Sport is drama in its rawest form. Unlike film or theatre, what happens is completely unplanned, often resulting in heroic acts that spring from real emotions and occasionally tragedy. The following top ten list of sporting comebacks aims to look at teams or individuals that through sheer will power, made the impossible a reality.
1. 1972 5,000m and 10,000m Olympic champion, Lasse Viren [Wikipedia]
In his first Olympics at the age of 23, Lasse Viren went into the 1972 10,000m final little more than a rank outsider. When he and Mohamed Gammoudi fell over halfway through the race, it was Gammoudi the 1968 Olympic Champion, who garnered the attention. Yet while Gammoudi dropped out two laps later, Viren had already caught up with the leading group and went on to win the gold in a world record 27:38:40. His achievement was crowned just ten days later when he added the 5000m title.
In 1976 Viren further proved himself by not only reclaiming both Olympic titles, but finishing fifth in the marathon only 18 hours after his 5000m triumph. Unfortunately his reputation has been tarnished, by accusations of blood doping. His detracters point to the fact that he achieved little of worth outside the Olympic games.
2. 1999 Open champion, Paul Lawrie [Wikipedia]
A few weeks before the 2007 British Open at Carnoustie it looked touch and go whether Paul Lawrie, the 1999 champion would qualify. Eventually he did, but the disrespect shown to him by the organisers was nothing short of disgraceful. No doubt, like every other Open champion, he should have received an invite to the tournament.
At Carnoustie eight years earlier he had started the final round ten shots behind the leader Jean Van de Velde. Okay Van de Velde self destructed, but coming back from that far on the last day was unprecedented in a major championship, and his final round of 67 in a tournament where the winning total was 6 over par was remarkable.
3. 2005 Champions League Final; Liverpool Vs AC Milan [BBC Sport]
Outplayed by a side more talented in every position, the Liverpool side left the pitch at half time trailing AC Milan 3 – 0.
The game could not have started worse for Liverpool. In the first minute veteran Milan defender Paulo Maldino scored from a corner. From there the Brazilian midfielder Kaka took control; releasing Shevchenko down the left to cross for Hernan Crespo for 2- 0, then playing Crespo through on goal for him to make it three.
An injury to Harry Kewell changed the game. Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez had to reshape the midfield, adding defensive midfielder Dieter Hammann. Finally, Liverpool could tame Kaka and the likes of Steven Gerrard could push forward. The change in style so shocked Milan that in a remarkable 6 minutes, immediately after half time, Liverpool had scored three goals.
The match moved into extra time. In the last minute Shevchenko, the best striker in the world, forced Dudek to parry away his header, but the ball rebounded straight back to him and only two yards from goal, he looked certain to score. Somehow, Dudek flung himself across the goal to block the shot.
Seconds later, the whistle blew for full-time and the game moved into a penalty shoot-out. Dudek was again the hero, saving from Pirlo and Shevchenko for Liverpool to complete the unlikeliest of wins in the biggest club tournament in the world.
4. 2001 Wimbledon champion, Goran Ivanišević [Wikipedia]
“I have so many runner-up cups that I am thinking of starting my own tea shop”. Particularly galling to the Croat was his 3 Wimbledon runner up cups, a tournament that he was fully equipped to win. Ok, the two losses to Pete Sampras were understandable, but in his first final at Wimbledon against Andre Agassi, he had been the runaway favourite.
By the 2001 Wimbledon, Ivanišević was on the verge of retirement. Seeded outside the top 100 he needed a wild card to get into the tournament. Yet he defied many of his critics by reaching the semi-final, where he faced home favorite Tim Henman.
Goran took the first set of the match 7 – 5, but normal service resumed when Henman won the second, and then strolled to a 2 – 1 lead with a 6 – 0 win in the third. By this time Henman was playing outstanding tennis, and at the beginning of the fourth set he moved a break up. In fact Henman would of won if it wasn’t for the rain.
When they came back from a lengthy delay, Henman had lost his momentum and Ivanišević immediately broke back, winning the fourth set on a tie break. The fifth set was again interrupted by the weather, but Ivanišević again proved the stronger player, and won 6-3.
In an exciting Wimbledon final, Ivanisevic beat the number 2 seed Patrick Rafter in five sets to become the first wild card to win a grand slam.
5. 2004 800m and 1500m Olympic champion, Kelly Holmes [Wikipedia]
Only a Brit who follows track and field can really understand the full extent of Kelly Holmes achievement at the 2004 Olympics. For years the she had suffered injuries, and though she came into Athens injury free for the first time, she was 34 and coming off the back of the worst year in her career. After winning both the 1500m and 800m gold, she would admit to being diagnosed with clinical depression, taking to cutting herself when injured in 2003 while at the same time, if she wanted to continue to compete, unable to take medication. When commentator Steve Cram screamed “You’ve won it Kelly. You’ve won it!” it was in reference to Holmes looking around in complete disbelief.
