These sports moments will send a chill down your spine. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at the most shocking and frightening moments that have occurred during a sporting event.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00But the attack on the Israeli team turned the Olympic Games into a tragic chapter of German history.
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at the most shocking and frightening moments that have occurred during a sporting event.
00:11I don't care who started it, an ugly, disgraceful incident has disrupted this hockey game.
00:17Joe Theismann breaks his leg. This is the football injury to end all football injuries, the one that even non-fans recognize.
00:23Seven weeks later, on Monday Night Football, the whole world witnessed the play Theismann is most famous for.
00:30Joe Theismann was a two-time pro bowler and Super Bowl-winning quarterback, but most people remember him as that guy whose leg went backwards.
00:37Yeah, that injury is every bit as gruesome as it sounds.
00:39You grabbed me.
00:40Yeah, so?
00:41And it swung around.
00:43And right here, right off my right ear, I heard this, pow, pow.
00:48I heard it, too.
00:50It occurred on November 18, 1985, when Theismann was sacked by Lawrence Taylor.
00:55Theismann's right leg got caught under Taylor's body and, in the quarterback's own words, snapped like a breadstick.
01:00The response was immediate, with Taylor showing great distress and frantically waving over the medical team.
01:04The injury ended Theismann's career and permanently shortened his leg, as the bones never recovered to their full size or strength.
01:10I know in my career, it's the same thing.
01:13You know, you win a championship, you're an MVP of the league, you know, you're all these things.
01:17But the only thing that people remember you for is an injury.
01:21Nadar Kumaratashvili dies at the Olympics.
01:24Georgian luge athlete Nadar Kumaratashvili traveled to British Columbia to attend the 2010 Winter Olympics, but tragedy struck before his event could occur.
01:33Nadar Kumaratashvili, a luge athlete who was the pride of this town, was set to compete in the Vancouver Olympics when he was killed in an accident during a training run just before the Games began.
01:45On February 12th, the day of the opening ceremonies, Kumaratashvili was training at the sliding center in Whistler, British Columbia.
01:52He successfully completed 25 runs, but it was during the last one that the athlete made a mistake and flew off the track at 89 miles per hour.
01:59If they didn't make mistakes with the tracks, why did they lower the height of the starting point?
02:09Why did they make the modifications and lower the men's starting point by about 200 meters?
02:14His body struck a steel pole, and while he was immediately treated by on-site personnel, his injuries were too great and he tragically passed away.
02:20A moment of silence was held during the opening ceremonies to honor Kumaratashvili, and the Georgian team was met with a standing ovation.
02:27His death cast a shadow over the Games and raised questions of safety over the lightning-fast luge track there.
02:35Ayrton Senna crashes at Imola.
02:37A Formula One legend, Ayrton Senna was a three-time Drivers' Champion and the winner of 41 Formula One wins.
02:43His masterful display earned him a hard-fought victory and left a visibly exhausted Manson in P2.
02:50During the 1994 season, Senna was driving for Williams and had one pole position in the first three races.
02:56The third occurred at the San Marino Grand Prix, which is where Senna would die on May 1st.
03:00During lap 7, Senna left the track and crashed into a concrete barrier at 131 miles per hour.
03:05Today, we've lost, arguably, the greatest talent of his generation.
03:09After a high-speed crash at Tamburello, Ayrton Senna is dead.
03:15It was immediately evident that the driver was hurt, as he was completely motionless in the cockpit.
03:19He was pulled from the car and given an emergency tracheotomy before being rushed to the hospital.
03:23Unfortunately, Senna would not survive his injuries, as he had suffered substantial head trauma.
03:28It's been a dreadful day, and the loss of Ayrton Senna is really tough to comprehend.
03:33Malice at the Palace.
03:34Athletes fight among themselves all the time, but it rarely spills into the stands.
03:38Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened on November 19th, 2004.
03:42Ben Wallace has fouled, and Wallace did...
03:44Oh!
03:44Wallace!
03:45Right of Artest!
03:46This has potential to be serious!
03:48The Pacers were in Detroit playing the Pistons when all hell broke loose with just 46 seconds left in the game.
03:53Following an altercation between Ben Wallace and Ron Artest, an angry fan threw a drink at Artest.
03:58Artest rushed into the stands and attacked an innocent man whom he believed was responsible.
04:03That's one of the worst scenes I've ever seen.
