UAE | Media

Thrills, spills and record breakers

From Ahmad's gold to Maradona's "hand of God", it's been a problem of plenty ...

  • By Leslie Wilson Jr, Sports Editor
  • Published: 01:18 September 30, 2008
  • Gulf News

It is somehow appropriate to every once in a while compile lists of who are the best left handers in tennis, the longest hitters in golf, the shortest basketball players, the fastest bowlers or footballers with the most hair ...

But to select 30 stories that you believe were the biggest, the ones that defined the last 30 years, I will tell you was no piece of cake.

It was fun, a lot of fun I would say... but there were times when you felt the urge to pick up the monkey wrench and just knock the living daylights out of your laptop.

Just imagine, a weary journalist, spending hours and hours trawling through the archives in search of the stories that made the biggest headlines.

Well, he finally comes up with a list of stories that he thinks celebrates 30 years of sport.

So Gulf News Sport is proud to present our unique guide to the major sports stories that happened since we were launched 30 years ago.

On this very special page, we pay tribute to some of the most famous men and women who have contributed to the highs, and in some cases lows, of the ever-exciting world of sport.

Whether it is the myriad athletes who have paraded their talents in front of sell-out stadiums through the years, or those who made history for the wrong reasons, we chart them all in a definitive culmination of countless hours of research.

Ranging from a 21-year-old Tiger Woods becoming the youngest-ever player in golf history to win the Masters in 1997 by a record margin of 12 strokes, to the horrific crash that killed a Formula One triple world champion at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix in Imola, we have chosen a selection of stories that made the headlines and made people sit up and take notice.

You will also find stories that took the world of sport by surprise, some pleasant, others unpleasant.

Like when rank outsiders India beat reigning world champions West Indies to win the 1983 World Cup in England. It was a fiercely-contested final at Lord's and is still rated as one of the greatest victories in cricketing history.

Cricketing history

Another story that made cricketing history was when Australian television magnate Kerry Packer revolutionised one-day cricket with his World Series Cricket. Packer took many of the world's best cricketers, dressed them up in brightly coloured clothing and gave them a white ball to play with. It hit the purists of the game for a six, but was a massive hit with fans.

The cricket world also applauded when South Africa returned to the international arena in 1991, after spending years in the wilderness due to apartheid.

But there was derision when South African captain Hansie Cronje revealed he was involved in match-fixing in 2000.

We've also included Maradona's "hand of God" goal that helped Argentina beat England in the finals of the 1986 World Cup and also the UAE football team qualifying for the event for the first time in 1990.

One of my personal sporting highlights would have to be the epic Wimbledon final of 1980 between Sweden's Bjorn Borg and American John McEnroe. It lasted 3 hours and 53 minutes and is critically acclaimed for the sustained quality of tennis that the two players produced.

Tiebreakers normally last 5 or 10 minutes, but the one that decided the fourth set lasted all of 22 breathtaking minutes. That was tennis at its best.

Frankie Dettori's feat of winning all seven races on a day at Ascot in 1996 and Cigar's nail-biting victory in the inaugural Dubai World Cup are included as is Lance Armstrong's seventh successive Tour de France victory and Barry Bonds's home run record.

I would like to believe that this is the definitive guide to the biggest stories of the past three decades.

It is, of course, based on personal choices of the staff on the Sports Desk. Perhaps you may not agree with our selection, but we hope you nonetheless enjoy reading the capsules as much as we had fun putting them all together.

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