Tell us your favourite sporting moment and win a LG TV

Bec said  | October 20th 2008 @ 7:06am | Report comment

The most memorable Australian sporting moment has to be when Cathy Freeman won Olympic Gold in the Womens 400m race at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000.

Earlier, she was the first athlete in Olympic history to light the Olympic Cauldron as a current competitor. This well kept secret was a wonderful symbol of a united Australian nation. However, it also amplified the pressure of a gold medal outcome on the track. She went into the race as favorite and had the expectations of a nation on her shoulders. Anything can happen in an Olympic final and the whole of Australia had their hearts in their mouths as the starters gun sounded. 49.11 seconds later relief as Cathy finished in first place at her “home” Olympics.

Cathy then celebrated by controversially carrying both the Australian and Aboriginal flags on her victory lap around the stadium. A very moving moment.

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Alan Nicolea said  | October 20th 2008 @ 8:17am | Report comment

The most memorable australian sporting moment for me would have to be ‘that’ loss against the Kiwis at stadium australia in a test considered one of the greatest ever. The All Blacks scored three tries before you could say ‘waltz sing maltilda’ and then the Wallabies came back from the brink to lead. Then however Jonah Lomu scored the winner right on fulltime to give New Zealand victory. Although Australia lost, they did come back from the brink and it just shows the supreme character that Australian rugby sides have - more than other australian sporting side for me. It took one of Unions greatest ever players, let alone winger to seal the deal in front of more than 100,000 fans. The Wallabies did their nation pride despite the defeat.

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Michael C said  | October 20th 2008 @ 8:25am | Report comment

a de facto ‘TV’ moment, given I was there - the Jason McCartney comeback game.

That was ’special’

Helped that we won, too.

’nuff said.

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mtngry said  | October 20th 2008 @ 8:52am | Report comment

I would have to go for Australia 2. I was only in Primary school, but stayed up all night with Dad to watch our ship come in.
(My mother and sister cheated and only woke up for the ast 15 minutes.) How could I overlook being the first nation to beat the Yanks in 120 years, and the PM wearing that jacket and calling bosses Bums?

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Midfielder said  | October 20th 2008 @ 9:15am | Report comment

John Aloisi goal in the 2005 world cup qualifier against Uruguay.

We had dinner at the Eastwood rugby club, caught the bus to Olympic stadium. Twelve of us who had been playing together as a football team for over 20 years. After the 1997 draw with Iran in Melbourne and all the things that had unfolded to stop Australia making other world cups including the crowd in 2001 and atmosphere in Uruguay. All this weighted heavy on our minds.

We all watches the first game at the Balmain leagues club and said we have a hope, can we win at home. The ghosts of the past made us very nervous …but we had Guss …… our best squad was available and on the park. Could we “Reverse the Curse” that had plagued Australian Football for years.

That night a tribute to Johnny Warren was played at the stadium, it had 80, 000 in tears, the atmosphere that night at the stadium as was like nothing I had never felt before and it was as if the crowd felt it was their duty to help Australia over the line. We cheered we booed we yelled….. passion was dripping off everyone.

The whole stadium was in gold, the crowd stood most of the night no one could sit down, we sang all the football anthems, when we scored to level the match the noise was such a cheer I have never heard the like of before.

Finally after 210 minutes, it came down to penalties, would fate again step in and rob us of our place. We all remembered in our minds 1997 and most of us did not sleep for days afterwards. After going one up and then Viduka missed, it was going to happen again, a glorious defeat.

Mark Schwarzer then made the save, up stepped John Aloisi ………. 32 years of heart ache, 32 years of near misses, 32 years of crap administration, my heart was pounding in my chest, we had booed all the Uruguay goals, silence for all the Aussie shot takers.

Aloisi steps up the goal goes in, the entire stadium felt a cheer that shock it to its foundations, streamers where exploded off the stadium roofs, we hugged we screamed we hugged strangers, we sang songs. Many had tears in their eyes hard men like builders, iron workers, and every occupation bankers, lawyers, accountants we all felt this is a moment of history.

