Of sporting greats, magical moments and unbreakable records

I’ll start with India’s national sport.

It is actually not Cricket, but Field Hockey. (Hockey is a fast paced sport including wooden sticks, rolling substitutions and miked up umpires. To my American, Canadian, Russian, Czech readers etc., this sport predates the one played with protective clothing and helmets in an ice rink with a puck).

India won the men's gold medal in seven out of eight Olympics from 1928 to 1964. After that, Astro Turfs were introduced. A recently independent country like India could not afford artificial turfs and it all went downhill from there. Considering over hundred years of Olympic history, no team (including the US Basketball team) has ever come close to that level of domination in any sport. 

Speaking of longevity at a sport, how can one forget the British rower Steve Redgrave? Five gold medals in as many Olympic games is unprecedented. Lot of factors come into play like form, health, age, desire and motivation. To be able to participate and win a medal in one Olympics is great but to be at the top of their game for 20 years and peak during Olympics is something extraordinary. 

Jan Zelezny is in the same mould as Redgrave. At 2000 Sydney Olympics, I saw the Czech javelin thrower in a match up with long-time rival Steve Backley. Each time Backley threw a challenge, Zelezny responded by throwing the javelin even further. The final was over after couple of throws. Zelezny won 3 Olympic golds to go with 3 golds at the world championships and remains a giant of the sport. 

Very rarely an athlete does something so great that their name gets associated with sporting jargon. Bob Beamon did just that by breaking the Long Jump world record by nearly two feet. In a sport where athletes are separated by centimetres and inches, you know what two feet means. 

To describe such an incredible phenomenon, the word “Beamonesque” was added to the sporting dictionary. The only other sportsman to have earned such a distinction was Donald Bradman.

Beamon’s record stood for nearly 23 years and was finally broken by Mike Powell. Powell was so tired of playing bridesmaid to the great Carl Lewis, that he went out there in 1991 and broke the one record Lewis never held in his lifetime. As Powell himself said he had to break an unbreakable record to get past the great man. 

Yuvraj Singh did something similar to Beamon and I don’t see his record being broken. In 2007, he hit Englishman Stuart Broad for 6 sixes in an over. Now you might say Sobers, Shastri and Gibbs have all done this before Yuvraj. Well, these fine players hit spinners out of the park. Broad is a fast bowler. The speed difference between a spinner and fast bowler is over 60 kilometers an hour. I don’t see any other fast bowler from top 6 test playing nation being hit for 6 sixes in an over in an international match. 

Another record which looks unbreakable is the record for the highest chase in One Day Internationals. 

I am a big Roger Federer fan and followed him for most part of his career. It goes without saying that I never liked his rivals. However, with time, one rival truly earned my respect – Nadal. His never say die attitude and ability to come back from seemingly impossible positions separated him from the rest. It was his drive, determination and hard work that enabled him to win 9 Roland Garros title, a seemingly impossible record to beat.

We all know that the only thing that stood between Federer and completing a grand slam was Nadal at Roland Garros. In 2009, Robin Soderling did the unthinkable and beat Nadal in the 4^th round. Suddenly the entire pressure was on 13 time grand slam champion Federer who was playing Tommy Haas the next day in the 4^th round.  

Haas lead by two sets and 4-3 in the third with a break point on Federer’s serve. The winner hit by Federer of Haas’s return of serve, in my opinion, must be the most pivotal of his career. Haas capitulated and lost in five sets. In the semi, Del Potro came out all guns blazing and led two sets to one before fatigue got the better of him. Federer went on to beat him in five and then take Nadal’s conqueror in four sets. That’s destiny for you.

Another magical moment happened with Goran Ivansevic at Wimbledon. After losing in three finals and forever finding Sampras in his part of the draw, Goran had given up hopes of ever getting his hands on the famous trophy. In 2001, he was awarded a wild card to play in Wimbledon. 

As destiny would have it, Sampras who was again in his side of the draw was beaten by a fresh faced Roger Federer in the 4^th round. Goran then faced an epic battle with Tim Henman in the semi-finals. He would have lost the match if rain gods had not interrupted the match. He then played a five setter against Pat Rafter in the final to win and become the only wild card to ever win a grand slam. 

Less than a year ago, Jonas Gutierrez was suffering from a serious medical condition. After making a successful recovery, he came back to play for Newcastle United and scored in the final match of the season to keep them in the premier league for another season. Although he was soon released by Newcastle, he made an endearing contribution to the club and the fans.

I hope this off season post allowed you to relive some of the greatest moments in sport. Please share your comments below.

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