The 10 Most Influential Athletes Of The Century

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1929 California's Roy Riegels runs 65 yds. in the wrong direction with recovered fumble in Rose Bowl

1934 Carl Hubbell strikes out six straight in All-Star game

1938 Joe Louis knocks out Germany's Max Schmeling in racially charged heavyweight rematch

1939 Fatally stricken, Lou Gehrig announces retirement

1941 Joe DiMaggio hits in 56 straight games

1948 Citation sweeps to Triple Crown, Eddie Arcaro up

1951 Bobby Thomson's "shot heard 'round the world" kills Brooklyn, wins pennant for Giants

1954 Roger Bannister runs first 4-min. mile

1956 Rocky Marciano retires as only undefeated heavyweight champion at 49-0

1965 "Havlicek stole the ball! Havlicek stole the ball!" --Boston Celtics win seventh of eight-straight titles

1966 All-black Texas Western basketball team defeats all-white Kentucky in NCAA final

1966 England captures World Cup on "phantom goal" vs. West Germany

1968 Bob Beamon obliterates long-jump record in Mexico City Olympics; at same Games, black runners Tommie Smith, John Carlos stage protest

1969 Joe Namath predicts, delivers Jets' Super Bowl championship vs. Colts

1972 Mark Spitz swims to record seven gold medals in Munich

1975 At Thrilla in Manila, it's Ali over Frazier

1976 Nadia Comaneci vaults to seven perfect 10s in Montreal

1977 A.J. Foyt becomes Indy's first four-time winner

1980 USA! USA! USA! Hockey team strikes Lake Placid gold

1980 Borg over McEnroe in epic match; it's his fifth straight Wimbledon

1984 Bird takes Magic in first of three title matchups

1986 Jack Nicklaus captures his sixth green blazer at Augusta, 23 years after his first

1988 Diving-board mishap draws blood but doesn't keep Greg Louganis from winning gold at Seoul

1995 Cal Ripken Jr. breaks the unbreakable, passing Gehrig's 56-year-old record for consecutive games played

1996 Michael Johnson cops double gold in Atlanta, smashes 200-meter record

1998 It's Mark McGwire over Sammy Sosa, 70-66, for the new home-run crown at the end of the best baseball season in memory

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