Legends of Sport
We have a thread for legends of music so, following the death of Pelé yesterday, I thought I would create one to feature legends of sport, starting with GOD (aka Pelé)
There shall be no restrictions, so legends from any sport can be included.
Edson Arantes do Nascimento[note 1] (Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈɛdsõ(w) aˈɾɐ̃tʃiz du nasiˈmẽtu]; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), known by his nickname Pelé (Portuguese pronunciation: [peˈlɛ]), was a Brazilian professional footballer who played as a forward. Regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA,[1][2] he was among the most successful and popular sports figures of the 20th century. In 1999, he was named Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee and was included in the Time list of the 100 most important people of the 20th century. In 2000, Pelé was voted World Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) and was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the Century. His 1,279 goals in 1,363 games, which includes friendlies, is recognised as a Guinness World Record.[3]
Pelé began playing for Santos at age 15 and the Brazil national team at 16. During his international career, he won three FIFA World Cups: 1958, 1962 and 1970, the only player to do so. He was nicknamed O Rei (The King) following the 1958 tournament. Pelé is the joint-top goalscorer for Brazil with 77 goals in 92 games. At the club level, he was Santos' all-time top goalscorer with 643 goals in 659 games.[4] In a golden era for Santos, he led the club to the 1962 and 1963 Copa Libertadores, and to the 1962 and 1963 Intercontinental Cup. Credited with connecting the phrase "The Beautiful Game" with football, Pelé's "electrifying play and penchant for spectacular goals" made him a star around the world, and his teams toured internationally to take full advantage of his popularity.[5] During his playing days, Pelé was for a period the best-paid athlete in the world. After retiring in 1977, Pelé was a worldwide ambassador for football and made many acting and commercial ventures. In 2010, he was named the honorary president of the New York Cosmos.
Averaging almost a goal per game throughout his career, Pelé was adept at striking the ball with either foot in addition to anticipating his opponents' movements on the field. While predominantly a striker, he could also drop deep and take on a playmaking role, providing assists with his vision and passing ability, and he would also use his dribbling skills to go past opponents. In Brazil, he was hailed as a national hero for his accomplishments in football and for his outspoken support of policies that improve the social conditions of the poor. His emergence at the 1958 World Cup, where he became the first black global sporting star, was a source of inspiration.[6] Throughout his career and in his retirement, Pelé received numerous individual and team awards for his performance in the field, his record-breaking achievements, and his legacy in the sport.
Muhammad Ali (/ɑːˈliː/;[4] born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.;[5] January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, and is frequently ranked as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time.[6][7][8] In 1999, he was named Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated and the Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC.
Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, he began training as an amateur boxer at age 12. At 18, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics and turned professional later that year. He became a Muslim after 1961. He won the world heavyweight championship, defeating Sonny Liston in a major upset on February 25, 1964, at age 22. During that year, he denounced his birth name as a "slave name" and formally changed his name to Muhammad Ali. In 1966, Ali refused to be drafted into the military owing to his religious beliefs and ethical opposition to the Vietnam War[9][10] and was found guilty of draft evasion and stripped of his boxing titles. He stayed out of prison while appealing the decision to the Supreme Court, where his conviction was overturned in 1971. He did not fight for nearly four years and lost a period of peak performance as an athlete.[11] Ali's actions as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War made him an icon for the larger counterculture of the 1960s generation,[12][13] and he was a very high-profile figure of racial pride for African Americans during the civil rights movement and throughout his career.[9] As a Muslim, Ali was initially affiliated with Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam (NOI). He later disavowed the NOI, adhering to Sunni Islam.
He fought in several historic boxing matches, including his highly publicized fights with Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier (including the Fight of the Century, the biggest boxing event up until then),[14] the Thrilla in Manila, and his fight with George Foreman in The Rumble in the Jungle.[15][16] Ali thrived in the spotlight at a time when many boxers let their managers do the talking, and he became renowned for his provocative and outlandish persona.[17][18][19] He was famous for trash-talking, often free-styled with rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry incorporating elements of hip hop.[20][21][22] He often predicted in which round he would knock out his opponent.
