Beach Volleyball, and particularly the women’s, is one of the most popular and most watched Olympic events and the competition in London set at the iconic venue the Horse Guards Parade it looks set to be one of the defining moments of the tournament. The gold medal match takes place on the 8th of August at 21.00 (GMT).

The opening ceremony of the Olympics has become one of the most anticipated events of the whole tournament. Nations wrack their brains on how to out-do each other in evermore expensive and elaborate ceremonies that sometimes verge on the bizarre. With the London Olympics just a few days away we are giddy with excitement as to what Director Danny Boyle has in store for us. Here are some of the most famous moments from Olympic opening ceremony history.

The Eternal City hosted the Olympic Games in 1960; a tournament that brought the Olympics into modern era. One man came to symbolise that modernism and it he came out of nowhere. Adebe Bikila form Ethiopia was an unknown before the games won the marathon barefoot becoming the first Sub-Saharan African to win gold ushering in a new era of East African dominance in the world of long distance running.

The Olympics in Beijing were memorable for many reasons not least as the moment that China opened up to the world but unequivocally they belonged to one man. Michael Phelps won eight gold medals surpassing all others and becoming the greatest Olympian of all time.

Cassius Clay’s journey from young fighter form Louisville Kentucky to political activist, philanthropist and cultural icon Muhammad Ali, has its beginnings at the Olympic Games. In 1960, the light-heavyweight set out on the road to greatness with a comprehensive victory over Pietrzykowski to take gold at the Olympics in Rome.

In the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games Tommie Smith and John Carlos, gold and bronze medallists in the 200m raised their fists in solidarity with the American Civil Rights Movement on the rostrum in a black power salute. The rest is history.

Young barefoot South African runner Zola Budd was given a lifeline to compete in the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics 5000 metres against her hero and race favourite American Mary Decker. But her dream of running the race of her life ended in acrimony and accusation.

When Derek Redmond collapsed in heap on the running track in the semi-final of the 400m at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 it was a tragedy for the runner. What happened next though will forever be imprinted on the public’s memory of those games and is still emotional to watch today, a display of pain, grief, determination, pride and the love of a father for his son.

In the ultra competitive arena of professional sports it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture, that in sport, it’s the taking part that’s important. In the Summer Olympics in Sydney 2000 a swimmer, Eric Moussambani, from the tiny nation of Equatorial Guinea reminded the world just what it’s all about.

Canadian Ben Johnson won the gold medal in the 100m final at the 1988 Seoul Olympics with an awesome display of power and a world record time of 9.79 seconds. However, three days later his urine sample tested positive for a banned substance and he was stripped of his medal and record. Johnson was sent home in disgrace, but that wasn’t the end to the Johnson story.

Cathy Freeman ran with the weight of history on her shoulders. She ran for her sister who had been born with Cerebral Palsy, she ran because she wanted to win. When Freeman won the gold medal in the 400m final in at the 2000 Sydney Olympics she had become the transcendent symbol for the whole country and for the Olympics themselves.