00:00Sifan Hassan had won two golds and a bronze in Tokyo.
00:03She has three more medals in 2024.
00:06And she'll never forget her performance on the streets of Paris.
00:10Welcome to WatchMojo.
00:11And today we're counting down our picks for the Paris 2024 moments
00:15when athletes showed us what humans are really capable of.
00:18The king of sprinting, the world champion at last!
00:23Number 10, Antoine Zupont.
00:25The Stade de France was packed to capacity as France played Fiji in the Rugby Sevens final.
00:31As you'll see with a number of entries on our list,
00:33there's nothing like a good underdog story to charge the soul.
00:37After a devastating loss to South Africa in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Rugby World Cup,
00:42on French soil no less, Zupont led the French men's rugby team to Olympic gold,
00:47ending Fiji's winning streak after two gold medals.
00:50The scores were level at the break, and a memorable second half was to follow.
00:55Straight from the restart, there was a try.
00:58For France.
00:59Their starman, Antoine Dupont, left the Fijian defence trailing.
01:03This is especially meaningful considering the team didn't even qualify for the previous games in Tokyo,
01:08and that Fiji, as reported by the Associated Press,
01:11had never lost an Olympic Rugby Sevens game.
01:14Dupont later commented, quote,
01:16We really felt that we represent rugby, but we represent all the French sport as well.
01:21Their fans had seen history made by a team which did not even qualify for Tokyo 2020.
01:27Number 9.
01:28The Canadian men's 4x100m relay team.
01:31They're a well-oiled quartet, with André de Grasse running the anchor leg for the first time in history.
01:37A series of extenuating circumstances had seemingly dashed the team's gold medal hopes,
01:42with André de Grasse suffering from an ongoing hamstring injury,
01:45leading to his going out in the semifinals,
01:48and the team as a whole posting the slowest time to advance.
01:51The Canadians, so efficient, handing off to de Grasse.
01:55De Grasse has a chance here.
01:57De Grasse in the lead.
01:59Down the street they go.
02:00André de Grasse, can he hold them off?
02:02Yes!
02:03In the end, the Canadians won gold in an upset over the American team.
02:08Commenting on their unlikely victory after the fact,
02:11de Grasse noted that, quote,
02:13It's a complete set.
02:14We got the bronze in Rio.
02:15Tokyo, we got the silver.
02:17Now, it's like icing on the cake to get the gold medal with these guys.
02:21Canada wins the gold in a massive upset here in Paris.
02:2637-50, a seasonal best.
02:30That's what we're talking about.
02:31Number 8, Alex Yee.
02:33The streets of Paris packed with an expectant crowd for the men's triathlon.
02:3955 starters lined up in the sunshine on Pont Alexandre 3.
02:43British triathlete Yee is the most decorated triathlete in the history of the modern Olympic Games.
02:49His legacy was cemented at Paris 2024,
02:52when he surged and came out from behind to win gold in the last 400 meters of the men's triathlon.
02:58Moments earlier, it had looked like the end,
03:01with Yee's rival, the New Zealander Hayden Wilde, comfortably set to take first place.
03:06Yee and Berger together, 30 seconds behind the leaders,
03:09but with their strongest disciplines still to come.
03:12Speaking to the Guardian, Yee was quoted as saying,
03:15He turned silver at Tokyo 2020 into gold at Paris 2024.
03:29Well, we didn't see that one coming.
03:47In an underdog story for the ages,
03:49the American runner secured the country its first gold medal in the men's 1500 meter race
03:53since Matthew Centrowitz Jr. in 2016.
03:56The fact that Hawker set a new personal record,
03:59not to mention a new North American area record,
04:02isn't even the most impressive or shocking statistic on display.
04:05Look at that finish!
04:06It's Cole Hawker upstaging them!
04:10First for Olympic gold!
04:12Hawker managed to beat out not one, not two,
04:15but three commonly predicted frontrunners to win gold.
04:18Hawker's fellow runners Josh Kerr and Jakob Injabritsyn's widely publicized rivalry
04:22left sports fans eagerly anticipating their next chapter.
04:26Ultimately, the rivalry would be their undoing.
04:29Their focus on beating one another gave Hawker, the underdog,
04:32an unexpected opportunity to swoop in.
04:35And Cole Hawker took his time.
04:38He stayed on the inside lane.
04:39He waited for a little gap to open.
04:41And he shot through and won that gold medal.
04:46The heavyweights of Greco-Roman wrestling competed for medals at Shantamar Arena.
04:51As reported by ESPN's Conor O'Halloran,
04:55Cuban Greco-Roman wrestler Lopez is in an exclusive club all by himself.
05:00However, you shouldn't feel too bad for his self-imposed isolation.
05:04Lopez scored his fifth consecutive gold medal
05:06in the men's Greco-Roman wrestling 130-kilogram category.
05:10The four-time champ showed his prowess early,
05:12getting a pair of points for a roll.
