Sport is the purest form of human expression. It is not surprising that you find all the highs and lows of human emotions on a playing field. Love and hate coexist and joy and despair pick their own teams to express their wares. This article focuses on one aspect, athletes and sportsmen who not only excelled in their chosen sport, but changed it for generations to come. They are the milestones if you are a sports fan, so read on!
#1 Jesse Owens
When you create three world records in sprints, relay and long jump and tie another world record; all in one hour, you have to be special and Jesse “Cleveland” Owens was a special. When you are a black athlete and perform this miracle in Hitler’s backyard with him watching, you are a legend. This is what Jesse Owens did in 1932 Berlin Olympics. He dealt a mighty blow to Hitler’s ego and perhaps singlehandedly crushed the “Aryan Supremacy” theory.
#2 Billie Jean King
Tennis was played by both men and women but they were not equals. Billie Jean King changed all that with her “Battle of the Sexes” match with Bobby Riggs and went on to win more laurels for herself and women in general. It was many years later that prize money was made equal for men and women but she changed the sport with her courage and conviction. A “game changer” if you allow us a pun!
#3 Pele
Football is truly a world game but there are many who lay claims to the argument that is essentially a Brazilian game played by other countries too! La Boga Jonita was translated into the beautiful game when Edson Arantes do Nascimento affectionately called Pele touched the football. He athletic, artistic and supremely efficient and in later years was an advocate for the game. He was singlehandedly responsible for football’s popularity ratings going up during his time. He remains the yardstick with which footballers later years are measured.
#4 Michael Jordan
What Pele did to football, Michael “Air” Jordan did to basketball, not only in USA but in countries where basketball was never a serious pursuit. He was a rare combination of talent, discipline and execution. Add his ego to dominate the game and will to win; you have a legend on your hands. His contribution was to show the sport that basketball could be played at such high levels consistently and commercial success was guaranteed if you project yourself well. He broke the huge hold Larry Bird and Magic Johnson had on basketball coverage and took Chicago Bulls to 6 championships, all during his time. He was simply the “face of basketball” for many.
#5 Clive Lloyd
In 1975 Clive Lloyd led a West Indian team in Australia, and suffered a humiliating series defeat at the hands of Chappell Brothers and the terrifying pace duo of Lillee and Thompson. When you understand the baggage that West Indies carried in the form of race, you get an idea how it must have hurt. Well Clive swore that he would set the record straight and went about assembling his gunners. The four pronged pace attack, “The Four Winds” or “The Four Horsemen” were his idea and he transformed cricket as it was played. The result was that West Indies dominated the next decade and more and the world loved to watch them. Truly a man who changed cricket forever.
#6 Tiger Woods
Golf was one of the earliest sports to adapt to professionalism. It has had a long list of illustrious players whose popularity has helped the sport prosper. Tiger Woods was a child prodigy who converted his talent into consistent performance. He was the rock star who changed not only the tune of professional golf, but the genre of music being played! His mixed ethnicity was also something that golf had not seen and added to his global appeal. He changed the game of golf with his long drives and exquisite play in the green. His impact was so noticeable that many courses increased the yards for their holes and called it “Tiger proofing.” He is in this list for his sheer brilliance and how he pulled in worldwide audience to watch the game.
#7 Muhammad Ali
The Greatest, at least he said so himself! But the fact is rest of the sports fraternity agreed! Mohammad Ali’s greatness only partly is due to his out of the world skills and artistry in the ring. He is better remembered as one of the first sportsperson to champion a social cause using his popularity. There could have been many before him but no one as famous as he was. The man who “floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee” often stung the collective conscience of Americans, prodding them to speak against war and social justice. Never before and never after has a boxer commanded such attention and coverage.
#8 Jackie Robinson
When Brooklyn Dodgers called on Jackie Robinson in 1947 and invited him to play for them in Major League Baseball, he was the first black player in over 80 years of the league’s history. A year later he was an American hero and he did that in the best way possible. He simply outperformed everyone else! Imagine a player who not only suffered verbal insults but had to use metal plates sewn into his cap to protect him from intentional pitches aimed at his head and players using cleated boots to slide into him at the base. He was the champion who changed baseball and made way for many more great athletes. A shout out to Branch Rickey the GM of the Dodgers, who not only took the path-breaking decision to call him up but also stood by him and offered great advice on how to handle himself on and off the pitch.
#9 Sachin Tendulkar
We return to cricket for our last and final hero and one who was adored by a billion fans. When you consider the fact that cricket’s popularity is limited to England and its colonies you will understand how one man became God in a country where cricket is religion. Sachin makes the list for many things, his sustained brilliance on the field and his mature handling of himself in all conditions but primarily for the thousands of other aspiring youngsters he inspired. On the field, he played a brand of attacking cricket in the shorter versions and calculating cricket in the Tests and his numbers were simply phenomenal. For showing young Indians that India could win regularly and making them believe themselves and their team, Sachin drives himself into this list.
And The List Goes On…
There are many more who could have made this list. Kipchoge Keino, the father of Kenyan long-distance running; Wilma Rudolph, who overcame Polio amongst many other illnesses to stamp her authority in sprinting; Martina Navratilova, who changed the face of women’s tennis with her stress of fitness and Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who struck a might blow for racial equality with their power salute at 1968 Mexico Olympics. Let us not also forget a man who was not an athlete, Kerry Packer, the much reviled TV baron who took on a feudal global cricket establishment and turned the game upside down with his innovation and how cricketers were paid.
Sport has had its ups and downs, scandals and injustice but it still remains an avenue where one person’s efforts can uplift an entire country or humanity. Those nine above find mention in this limited list but there are a million out there who have passed on silently, forgotten but their efforts leaving a lingering fragrance.
This list is an introduction and a glimpse into what sports history and some of its illustrious figures. If this moves you to read more about them and sport in general, then we would have achieved our goal!
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Author Bio:
Mohan is a Digital Marketing Associate at Swag Swami, an online store that reviews cricket bats, Kits, and other sports equipment. He is also an avid gamer who spends his free time logged into Steam. He also practices Yoga and meditation regularly and teaches Yoga at the Cosmopolitan Center in India.
