New Delhi: Arguably the most naturally gifted athlete the world has ever seen, Usain St Leo Bolt, on Monday said good-bye to athletics after a 14-year career in which he won numerous medals.
In honor of the champ, there’s a need to remember such inspiring athletes of all time like him. Sports stars are adored across the globe, and it's for this reason that everyone, for the most part, can call themselves a fan of one sport or another. And, in some respects certain sporting heroes are almost immortalized and worshipped as gods of their field.
Therefore let’s recall them starting with none other than Usain Bolt.
Usain Bolt
The stars came out for Usain Bolt on August 2nd, as he took a last bow before the press ahead of his final competitive race at the World Championships in London. But, it was not smooth sailing, as his running career ended in agony.
Running the final race of his career, the 30-year-old Bolt, suffered cramps on his left hamstring as he tried, in vain, to chase down the British and American rivals in the last lap of the race. The astonishing turn of events marred what was expected to be a golden farewell.
Bolt; who studied at William Knibb High School under former athlete Pablo McNeil, made his debut appearance in 2002 as a sprinter. His journey to worldwide stardom started at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing where he won the 100m, 200m and 4x100m, all in world record times. He followed this up with three gold medals in the same events at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Finally, he created history at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio when he achieved the ‘Triple Triple’, three gold medals at three consecutive Olympic Games to cement his legacy as a legend in world sport.
Along with his nine Olympic Games gold medals, Usain won eleven World T&F Championships titles. Overall, Usain bolt has been awarded the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year on four occasions (2009, 2010, 2013 & 2017); the IAAF Male Athlete of the Year six times (2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2016) as well as many awards in many countries in all corners of the world.
Pablo McNeil
This former Olympic sprint athlete who encouraged Usain Bolt to focus his energy on improving his athletic abilities was himself a great athlete of his time.
He competed as a sprinter for Jamaica at the 1964 and 1968 Olympics. At the British West Indies Championships he won silver in the 200m in 1964 and in 1965 won the 200m, and placed second in the 100m.
At the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, McNeil won a silver medal as part of the Jamaican 4×100 relay team, and reached the quarters in both sprints. After his athletic career he became a sprint coach in William Knibb Memorial High School, where he later trained Usain Bolt.
Michael Green
Born on 7 November 1970 in Trelawny, Michael is a retired Jamaican sprinter who specialized in the 100m. Green, who also studied at William Knibb Memorial High School, was nicknamed 'Roach'. He graduated from High School as the fastest male in 1989. Green was awarded an athletic scholarship to attend Clemson University.
His personal best time in the 100m is 10.02 seconds, achieved in April 1997 in Knoxville, TN. With a best time of 6.49 in the 60m during the 1997 indoor season he was the world top performer that year, together with Ato Boldon and Randall Evans.
Jesse Owens
Jesse Owens, also known as "The Buckeye Bullet," was born on September 12, 1913, in Oakville, Alabama. He quickly made a name for himself as a nationally recognized sprinter, setting records in the 100 and 200-yard dashes as well as the long jump.
In high school, he won three track and field events at the 1933 National Interscholastic Championships. Two years later, while competing for Ohio State University, he equaled one world record and broke three others.
Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games during the term of Adolf Hitler. His long jump world record stood for 25 years. He died from cancer on March 31, 1980.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo is regarded as one of the world’s best soccer players and with 261 Million followers on Twitter/Facebook/Instagram combined, is currently the world’s most famous athlete according to ESPN’s rankings.
Ronaldo, has four FIFA Ballon d'Or awards, the most for a European player, and is the first player in history to win four European Golden Shoes. He has won 23 trophies in his career, including five league titles, four UEFA Champions League titles and one UEFA European Championship.
Michael Jeffrey Jordan
Michael Jordan, who is also known by his initials, MJ, is an American retired professional basketball player. He is a widely recognized athlete all over the world.
He has achieved many feats including National Basketball Association rookie of the year, Slam-Dunk contest winner, six NBA championships, five NBA Most Valuable Player awards, won two Olympic gold medals, was on the 1992 dream-team, and was featured in thirteen all-star games, and that's still not all of his accomplishments. He earned all of these in fourteen years.
Muhammad Ali
Born on January 17th 1942, as Cassius Clay in Louisville, Kentucky, Muhammad Ali became an Olympic gold medalist in 1960 and the world heavyweight boxing champion in 1964.
Following his suspension for refusing military service, Ali reclaimed the heavyweight title two more times during the 1970s, winning famed bouts against Joe Frazier and George Foreman along the way.
Diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1984, Ali devoted much of his time to philanthropy, earning the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005. He died on June 3, 2016, in Phoenix, Arizona. He was generally considered among the greatest heavyweights in the history of the sport.
Michael Fred Phelps II
Phelps is an American competition swimmer. He had travelled a long way from being diagnosed with ADHD when he was six years old to becoming the most decorated Olympian of all time, with a total of 22 medals in three Olympiads.
With eight medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, eight more at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, six at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and six at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, he became the most successful athlete of the Olympic Games.
George Herman Ruth Jr.
Better known as Babe Ruth, he was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935.
Nicknamed "The Bambino" and "The Sultan of Swat", he began his MLB career as a stellar left-handed pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, but achieved his greatest fame as a slugging outfielder for the New York Yankees.
Ruth established many MLB records, including career home runs (714), runs batted in (RBIs) (2,213), bases on balls (2,062), slugging percentage (.6897), and on-base plus slugging (OPS) (1.164); the latter two still stand today.
Ruth is regarded as one of the greatest sports heroes in American culture and is considered by many to be the greatest baseball player of all time.
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods
Woods is an American professional golfer who is among the most successful golfers of all time. He has been one of the highest-paid athletes in the world for several years.
He first reached the number one position in the world rankings in June 1997, less than a year after turning pro. Throughout the 2000s, Woods was the dominant force in golf. He was the top-ranked golfer in the world from August 1999 to September 2004 (264 weeks) and again from June 2005 to October 2010 (281 weeks).
He divorced his wife, Swedish former model Elin Nordegren, in 2010 following multiple instances of extramarital cheating. This affected his professional career and he sunk to 58 in the world rankings. He recovered his #1 ranking in 2013.
Donald George Bradman
This Australian cricketer often referred to as "The Don", was without a shadow of doubt, one of the greatest cricketers to have walked the planet. His batting redefined the sports and his brilliance confounded opponents.
When he started off playing cricket, he invented his own solo game, thus developing his timing and concentration. He also played Tennis for a period of two years before dropping it for cricket.
Bradman’s record of 974 runs in a series is the most by any player in Test history and it has been unequalled till today. Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 is often cited as the greatest achievement by any sportsman in any major sport.
Following an enforced hiatus due to the Second World War, he made a dramatic comeback, captaining an Australian team known as "The Invincibles" on a record-breaking unbeaten tour of England.
After recalling all of them, one can say that there are no such other athletes currently and there may never be a next Bolt, whose combination of freakish physique, focused determination and geniuses will be ever matched by anyone.
References:
http://usainbolt.com
www.cricbuzz.com
www.time.com
www.edition.cnn.com
www.thetoptens.com
http://www.givemesport.com