The greatest summer Olympic moments of all time

The Olympic Games are in full swing in Tokyo, and with it comes the potential for tremendous moments.

There are athletes we know, like Simone Biles in gymnastics and Katie Ledecky in the pool, and those who will use Tokyo as a springboard into the public consciousness, like Lydia Jacoby, who sent her Alaska hometown into a frenzy this week.

With that in mind, here is our list of the top five individual moments in the history of the Summer Olympics. This list does not consider collections of multiple achievements. It celebrates individual accomplishments and/or triumphs of the human spirit that will not be forgotten anytime soon.

5. Kerri Strug vaults on one leg

The 1996 Games saw a battle in women’s gymnastics, between the United States and Russia. In her first vault, Strug fell and hurt her ankle.

However, she fought through the pain, landed her second, and clinched a gold medal for the Americans. As it turned out, the U.S. would have won anyway, but Strug’s display of courage made her a national hero.

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4. Rulon Gardner upsets “the Bear”

Aleksandr Karelin, known as the "Russian Bear," had not lost a Greco-Roman wrestling match in 13 years. He had not surrendered a point in six.

All that was standing between him and a fourth straight Olympic gold medal was Rulon Gardner, a little-known American.

Gardner did the impossible and shocked the world with a 1-0 victory that moved Karelin’s career record to 887-2.

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3. Bob Beamon jumps into history

Bob Beamon was on a high going into the 1968 Games in Mexico City, as he’d won all but one of his meets that year.

However, nobody could have expected the jump that won him the gold medal. When he finally returned to earth, he did so 29 feet, 2 1/2 inches after his launch point, which broke the previous record by nearly two feet.

Beamon’s record stood for 23 years, until fellow American Mike Powell broke it in 1991.

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2. Nadia Comaneci’s perfect 10

Nadia Comaneci was just 14 when she arrived at the 1976 Games in Montreal, and she took the world by storm.

She earned the first perfect score in the history of Olympic gymnastics, a feat underscored by the fact that the scoreboards in the building could only show “1.00,” rather than her perfect 10. She earned seven perfect marks in her events and won the all-around gold medal.

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1. Jason Lezak’s perfect swim

In 2008, the French 4x100 freestyle relay team made no secret of their desire to crush the Americans, and for three-quarters of the race, that’s what happened.

The only person who could stop the Alain Bernard-led Frenchmen from winning gold was not the celebrated Michael Phelps, but sprint specialist Jason Lezak. His split of :46.06 was the fastest ever measured, and he caught Bernard to win by 0.08 seconds.