15 greatest upsets in Summer Olympic history

13. 2000: Hyman beats O’Neill

The 2000 Olympics were hosted by Sydney, Australia, who had some of the best swimmers in the world. The biggest name was Susie O’Neill, who was nicknamed “Madame Butterfly” due to her dominance in the Butterfly. The Aussie had owned her event, the 200m butterfly, and was coming off an incredible performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

She won the gold medal in the 200m butterfly in Atlanta, and several months earlier, in the same Sydney pool, she had broken American Mary T. Meagher’s 20-year world record in the event. Earlier in the week, O’Neill won the gold in the 200m freestyle, setting up one of the biggest upsets in Olympic history.

In lane 6 was American Misty Hyman, who used an underwater dolphin-kick that was seen as a kind of black sheep in the training world. Still, using this technique she was able to shave a second off the world-record in the 100m butterfly the previous winter. However, she was not considered to have any chance of dethroning O’Neill in her friendly waters.

Despite being the slowest off the block, Hyman used her powerful legs to create force off the breakouts, and despite a surge from O’Neill in the final 50m, Hyman was able to hold on and capture the gold medal. It was O’Neill’s first loss in six years. To beat O’Neill in her country, in her event, was nothing short of a miracle.

Next: 12. 1984: Retton captures gold in Los Angeles