6. Buffalo Bills Vs the Houston Oilers [Wikipedia]
This game is known as ‘the comeback’. With the Buffalo Bills 0 – 32 down they converted from a 4 – 3 to a 3 – 4 defence to contain the Oilers offensive passing and claw back the points, equalising with only 3 minutes left.
The game moved into overtime, but with the Oilers looking more likely to score, a stray pass was intercepted by the Buffalo defensive bac,k Nate Odomes. A foul tackle on Odomes took the Buffalos up to the 20 yard line and three plays later they scored the winning field goal.
The Buffalo Bills went on to compete in the Super Bowl.
7. Henri Cochet [Wikipedia]
Henri Cochet, one of the four musketeers of French tennis in the the 20’s, was part of one of the greatest tennis comebacks. What made the comeback even more special was that it was achieved in the Wimbledon semi-final.
Playing against the legendary American player Bill Tilden, Cochet was quickly 2 sets to 0 down and trailing 5 – 1 in the third. Suddenly deciding to go for broke, he came up with winner after winner to win 6 games in a row and then take the final two sets 6 – 4, 6 – 3.
This is not the whole story. Cochet had also comeback from two sets down in the quarter finals and did so again to win the title. But it is the victory against Tilden that will be remembered. Tilden was no. 1 in the world, and up to that point recognised as the best player the game had ever seen.
8. Manchester United and the Munich aircrash of 1958 [Wikipedia]
On February the 6th 1958, an aircraft carrying a Manchester United side searching for three English league titles in a row, crashed on take off killing 8 players. Among the dead were Duncan Edwards (tipped to be the next England captain, and even at 21 already one of the best players in the world), the prolific scorer both for United and England, Tommy Taylor, and the experienced England full back Roger Bryne. In fact 7 of the dead were first team players, and all of them had plenty of playing years ahead of them. Two other first team players sustained injuries, including the Northern Ireland international Jackie Blanchflower that forced them out of football. The Manchester United manager Matt Busby fell into a coma.
Yet only a few months later Manchester United were in the FA cup final. Bolton Wanderers defeated them 3 – 1, but the spirit that United showed was to be vital for the building process that occurred over the coming years.
Remarkably, Matt Busby was out of his coma and back managing the side in time for the start of the 1959 season, and in the next few years he went onto construct one of the best sides teams to compete in English football. In the sixties the ‘Busby Babes’ including Bobby Charlton, George Best, and Denis Law won the FA Cup and the league title twice. Ten years after the air crash in 1968, they won the European Cup.
9. 7 times Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong [Wikipedia]
Forget the drug allegations, American cyclist Lance Armstrong came back from testicular cancer that spread to his brain, lungs, and abdomen, to win 7 consecutive Tours de France – one of the most gruelling events in world sport. Enough said.
10. 1977 Formula One world champion, Nikki Lauda [Wikipedia]
Maybe the bravest comebacks of all. Heading for his second world championship, a rear suspension failure forced Lauda off the track. His Ferrari hit an embankment, rolled back, and collided with Brett Lunger’s Surtee’s Ford. Lauda’s car shot up in flames with Lauda trapped inside. Despite the efforts of the officials and his fellow drivers he could not be removed from the wreckage until he’d already suffered severe burns, and had inhaled huge amounts of toxic gas. Amazingly when they did get him out, he was able to walk away but he later collapsed into a coma.
Less than two months later Lauda was back racing. In his first race he managed a credible fourth, but had too much ground to make up in the world championship, and he lost it by one point. The following year he won the championship for the second time.
Contributor: Simon Arms
Nice list. Speaking of olympics, one person that could be added is Kerri Strug, after she landed the vault after spraining her ankle and won the gold. But I’m not so sure that would count as a comeback, more like an amazing feat. No pun intended lol.
some glaring omissions..
- 1986 world series, game six: the NY Mets are 2 runs down to Boston, down to their last pitch before they are to be defeated. 3 singles, a wild pitch, and the craziest fielding error ever and the Mets end up winning.
- Muhammad Ali – forced into retirement after refusing to be drafted to fight in Vietnam – Wins his Court Case and is allowed to resume his career 4 years later. Ali wins back his title by knocking out then champion george foreman in the legendary “Rumble in the Jungle” bout.
just two that came to mind. i’m sure if i thought about it longer some more examples might spring up.