Harry Kwell that night showed such touch that I have never seen ……… but we where through to the world cup, density 2006, the irony given Germany 1974.

But after 32 years we where going to the biggest sporting event in the world and maybe at last some respect ….. and as Johnny Warren told us ………… “I told you so”

We got back and spent the night reliving the match went to work all 12 still in our Socceroo shirts and proud that we had been there and had joined with the rest of the crowd to make the 12 man and maybe as I said before get some RESPECT at last.

For me nothing comes close to Aloisi’s goal, and to be there and be part of it,- is a treasured memory, and I believe a goal that has changed and redefined the sporting landscape in Australia.

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sheek said  | October 20th 2008 @ 9:31am | Report comment

There are just so many, where do you start? However, as a rugby fan, I would have to go for the Wallabies quarter final “get out of jail” win against Ireland at the 1991 Rugby World Cup.

There I was in the early hours of the morning, watching the telecast via ABC, of the match being played at Lansdowne Road, Dublin. The Aussies were leading comfortably enough at one stage 15-6. The Irish then closed to 15-12, then with a few minutes of play remaining, & against the run of play, Ireland scored a converted try to lead 15-18.

As I sat alone in my lounge room, I was thunderstruck! As the Irish crowd went ballistic with unbridled joy, I was consumed by a sea of emotions from despair to rage - how could such a talented team as this Wallabies outfit allow themselves to be beaten??? Tryscoring hero turned villain David Campese had slipped off a tackle on Irish flanker Gordon Hamilton, who raced about 40 metres to the tryline with the cover defence beaten.

As I struggled to bring my emotions under control, stand-in captain Michael Lynagh (skipper Nick Farr-Jones had retired injured at the 3/4er mark of the match) calmly explained to his players how they were going to get back into the game.

The Wallabies kicked deep from the kickoff, forcing a hurried kick into touch from Ireland. From the lineout, & last play of the match, the Wallabies ran a planned backline move, but Campo, who had received the ball from the move used earlier in the match, was taken out without the ball. It didn’t matter, Lynagh backing up, received the final bounced pass from Jason Little, to score in the corner with only centimetres to spare, & time up on the clock.

Victory! We’ve escaped! Within 2 minutes my emotions had gone from deep despair & building rage to overflowing joy & profound relief. The Wallabies were now into the semi-final. After I calmed down I satisfied myself that after this “get out of jail” victory, the Wallabies were destined to win the world cup. The rest is history.

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sheek said  | October 20th 2008 @ 9:41am | Report comment

Midfielder,

Yeah, Aloisi’s winning penalty goal, that was special, very, very special. I’m a once every 4 years or so football fan, but I couldn’t stand the tension. I walked out of the TV room into the back yard, & decided to let the crowd noise tell me the story.

When I heard the massive cheer I raced back inside to watch the reply & everyone going absolutely nuts. My wife, who isn’t into any sport, was watching on the TV in the bedroom. I also heard her scream with joy when Aloisi scored!

It was a wonderfully emotional night.

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True Tah said  | October 20th 2008 @ 9:42am | Report comment

The best live sporting event Ive attended would have to have been when the Wallabies beat the All Blacks in 2001 in Sydney. I was lucky enough to be selling programmes that evening, and as such got free entry to the game, but alas there was no seats, so I parked myself in a convenient position to watch the game. It was Eales last game, and I was lucky to be there to farewell a legend.

Right towards the end, with the All Blacks holding a slender lead, they were absolutely battling to get it out of their half, but for whatever reason they just could not clear the ball, but the Wallabies could not get their hands on the ball, so we had territory, but they had possession.

Somehow Australia got possession, and Toutai Kefu, son of an ex-Tongan international who was in the team that beat the Wallabies back in 1973, headed for the line, but there was no way he could score, with three All Black defenders in front of him, surely? The big man was brought to the ground in a huddle of bodies and momentum was lost…then a big Polynesian hand, holding the football like a thimble reached out and planted the ball right next to the upright!!

