50 Memorable Moments: Countdown Begins

There have been literally thousands of incredible moments during the London Olympics. But seriously, thousands. We don’t have enough time to document them all, so instead we’ll give you our 50 favorite. Some are funny, some heartwarming, some tragic, but all have a little thing we like to call ‘Olympic spirit.’ Here are moments No. 50 though  No. 41.

50. Morgan Uceny’s fall from grace
As everyone went into their final kick during the women’s 1500m, Ethiopia’s Abeba Aregawi clipped the left leg of Morgan Uceny, causing her to tumble to the track. She pounded her fist into the ground and sobbed uncontrollably as the rest of the runners finished, then finally got up, held her hands over her face, and disappeared beneath the stadium.

49. Vos wins gold in the women’s road race
The world’s best female cyclist, Marriane Vos, had won silver at the last five world championships on the road, but as the rainy streets of London claimed victims all over the course, including American gold medalist Kristin Armstrong, the Dutch wonder pulled away with the lead pack, then held off Great Britain’s Elizabeth Armitstead in her final stretch to gold.

48. Le Clos beats Michael Phelps to the wall
South African Chad le Clos was expected to medal in the men’s 200m butterfly, but he defied all expectations when he out-touched the legendary Michael Phelps by 0.05 seconds in the decorated swimmer’s signature event. Chad’s father, Bert, was so ecstatic that he gave a heartwarming, albeit nearly unintelligible interview to the BBC that went viral.

47. Ledecky wins gold in the 800m free
Kati Ledecky, 15, came to London as the youngest member of Team USA, so just making the 800m final was good enough. Then she won the gold. Ledecky out-paced the field by four seconds, breaking the American record and nearly the world record in the process. She adorably shouted “Oh my God!” when she saw her time. Now back to high school.

46. Wu Minxia wins gold after horrific news
The family of Chinese diver Wu Minxia waited until after she won 3m springboard synchro gold to tell her that her grandparents had died… a year ago. And that her mother suffered with breast cancer for eight years. Wu shook off the devastating news to win gold in the individual 3m springboard event, her sixth Olympic medal, then announced her retirement.

45. Weightlifter drops 332 lbs on her chest
There have been several mishaps in weightlifting this year – dropped weights, dislocated joints – but the one by Egyptian Khalil Mahmoud K Abir Abdelrahman is probably the most watchable. In her third attempt in cleaning and/or jerking 151 kg (332 lbs) she popped the weight onto her shoulders in a squat position – but that’s as far as she got. As she fell over, the weight dropped on her chest. She was sent to the hospital.

44. Liu Xiang collapses in first hurdle
Chinese track star Liu Xiang won gold in the 110m hurdles in Athens in 2004, becoming a hero in his home country, but injuries kept him out of the Beijing Games and have generally hampered his career. He hoped to make a triumphant Olympic return in London, but at the start of the 110m final he crashed into the first hurdle and tumbled to the ground with a torn Achilles tendon.

43. The best gymnastics routine you probably didn’t see
Epke Zonderland of the Netherlands turned in a jaw-droppingly acrobatic performance on the high bar that he capped with a perfectly stuck landing, earning him the victory among an intensely competitive field. He became the first Dutch male to ever win gymnastics gold.

42. Rhode shoots, scores an all-time American record
Skeet shooter Kim Rhode may not have the highest name recognition among American Olympians, but that could change. She blasted an Olympic-record 99 of 100 targets on her way to winning gold, becoming the first American to win an individual medal at five straight Olympics.

41. Distraught fencer refuses to leave the piste:
With 0:01 left in overtime of her semifinal bout, South Korea’s Shin A-Lam thought she had earned a trip to the gold medal match in women’s epee. Questionable time-keeping led to what proved to be a very long 0:01, and A-lam lost. She sat crying quietly on the piste for over an hour in protest, since fencing rules state that a fencer who leaves the piste accepts the judges’ decision. It was for naught: Her loss was upheld and she went on to lose the bronze-medal match, though she did capture a silver medal in the team competition.

Follow Kitchen and Stern on Twitter, mostly because we sound like a pair of mismatched 1980s TV detectives.

© 2012 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Any use, reproduction, modification, distribution, display or performance of this material without NBCUniversal’s prior written consent is prohibited.