30 Greatest NBC Olympic Moments

As part of the countdown to London, and the relaunch of NBCOlympics.com, NBC has unveiled its list of the "30 Greatest NBC Olympic Moments," which will be revealed during a special that will air the week before the Games.  From now until then, fans can watch the moments on the website and vote for their top three.  I obviously significantly like much more than just three of these moments.  Just like there are many, many, many others that I think could also've been included.  But, I'll play by the rules and go with the 30 NBC has selected (keep in mind, these are NBC Olympic moments, so they're only from 1964 and 1988-2008).  Out of those 30, here's my Top 10 (in no particular order):

• 2008: Men's 4x100 Meter Freestyle Relay (Swimming)-I've ranked this one as the "gold medalist" every time I've voted so far.  I can't remember ever in my life being so excited watching a swimming race.  France was heavily favored and had the lead entering the anchor leg.  Jason Lezak was a body-length behind (and actually losing ground over the first 50) before remarkably surging all the way back to touch the wall first, keeping Michael Phelps' quest for eight gold medals alive.  That race was one of those Olympic moments that you'll truly never forget.
• 2008: Men's 100 Meter Butterfly (Swimming)-I'm going to cheat a little bit and make this moment 1A.  It's right up there with the relay as the most dramatic of Phelps' eight gold medals in Beijing.  It looked like eight golds wasn't going to happen.  Phelps was actually behind Serbia's Milorad Cavic for the entire race.  But Cavic reached for the wall a little to early and Phelps took an extra half-stroke.  That half-stroke proved to be the difference, as Phelps won by .01 seconds.
• 2008: Usain Bolt (Track & Field)-The men's 100 and 200 meter finals in Beijing are separate moments on the website, but I'm counting them as one.  Because the two biggest stars in Beijing were Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt.  The 100 was ridiculous.  He made it look like the other guys were jogging.  A world record of 9.69 seconds that would've been even faster if he hadn't started celebrating 10 meters before the finish.  He didn't celebrate early in the 200, and this time Bolt didn't just obliterate the competition once again, he obliterated another world record, posting a time of 19.30 seconds.  Four years later, what he did in Beijing is still mind-blowing.
• 1996: Men's 200 Meters (Track & Field)-The 200 meter world record that Bolt shattered in Beijing was set by Michael Johnson in Atlanta 12 years earlier.  With all due respect to Bolt, I still think of this race as the most dominant Olympic performance I've ever seen.  The rest of the field was completely outclassed.  They were racing for silver, and they knew it.  Johnson was 10 meters ahead at the end of the turn and won by like 25 meters.  His time was 19.32 seconds.  The old world record, which he set in the Olympic Trials on the same Atlanta track a month earlier, was 19.66.
• 1996: Kerri Strug's Vault-This is another one of "those" moments.  It was up to Strug to deliver the U.S. its first-ever Olympic gold in women's team gymnastics.  She fell on her first vault, severely injuring her leg in the process.  But on her second attempt was perfect, and she stuck the landing on one leg to clinch the gold.  And who can forget Bela Karolyi carrying her onto the medals stand for the victory ceremony?
• 2000: Men's Super Heavyweight Final (Greco-Roman Wrestling)-In perhaps the biggest upset in Summer Olympic history (right up there with the Miracle on Ice), American Rulon Gardner stunned Russia's Alexander Karelin, the greatest wrestler in history, to win the gold medal.  To call Karelin "invincible" would be an understatement.  He had won three straight Olympic golds and had a 12-year undefeated streak.  He hadn't even been scored against in a decade.  But Gardner beat him, 1-0.
• 1992: Derek Redmond (Track)-Derek Redmond didn't win a medal.  He didn't even make the final.  But he provided us with one of those moments that remind us what the Olympics are all about.  Redmond pulled his hamstring during his 400 meter semifinal in Barcelona, but he was determined to finish the race.  So he got up and started hobbling towards the finish, whincing in agony with every step.  Then his father came running out of the stands to help his son.  The two of them crossed the finsih line.  Together.  Twenty years later, maybe they'll reenact that moment while carrying the Olympic torch this summer.
• 2004: Men's All-Around (Gymnastics)-Paul Hamm fell on the vault to drop into 12th place with two rotations left.  Incredibly, he surged all the way back (in just two rotations), capped by a nearly-perfect high bar routine, to become the first American ever to win Olympic gold in the men's all-around.  It was the closest finish in Olympic history.  Hamm was just .050 points ahead of the bronze medalist.
• 1992: The Dream Team (Men's Basketball)-I think we can all agree that 1992 was a landmark moment in the history of the Olympics.  From that point forward, the Olympics would never again be a strictly "amateur" endeavor, as the millionaires of the NBA came together to wear the red, white and blue.  It was, without a doubt, the greatest basketball team ever assembled.  The Dream Team was rock stars, and they completely dominated the competition.  They cruised to the gold medal, winning their eight games by an average of 43.75 points.  It also marked the beginning of the end of American domination.  The world caught up, as evidence by the bronze "won" by the 2004 team.
• 2000: Women's 400 Meters (Track)-Nobody has ever been under more pressure to win an Olympic gold medal than Cathy Freeman in Sydney.  And she delivered.  The Australian icon, who lit the Olympic cauldron at the Opening Ceremony, wasn't just running for her country, she was running for the entire Aboriginal population.  Anything less than gold would've been unacceptable, and she knew it.  The race was close for 300 meters, but Freeman pulled away down the stretch, giving Australia its gold and Sydney its signature moment.
• 2008: Women's Gymnastics All-Around-Shawn Johnson vs. Nastia Liukin.  Never before did we enter an Olympics with two Americans capable of winning gymnastics gold.  Johnson was the defending world all-around champion, but Liukin won medals in each of the four individual events at the 2007 World Championships.  Johnson delivered four sensational routines.  So did Liukin.  Only hers were a little bit better.  For the first time in Olympic history, Americans went 1-2 in the women's all-around.

There you have it.  My short list of 10 favorite Olympic moments.  I can think of at least 20 more (and not just the other 20 on NBC's list).  And three months from now, we'll have to make room for some more Olympic memories.  I can't wait to find out what they're going to be.