Around the stadium the Aussies rejoiced, whilst NZer heads slumped. John Eales would go out a winner.

When the fulltime siren had sounded, Budda Handy asked All Black hooker Anton Oliver what it was like to come so close and still lose…I was half expecting “Hatcher” Oliver to put the microphone through handy’s skull.

Unfortunately maybe it has raised my expectations a little high since that day, and that knack for getting out of jail which Sheek refers to just doesn;t seem to have been in the pack since that day.

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Terry Kidd said  | October 20th 2008 @ 10:05am | Report comment

At the risk of repetition my all time favourite sporting ‘moment’ stretched from near stumps on the previous day to near lunch on the following day and involved Alan Border and Jeff Thomson in a 10th wicket stand of 71 that fell 3 runs short of victory against England in the 4th Test at the MCG in the 82-83 test series.

England were leading 2-1 in the series. Border had been/was badly out of form. Australia were struggling and needed the draw to stay alive in the series. Thomson joined Border for the final wicket and a win looked a formality for the Poms.

The resolute defiance displayed by an obviously badly out of form Border and a cheeky but stubborn and responsible Thomson prior to stumps inspired a hardy few thousand to turn up at the MCG with free admission for the start of the final day’s play. The gritty resistance from Border and Thomson continued. The runs began to mount. The news of this unlikely partnership spread like wildfire around Melbourne and workplaces all over the country. More and more people trickled into the MCG hoping to see a miracle forged by Australia’s favourite son batsman and rascal fast bowler. TV sets around the nation were tuned to Channel 9’s cricket coverage. People gathered at shop windows in the streets to watch. Morning tea breaks were eked out for extra minutes of viewing time. Richie Benaud was in his element.

Meanwhile the run count inched slowly higher and higher, with Border edging and nudging singles, farming the strike and Thomson playing with a dead bat when ever needed. No Melbourne Cup ever stopped a nation as completely (except for maybe Phar Lap’s win) as did this test cricket partnership. Indomitable will and stubborn resistance allowed the glimmer of a miracle and the nation waited, hoped and held it’s breath. Alas, Thomson the larrikin, who had displayed absolute discipline allowed the thought of victory to break his concentration and he lashed out at a ball he thought he could hit to the boundary. A juggled catch then ended the resistance 3 runs shy of victory with Border unbeaten on 62.

In my humble opinion that sporting moment held an entire nation enthralled and is uppermost in my most memorable.

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Kazama said  | October 20th 2008 @ 10:22am | Report comment

My favourite Australian sporting moment is the Socceroos’ come from behind 3-1 win at the World Cup. To me, this match more than any other showed that Australia was now a football nation, that we weren’t in Germany making up the numbers like everyone thought we were. We also showed in this match a combination of Dutch technical football and Aussie fighting spirit that has become the staple of our team since.

I watched the game in the dining room of a pub with friends and family. I remember being even more nervous than at the Uruguay game, and when the Japanese scored that dodgy goal everyone’s heads dropped. We were all moping around for the majority of the rest of the game, save for one friend who spent the match swearing at the TV. Then Cahill scored and the place went nuts. A bartender jumped the bar and ran around the pub shirtless ala John Aloisi. Cahill scored the second - I’ll never forget hearing Simon Hill scream “And Tim Cahill’s done it again!” - and we wall went mad. When John Aloisi put the third in we’d all knew that we’d seen something that would change Australian football forever - not only had we made a World Cup but we’d scored a goal and won a game, with a real chance of making the knockout phase, which we of course did.

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chris said  | October 20th 2008 @ 10:49am | Report comment

I cannot narrow it down to 1 fave moment, I have 2.

1) World cup Qualifier vs Uruguay
1) Cahill scoring the two goals against Japan.