One you missed (although understandably as it ended in tragic circumstances) is the Nigel Benn vs Gerald McLellan boxing match. Benn was knocked through the ropes in the first round and looked as though he would be lucky to last much longer. By the second round the WBC champion had turned the fight on it’s head and was dishing out some serious punishment to McLellan. By round four McLellan was breathing heavily with his gumshield hanging out of his mouth. In round six McLellan rallied and put Benn down again, but Benn showing super-human strength and courage finally won the fight with a stoppage in round 9. McLellan went back to his corner and collapsed. Today he is blind, hearing-impaired and physically disabled as a direct result of the injuries he sustained in that fight. Benn was was never the same boxer after the most brutal world title fight ever seen in Britain.
Thanks for the additions guys – they are much appreciated and all deserve to be included here.
Steven Bradbury’s comeback in the 1000m short track in Salt Lake City win is beautiful, heres from wikipedia:
In the quarterfinals, Bradbury thought himself eliminated. He finished third (only the top two advance), but Marc Gagnon was disqualified, thus allowing Bradbury to advance to the semifinals.
In his semifinal, Bradbury was in last place, well off the pace of the medal favourites. However, three of the other competitors in the semifinal crashed into each other, leaving to him the second place and thus allowing him through to the final.
Again well off the pace in the final, once again all four of Bradbury’s competitors (Apolo Ohno, Ahn Hyun-Soo, Li Jiajun and Mathieu Turcotte) crashed out at the final corner, leaving a shocked Bradbury to take the gold medal, the first for Australia or any Southern Hemisphere country in an Olympic Winter Games event (Alisa Camplin also won gold for Australia at the same Olympics).
That's not a comeback through determination, that's pure luck.
There is a difference between genuine comeback and arse.
Bob: thanks for that comment. That seems less like a comeback than a lucky break to me though
Cool list but I would have included 2002 Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hughes :
During the event, Hughes was in fourth going into the long program, and few people predicted she would win. But she landed seven triple jumps, including two triple-triple combinations, and narrowly won the event, edging out Russia’s Irina Slutskaya in a tie-breaker after Michelle Kwan faltered and fell to third place.
Watch the video, it’s the most amazing Olympic figure skating event ever. http://youtube.com/watch?v=8ihQlFw8W-4
and the November 17th 1968 “Heidi” game between the Raiders and Jets:
With the Jets leading 32-29 with only 65 seconds left in the game, the Raiders quickly scored 14 points to win, 43-32. Meanwhile, millions of American television viewers were unable to see Oakland’s comeback. The NBC television network cut off the live broadcast in favor of a pre-scheduled airing of Heidi, a new made-for-TV version of the classic children’s story.
Jerry: haha that last one is funny.
Yeah I was even born yet but I’m a Raider fan. That would make a good entry in “Top 10 TV station goofs” as well.
Jerry – yes – it would – I will add that to my giant list of lists!
Maybe a sequel is in order…Sports list2 ..you thought you knew comebacks. (done in a deep narrator voice.)
what about the 2004 Boston Red Sox, down 3-0 against the New York Yankees in the ALCS, a best of 7 series, and they come back to win the series, and then the World Series 4 games to none agains the the St. Louis Cardinals. truly amazing
Monteze: from the feedback I think you are right – a second list is definitely in order.
Scott: thanks for the comment – maybe it will appear in Sporting Comebacks version 2.0
ESPN actually calls the Sox comeback in 2004 the biggest upset in sports history
Yeah, perhaps in US History. There’s a whole World of Sport there outside ESPN’s coverage area.
In number 2 of the list it’s not too clear to some less informed readers which sport you’re talking about. Several other sports have Open championships other than golf.
Iam surprised that no one has mentioned the Texas christian and Minnesoda football game.It was one of the largest comebacks in collage football. Also it was a bowl game. ( texas won in the end)
That is decidedly not a picture of the Bills/Oilers game. I watched that game live and I’m only 24…
The Bills were down 28-3 at the half, and the Oilers scored quickly at the start of the second half to go up 35-3 before the Bills came back to win.
All with their backup quarterback (Frank Reich) after their starter, the director of the No Huddle Offense Jim Kelly was injured a couple weeks earlier.
Great list, but you gotta check that a bit more
Zack: thanks for pointing that out – I will fix that ASAP.
It seems that nobody remembers anymore Michael “Air” Jordan…
good liverpool rox
Do an upsets list
Orlando: that is a great idea.
Sorry Zack. I don’t know anything about American football. I got all my information from wikipedia. I only included it because it was called ‘the comeback’ so I felt it should be on my list.
