We are privileged. We have been witness to sporting history many times over and we wait eagerly for more.
The past decade has seen some of the greatest ever to have played their respective sport. Roger Federer. Michael Phelps. Tiger Woods. Chris Froome. Michael Schumacher. Serena Williams. Sachin Tendulkar. And the fastest man on earth: Usain Bolt. The numbers speak for themselves. Federer has won the most grand slams in history – 19. And eight of them on the hallowed grass of Wimbledon. He turns 36 today and continues his hunt for more glory.
Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympian, winning 23 gold, three silver and two bronze medals, a total of 28. Leonidas of Rhodes earned 12 olive wreaths for winning foot races in four Olympiads — from 164 BC to 152 BC. It took 2,168 years to break that record. Phelps has 13 individual gold medals.
Tiger Woods: He has 14 major wins, 79 PGA victories. His actual scoring average of 68.17 in 2000 was the lowest in PGA Tour history, exceeding the 68.33 average by Byron Nelson in 1945. He is one of the golfing greats.
Chris Froome, the cyclist, has just won his fourth Tour de France title, a test of man’s endurance, will power, mental strength and discipline. The tour, where cyclists race more than 175 kilometres every day on average for three weeks, is said to be the most brutal of endurance tests. The weather fluctuates, there are horrific crashes, the terrain and climbs are ever challenging. And yet Froome, with the coolness of a cucumber and the smile of a benevolent monk, is hungry for more.
Schumacher is the most celebrated F1 driver: he has won seven F1 World Championships and 91 Grand Prix races. Serena Williams, is arguably the greatest women’s tennis player. She has won 23 Grand Slams, the highest in the Open era. And Sachin Tendulkar is also arguably the greatest batsman in the modern era. He has 51 test centuries with an average of 53.78 and 49 one-day hundreds with an average of 44.83.
Then there is the human wonder Usain Bolt, who ran his last race two days ago. He is the first person to hold both the 100 metres and 200 metres world records. He has won eight Olympic gold medals. Bolt is the fastest man on earth. But away from the statistics, there is a story of passion, of sacrifice, of skill, of disappointment, of trial. We have been witness to the tears of triumph. We have been blessed.
