Yevgeny Kafelnikov
Tennis to golf
Former Russian World number one, Kafelnikov won two Grand Slam titles — the 1996 French Open and the 1999 Australian Open. He also has four Grand Slam doubles titles while becoming the last man to have won both the men’s singles and doubles crowns at the same Grand Slam (1996 French Open). The 44-year-old also won the men’s singles gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. After retiring from tennis, Kafelnikov played golf on the European Tour at several tournaments in Russia, Czech Republic and Austria, but failed to make the cut in any of these.
Michael Jordan
Basketball to baseball to basketball
Considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time, six-time NBA champion Jordan announced his retirement from basketball in 1993 and signed a minor-league baseball contract with Chicago White Sox in 1994. He also played for Birmingham Barons (1994-’95) and Scottsdale Scorpions (1994). Even though he did well in baseball for a beginner, his career in the sport was short-lived, and a year later, Jordan returned to the NBA with the Chicago Bulls to go on to win even more Championships and MVPs.
Dwain Chambers
Ahletics to football to rugby
Sprinter Chambers represented Great Britain in athletics and won gold at the 2010 World Indoor Championship, a gold at the 2006 European Championship and an impressive four gold medals at the European Junior Championship. In 2003, he decided to switch sport, playing for San Francisco 49ers in the American professional football league. He returned to athletics only to join the English rugby league for team Castleford Tigers on trial in March 2008.
Sonny Bill Williams
Rugby to boxing
New Zealand’s most successful rugby player, Williams has represented the country in rugby union after playing in the rugby league. In 2015, he claimed his second Rugby World Cup title and became one of the 20 dual winners along with greats such as Dan Crowley and Os du Randt. He is also an ace boxer and between 2009 and 2013, won all six of his heavyweight fights. He also has New Zealand Professional Boxing Association (NZPBA) Heavyweight Champion and World Boxing Association (WBA) International Heavyweight Champion titles under his belt.
Andrew Flintoff
Cricket to boxing
A former England International cricketer, Flintoff is often counted among the best all-rounders and consistently featured in ICC rankings for best all-rounders in both Test and the ODIs. He played 79 Test matches and 141 ODIs and scored more than 8,700 runs. In 2010, he retired from cricket and went on to fight his first professional bout against America’s Richard Dawson in November 2012. The professional boxing world, however, was highly critical of his performance.