I was at the game in Homebush. That was the sort of night that is extremely hard to put into words. The crowd that night was unbelievable, Viduka himself said that the atmosphere that night was the best he has played in front of. Now Viduka has played in some of the most hostile environments in Europe. I think what set it off was when about an hour before kickoff the Johny Warren tribute came on the big screen to the tune of ‘You Will Never Walk Alone’. The stadium would have probably been 80% full at that stage when the crowd all of a sudden started belting out the words to the great tune. Definately put a tear in the eye. my second distinct memory was the booing of the Uruguay National Anthem. I know its unsporting etc etc, but the drowning out of their national anthem with booing and whistling was something which i think set the mood for that night. Sitting inside the stadium you could not hear any part of the Uruguay national anthem, when watching the replay on TV you could actaully hear some of it.

When Bresciano scored that goal the crowd when nuts, and i mean nuts. The bloke 2 rows down from me passed out from pure joy. His mates started pooring bear on his head to snap him out of it. The Aloisi penalty, no more needs to be said.

After the game not one sole left the stadium for an hour - hour and a half, this was eventhough you had the crowd announcer on PA urging people to start leaving or there will be no trains. Nobody cared. It was just one of those nights.

Also a lasting memory my mom calling me after the game and breaking down. This is a lady who was born overseas and migrated here 25 years ago yet the socceroos had provided her with so much joy.

The Japan game, i was at a mates place watching that game with 4 others. A couple socceroo supporters and a couple non-socceroo supporters (now definete supporters) at the time. What a night. Watching the first half and Australia going down 1-0 nil and failing to get an qualiser was like watching someone stand there and run their nails across a chalk board. It was extremely nerve recking and everything else.

Once the second half started we actually turned the TV off for the first 20 or so minutes due to nerves, anger i dont know what it was. Although we could not watch the game, we sat there in the dark swearing, complaining, whinging etc etc etc. Then we turned the TV on. The nerves were actually almost unbereable, really it was unbereable. With about fifteen to go we thought it was all over. Alhtough i remember one of my mates saying ‘boys stick in watch it will finish 3-1 to austrlalia’. We of course ignored what he said. Things were progressively getting worse and worse, it got to a stage where one of us had to prevent another bloke from chuckign the TV out the window. No really, no word of a lie. Then the 82nd-83rd or so minute arrives, BANG Cahill bags the equaliser. You really had to be there to see how we reacted. A bunch of mid 20’s guys jumping on each other with pure joy. At that stage we were pumped. We just came to realisation that we had saved our world cup campaign. We had settled for a draw until of course Cahill cracked his second goal from 25 yards out. What a moment, honestly what moment. We literally had tears coming out of our eyes.

So there you have it my two fave moments. For me personally nothing that I have seen comes close to these two moments. This is the only team (apart from americas cup - dont know enough about it to comment) that in australias modern history united the whole nation. No matter what color or race. It was a team which represented australia and its cultural diversity. No other national team can do that.

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Michael C said  | October 20th 2008 @ 10:57am | Report comment

Terry Kidd -

actually, note that Australia was leading 2-0 after 3 tests - - - winning Ade and Bris, and Perth was drawn (that was the game of TAvare’s 89 in almost 8 hours).

As an Aussie, I was a little unpatriotic to be glad that England had ‘clawed’ back to 2-1 via the MCG victory, and that meant that the series remained ‘live’ - - to a degree, that an Eng win in Sydney would draw the series.

As it was, Eddie Hemmings batted his heart out as a night watchman, but alas (for the Poms and he), he lacked support from the real batsmen, and the match ended in a draw.

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Mike said  | October 20th 2008 @ 11:18am | Report comment

In June 2006, Australia’s sporting landscape changed forever when Tim Cahill scored for the second time against Japan in Kaiserslautern. Never did a second half substitute walk such a fine line between triumph and disaster. A scrambled first goal was followed by a fortunate escape in Australia’s penalty box and a stunning strike to take the game away from Japan and send Australia into ecstasy.