04:05People defended the man against Artest.
04:06People attacked those people, and before long, a massive brawl was unleashed.
04:09When it was all said and done, ten people were charged with assault, five fans were
04:13banned from the Palace, and nine players were suspended.
04:16I've never experienced anything like that.
04:18I'm surprised there's not a 30-for-30 on that.
04:20Oh, there will be.
04:21There will be.
04:22But you gotta get the cooperation of Ron, and I don't think Ron will ever, ever talk
04:26about that day.
04:27Owen Hart falls from the ceiling.
04:29It was May 23, 1999, and Owen Hart was participating in a pay-per-view event called Over the Edge.
04:34He's got a big match tonight, going after the Intercontinental Championship, taking
04:37on the Godfather.
04:39Ooh, the Godfather.
04:41Just saying his name makes my blue blood.
04:43Hart was scheduled to fight the Godfather and was going to make a comedic entrance by
04:46descending from the arena's rafters, getting stuck in an apparent malfunction, and then
04:50falling into the ring.
04:51Unfortunately, the device malfunctioned for real and dropped Hart 78 feet onto the top rope.
04:56Last night in Kansas City, Missouri, with more than 18,000 people in the arena and a
05:01large worldwide pay-per-view audience, Hart was getting ready to make a spectacular entrance,
05:06similar to one he'd made before.
05:08CPR was immediately administered, and broadcaster Jerry Lawler ominously claimed that it doesn't
05:12look good at all.
05:13He was right.
05:14The fall had severed Hart's aorta, and he bled to death within minutes.
05:17Hart was rushed to the hospital, and life-saving operations were performed, but they were ultimately
05:21futile.
05:22I have the unfortunate responsibility to let everyone know that Owen Hart has died.
05:32Owen Hart has tragically died from an accident here tonight.
05:37Monica Sellis is stabbed in the back.
05:39Monica Sellis is a legend in the tennis world, having won nine Grand Slam titles.
05:43Ladies and gentlemen, our 1991 Women's U.S. Open champion, Monica Sellis.
05:50By 1993, she was at the peak of her career, but it nearly came to an abrupt end on April
05:5430th.
05:55Sellis was playing in the Citizen Cup when a German man named Gunther Parsha left the
05:58stands and approached Sellis, who was resting on the bench.
06:01When I was in a tennis match when this happened, I was doing something that I love, and I never
06:07ever expected something like this to happen.
06:10He stabbed Sellis in the back with a knife, penetrating half an inch into her skin.
06:14He had done so as an act of revenge against Sellis, who had defeated German player Steffi
06:17Graf in numerous Grand Slam finals.
06:19As disturbing as the situation was, Sellis recovered and returned to tennis, even winning
06:23the Australian Open in 1996.
06:26I left this tournament in 1993 with unbelievable memories, and the hardest thing for me at
06:34the time that I couldn't play was not being able to defend my title here, and it's just
06:38great to be back.
06:41The Le Mans disaster.
06:42Motorsports has seen some horrific accidents, but none quite like the Le Mans crash of 1955.
06:47It occurred in France during the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, when driver Mike Hawthorne
06:51pulled in front of Lance Macklin.
06:53Macklin swerved to avoid the braking Hawthorne and drove directly into the path of Pierre
06:58Levesque.
06:59Levesque's car struck Hawthorne's, which acted as a ramp and sent Levesque's Mercedes into
07:02the grandstand.
07:03The car exploded and debris was sent hurling at top speeds through the spectators, striking
07:08and crushing dozens.
07:09Levesque was killed, as were 83 others.
07:11It remains the deadliest crash in motorsports, and led to a significant redesign of Circuit
07:16which is still in operation today.
07:18Dale Earnhardt's crash.
07:19Perhaps the greatest driver in NASCAR history, Dale Earnhardt was the winner of seven Winston
07:23Cup championships.
07:24Some people become heroes because they live above the rest of us, but the real heroes
07:25are the ones who never leave us.
07:26They never forget where they came from, and they honor us by embracing us back.
07:37This is the most in the company's history, a record he shares with Richard Petty and
07:41Jimmy Johnson.
07:42On February 18th, 2001, Earnhardt was driving in the Daytona 500, and was taking the final
07:47turn of the final lap when he bumped into Ken Schrader.
07:49The accident sent Earnhardt into the concrete wall at 160 miles per hour.
