My Sporting Heroes

Lester Piggott

THERE'S an American adage that after a US cavalry officer has ridden a horse until it's dropped dead, an Apache could get on it and ride it for a further hundred miles. To the world of racing, Lester Piggott was that Apache. His relationship with horses has been described as uncanny, intuitive, that there was something inhuman about Piggott, as if he was almost half a horse himself. Whatever the nature of the affinity, nobody in racing would put up any other candidate for the greatest jockey that ever lived.

Epsom was his favoured playground, nine Derby winners and six in the Oaks are eloquent testimony to that. And, in the 1968 Derby, Piggott produced what many say was the greatest piece of race riding ever when winning with Sir Ivor. It was the 2,000 Guineas winner but there were serious doubts about its ability to stay the extra half-mile. Piggott knew he had to conserve its stamina. But with three furlongs to go and Connaught, ridden by Sandy Barclay, well clear, Sir Ivor was still pussy-footing about in sixth place.

All the experts in the grandstand thought Piggott had gone mad, or worse. He moved Sir Ivor up a little, but not much. The experts were now in a lather. Then with about 150 yards to go, Piggott eased the horse outside and let it go. Sir Ivor cruised past Connaught and Piggott looked across at Barclay as if to say: "That's how it's done, mate."

Piggott's partial deafness and speech impediment made him appear a diffident, unintelligent man, however his acumen on the track was of Einstein-like proportions. In 1970, in a race at Deauville, Piggott was up against Precipice Wood, a horse he'd ridden and knew inside out. Piggott's problem was that Precipice Wood was one of the gamest and most courageous of horses. It just wouldn't give up. Ever.

Yet again Piggott confounded all observers. He held back his mount, Reindeer, until very late and then, bizarrely pulled him right out into the middle of the course to just pip Precipice Wood on the line. Brilliant! Why? Because the other horse, running tight to the rails, hadn't been able to see Reindeer and therefore thought it had won. Piggott had found the only winning strategy.

Ever since Piggott won his first Derby in 1954, at the age of 18, on Never Say Die, he's had a special place in the public's affection. Even when he went to jail for a year for tax fraud, that affection did not diminish. This popularity stemmed from his sheer professionalism. If you backed a Piggott horse to win, you knew that your money was in safe hands. If it couldn't win under Piggott, then it would never have won. He was just like the apocryphal Apache, always striving to get that little bit extra out of a horse, and almost always finding it.

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Cassius Clay(Mohammad Ali)

American boxer, who in 1978 became the first boxer to win the world heavyweight boxing championship title three different times. He was born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., in Louisville, Kentucky. After winning the light heavyweight title at the 1960 Olympic Games, he turned professional. In 1964 he made good his claim of being "The Greatest"; after only 20 professional fights he became world heavyweight champion. In the same year, after joining the black Muslims, he assumed the name Muhammad Ali. He lost a championship bout to Joe Frazier in 1971. Ali regained his title in 1974 by defeating George Foreman. He lost the title to Leon Spinks in 1978 but regained it after defeating Spinks later that year. He retired in 1979.

Throughout his career, Ali's skills supported his claim that he could "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." He retired as one of boxing's greatest champions.

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Pele(Edson Arantes do Nascimento)

A native of Brazil better known as Pele, was perhaps the greatest of all SOCCER players. A supremely gifted athlete, he started playing soccer as a teenager, and soon he was playing as well as seasoned veterans. Pele made his debut with the major league Santos club in 1956 at the age of 15 and soon gained a reputation as an electrifying goal scorer. A year later he was selected to play for the Brazilian national team, and in 1958 he led them to victory in the World Cup, Brazil's first international championship. Brazil won the World Cup again in 1962 and 1970 with Pele on the team. The only player ever to play in three successive World Cup Finals.

In his long professional career, in which he was never seriously injured, Pele scored 1,281 goals in 1,363 games, a remarkable feat because he was invariably given special coverage by the opposition. Pele possessed the perfect blend of physical power, dazzling ball handling, and an instinct for discerning an opponent's weakness. Pele retired in 1974 but was enticed to return to play in 1975 when the New York Cosmos offered him a multimillion-dollar contract. Although his once-matchless skills had faded, he was of immense value in popularizing soccer and helping establish the sport in the United States. Pele played with the Cosmos for over 2 years before he retired permanently in 1977.

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Sir Bobby Charlton

It was 3.04 on a snowbound Friday afternoon. The date was February 6, 1958. The day a team died. United had drawn 3-3 against Red Star in Belgrade and were through to the semi-finals of the European Cup. The plane in which they were flying home, a British European Airways Elizabethan, had stopped at Munich to refuel.