Outside boxing, Ali attained success as a spoken word artist, releasing two studio albums: I Am the Greatest! (1963) and The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay (1976). Both albums received Grammy Award nominations.[22] He also featured as an actor and writer, releasing two autobiographies. Ali retired from boxing in 1981 and focused on religion, philanthropy and activism. In 1984, he made public his diagnosis of Parkinson's syndrome, which some reports attributed to boxing-related injuries,[23] though he and his specialist physicians disputed this.[24] He remained an active public figure globally, but in his later years made fewer public appearances as his condition worsened, and he was cared for by his family.
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.[4] Woods is widely regarded as one of the greatest golfers of all time and is one of the most famous athletes in modern history.[4] He is an inductee of the World Golf Hall of Fame.[5]
Following an outstanding junior, college, and amateur golf career, Woods turned professional in 1996 at the age of 20. By the end of April 1997, he had won three PGA Tour events in addition to his first major, the 1997 Masters, which he won by 12 strokes in a record-breaking performance. He reached number one in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in June 1997, less than a year after turning pro. Throughout the first decade of the 21st century, Woods was the dominant force in golf. He was the top-ranked golfer in the world from August 1999 to September 2004 (264 consecutive weeks) and again from June 2005 to October 2010 (281 consecutive weeks). During this time, he won 13 of golf's major championships.
The next decade of Woods's career was marked by comebacks from personal problems and injuries. He took a self-imposed hiatus from professional golf from December 2009 to early April 2010 in an attempt to resolve marital issues with his wife at the time, Elin. Woods admitted to multiple infidelities, and the couple eventually divorced.[6] He fell to number 58 in the world rankings in November 2011 before ascending again to the number-one ranking between March 2013 and May 2014.[7][8] However, injuries led him to undergo four back surgeries between 2014 and 2017.[9] Woods competed in only one tournament between August 2015 and January 2018, and he dropped off the list of the world's top 1,000 golfers.[10][11] On his return to regular competition, Woods made steady progress to the top of the game, winning his first tournament in five years at the Tour Championship in September 2018 and his first major in 11 years at the 2019 Masters.
Woods has held numerous golf records. He has been the number one player in the world for the most consecutive weeks and for the greatest total number of weeks of any golfer in history. He has been awarded PGA Player of the Year a record 11 times[12] and has won the Byron Nelson Award for lowest adjusted scoring average a record eight times. Woods has the record of leading the money list in ten different seasons. He has won 15 professional major golf championships (trailing only Jack Nicklaus, who leads with 18) and 82 PGA Tour events (tied for first all time with Sam Snead).[13] Woods leads all active golfers in career major wins and career PGA Tour wins. Woods is the fifth (after Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus) player to achieve the career Grand Slam, and the youngest to do so. He is also the second golfer (after Nicklaus) to achieve a career Grand Slam three times.
Woods has won 18 World Golf Championships. He was also part of the American winning team for the 1999 Ryder Cup. In May 2019, Woods was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Donald Trump, the fourth golfer to receive the honor.[14]
On February 23, 2021, Woods was hospitalized in serious but stable condition after a single-car collision and underwent emergency surgery to repair compound fractures sustained in his right leg in addition to a shattered ankle.[15] In an interview with Golf Digest in November 2021, Woods indicated that his full-time career as a professional golfer was over, although he would continue to play "a few events per year".[16] He returned to the PGA Tour for the first time since the car crash at the 2022 Masters.
Arkle (19 April 1957 – 31 May 1970) was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse. A bay gelding by Archive out of Bright Cherry, he was the grandson of the unbeaten (in 14 races) flat racehorse and prepotent sire Nearco. Arkle was bred by Mary Baker of Malahow House, near Naul, County Dublin, and was born at Ballymacoll Stud, County Meath. He was owned by Anne Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster, who named him after the mountain Arkle in Sutherland, Scotland, that bordered her Sutherland estate. Trained by Tom Dreaper at Greenogue, Kilsallaghan in County Meath, Ireland, he was ridden during his steeplechasing career by Pat Taaffe.
