Illustrations By Jeff Wong
The ceiling of the vatican's sistine Chapel has been a source of wonder and inspiration since 1512, and yet only this year did someone notice that Michelangelo's depiction of the spark of life could be retouched to represent the moment when the athlete became the Man in this country. The parallels, once we started looking for them, were striking ... and almost too numerous. Our toughest call was settling on just one of sports' many David and Goliath stories. After much deliberation, we gave the nod to the college kids who went to Lake Placid in 1980 and handed the Soviets their heads.
Click here to see selected panels in greater detail.