There was slush on the runway as it took off. The Elizabethan never made it off the ground. Just 54 seconds after the pilot opened the throttle, the plane hit the airport's perimeter fence, slithered 200 yards across a frozen field and burst into flames. A wing had been torn off and the tail section had broken away, scattering bodies into the snow. Twenty-one people died, among them seven of Busby's Babes -

Roger Byrne , Tommy Taylor , Mark Jones, David Pegg, Geoff Bent , Eddie Colman and Billy Whelan . Matt Busby, the Manager, survived, clinging to life in an oxygen tent. So did another young man, one who symbolised the brilliance of the Babes. His name was Duncan Edwards, arguably the greatest footballer Manchester United ever produced.

After 15 days, Edwards died from his injuries. He was 21. A truly world-class talent had been lost. Bobby Charlton, just 20, had been thrown 40 yards clear of the wreckage and escaped with a cut head. Busby came home and with his assistant Jimmy Murphy, who had not been on the flight, set about rebuilding his shattered team. Charlton was to be the player central to his plans.

Three months after the Munich tragedy, United had bravely reached the FA Cup Final with a patched up side. The nation's hearts were with them, but they went down to Bolton 2-1. Again, it was a match marred by controversy, Bolton's Nat Lofthouse scoring his second goal by bundling United goalkeeper Harry Gregg over the line.

The previous month Charlton had gained the first of his record 106 England caps, scoring in the defeat of Scotland at Hampden. He shot on the run from a pass by Tom Finney before a 134,000 partisan crowd. "I can still hear the sound of the ball lashing against the net," recalled Charlton.

"After that, all you could hear was the silence."

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George Best

He won a Championship Medal in his first full season of  64-5, and another in 66-7. Very much the with-it young man of his day with his Beatle-style hair, Chelsea boots and turned-back cuffs, Uniteds bachelor-boy was an instantly recognisable figure either on or off the pitch. Despite his magnificent personal contribution of 28 goals from 41 games in 67-8, he was to miss out on a third championship, as UNITED finished in runners-up position. In the same season, however, all disappointments were swept aside when the EUROPEAN CUP was won at Wembley.

Best`s brilliant individual goal in the first period of extra time set UNITED on their way to an emotional 4-1 victory over Benfica, finally realising Matt Busby`s European ambitions after almost twelve years of single-minded dedication. George Best was rewarded with THE FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR`s award, and EUROPEAN PLAYER OF THE YEAR Trophy. Pele said he was the greatest footballer ever!!!!

In a playing career littered with virtuoso performances, one of the most memorable was his feat of scoring six goals against Northampton in UNITED`s 8-2 victory at the County Ground in the fifth round of the FA Cup in Feb 70. It was his first game for four weeks, following suspension.

Sadly, the early 70`s saw George unable to handle constant pressures of super stardom and, once Sir Matt retired, a rift developed between club and player, his racy lifestyle and other off field problems having finally robbed him of match fitness and with it the genius which had thrilled a generation of fans and left behind many memories.

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Sir Garfield Sobers

Garfield Sobers was born in Barbados in 1936. His record as an all-rounder in Test Cricket is unequaled. In 1958, at the age of 22, he set a new record for a Test batsman by scoring 365 not out for the West Indies against Pakistan. He became the first West Indies batsman to reach 5,000 runs in Test Cricket in 1966, the first to reach 6,000 runs in 1968, the first to reach 7,000 runs in 1971, and the first to reach 8,000 runs in 1981. In 93 Test Matches he amassed 8,032 runs, took 235 wickets, and held 109 catches. On August 31, 1968, playing for Nottinghamshire against Glamorgan, he hit every ball of Malcolm Nash's six ball over for six: the first batsman to hit every ball of one over for six in First Class Cricket.

In 1971 he became the first West Indies cricketer to hold 100 catches. After the England v South Africa series of 1970 was canceled by the British Government, an alternative non-Test series was played by England against the Rest of the World. Gary Sobers was captain of the Rest of the World team and in the first match he took 6 wickets for just 21 runs in 20 overs as England were dismissed for 127 and then scored 183 of a Rest of the World total of 546: the Rest of the World beat England by an innings and 80 runs. On December 2nd.1966, Gary Sobers became the first cricketer to be depicted on a postage stamp. The stamp commemorated Barbados' independence. Gary Sobers retired in 1974 and was knighted in 1975.

