This review will be very special for me for all the years to come. I started writing it two days back and before I finished it, I became the proud father of a baby boy yesterday….
For me, the greatest sports personalities are those, who redefined the way the game was played. We can clearly see a change in the game, its following, popularity and the brand before and after these people. Some have called them as the ones who dominated and some have called them as the champions….
To do justice, I will talk about only those, whom I have seen in action… i.e. those, who had their spectacular moments during the past 2 decades. And, I am trying to take just one person per game.
I’ll go my usual way…. The count downs…
10. Gary Kasparov (USSR/Russia - Chess)
Chess has always been a forte for Russians and Gary Kasparov proved that there was no comparison for him. With a career spanning two decades, Gary Kasparov has shown what is meant by dominance in the sports. He had regular competitors like Karpov, Kramnik, Anand etc, but at no point in his career did he lose the limelight.
Hats off to him.
9. Mike Tyson (USA - Boxing)
This man is as famous for his boxing abilities, as he is infamous for his non-boxing controversies. Here is a man, who was considered as the next greatest thing to happen to the world of boxing after Mohd. Ali.
Lets look at his career…. Debut in 1985 and won all the bouts in the year through knock-out, most in the first round itself!! In 1986, at the age of 20, he became the youngest world heavyweight champion!! He was unstoppable in the late 1980s, when he defeated all the major names. His most hyped up bout came against Michael Sphinx, which he won in a mere 90 seconds!!!
His controversies have made equal news. However, I won’t be digging into them at this forum.
8. Tiger Woods (USA - Golf)
Considered as the biggest sensation in Golf arena since Jack Nicolas, Tiger Woods dominated the game for a good number of years.
His records are awesome…. He won 29 PGA tournaments in his first six seasons on the tour. He won the 1997 Masters in his first attempt as a pro and then went on to win the PGA Championship (1999), the British Open (2000) and the U.S. Open (2000) to become one of the few golfers to win all four major tournaments during their career. In 2001 he won the Masters again, becoming the first golfer in the modern era to hold all four major tournament titles at the same time. In 1999-2000 Woods won six consecutive tournaments, making him the first man to do so since Ben Hogan in 1948.
7. Sergei Bubka (USSR - Pole Vaulting)
Probably, if we look for the word “Pole Vaulting” in the dictionary, we may find a picture of Sergei Bubka next to it. Once upon a time it was told… Sergei Bubka competes against one man – Sergei Bubka. It was like an everyday news to see him better his own records. His records for both indoor and outdoor pole vaulting are still intact even one decade after his retirement.
6. Jahangir Khan (Pakistan - Squash)
The game of Squash and the name of Jahangir Khan are probably synonymous. This legend from Pakistan was really the king of the sport, who dominated the arena for a decade. It was during the era of Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan that the sport gained immense popularity.
After becoming the youngest world champion in the history of the game at the age of 17, he went on to win 6 World Open (1981–85, 1988) and a record 10 successive British Open titles (1982–91). After an unbeaten streak of 5 years (1981), he was finally beaten by Ross Norman of Australia in 1986, for whom, defeating Jahangir was the motto of his career.
5. Carl Lewis (USA - Athletics)
Now here is a man who defined and redefined the track events in the 1980s and 1990s. His legend actually started with the fall of Ben Johnson in the Seoul Olympic games of 1988. From there on, he was unstoppable. He was one of the first athletes to achieve the 100 meters dash under 10 seconds (9.92 to be precise), which was a world record. In a couple of years time, he reached where no athlete had reached… breaking the longest standing record of Long Jump.
In his illustrious career, he has own 22 Gold Medals in all (9 at Olympics, 8 at World Championships), 3 Silvers and 3 Bronze Medals, which speak a lot about this man.
4. Steffie Graf (Germany - Tennis)
For me, Lawn Tennis has two eras: The era with Steffie Graf and the era without her. The records held by her speak a lot. In a career that lasted for nearly a decade, she changed the style of the game. She entered, when it was dominated by old guns like Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. She made her mark and made the game a real pleasure to watch.
The only player to win a “Golden Grand Slam” in history of the game, she has won the singles at all the four grand slams at least 4 times each. She held the record as the longest unbeaten streak, the longest stay at n. 1 and the maximum singles title wins during her career.
3. Sachin Tendulkar (India - Cricket)
Talk of cricket in 1990s and talk of Sachin Tendulkar. The man, who single handedly demolished every front line attack and re wrote half of the record books. In an illustrious career, that has seen him score close to 25, 000 runs with 60 centuries, there have been no contemporary who had so much of influence on world cricket.
He is a true hero, who has redefined the way cricket is being played today.
2. Ayrton Senna (Brazil - Formula One)
the man, who gave his life for the sport that he loved…. The man, who made F1 popular among the masses….
I know the name of Ayrton Senna even before I knew what F1 was all about. That holds good for many people, because that was the legend status of this great man. The man, who legally started racing at the age of 13, went on to achieve many more accolades before entering the F1 circuit in 1984 for Toleman. After winning his first world championship for McLaren, he literally conquered the circuit between 1990 to 1994.
In 1994, he joined Williams…. A dream he long cherished. However, the race ended even before it started for him. He crashed fatally at Imola…. An event, that hunts the F1 World even today.
1. Diego Maradona (Argentina - Soccer)
If anyone has seen the goal scored by Diego Maradona in the 1986 world cup, where he single handedly(rather single legedly J) took the ball from his own half through the deffence of the opposition (was it England?) and scored without any assistance, will never forget the power of this short man.
He became a legend soon after the 1986 world cup. Probably the greatest name since Pele, Maradona was literally unstoppable in the late eighties. He was a part of the transformation process of soccer. He was one of the last players who excelled in the traditional style and he was one of the first ones who excelled in the modern way. In simple terms, he was the architect of the modern day soccer.