If the shuttle’s orbit happened to take it over Australia at that early hour, the astronauts would have seen an awful lot of lights on. Rugged up and bleary eyed in front of the television, a sleepy nation rejoiced in the drama. Neighbours in apartment blocks who had scarcely met each other stumbled into hallways to celebrate and soak up the atmosphere. Literally overnight, football became the sport of the water-cooler.

The John Aloisi penalty that delivered the 32nd and final World Cup spot to Australia was the first sign of football’s awakening in this country. With Cahill’s second goal an Australian team come of age on the world stage. None who was watching will forget.

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Jason W said  | October 20th 2008 @ 11:34am | Report comment

Though I am a Kiwi probably the best sporting moment I can remember is of two parts. 1999 Cricket World Cup, my (Australian) wife and I got tickets to the Aus vs SA super 6 game at Edgebaston, where the cricket world cup was “dropped” and Steve Waugh saved the Aussie arses. That was an awesome game to watch, but second only to watching Allan Donald drop his bat in the semi and gift the Aussies the final. The final was pathetic, but man, that was the best buildup I have ever witnessed. Sheesh I even cheered for the Aussies, that has to say something!

Just to be greedy I’ll add “that try” of Jonah Lomu’s against England. Watch it again a few times on YouTube. Man, he lost us the ‘99 world cup, but he was a beast.

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Millster said  | October 20th 2008 @ 11:54am | Report comment

Chris - wonderful rendition of the Socceroos 2005/06 moments. Thankyou for sharing. I can tell you also a story about the Aust v Japan game. I was in Kuala Lumpur with my girlfriend and we made it to the Hard Rock Cafe to watch the game. The balance was about 2/3 Japanese and 1/3 Aussies and it was a fun but rowdy crowd. The only reason it didnt get ugly after the first goal was that the Japanese were being generous and buying beer in return for singing with us all (us all not being an organised group; I didn’t know anyone there but it was like we were blood brothers). The last 15 minutes of that game were just unbelievable. We were standing on the tables and furniture, dancing, oblivious to the malaysian security guards trying to pull us down. Even the Japanese, knowing the importance of the match, were telling them to leave us alone. Once the second goal went in we all linked arms, shoulder to shoulder, standing as one green and gold wall of Aussie mankind to witness those last few minutes and the injury time sealer. And after 30 minutes of hugging and crying we did shout the Japanese guys back some beers, and in fact I’ll always admire the good nature of the night we had, which included them right to the wee hours.

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sheek said  | October 20th 2008 @ 12:10pm | Report comment

You guys are kidding right?

I remember the Border-Thomson stand. I had just arrived in NSW south coast Eden to be godfather to my best mate’s new born son. I watched the few hours (less that that I think) final day’s play with Thomson falling to Miller off Botham, after the ball had popped out of Tavare’s hands. One more boundary would have done it!

Rivetting stuff, but I agree it was good to see England win, because the series was looking horribly one-sided to that point. England had banned their South African rebels - Gooch, Boycott, Larkins, Amiss, Woolmer, Willey, Knott, Old, Embury, Underwood, Lever, Hendrick & Les Taylor. Most were getting on, but Gooch, Emburey & the new paceman Taylor would have been handy additions to the England team.

That innings of 62 not out saved Border’s bacon too. He was horribly out of sorts before that innings. In the final test in Sydney he finished off the series with a pair of 80s.

But even in cricket there would have to be 5-6 more exciting moments, not to mention all the other great moments in Aussie sports. But each to their own I guess. Of course, what makes a particular moment special to us also involves our personal circumstances at the time - our age & times, who we were with, if everything was right in our lives at that time, etc.

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True Tah said  | October 20th 2008 @ 12:25pm | Report comment

sheek,

my uncle always said the 81 ashes over in England were the best cricket matches he’d ever seen and the biggest upset ever….having said that he was a Pomm so maybe he was biased, but jesus Botham sounds like the sort of guy who only turned up to play the Aussies, or the Aussies s****d themselves when he was playing…cause his record agains the Windies was unremarkable (having said that he might have been tired after his nighttime antics on tour there!)