No problem, I really love the site. One of my favorite reads
Was just a very memorable game to someone who grew up in upstate NY (even if not a Bills fan)
I Link to you guys often
Zack: excellent – thanks
Obviously this is a euro-centric list, and that’s fine, but #1 should absolutely be the 2004 Red Sox. Not only are they the only team in baseball history to come back from a 3 games to none deficit, they also hadn’t won a world series in something like 90 years prior to that year. It was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen in sports.
Love the site!
cvtate: thanks for the addition of the Red Sox and for the compliment
Yeah well you’ve got to try and balance the American bias on the internet somehow. I tell you what if baseball ever comes as globally significant as most of the sports above then I will come out of retirement and write many more lists.
The sad thing is I will look up the Red Sox comeback out of interest, yet I feel few people few will bother with my above suggestions. And thats all they are they are – suggestions.
How about the 1972 summit series???? It’s the biggest comeback in canadian sports history eh!
yep, gotta agree the big one missing is the 2004 Red Sox. biggest comeback in sports history, I think.
Did the red socks get cancer, almost burn alive or have over half their team die in an airplane crash.
If no why do they deserve to be on this list so much.
USA and India were playing a Hockey match. USA scored ONE goal against TWENTY-FOUR(24) of India’s goal! I am still confounded who and how scored that lonely goal(Almost feels like a comeback to me)!! And I heard of this Indycar racer who lost both his legs in a pile-up, but was back to racing there within months, WITH ARTIFICIAL LIMBS!!
theres a couple that i would have added
1. Doug Flutie’s hail mary in miami http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-qkpsygNYo
for those of you who dont know, Doug Flutie was a quarterback for boston colledge, who had to play the defending national champs in the orange bowl, with 6 seconds left on the clock boston colledge was down 45-41 with 48 yards to the end zone, Flutie threw a pass that scored the title winning touchdown.
2. my second one is James Bradock beating Max Bare for the heavy weigth championship of the world
That Indy car driver would be Alex (Allesandro) Zenardi. He raced in some touring car events using hand controls. Lauda definitely deserves to be on this list.
As great as it was to see Goran Ivanisevic finally put it all together to win his one and only Grand Slam title, I think Jennifer Capriati’s comeback was more dramatic, impressive, and unexpected. Starting out a child star, growing up under the spotlight, leaving the sport entirely amidst personal problems and conflicts, being arrested for theft and possession of *****. Who would have thought by looking at her mug shot in the 90s, that she would come back in 2001 and win 2 Grand Slam tournaments that year, claim the number one ranking, then win another Grand Slam the following year. Pretty inspirational stuff.
Since Lance Armstrong is on this list, I gather that you’re including comebacks from injury or other medical conditions. This begs the question, where’s Kerry Strug and Ben Hogan?
As a Buffalonian I thank you for including the Buffalo-Houston game, it was really the first thing I had thought of when I clicked on this list! Yay!
Regie Miller scoring 9 points in 8 seconds against the Knicks was the most amazing thing Ive seen in the NBA. I don’t recall if it was an actual comeback though..
No one is going to even mention Miracle?
The USA team was a bunch of college amateurs, with an average age of I think 21. They were the creme of the crop of the college players that weren’t going into the NHL.
The russian team was 4 time defending gold medalists, winning the 64 68 72 and 76 golds. They were the favorites to win a fifth and no team could even lay a finger to them.
A week before the olympic games, the russians and USA play an exhibition match at madison square garden. The Soviets flatten the americans 10-3, although it could just as easily have been 30-3.
Not much later, the Russians and Americans meet up again in the semifinals. The Russians put the first goal on the board quickly but the Americans score not much later. The soviets score another goal towards the end of the period and it looked like the game would be a goal apart going into the next period but the Americans scored a last second goal to tie the game.
In the second period the russians scored giving them a 3-2 lead. The Americans tied it back up and then in the 3rd pulled ahead by one and held on to the end. Best comeback ever…there has never been such a gap in skill/age/talent etc between two teams in a game.
WHERE IS THE RED SOX COMEBACK AGAINST THE YANKEES IN THE ALCS!?!?!?!!!!!! COME ON PEOPLE!
And the sad thing about the Bills is that they lost four Super Bowls in a row. Two to the Cowboys, and one each to the Giants and Redskins. *sigh*
The Red Sox comeback from 0-3 to win a best of 7 series is a glaring omission.
Also missing from this is Michael Changs victory over Ivan Lendl in the 1989 French Open. While suffering from near debilitating leg cramps, he fought back with underhand serves and setting up well inside the baseline.
