Karelin. Most people probably remember Marion Jones, who was a great hero for winning the women’s 100 and 200 sprints before getting stripped of the medals years later for cheating.

Four years ago, it was Phelps trying for the Mark Spitz thing and coming up one gold medal short. Carly Patterson’s all-around gold in gymnastics is in there, too. The other overriding memory is of the U.S. Nightmare Team losing to Puerto Rico, among others, and finishing third in the basketball tournament.

Everybody has other favorite moments, depending on their favorite sports or stories that tugged at their heartstrings. But the moments I’ve listed are probably on most mental checklists. The rest is pretty much a colorful blur of gold-medal smiles, fourth-place tears, and stunning pictures of exotic locales.

There were 302 individual and team victories. If four years from now you remember 10 of the names (naming the Redeem Team doesn’t count), you’re way ahead of the curve.

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