It could hardly be any tighter, and that after 1.5 km swimming, 40 km cycling and 10 km running. In the women's triathlon at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Swiss athlete Nicola Spirig (above) won gold at the end thanks to the finish photo, ahead of Lisa Norden from Sweden.
The closest Alpine ski race in history took place in 2012 in Bormio, Italy. On the downhill run, the fastest four are separated by just two hundredths of a second. The Austrian Hannes Reichelt (l.) and Dominik Paris (M.) from Italy share the victory with the exact same time. Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal (right) is third, 0.01 seconds behind. And the Austrian Klaus Kroell, 0.02 seconds behind the two winners, does not even make it onto the podium. This has never happened before.
At the 15 km mass start in the biathlon at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, only millimetres separate the German Simon Schempp (left) and France's Martin Fourcade at the finish. In the end Fourcade wins and takes gold. Schempp becomes second.
The most thrilling finish in Formula 1 has been a long time ago: At the Italian Grand Prix in Monza in 1971, the winner Peter Gethin is separated from runner-up Ronnie Peterson's by only a hundredth of a second. Even the fifth driver is not even a second behind the winner in the end. During the race there are eight different drivers in the lead. The lead changes 26 times in total. A race for eternity.
Tight decisions are the order of the day when sprinting over 100 meters. At the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, however, things get particularly dramatic: there, the finish photo has to decide between five sprinters. In the end, Gail Devers (USA) is declared the winner with a 0.01 second lead over Juliet Cuthbert (Jamaica). Irina Privalova from Russia is third, only 0.01 seconds behind Cuthbert. In the end, only 6 hundredths of a second separate the winner Devers from the fifth Merlene Ottey (Jamaica).
A Tour de France for eternity is that of 1989, because after weeks of exertion and 3285 kilometres, the Tour winner Greg Le Mond (l.) and runner-up Laurent Fignon (r.) are separated by just eight measly seconds. Before the last stage, a time trial with a finish on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, Fignon has a 50-second lead over the American, who finally passes with the help of a then new aerodynamic handlebar and helmet.
One of the tightest stage decisions of the Tour de France comes on stage 7 in 2017 at the finish in Nuits-Saint-Georges. There the German Marcel Kittel (white jersey) and the Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen (blue jersey) cross the finish line at the same time. After analysis of the finish photo, Kittel is finally awarded the victory.
A sprint to the finish line between two athletes for the win has actually never been seen at Ironman Hawaii. The narrowest gap between first and second place after 3.86 km swimming, 180.2 km cycling and a marathon run is 1:12 minutes in 2006 between the winner Norman Stadler (l., Germany) and the runner-up Chris McCormack (r., Australia).
It can also be really tight in horse racing. At this finish at a tournament in Chicago in June 1963 the finish photo has to decide. All nine competitors are less than one horse length behind the final winner Penny O'Joe at the finish.
OutDoor by ISPOHow you benefit from communities as a brand