Dachou you are a dick. Alot of this so called anti-americanism is because too many of you aren’t happy unless every entry is American. That’s annoying and not a little ignorant of other peoples cultures. You go about the Miracle on Ice, but how about the Czechs beating the USSR in 1972 only 4 years after their short revolution had been brutally oppressed by the Soviets. The French overturning the New Zealand, the best side in the world, in the 1999 world cup semi when they had been 24-10 down.
Not sure if it would count as a comeback in the strictest definition of the word, but one of my all-time favorite sports stories is Dan Jansen’s eventual gold medal win.
What about the 1999 Champions League Final between Bayern Munich and Manchester United. Bayern scored after 6 minutes to take a 1-0 lead into the break. In the second half Bayern hit the post twice and the crossbar once. At the end of the 90 minutes of play it was still 1-0 to Bayern and there was to be 3 mins of added time. 90 seconds into added time United were awarded a corner from which Teddy Sherringham scored to make it 1-1. One minute later United are awarded another corner and this time it is Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who sticks his foot out to divert a Sherringham header past the Bayern keeper to make it 2-1 to United and victory in Europe
i think you should add the 2007 washington redskins
when safety sean taylor passed away from a gunshot wound, the team had almost no chance to make the playoffs, but the team went on a winning streak and barely made the final nfc playoff spot. as a team, coping with a teammate’s death is hard enough, but the whole team banding together to make the playoffs in taylor’s name, is just remarkable. just my opinion though.
I think John Landy should be in here… Yes, he is Australian so I’m biased, but in the 1956 Australian National Championships, in the 1500m final, Landy stopped and turned around to help Ron Clarke to his feet after he had been accidently tripped by another runner. In the last couple of laps Landy came from nowhere to win the race – amazing comeback combined with great sportsmanship.
For some reason, I just KNEW the Oilers/Bills game would be mentioned. I grew up an Oilers fan(Go Texans dammit!), I despise the Bills because of this one game. Well, at least Houston sports gets mentioned somewhere OUTSIDE of Texas(assuming you ARE located outside of Texas…). We get no respect.
Look into the University of Miami and University of florida 2003 season opener. with the canes down 33-10 late into the game, it took a lot of miraculous feats to beat the gaytors (im obviously biased) 38-33! this was the game that turned me into a football fan.
travis – the czechs were a pretty good team in ice hockey regardless of what was going on in the world. The US was a bunch of amateurs due to their rules against using professional players. The average age of the US team was 21. Mikhailov, the captain of the USSR team and Tretiak were considered some of the best players in the world, if not the best. they also had extremely high level players such as kharlamov, myshkhin, krutov, and makarov. And the brilliant coach tikhonov. The USSR team beat an NHL all stars team 6-0 that year. The US team made it to the finals in pretty good fashion but the USSR steamrolled..Japan 16-0, the netherlands 17-4, and Poland 8-1. Even the shots for the miracle game were lopsided, 39 by the soviets and 16 by the US.
This game has been voted #1 everything by just about everyone…#1 sports moment by ESPN, #1 headline, Best game of the 1979-2004 period, the entire team was the AP’s male athlete of the year, #1 upset by ESPN.
No game is more famous, more memorable, or more of a comeback than this. It is basically the equivalent of the NE Patriots, pre-super bowl 08, being beaten by a Division 1 college team.
The what Patriots?
NE = New England
What about the Boston Red Sox in 2004 when they were behind the Yankees by 3 games in the ALCS and then won 4 games in a row to go to the world series and then win it. It was the first time in MLB history when that happened
If it weren’t for the fact that the sport of rapid fire pistol shooting is relatively obscure, the feat of Karoly Takacs could arguably top the list. In 1938, he was recognized as the top shooter in the world and was looking forward to the 1940 olympics when during an army training excercise, a grenade exploded and mutilated his right hand (his shooting hand). As it turns out, the Olympics of 1940 and 1944 were never held because of WWII. However, in 1948, Takacs achieved the unthinkable by winning the gold medal in pistol shooting after teaching himself to shoot with his left hand! He won again in 1952. Amazing.
The UK Wildcats were down 31 points (at LSU) with 16 minutes left and came back to win the game. Plus, basketball is an international sport that most, if not all, understand. This could have easily made the top ten.
In fairness, Liverpool had Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, who are better than some of the Milan players.
2004 ALCS, The Boston Red Sox came back from a 3-0 game deficit including a horrendous 19-8 game 3 disaster to do something never before done in baseball and win 4 straight must win games, then to top it off they swept the World Series for their first victory in it in 86 years.
Boston Celtics Comeback: ’02 NBA East Finals Game 3
the redsox in 04 sheesh
2008 Superbowl Colts vs Patriots !!!!!
who wins?? do tell.