Sex, Steroids, And Arnold: The Story Of The Gym That Shaped America
When did the modern-day fitness movement really begin in the U.S.? ...
The Story Of The Greatest Photo From The Greatest Game Ever Played
Game 7 of the 1960 World Series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Yankees has been described as “the greatest game ever played” and “the best game ever.” Entering the bottom of the ninth, the score was tied 9-9, and Bill Mazeroski was leading off....
The First Four-Minute Mile, In One Pain-Wracked Photo
Sir Roger Bannister died over the weekend at the age of 88 and, as to be expected, the glowing obituaries focused on his epochal mile of May 6, 1954, when he shattered the four-minute barrier on Oxford University’s Iffley Road track....
The Ice Bowl, The Sneak, And The Family Who Shot The Packers For 70 Years
It wasn’t just cold at Lambeau Field. With the temperature at 13 below zero at kickoff, and the wind chill at 36 below, Dec. 31, 1967, ranked as the coldest New Year’s Eve day that Green Bay, Wisconsin, had ever witnessed....
The Immaculate Reception And The Photographer Who Waited 45 Years To Get His Due
For the long-suffering Pittsburgh Steeler fans watching the 1972 AFC playoff game, the season appeared to be over. Trailing 7-6 to the Oakland Raiders, the Steelers faced fourth and 10 from their own 40, with 22 seconds left in the game and no timeouts remaining....
The World Series National Anthem That Infuriated America
The current crop of athletes protesting during the national anthem has roots at the 1968 Olympics, with the Black Power salute of Tommie Smith and John Carlos after they finished first and third, respectively, in the 200 meters. John Dominis’s famous photograph of the two U.S. sprinters on the medal...
The Legendary Baseball Photo That Almost Didn't Come Out Because The Stadium Was Shaking Too Hard
The baseball soared into the early-morning blackness, heading toward the left-field foul pole. Tracking the flight of the ball he’d just hit, Carlton Fisk began to frantically flap his arms in an effort to will it fair. ...
Two Of The Most Famous Olympic Photos Were All About Location And Dumb Luck
This weekend, Heinz Kluetmeier will become the first photographer to be inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The longtime staff photographer at Sports Illustrated is undeniably hall-worthy. He’s shot iconic images of every major swimmer since 1970, from Mark...
The Story Behind The Iconic Photos Of The Olympics' Dirtiest Record
When Carl Lewis and Ben Johnson faced off in the 100-meter finals at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the race to determine the world’s fastest human was the marquee event of the Games. It was America vs. Canada; the lithe Lewis against the hulking Johnson; the reigning Olympic champ against the reigning wo...
The Story Behind The Masked Horror Of The Munich Olympics<em></em>
The attack began in the early morning hours of Sept. 5, 1972, when eight armed Palestinians affiliated with the Black September Organization snuck into the Olympic Village in Munich. They made their way to 31 Connollystrasse, where the Israeli delegation was housed, killed two men and took nine othe...
The Story Behind The Perfect Photo Of Sports' First Streaker
When freelance photojournalist Ian Bradshaw went to Twickenham Stadium in the spring of 1974 to cover a rugby union friendly between England and France, he expected to shoot nothing more than another bloodbath between two fierce rivals. He returned instead with an instantly iconic photograph that si...
The Story Behind The Perfect Photo Of Olympic Pain
What does it feel like to have your lifelong dream dashed in an instant? How would you react?...
The Story Behind Hockey's Most Famous Photo
The number of truly iconic hockey pictures is surprisingly small. The sport is notoriously difficult to photograph, thanks to the fast-paced action, the elusive puck, and some unique space, proximity, and lighting restrictions. There’s Denis Brodeur (yes, Martin’s father) and his shot of Paul Hender...
The Catch, The "Divine" Photo, And The Photographer Who Was Rooting For The Cowboys
Dwight Clark’s “The Catch” is one of the most famous plays in NFL history, and made for one of the most iconic photos ever taken by longtime Sports Illustrated photographer Walter Iooss Jr., one of the industry’s biggest names. Yet for all the immortality conferred in the back of Candlestick Park’s ...
The Story Behind Bob Beamon's Miracle Jump And The Only Photo That Mattered
The man who took one of the most famous photos in Olympic history wasn’t a professional photographer. Tony Duffy was on vacation at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, and with nothing more than an amateur’s bravado, he casually wandered into the Athletes’ Village—which should have been off limits to ...
What Does It Take To Get Photographers Into Sports Halls Of Fame?
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is the most idiosyncratic of the major sports halls of fame, in part because its mission is to celebrate the game of basketball in its many incarnations, as opposed to just the NBA. That independent spirit is readily apparent this weekend, when Springfie...
How The Most Iconic Photo In Women's Soccer Was Almost Never Taken
It was arguably the biggest moment in the history of American women’s sports, and the single most memorable and reproduced image of the celebration. Brandi Chastain had just converted the penalty kick that cemented the 1999 Women’s World Cup for the United States over China. She then experienced a f...
Behind The Photo That Changed The Boston Marathon Forever
Everyone knows someone who’s run the marathon. Today’s big-city races—in places like Boston, New York, Berlin, and London—draw Olympic hopefuls competing for hundreds of thousands of dollars and hordes of weekend warriors raising money for their favorite charities or just hoping to check off “compl...
The Photo That Took Surfing Worldwide
The artistry of photographers Ron Stoner and LeRoy Grannis (among others) contributed mightily to the boom in surfing in the 1960s. Their Technicolor spreads of big-wave riders and sun-drenched beaches inspired a generation of Jeff Spicolis to get stoked, and, in turn, helped make surfing a billion-...
What Baseball's Most Famous Brawl Photo <em>Didn't</em> Show You
It's been 49 years since Giants ace Juan Marichal clocked Dodgers catcher John Roseboro with his bat. The moment was captured in Neil Leifer's iconic photograph, which in turn shaped the collective memory of the incident. Today, Marichal is remembered as the villain, Roseboro as the helpless innoce...