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Terry Kidd said  | October 20th 2008 @ 12:40pm | Report comment

Millster and True Tah,

On that basis you can’t go past Oz II winning the America’s Cup …. that changed the nature of 10m sailing the world over. It is now truely international and after 130 odd years of US dominance where do they stand now?

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Millster said  | October 20th 2008 @ 1:04pm | Report comment

True Tah and Terry - humbly (for after all I’m just a punter with one person’s views) thats more like it in terms of what I would think the biggest sporting moments are. How could I forget Australia II, or the various sports who tried to deal with the Apartheid issue in the 80’s.

Similarly, how about Romania’s non-adherence to the boycott of the ‘84 LA Olympics? How about Iraq’s win in the 2007 Asian Cup in the midst of all going on back home for them? I know we’re not talking Aussie moments here but these are the kinds of grand events that we should be looking for within our own nation’s sporting history.

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Michael C said  | October 20th 2008 @ 1:23pm | Report comment

Millster -

yeah, but, gee, I was there thinking I was going againt the criteria set and was actually supporting your criteria……………which has left me stumped now!!

Okay - -

how about more the ‘moments’, i.e. just a moment in time more so than a definitive result:

such as the Terry Alderman shoulder popping tackle,
Trevor Chappells smelly underarm
DK Lilliee and his recyclable cricket bat,
Bruce Doull and that naked female fan,
Wayne Carey and Glenn Archer - - head to head at TD in the first metting post Carey and Mr. Stevens (a bit like the Ghost and Mrs.Muir - - they’ll be a movie in that one day!!!!)
Nicky Winmar proudly baring his ‘black’ chest to the crowd
Pat Cash gallumphing up into the Wimbledon stands
the first time we saw Azeem Hafeez taking a catch (he of the ‘ha(L)f..eez…hand missing’ from the 12th man.
hmm…ONe Australia sinking in ‘95

(….hmmm, a few more of the Toyota footy ads, the Jezza mark in ‘70 GF, Wayne Harmes in the forward pocket??)

And the winner - - The Sunami cricket one dayer organised at stuff all notice and the cheer that Murali got from the Australian crowd. (just slightly ahead of the bushfire match back in about ‘83).

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Tomm BD said  | October 20th 2008 @ 2:46pm | Report comment

Let’s paint the picture…

It’s new years day 1996 and a barmy night at the SCG. Australia need 173 for victory against the West Indies after finding themselves at one stage at 6/38. A young Michael Bevan who has worked hard to get in the mix suddenly finds himself anchoring the side to an unlikely victory.
Australia are now 9/169 and need 4 runs off the last ball to take the match.
Bevan is facing up to Roger Harper, who comes in with his peculiar action putting the ball straight at the stumps. Calmly, Bevan takes a step backwards, makes himself some room, and hits straight through the ball. The ball sails over the bowlers head (nearly decapitating the umpire) and straight down down the ground into the fence.
The crowd goes nuts! Bill Lawry in the commentary box is euphoric! And Michael Bevan raises his bat and helmet to the crowd, with the biggest smile on his face you have ever seen.
Watch the video again (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO1XL8_ezVM) and tell me it doesn’t give you goosebumps….

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brad said  | October 20th 2008 @ 3:05pm | Report comment

1991 rugby world cup put Australia on the map as a sporting superpower. Beating the all blacks, get out out of Jail against Ireland and then the trophy.