05:16While O'Halloran pointed out that other athletes have reached the same heights in team events,
05:20it was emphasized that Lopez's achievement is unprecedented on an individual basis.
05:25Even wilder, Lopez hadn't competed internationally in any capacity
05:30since the 2020 Games in Tokyo.
05:32How do you top that?
05:34You don't.
05:34The 41-year-old athlete left his shoes on the mat before exiting,
05:38signaling his retirement from the sport.
05:40We'd say he's earned it.
05:42Lopez Nunez became the first Olympian to ever win five gold medals in the same event.
05:49Number 5.
05:50Sifan Hassan
05:51Don't we all love a feel-good story?
05:54Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands and world record holder Tigist Acefer.
05:58A slight collision, but both recovered and sprinted for the line.
06:02Dutch runner Hassan embodied a unique kind of pride and joy
06:05after securing the gold medal at the Paris 2024 Women's Marathon.
06:08Hassan, the gold medal winner in an Olympic Games record time of 2 hours, 22 minutes, and 55 seconds.
06:15A safer second.
06:16Born in Ethiopia, Hassan emigrated to the Netherlands in 2008 as a refugee,
06:21obtaining Dutch citizenship five years later in 2013.
06:25Her gold medal-winning performance in Paris took on additional significance
06:28when she beat the Ethiopian Tigist Acefa.
06:31She earned the title of the only woman ever to have won gold in not only the marathon,
06:36but the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter as well.
06:40Hassan also became the first athlete, regardless of gender,
06:43to win gold at all of these events since 1952.
06:47Sifan Hassan had won two golds and a bronze in Tokyo.
06:50She has three more medals in 2024.
06:53And she'll never forget her performance on the streets of Paris.
06:57Number 4.
06:57Armand Duplantis
06:59It probably goes without saying that this American-born Swedish pole vaulter
07:08is, like, really good at his chosen sport.
07:11So good, in fact, that Duplantis holds the top nine records
07:14for highest heights ever reached in pole vaulting.
07:17Duplantis' performance at Paris 2024 only served to confirm his legendary status,
07:22breaking yet another world record by clearing 6.25 meters in height.
07:26To put this in context, Duplantis had already won gold before having set this record
07:41and becoming the only competitor to clear 6 meters.
07:44The closest anyone else came was the American Sam Kendricks at 5.95 meters.
07:49How much higher can Duplantis go?
07:51Well, that's up to him.
07:56Number 3.
07:57Noah Lyles
07:57This track-and-field sprinter had an emotional rollercoaster of a time at Paris 2024.
08:08Commentators were hyper-fixated on Lyles' dramatic collapse on the track after the 200-meter race,
08:13which saw him place third behind Le Cile Tebojo and Kenny Bednarik.
08:17However, just prior to that, Lyles had set a new personal best in a nail-biting display
08:22that saw a temporary outbreak of confusion as to who had won.
08:26Lyles!
08:27By thousands of a second!
08:29Thousands of a second!
08:32Everybody thought Thompson had just hung on!
08:35Lyles came through on the near side!
08:37Although the race had, for a moment, been called for Jamaica's Keyshane Thompson,
08:41Lyles emerged victorious, giving the U.S. its first gold in the category since 2004.
08:48Number 2.
08:48Simone Biles
08:49Who doesn't love a good comeback story?
08:58The most decorated gymnast of all time made a triumphant return to the Olympics
09:02after shockingly withdrawing from the 2020 Games in Tokyo
09:05after being plagued with a series of health struggles, both physical and mental.
09:10Paris 2024 was a completely different story.
09:13Biles won two all-around and vault titles
09:16and also became the first woman since Vyra Chaslavska,
09:20that is, the second woman ever, to have accomplished such a feat.
09:23The captain of the American artistic gymnastics team nicknamed the Golden Girls,
09:27Biles led them to victory, further deepening her status as a modern-day legend.
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10:03Number 1.
10:04Yusuf Dikeç
10:05Never mind the fact that this Turkish sports shooter is the country's oldest ever Olympic medalist,
10:10which is insanely impressive by itself.
10:12Dikeç, as you've probably seen by now, is a certified badass.
10:17One hand on his pistol, the other in his pocket,
10:20the Olympian's casual vibe caused him to go massively viral at Paris 2024,
10:24with even his fellow Olympians taking to social media to pay homage.
10:28Although Dikeç and his partner, Seval Ilaida Tarhan, didn't win the gold,
10:32they easily won our hearts.
10:34Has going beast mode ever looked so cool and nonchalant before?
10:38What was your favorite Paris 2024 moment?
10:41Let us know in the comments below.
10:43And now the sun comes out
10:44as the Canadians join their friends and family and fellow athletes
10:51as the celebration is on in Paris.
10:54Did you enjoy this video?
10:56Check out these other clips from WatchMojo.
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11:02We'll see you next time.
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