Arkle won three Cheltenham Gold Cups and a number of other top races before his career was cut short by injury. At 212, his Timeform rating is the highest ever awarded to a steeplechaser.
Super thread, F. 👍👍👍
Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ,[9] is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time."[10] He played fifteen seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls. Jordan is the principal owner and chairman of the Charlotte Hornets of the NBA and of 23XI Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. He was integral in popularizing the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s,[11] becoming a global cultural icon in the process.[12]
Jordan played college basketball for three seasons under coach Dean Smith with the North Carolina Tar Heels. As a freshman, he was a member of the Tar Heels' national championship team in 1982.[5] Jordan joined the Bulls in 1984 as the third overall draft pick,[5][13] and quickly emerged as a league star, entertaining crowds with his prolific scoring while gaining a reputation as one of the game's best defensive players.[14] His leaping ability, demonstrated by performing slam dunks from the free-throw line in Slam Dunk Contests, earned him the nicknames "Air Jordan" and "His Airness".[5][13] Jordan won his first NBA title with the Bulls in 1991, and followed that achievement with titles in 1992 and 1993, securing a three-peat. Jordan abruptly retired from basketball before the 1993–94 NBA season to play Minor League Baseball but returned to the Bulls in March 1995 and led them to three more championships in 1996, 1997, and 1998, as well as a then-record 72 regular season wins in the 1995–96 NBA season.[5] He retired for the second time in January 1999 but returned for two more NBA seasons from 2001 to 2003 as a member of the Washington Wizards.[5][13] During the course of his professional career he was also selected to play for the United States national team, winning four gold medals (at the 1983 Pan American Games, 1984 Summer Olympics, 1992 Tournament of the Americas and 1992 Summer Olympics), while also being undefeated.[15]
Jordan's individual accolades and accomplishments include six NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards, ten NBA scoring titles (both all-time records), five NBA MVP awards, ten All-NBA First Team designations, nine All-Defensive First Team honors, fourteen NBA All-Star Game selections, three NBA All-Star Game MVP awards, three NBA steals titles, and the 1988 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award.[13] He holds the NBA record for career playoff scoring average (33.4 points per game) and shares with Wilt Chamberlain the official NBA record for career regular season scoring average at 30.1 points per game.[16] In 1999, he was named the 20th century's greatest North American athlete by ESPN, and was second to Babe Ruth on the Associated Press' list of athletes of the century.[5] Jordan was twice inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, once in 2009 for his individual career,[17] and again in 2010 as part of the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team ("The Dream Team").[18] He became a member of the United States Olympic Hall of Fame in 2009,[19] a member of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 2010,[20] and an individual member of the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2015 and a "Dream Team" member in 2017.[21][22] In 2021, Jordan was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.[23]
One of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation,[11] Jordan is known for his product endorsements.[24] He fueled the success of Nike's Air Jordan sneakers, which were introduced in 1984 and remain popular today.[25] Jordan also starred as himself in the 1996 live-action animation hybrid film Space Jam and is the central focus of the Emmy Award-winning documentary miniseries The Last Dance (2020).[26] He became part-owner and head of basketball operations for the Charlotte Bobcats (now named the Hornets) in 2006,[25] and bought a controlling interest in 2010. In 2016, Jordan became the first billionaire player in NBA history.[27] That year, President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.[28] As of 2022, Jordan's net worth is estimated at $1.7 billion.[29]
Today is Helen Wills’ anniversary.
Helen Newington Wills (October 6, 1905 – January 1, 1998), also known by her married names Helen Wills Moody and Helen Wills Roark, was an American tennis player. She won 31 Grand Slam tournament titles (singles, doubles, and mixed doubles) during her career, including 19 singles titles.
Wills was the first American woman athlete to become a global celebrity, making friends with royalty and film stars despite her preference for staying out of the limelight. She was admired for her graceful physique and for her fluid motion. She was part of a new tennis fashion, playing in knee-length pleated skirts rather than the longer ones of her predecessors, and was known for wearing her hallmark white visor. Unusually, she practiced against men to hone her craft, and she played a relentless predominantly baseline game, wearing down her female opponents with power and accuracy. In February 1926 she played a high-profile and widely publicised match against Suzanne Lenglen which was called the Match of the Century.