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Nigel Mansell

Nigel Mansell's first Grand Prix was in Austria in 1980 driving a Lotus. In 1981 he finished third in the Belgium Grand Prix. He joined the Williams team in 1985 and won his first race, the British Grand Prix at Brands-Hatch. Mansell finished as runner up in the Driver's Championship in 1986 and 1987. In 1989 he joined Ferrari and won the first Grand Prix of that season. In 1991, back driving a Williams which was now powered by a Renault engine, he finished 2nd again in the Drivers Championship winning five races. 1992 was Mansell's year. In 16 Grands Prix he won pole position 14 times, winning the first five races and a record nine in the season. The following year he joined the Newman-Haas team in the Indy Drivers Championship. The opening race of the season saw Mansell win after taking pole position, the first time a rookie had taken pole position in, or won, their first race. He won four of the six races on oval circuits on his way to winning the Championship making him the first rookie to do so and the first driver to hold both the Formula 1 and Indy Car Drivers Championships at the same time.

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Eusebio

Eusebio Da Silva Ferreira is the finest footballer ever to play for Portugal, although he was born in Mozambique, then a Portuguese colony. Originally with Sporting Lisbon he was picked up by Benfica when he was 18. After an impressive second half hat-trick as a substitute, in the Paris Tournament, against the mighty Santos of Brazil with Pele in the side, he became a first team regular. A year later he blasted two goals in Benfica's 5-3 win over Real Madrid in the European Cup Final. He was named European Footballer of the Year in 1965 and in the World Cup Finals in England in 1966 he top-scored with nine goals, including four against North Korea, helping Portugal to a 5-3 win after being 3-0 down. Portugal ended up in third place, their highest ever finish.

At the end of the 1967/8 season the "Golden Boot" award was introduced for the leading goalscorer in Europe. The first winner of the "Golden Boot" was Eusebio with 43 goals and he won it again in 1972/3 with 40 goals to become the first player to win it twice.

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Duncan Edwards

Even amongst the talented youngsters that Manchester United have produced over the years, one stands out from all the others as the one destined to become one of football's all-time greats - Duncan Edwards.

His qualities sounded like a checklist of any and all the talents required of a footballer. Tall and strong, yet speedy and blessed with limitless stamina, two-footed, a great tackler, strong in the air, a fine passer of the ball, and the possessor of a fierce and accurate shot. He could play in defence, midfield or attack. Quite simply, he didn't have a weakness.

Edwards made his debut at the age of 16, and didn't looked back. Two years later he won his first England cap, and became the youngest England player this century.Cruelly, the Munich aircrash took him from us, at the age of 21.

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Paul Gascoigne

One thing for sure, boredom will never be a problem in the life of Paul Gascoigne (28). He makes sure of that personally. No British footballer has hit the headlines so often in recent years as the mid field star of the renowned Scottish club Glasgow Rangers. Although the articles about "Gazza", as Gascoigne is better known throughout the World, are not always complementary, they are always entertaining. Here are a few milestones in his career. Paul Gascoigne left school at the age of 14 in 1981, "with very poor marks" as he himself admits. At 16, after he had proved his talent at cleaning the boots and brewing tea for Newcastle United's 1st team, he was rewarded with his first professional contract. Weekly wage in 1983 £30.

At 21 he was the team's star and was sold in 1988 for one million pounds the record transfer fee at that time to London's Tottenham Hotspur. In May 1991, as an indefatigable slave driver he almost single handily led Spurs to the Final of the F.A. Cup but when fouling his opposite number Gary Charles of Nottingham Forest, he tore the ligaments in his right knee. Not yet back to fitness he was transferred in 1992 for over six million pounds to Lazio Rome. The Italians were impressed by Gascoigne's brilliant ball control and clever passes, his speed off the mark and his goal scoring instinct. But Gazza was not given an adequate opportunity to display his talents and due to a succession of injuries, he only played 41 games and scored six goals in three years.

In 1994, following a second serious injury (broken tibia and fibula), the redhead, who likes to dye his hair blond or black, began to straighten out his life. In a health clinic he underwent stress therapy and subjected himself to a strict diet. In 1995, the Italians sold him nevertheless, for 4.3 million pounds to Glasgow Rangers.

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Sebastian Coe

Seb's Best Performances speak for themselves. He ruled the world of athletic middle distance running throughout the 80's.One of the all time greats.