07:54I think we were as prepared as a team and an organization in 2001 to go out and win
08:00the championship as any year that we wanted, and the worst happened.
08:06When both cars had come to a stop, Schrader ran to check on Earnhardt and knew immediately
08:10that he was dead.
08:11To this day, he refuses to explain what he saw.
08:13Earnhardt's death was officially announced less than two hours later, striking a significant
08:17blow to the NASCAR community.
08:19This is undoubtedly one of the toughest announcements that I've ever personally had to make, but
08:25after the accident and turning forward at the end of the Daytona 500, we've lost Dale
08:30Earnhardt.
08:31The Clint Melarchuk injury
08:32A professional goaltender, Clint Melarchuk was playing for the Buffalo Sabres in 1989
08:37when he experienced one of the most grotesque injuries in sports history.
08:40Clint Melarchuk played 338 games in the NHL, but he's remembered for one.
08:46A collision occurred in front of Melarchuk, sending Blues player Steve Tuttle into the
08:50net.
08:51His skate rose into the air and made contact with Melarchuk's unguarded neck, severing
08:55his carotid artery.
08:56The result was nauseating, causing people to vomit, faint, and even suffer heart attacks.
09:00Probably one of the most frightening things I've ever seen in doing hockey.
09:03I've been doing hockey for the past 30 years.
09:07Melarchuk believed that he was going to die, but his life was saved by trainer Jim Pizzatelli,
09:11who had served as a medic in Vietnam.
09:13Melarchuk was back at work just one week and 300 stitches later, but the incident had a
09:17profound and lasting impact on his mental health.
09:19You get hurt, you get bumped around, you break your leg, whatever, but it's nothing to the
09:23pain of mental illness.
09:26Before we get to our last story, here are a few other notable examples.
09:30Randy Johnson strikes a bird.
09:32The Diamondbacks pitcher strikes and kills a bird with a fastball.
09:3423 years later, they're still talking about this.
09:39Like you said at the intro, 10 All-Star games, won 300 games, close to 5,000 strikeouts,
09:46MVP of a World Series, and I'm recognized and remembered for killing a bird.
09:53Mike Tyson takes a bite.
09:54The boxer rips a chunk from the ear of Evander Holyfield.
09:57I have never seen Evander Holyfield, who is a calm, serene man, as angry as he was.
10:02He was jumping in the ring and screaming at Mills Lane and at Mike Tyson.
10:07They came back a second time, and again, Mike Tyson bit him.
10:12Pedro Martinez throws Don Zimmer.
10:14The Red Sox pitcher throws the 72-year-old Yankees coach to the ground.
10:17That's awful.
10:18Don Zimmer, a 72-year-old man, went into Pedro Martinez' face, and Pedro Martinez threw him
10:29down.
10:30After the Nancy Kerrigan incident, Shane Stant strikes Nancy Kerrigan and takes her
10:34out of the U.S. Championship.
10:35A weeping Nancy Kerrigan, carried by her father, who later that afternoon asked the question
10:41all the world wanted to know.
10:43Why?
10:44Why would someone do this?
10:45Moises Alou breaks his ankle.
10:46The outfielder dislocates his ankle, rounding first, resulting in a gruesome sight.
10:50How bad was that?
10:51Look at the reaction of the second base umpire.
10:54Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified
10:58about our latest videos.
11:00You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
11:04If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
11:10The Munich Massacre
11:11Playing out in early September 1972, the Munich Massacre was a massive stain not just on the
11:16Olympics but on the West German government.
11:18The 1972 Munich Games became one of the darkest moments in Olympic history.
11:23On the morning of September 5th, a Palestinian terrorist organization called Black September
11:27invaded the Olympic Village in Munich.
11:29Their goal was to hold the Israeli team hostage and demand the release of over 300 Palestinian
11:33prisoners.
11:34Two Israelis were killed in the initial attack, and nine more were taken hostage, kick-starting
11:38a media frenzy.
11:39However, the crisis ended in tragedy when West German police botched a rescue attempt.
11:44All of the hostages were executed, and a police officer died in the firefight.
11:48All told, 17 people lost their lives.
11:50The German authorities were criticized for a botched rescue operation.
11:54Did you happen to see any of these moments live?
11:56Let us know in the comments below.
11:57Did you enjoy this video?
11:59Check out these other clips from WatchMojo, and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell
12:03to be notified about our latest videos.