2010: At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, speed skater and Chicago-native Shani Davis won Olympic gold in the men’s 1,000 meter speed skating with a time of 1:08.94. It was his second Olympic gold medal, after winning it in the same event in 2006 in Turin, making him the first man to win back-to-back gold medals in that event.

Source: Olympic.org

2011: After years of mediocrity, the Chicago Bulls looked like they had finally returned to their championship form. The team went 62-20 in the regular season behind stars like Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer and league MVP Derrick Rose. The Bulls made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals before falling to the Miami Heat.

Source: Basketball Reference

2012: Just outside of Chicago in South Bend, Indiana, the Notre Dame men’s football team was nearly unstoppable in 2012. The Fighting Irish went 12-0 and were ranked first in the nation after starting the season outside of the top 25. Unfortunately for Notre Dame, the season would later be wrapped in controversy after it was discovered they had fielded ineligible players throughout the course of the season. The NCAA would force them to vacate all of their wins from their season.

Sources: Sports Illustrated

2013: On Oct. 13, 2013 during the 36th annual Chicago Marathon, Dennis Kimetto of Kenya came first out of over 39,000 others, finishing with a time of 2:03:45, the fastest in race history for a male. Similarly, Brigid Kosgei would set the female race record in 2019, finishing with a time of 2:14:04.

Source: Marathon Guide

2014: The Bulls were not the only Chicago basketball team to go on a long playoff run in the 2010s. The Chicago Sky of the WNBA would one-up the 2011 Bulls in 2014, reaching the WNBA. Unfortunately the Sky would get swept by the Phoenix Mercury in the Finals, but this playoff run was followed by another two seasons of regular season success, including a MVP-performance from star G/F Elena Delle Donne in 2015.

Source: Basketball Reference

2015: On June 15, the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0 to win their third Stanley Cup in six years. The Hawks persevered to run through the playoffs, including a dominant sweep of the Minnesota Wild and a 3-2 overtime victory over the Anaheim Ducks that went to three overtimes and lasted for almost two hours. While franchise faces Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith all played key parts in the playoffs, recent acquisitions like Antoine Vermette and young stars like Teuvo Teravainen would be the final pieces needed to cement the 2010s Blackhawks in hockey lore.

Source: Hockey Reference

2016: The Chicago Cubs ended their championship drought by beating the Cleveland Indians in the World Series in seven games. In an epic Game 7, the Cubs saw their 6-4 lead evaporate at the hands of Indians OF Rajai Davis’s two-run homer in the 8th inning. But thanks to clutch hitting from catcher Miguel Montero and World Series MVP Ben Zobrist, the Cubs would pull out an 8-7 victory in the 10th inning and bring the Commissioner’s Trophy back to the Windy City.

Source: Baseball Reference

2017: Western Springs native and LTHS graduate Jake Elliott had a magical 2017 with the Philadelphia Eagles. After being cut by the Cincinnati Bengals, Elliott signed with Philadelphia and broke into the NFL as a kicker with a game-winning 61-yard field goal against the New York Giants and ended the season by helping to defeat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII. Elliott went 26 for 31 in field goal attempts in his rookie season and was a perfect 7-for-7 in the playoffs.

Source: Pro Football Reference

2018: Entering March Madness as an 11th seed is a difficult place to be in, but the Loyola Ramblers Men’s Basketball team made the best of their underdog situation, going on a shocking run to the Final Four for the first time since 1963. The team would pull off some miraculous wins in the tournament including last-second three pointers from G/F Donte Ingram in the first round and G Marques Townes in the Sweet Sixteen, all the while being championed by 98-year old Sister Jean Dolares Schmidt, the team chaplin. They loss to Michigan in the Final Four.

Source: Loyola University of Chicago Website

2019: After an incredible 2018 season that ended with a 12-4 record and an NFC North Division Title, the Chicago Bears drew the Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card Round of the Playoffs. With home field advantage, the Bears trailed 16-15 late in the 4th quarter. A quick drive spearheaded by QB Mitchell Trubisky and WR Allen Robinson got the Bears to the Eagles’ 25-yard line, where K Cody Parkey was entrusted to kick the goal winning field goal. In a heartbreaking turn of events, Parkey would hit both the left upright and crossbar, but failed to put the ball through the uprights, eliminating the Bears from the playoffs..

Source: Pro Football Reference