Wills had a 180 match win streak from 1927 until 1933. In 1933, she beat the eighth-ranked US male player in an exhibition match. Her record of eight wins at Wimbledon was not surpassed until 1990.
Click here for a 1959 BBC documentary. It's not displaying here for some reason. Will post another below.
Brian Gerard O'Driscoll (born 21 January 1979) is an Irish former professional rugby union player. He played at outside centre for the Irish provincial team Leinster and for Ireland. He captained Ireland from 2003 until 2012, and captained the British & Irish Lions for their 2005 tour of New Zealand. He is regarded by critics as one of the greatest rugby players of all time.
O'Driscoll is the fourth most-capped player in rugby union history, having played 141 test matches: 133 for Ireland (83 as captain), and 8 for the Lions.[1][2] He scored 46 tries for Ireland and 1 try for the Lions in 2001, making him the highest try scorer of all time in Irish Rugby.[1][3] He is the 8th-highest try scorer in international rugby union history, and the highest scoring centre of all time.
O'Driscoll holds the Six Nations record for most tries scored with 26.[4][5] He has scored the most Heineken Cup tries (30) by an Irishman.[6] O'Driscoll was chosen as Player of the Tournament in the 2006, 2007 and 2009 Six Nations Championships.[7]
He was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame on 17 November 2016 at the opening ceremony for the Hall's first location in Rugby, Warwickshire.[8]
O'Driscoll was involved in Irish Rugby's unsuccessful bid to host the 2023 World Cup.[9] He now works as a rugby analyst for BT Sport and ITV Sport in the United Kingdom. He is also involved in a number of business ventures including the Ultimate Rugby mobile app[10] and Zipp, an Irish e-scooter start-up.[11]
Red Rum (3 May 1965 – 18 October 1995) was a champion Thoroughbred steeplechaser. He achieved an unmatched historic treble when he won the Grand National in 1973, 1974 and 1977, and also came second in the two intervening years, 1975 and 1976. The Grand National is a notoriously difficult race that has been described as "the ultimate test of a horse’s courage".[2] He was also renowned for his jumping ability, having not fallen in 100 races.[3]
The 1973 race in which Red Rum secured his comeback victory from 30 lengths behind is often considered one of the greatest Grand Nationals in history.[4] In a 2002 UK poll, Red Rum's historic third triumph in the Grand National was voted the 24th greatest sporting moment of all time.[5]
Red Rum was bred at Rossenarra stud in Kells, County Kilkenny, Ireland, by Martyn McEnery. His sire was Quorum (1954–1971), and his dam Mared (1958–1976). Mared was a granddaughter of the broodmare Batika, whose other descendants have included the Irish 2000 Guineas winner Turtle Island.[6] McEnery gave Red Rum his name by taking the last three letters of the names of his dam and sire, respectively.[7] Bred to win one-mile races, Red Rum won his National titles over the longest distance, four miles and four furlongs. He started his career running in low-value races as a sprinter and dead-heated in his first race, a five-furlong flat race at Aintree Racecourse.[8] He ran another seven times as a two-year-old, winning over 7f at Warwick, and over the same distance at Doncaster in the first of his two races as a three-year-old. In his early career, he was twice ridden by Lester Piggott.[9] The comedian Lee Mack, then a stable boy, had his first riding lesson on Red Rum.[10]
After being passed from training yard to training yard, he found his footing when Southport car dealer Ginger McCain bought him for his client Noel le Mare and famously trained the horse on the sands at Southport, England.[11] Galloping through sea water may have proved highly beneficial to Red Rum’s hooves.[12] McCain reportedly took Red Rum for a therapeutic swim in the sea off Southport before his first National appearances to help treat the horse's pedal osteitis, a debilitating, incurable bone disease in his hoof. McCain also won the Grand National in 2004 with Amberleigh House, 31 years after his first victory with Red Rum.[13]
At the 1973 Grand National, Red Rum beat the Australian chaser Crisp, which was carrying 23 pounds more, in a new record time of nine minutes, 1.9 seconds.[15] Crisp led the field virtually all the way in that year's National in which he was 30 lengths clear, and at the last fence was 15 lengths clear of Red Rum, his nearest pursuer. Red Rum and jockey Brian Fletcher, however, made up the ground on the final stretch and, two strides from the finishing post, pipped the tiring Crisp to win by three-quarters of a length in what is often considered one of the greatest Grand Nationals in history.[4] Crisp's jockey Richard Pitman later stated: "I still dream about that race, of Crisp running so strongly and jumping so fearlessly, and then the sound of Red Rum's hooves as he got closer and closer at the end."[16] He added: "I felt as though I was tied to a railway line with an express train thundering up and being unable to jump out of the way."[17] A year later, Red Rum retained his title at the 1974 National, carrying 12 stone.[18] (He followed that with victory in the Scottish Grand National, and remains the only horse to win both in the same season.)
