90 Fun Facts About Famous Athletes

Which heavyweight champion was stripped of his title in 1967 for refusing the US military draft?

Muhammad Ali did not fight for nearly four years at his athletic peak, and in 1971 the Supreme Court overturned his draft-evasion conviction 8–0.

Which guard left the Chicago Bulls in 1993 to play minor-league baseball for the Birmingham Barons?

Michael Jordan batted .202 with three home runs for the Barons in 1994, then returned to win three more NBA titles with the Bulls.

Which quarterback, picked 199th overall in the 2000 NFL Draft, went on to win seven Super Bowls?

Tom Brady began 2001 as a backup and took over in the season's second game when starter Drew Bledsoe was injured; that season ended with the first of his seven Super Bowl wins.

Which sprinter set the 100 m world record of 9.58 seconds at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin?

Usain Bolt had begun celebrating before the line when he set the previous record of 9.69 at the 2008 Olympics; in Berlin a year later he lowered it by another 0.11 seconds.

Which gymnast left the Tokyo 2020 team final with 'the twisties', then won three Paris 2024 golds?

Simone Biles pulled out after one vault in Tokyo because she kept losing her bearings in mid-air, a block gymnasts call the twisties, yet she still left with a team silver and a beam bronze.

Which tennis player won her 23rd major singles title in Melbourne in January 2017 while pregnant?

Serena Williams was about two months pregnant, did not drop a set all tournament and beat her sister Venus in the final; she made the pregnancy public that April.

Which boxer was disqualified in 1997 for biting Evander Holyfield on both ears during their rematch?

Mike Tyson was fined $3 million and lost his licence, and a piece of Holyfield's right ear was found on the ring floor after the fight.

Which cyclist lost all seven of his Tour de France titles in 2012 and was banned for life?

Lance Armstrong had won every Tour from 1999 to 2005 after surviving testicular cancer that spread to his brain, and he finally confessed to Oprah Winfrey in 2013.

Which American won four golds at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, in the sprints, relay and long jump?

Jesse Owens was never invited to the White House by Franklin D. Roosevelt after Berlin, and said 'it was our president who snubbed me'.

Which French midfielder was sent off for headbutting Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final?

Zinedine Zidane had already scored a Panenka penalty off the crossbar in that final, and was still named the tournament's best player the next day.

Which Yankees slugger began his career as a star left-handed pitcher for the Boston Red Sox?

Babe Ruth was sold to the Yankees after the 1919 season; Boston, champions in 1918, did not win another World Series until 2004, a wait fans blamed on the 'Curse of the Bambino'.

Which number, worn by Jackie Robinson, was retired by every Major League Baseball team in 1997?

42 was the first number retired across an entire league in any sport, and since 2009 every player wears it on April 15, Jackie Robinson Day.

Which swimmer won eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the most ever at a single Games?

Michael Phelps won the seventh of those golds by one hundredth of a second in the 100 m butterfly, tying Mark Spitz's 1972 record, and broke it a day later in the medley relay.

Which NHL centre has more career assists than any other player has total points, and wore number 99?

Wayne Gretzky's number was retired across the whole NHL in 2000, and his 1988 trade from Edmonton to Los Angeles brought the Oilers $15 million in cash.

Which golfer won the 1997 Masters by a record 12 strokes, becoming its youngest ever champion at 21?

Tiger Woods opened that Masters with a four-over-par 40 on his first nine holes, came home in 30, and never looked back; in 2001 he held all four major titles at once, the 'Tiger Slam'.

Which Brazilian forward is the only player to have won three FIFA World Cups, the first at age 17?

Pelé drew huge offers from European clubs, so Brazil's government declared him a national treasure that could not be exported, which kept him at Santos for almost two decades.

Which Argentine captain scored the 'Hand of God' goal against England at the 1986 World Cup?

Diego Maradona scored again four minutes later with a run later voted the greatest World Cup goal ever, and lifted the trophy as captain that year.

Which forward has won a record eight Ballons d'Or and captained Argentina to the 2022 World Cup?

Lionel Messi was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency as a boy, and his club Newell's Old Boys agreed to contribute to treatment but reneged.