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Dave said  | October 20th 2008 @ 4:03pm | Report comment

Fav Oz Sporting Moment

There are a few but being a football fan narrows it and being present at the venue is a must IMO so;

thinking Feb 2007 on a balmy, stifling Melbourne Summer day
Telstra Dome the venue, for a sold out game of…domestic football! No not the AFL version nor the Rugbys.
Record crowd of over 55,000 with combatants Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United.
Victory had narrowly squeezed past United in the semi 2-1 over two legs with James Robinson scoring the winner in extra time of the 2nd leg (one AFL journo had come to the game and wrote an article inthe Herald Sun the next day claiming the game was boring and he’d left before the end of it (missed 48,000 people jumping and roaring as one as the ball hit the net in the 93rd minute)
To sit in the crowd and view the sea of blue and white with a strip of 4,000 United fans at one end was amazing…yes a domestic football match l kept saying to myself, someone who had grown up in the days of the game being referred to as one for ’sheilas,wogs or poofters’
So as we know Victory smashed United 6-0 with Archie Thompson putting in a world record 5 goals to better any other cup final performance around the world
At last football in Oz had arrived and to see the newspapers the next day covered in tributes and photos front and back page was sensational
l left the TD that day thinking that now there would be the opportunity for many more such occassions, which is really all that one can ask of their sporting code.
Never did l expect to see such a sight in Melbourne or any other city in Oz

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Nikki said  | October 20th 2008 @ 4:16pm | Report comment

My favourite moment would have to be Steven Bradbury winning GOLD after everyone else fell over!!!

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Tim said  | October 20th 2008 @ 4:34pm | Report comment

It is difficult to list my favourite sporting moment as everytime I see a bit of green and gold I get an overwhelming feeling of patriotism that can leave me with newfound interest in sports i’ve never watched before (e.g. World Cup Soccer) I remember finding myself waking in the early hours to watch a game I knew nothing about but purely because Australia were playing and I felt another set of screaming lungs couldn’t hurt.

I’I sit and watch Don Bradman replays until my eyes bleed…anything and everything he did was magic and he is a true legend of the game, that being said, I wasn’t around to watch him play live, but I was to watch Mark Taylor retire on 334* ….Taylor was pushed by the media, the public and his teammates to have a go at breaking Lara’s 375, However, Taylor declared and decided to share the record with Bradman - I think this is a true sign of respect and Aussie sportsmanship (not to mention the determination it took to get the runs!)

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Slippery Jim said  | October 20th 2008 @ 5:36pm | Report comment

True Tah, I suppose your comment about the Scouser’s lucky comeback qualifies as an Australian Sporting Moment, as Harry Kewell played 23 mins before limping off…you make a good point as well about Bresciano (whose goal was provided by Kewell) who probably deserves way more kudos than Aloisi for his part in Australia qualifying for Germany.

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Slippery Jim said  | October 20th 2008 @ 6:16pm | Report comment

My favourite Aussie sporting moment is Mark Occhilupo’s world title win. He had quit the world tour in the early 90’s, after making his mark with his style of instantly identifiable, powerful, aggressive surfing. He didn’t try to just turn on a wave, he attacked the face of each wave like he was on a one-man demolition mission.

Occy basically went through a kind of pre-midlife crisis, spiralling into depression and all that comes with it, spending literally months at a time vegging out on his couch at Kirra, the world class point break cranking unheard in the middle distance, all the while drinking, smoking and eating potato chips until he bacame a 110 kilo behemoth.

That’s where it could all have ended. Luckily for fans of surfing, it did not.

So begins the most incredible comeback tale in the history of sport. With his first wife Beatrice and filmaker Jack McCoy the catalysts in reinventing his motivation and self-belief, he undergoes an intense training regime, drops 35 kilos off his weight, regaining his form and returning to professional surfing.

Occy’s comeback culminated in 1999, with stunning performances showing he was better then ever, using his goofyfooted prowess to win at Tahiti, Fiji and Mundaka, and clinching the title with an event to spare. Mark Occhilupo became a World Champion at the ripe old age of thirty three - an unheard of achievement in surfing, even without taking into account his Herculean effort in pulling himself out of the pit of depression and burnout.

Occy’s comeback is a legend, and one that gives inspiration not only to all those battling their personal demons, but to those who care for them and see in them the potential for greatness.

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