Super Saturday voted Team GB's top Olympic moment since 2000
- Published
Super Saturday has been voted Team GB's greatest Olympic moment at a summer Games since 2000.
The Paris Olympics open on Friday, 26 July and Great Britain are hoping for another successful edition after winning 64 medals at Tokyo 2020.
Leading up to the Games, fans voted in a BBC Sport poll for their favourite out of a non-exhaustive shortlist of 10 standout Team GB moments since Sydney 2000.
The shortlist was chosen by our expert panel of broadcaster Eleanor Oldroyd, BBC executive producer Ron Chakraborty and GB Olympians Katharine Merry and Steve Parry.
1. Super Saturday (London 2012)
In front of 80,000 spectators at London's Olympic Stadium, Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill smashed her own British record to win the heptathlon.
Greg Rutherford became the first British man to win gold in the long jump since Lynn Davies in 1964.
And finally, Sir Mo Farah stormed to 10,000m gold, ending a run of four successive Ethiopian wins in the event.
Britain had already won golds earlier that day in men's coxless four rowing, women's double sculls and women's cycling team pursuit.
2. Sir Steve Redgrave wins his fifth gold (Sydney 2000)
When Great Britain edged Italy by just 0.38 seconds to win gold in the coxless fours rowing event at Sydney 2000, a roar bellowed out from the crowd of 22,000 spectators. Sir Matthew Pinsent fell into the water as he rushed to hug his fellow oarsmen.
Meanwhile, veteran Sir Steve Redgrave who had just become the first Briton to win five Olympic gold medals, slumped over his oars in exhaustion.
3. Dame Kelly Holmes' dream double (Athens 2004)
Days after winning the 800m, Dame Kelly Holmes set a British record of three minutes 57.90 seconds in the 1500m event.
Starting the final lap eighth out of 12, she burst forward and even had time to look over her shoulder and raise her arms in triumph as she approached the finish line.
Holmes became the first Briton in 84 years to achieve the Olympic middle-distance double. The only other British athlete to achieve that feat is Albert Hill, in Antwerp in 1920.
4. Women's hockey team win gripping shootout (Rio 2016)
Rio 2016 put women's hockey on the map for Great Britain.
After a thrilling final against Netherlands finished 3-3 in normal time, the tie went to a penalty shootout.
Britain's keeper Maddie Hinch made a string of remarkable saves during the match and stopped all four Dutch penalties in the shootout.
Meanwhile, Helen Richardson-Walsh and Hollie Webb scored the match-clinching efforts to seal Britain's first Olympic hockey gold in dramatic fashion.
5. Sir Chris Hoy's triple triumph (Beijing 2008)
A 32-year-old Sir Chris Hoy gave the victory salute as he crossed the line in the individual sprint in Beijing to claim a historic treble.
After winning gold in the team sprint and keirin, the cycling great beat team-mate Sir Jason Kenny in the individual event to claim his third gold medal of the Games.
The last Briton to achieve that feat was swimmer Henry Taylor, who did so in London in 1908.
6. Tom Daley lands elusive gold (Tokyo 2020)
Tokyo 2020 was Tom Daley's fourth Olympics.
Alongside Matty Lee, he put on a superb display in the synchronised 10m platform to pip Chinese pair Cao Yuan and Chen Aisen and end China’s golden grip on the event, which dated back to 2000.
Wild celebrations followed as the result was confirmed and Daley, who had won bronze in Rio, wept with joy on the podium.
7. Laura Trott and Jason Kenny – fiances celebrate success on the track (Rio 2016)
The Rio Olympics were memorable for golden couple Laura Trott and Jason Kenny (now Dame Laura Kenny and Sir Jason Kenny) five weeks before they got married.
Kenny won three golds at the Games and took his overall tally to six, equalling Sir Chris Hoy's record of the highest number of Olympic golds for any British athlete.
Meanwhile, his fiancée won two golds and became Britain's most successful female Olympic athlete in history with four overall.
After an incredible medal haul, they shared a tearful embrace in the Rio Velodrome.
8. Max Whitlock wins two gymnastics golds (Rio 2016)
Before Rio 2016, Great Britain had never won an Olympic gold in gymnastics.
Max Whitlock changed that with two in one day.
First he claimed victory in the floor final before following that up with gold on the pommel horse, where he pipped team-mate Louis Smith.
Earlier in the Games he had also won GB's first all-around medal in 108 years with a bronze.
9. Rebecca Adlington's double gold (Beijing 2008)
In Beijing, Rebecca Adlington became Britain's first female to win Olympic gold in the pool in 48 years with victory in the 400m freestyle. Days later, she added a gold in the 800m freestyle – making her the most successful British swimmer in 100 years.
The then 19-year-old also set a world record in the 800m, finishing 2.12 seconds inside the previous world best.
10. Nicola Adams smashes through the glass ceiling (London 2012)
Women's boxing made its debut at the London 2012 Games, 108 years after the men.
While fellow Britons Natasha Jonas and Savannah Marshall lost their first bouts, Leeds fighter Nicola Adams outclassed Chinese world number one lightweight Ren Cancan in the flyweight final in front of a crowd of 10,000 at the ExCeL to take gold.
Related topics
- Published17 April