Event                Personal Best        Venue Achieved               Date                     Age

800 Metres       1:41.73 WR               Florence                     10/06/81             24.9mnths

1000 Metres     2:12.18 WB               Oslo                           11/07/81             24.10mnths

1500 Metres     3:29.77                      Rieti                           07/09/86             29.12mnths

One Mile          3:47.33 WR               Brussels                     28/08/81             24.11mnths

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Alfredo Di Stefano

Di Stefano's hero had been Independiente's free-scoring Paraguayan centre-forward, Arsenio Erico. Di Stefano wanted to be a centre-forward himself. He learned his trade while on loan to Huracan, then returned to River Plate to replace the great Adolfo Pedernera.

River's forward line was nicknamed La Maquina (the Machine), for the remorseless consistency with which they took opposing defences apart. Di Stefano transferred his attacking prowess into the Argentine national team with equal success when they won the 1947 South American Championship.

In 1949 Argentine players went on strike. The clubs locked them out and completed their fixtures with amateur players. Meanwhile, the star professionals were lured away to play in the pirate league which had been set up, outside FIFA's jurisdiction, in Colombia. Di Stefano was the star of stars there, playing for Millonarios of Bogota, the so-called "Blue Ballet". When Colombia was reintegrated in FIFA, Millonarios went on one last world tour . . . where Di Stefano was spotted by Real Madrid after starring in the Spanish club's fiftieth anniversary tournament.

Madrid agreed a fee with Millonarios and thus nearly outflanked rivals Barcelona, who had sealed a deal with Di Stefano's old club, River Plate. A Spanish soccer court ruled that Di Stefano should play one season for Madrid, one season for Barcelona. But after he made a quiet start to the season, Barcelona, unimpressed, sold out their share in Di Stefano to Madrid.

Four days later he scored a hat-trick in a 5-0 win against . . . Barcelona. A legend had been born.

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James Hunt

Date of Birth: 29 August 1947.  Nationality: Great Britain

A master craftsman at the wheel, and a man who lived life in the fast lane, just as he drove his cars. Despite his love of the fast life his greatest passion was....budgerigars!!He was one of the top breeders in Britain, some of his stock upon his death going to another sportsman from England, Geoff Capes

World Championship Record

First season:1973

First Win: Dutch GP, 1975

Best World Championship standing:1st

World Championship years: 1976

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Linford Christie

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Jackie Stewart

Jackie Stewart remains to this day Britain's most successful driver. He won three World Championships, and was runner-up twice. He began his motor racing career in 1960, and his talent was clearly evident straight away; he was the most successful Briton in club races in 1963, and the following year won 11 Formula Three races driving for Cooper BMC.

Joining the BRM team in Formula One in 1965, Stewart was quick to make his mark, scoring a point in his first race, and finishing the season third overall. His three world titles saw him finish the seasons well ahead on points from his nearest rivals; for example, in 1969 he won the Championship on 63 points, while second-placed Jacky Ickx was back on 37. In his time in F1, Stewart won 27 GPs, a record at the time, which was later surpassed by Alain Prost, and scored 360 points from 99 races.

After retirement , Stewart campaigned vigorously for improved safety standards in the sport. He will be more visible this season in the pit lane again, as he and his son Paul, send Paul Stewart Racing into its first season in F1.

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Joe Louis

Joe Louis was one of the greatest and most colorful boxers in modern fisticuffs. Only Dempsey since the gloves era got under way and Sullivan in the bare knuckle and skin-tight gloves periods compared to him in popularity and ability. In his rise to fame he faced the good and mediocre, and in his entire career he lost only three contest: his knockout by Schmeling before he became a title holder, and his loss to Ezzard Charles and knockout by Rocky Marciano after he made his comeback attempt.

In successive bouts, Joe knocked out Primo Carnera in 6 rounds; King Livinsky in 1, Jack Sharkey in 3: Max Baer in 4; Paulino Uzcudun in 4; and Charley Retzlaff in 1. Then came the only setback he suffered during his pre-championship and championship days, the knockout by Schmeling. So thorough and masterly a job did Schmeling perform, that the thousands who had come in expectation of seeing the Brown Bomber put another opponent to sleep because of his supposed invincibility sat dumfounded watching the so-called Executioner executed.

Loius got his revenge!!!He scored the second quickest knockout in the history of the heavyweight championship bouts, 2:04 of the opening round and in accomplishing this wonderful feat he handed Schmeling a terrible beating. Joe Collected $349,288.40, an average of $2,832 per second, the record up to that time in any championship fight. The first knockdown followed a right to the chin. the German fell on his shoulder and rolled over twice before coming to a rest with his feet in the air. Louis did most of his attack with his right. Nine such blows landed with accuracy in the first minute. Max was down twice more. The second time, after a count of two, he got to his feet, a powerful right crashed against his jaw and Max went down on all fours. He tried to straighten himself to rise, but while in the process, his chief second, Max Machon tossed in the towel. Since this is not permitted under New York rules, Arthur Donovan, the referee hurled it back, took a good look at Schmeling, and as Timekeeper Eddie Joseph had reach eight, Donovan halted the bout.