Red Rum came second in 1975 and 1976; Tommy Stack replaced Fletcher as jockey in the last race after Fletcher angered trainer Ginger McCain by telling the press the horse no longer felt right after a defeat in a race away from Aintree. Again, Red Rum saved his best for Aintree but was held off by Rag Trade. The following year, Stack rode the 12-year-old Red Rum to his record third Grand National triumph, in what is regarded as one of the greatest moments in horse racing history.[13][15]
Red Rum was prepared for a sixth attempt at the Grand National the season following his 1977 win, but suffered a hairline fracture in the lead up to the 1978 race. Following a canter at Aintree Racecourse the day before the 1978 Grand National he was retired. The news of Red Rum's retirement was the lead story on that night's 9 O'Clock News on BBC1[15] and was also front page news of the following morning's newspapers.
Red Rum had become a national celebrity, opening supermarkets and annually leading the Grand National parade for many further years. His likeness graced playing cards, mugs, posters, models, paintings, plates and jigsaw puzzles. Several books have been written about Red Rum by his trainer, sculptor, jockeys and author Ivor Herbert; a children's story about his life was also written by Christine Pemberton. The horse helped open the Steeplechase rollercoaster at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in 1977. He also switched on the Blackpool Illuminations that year.[19] In 1975, a song entitled "Red Rum" was issued as a tribute to him by a group named Chaser, on Polydor 2058 564. It was written by Steve Jolley, Richard Palmer and Tony Swain. In 2010 the name of the racecourse bar, formerly called "The Sefton", was changed to "The Red Rum".
In 1977 Red Rum appeared as a studio guest at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards ceremony. Viewers were delighted when the horse seemed to recognise the voice of his jockey Tommy Stack, who was appearing by video link from another location.[20]
Red Rum died on 18 October 1995, aged 30. His death was one of the lead items in television news bulletins and also made the front pages of national newspapers the next day.[15]
He was buried at the winning post of the Aintree Racecourse, which is still a destination for his fans. The epitaph reads "Respect this place / this hallowed ground / a legend here / his rest has found / his feet would fly / our spirits soar / he earned our love for evermore".[16]
Eleven years after his death, a survey found he remained the best-known racehorse in the UK.[21] When asked to name an equine animal, Red Rum was named by 45% of Britons, with Black Beauty (from Anna Sewell's novel) in second with 33%.[21] In 2002 the UK public voted Red Rum's third Grand National win #24 in the list of the 100 Greatest Sporting Moments.[5]
Red Rum statue in Southport
In the early 1970s, the future running of the Grand National was uncertain.[2] The emergence of Red Rum and his historic triumphs captivated the nation, and ensured huge public support for the fund to buy Aintree and put it in the hands of the Jockey Club.[2]
On 19 September 2011, Red Rum's trainer Ginger McCain died aged 80.[11]
Mighty stuff, F. 👍 And I did not know that about Lee Mack having his first riding lesson on Red Rum. The things we learn. 🕵️♀️