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Willie Carson

Carson has been at the top of his profession ever since his success on High Top in the 2,000 Guineas 25 years ago. He won a total of 17 British Classics, including the Derby on Troy (in 1979), Henbit (1980), Nashwan (1989) and Erhaab (1994).

He also became the first man to win a Classic on a horse he bred himself when Minster Son took the St Leger in 1988.Carson began his apprenticeship in 1959 with George Armstrong on whose retirement he moved to brother Sam. He then had spells with Bernard van Cutsem, Barry Hills, Clive Brittain before joining Dick Hern in 1977.Having ridden his first winner in 1962 at the age of 19, he maintained his enthusiasm well into his 50s and reached a seasonal century of winners for the 23rd time in 25 years in 1995.

Five times champion jockey, at 47 he became only the fourth British rider to reach 3,000 career winners in 1990 when he also became just the third to ride six winners at a meeting on Northumberland Plate day at Newcastle.

Even though his tally of 3,828 winners is the fourth highest in British racing history, Carson will be remembered more for the quality of races he won in his long career than the quantity. Only Piggott and Steve Donoghue can better his 20th Century record of four triumphs in the Derby.

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Johan Cruyff

Johan Cruyff took the world by storm during the 1974 World Cup. The captain and star player in the Dutch side that reached the final playing breath- taking football. He succeeded Pele as the greatest player in the world.

Cruyff was born in Amsterdam in 1947. He grew up near the ground of the famous Ajax club, where his mother worked as a cleaner. He joined it at the age of 10, working his way up through the youth system to make his first team debut aged 18.

Six years later in 1971, Ajax won the European Cup and Cruyff was voted European Footballer of the year.

In 1973 Cruyff left Ajax for Barcelona and a year later won the European Player of the Year award for the second time. His domineering brilliance on the pitch, which came to an end in North America, was matched by a nervous, temperamental intelligence, and he was a chain smoker by the time he was successfully back in Barcelona as first team coach.

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Tiger Woods

Date of Birth: December 30, 1975

Few people have made such an impact in the sports world as Tiger Woods. He was the first male, first African American, and the youngest player to win two U. S. Junior Titles. Being chosen as Sportsman of the Year 1996 has gotten him a deal with Nike to be a fulfill your dreams spokesman. This led him to start the grass-roots project which helps underprivileged children buy sports equipment.

Tiger Woods has taken the game of golf by storm and will continue to do so for years to come.

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Nick Faldo

Born: Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire (1957).

With four major championships to his credit, Faldo can well claim to be the greatest British player since the far-off days of the Great Triumvirate. Those who would point to the name of Cotton should note that he seldom cared to compete in the United States and his achievements there were negligible.

There are strong contrasts in the ways that Faldo has won his majors. At Muirfield in 1987 he ground out a round with every hole in par and was 'given' that Open when Paul Azinger collapsed on the last two holes. His consecutive victories in the Masters also had an element of chance. In 1989, during the sudden-death play-off, Scott Hoch missed a tiny putt for victory and the following year Ray Floyd pulled an iron shot into water at the same stage. Faldo's finest hour to date is undoubtedly his Open victory at St. Andrews. After a brilliant start of 67, 65 he was tied for the lead with Greg Norman and then destroyed him with a 67 to the Australian's 76. On the final day Faldo was faced with the prospect of ludicrous failure if he had thrown away his five-stroke lead but his play was unwavering.

Much has been made of Faldo's swing changes and it was certainly courageous to risk losing his game altogether. We shall never know if he would have won those majors with old swing. However, his short-game skills have been equally valuable in taking him to the very top.

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Pat Eddery

For years Pat has been one of the dominant figures in English flat racing, Eddery has compiled a record in his 27 years of riding that few can match. Leading rider in England six times in a 19-year period, and once in Ireland, Eddery became just the third British rider to top the 4,000-win mark on September 13 of this year. He began riding in 1969 for Major Michael Pope, and won his first riding title in 1974. Has been a regular at the Breeders' Cup since its inception in 1984, and has two victories to his credit.

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Carl Foggarty

and his beloved Ducati!!

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