Which forward passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in February 2023 as the NBA's all-time leading scorer?

LeBron James passed the old mark of 38,387 points late in the third quarter, and the NBA stopped the game for an on-court ceremony so that he could speak to the crowd.

Which NBA guard scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors in January 2006, then the second-highest total ever?

Kobe Bryant was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets in 1996 and traded straight to the Lakers, who later retired both his numbers, 8 and 24.

Which center scored 100 points in a single NBA game in 1962, played in Hershey, Pennsylvania?

Wilt Chamberlain, normally a poor free-throw shooter, made 28 of 32 that night; the game was not televised and no film of it has ever been found.

Which tennis player held the men's world No. 1 ranking for a record 237 consecutive weeks?

Roger Federer's streak ended in August 2008; he won the top spot back in 2009 and 2012, and again in 2018 at 36, at the time the oldest man ever to rank No. 1.

Which Spaniard, right-handed away from the court, won the French Open a record 14 times playing left-handed?

Rafael Nadal won 112 matches at Roland Garros and lost only four, the last of them in the first round of his farewell appearance there in 2024.

Which player beat Bobby Riggs in straight sets in the 1973 'Battle of the Sexes' in Houston?

Billie Jean King had turned Riggs down until he beat Margaret Court 6-2, 6-1 that May; her win drew 30,472 fans to the Astrodome and an estimated 90 million television viewers worldwide.

Which player won all four majors and Olympic singles gold in 1988, a sweep dubbed the 'Golden Slam'?

Steffi Graf, then 19, completed the Golden Slam by beating Gabriela Sabatini in the Seoul final, at the first Olympics to award tennis medals since 1924.

Which Braves slugger hit his 715th home run in April 1974 after an offseason of death threats?

Hank Aaron was getting thousands of letters a week as he neared the record, some of them racist hate mail; number 715 cleared the fence into the Braves' bullpen, and teammate Tom House sprinted in to hand him the ball at home plate.

Which Yankee called himself 'the luckiest man on the face of the earth' in a 1939 farewell speech?

Lou Gehrig had just been diagnosed with ALS, the illness now often called by his name in the US, and died in 1941 just 17 days short of his 38th birthday.

Which Orioles shortstop broke a 56-year-old record by playing his 2,131st consecutive game in 1995?

Cal Ripken Jr. stretched the streak to 2,632 games before sitting out by choice in 1998, and played all 21 of his seasons in Baltimore.

Which player became the first with 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in one MLB season, in 2024?

Shohei Ohtani reached 50-50 in a single game in Miami, going six for six with three home runs, two steals and ten runs batted in, in a season when elbow surgery kept him from pitching.

Which 49ers great holds the NFL career records for catches, receiving yards and touchdowns?

Jerry Rice, a brick mason's son from Mississippi, credited his sure hands to catching the bricks his brothers threw up to him while they worked for their father.

Which British driver equalled Michael Schumacher's record of seven Formula One world titles in 2020?

Lewis Hamilton sealed that seventh title by winning a rain-hit Turkish Grand Prix from sixth on the grid; a year later an eighth slipped away in a disputed finish to the season's final race.

Which Brazilian's title duels with Alain Prost ended in collisions at Suzuka in 1989 and 1990?

Ayrton Senna lost the 1989 title when he was disqualified after their crash, then took the 1990 crown by running into Prost at the first corner, a move he later admitted was deliberate.

Which skater was clubbed on the leg in 1994 in an attack planned by a rival's ex-husband?

Nancy Kerrigan recovered to win Olympic silver at Lillehammer just seven weeks later, finishing behind Oksana Baiul.

Which Olympian lost his 1912 pentathlon and decathlon golds for playing semi-pro baseball?

Jim Thorpe, a citizen of the Sac and Fox Nation, was restored as sole champion of both events only in 2022, 69 years after his death.

Which gymnast's first perfect 10, at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, showed on the scoreboard as 1.00?

Nadia Comăneci was 14 and scored six more 10s in Montreal, and in 1989 she fled Romania on foot weeks before the revolution.

Which boxer regained the heavyweight title in 1994 at age 45, two decades after losing it?

George Foreman knocked out 26-year-old Michael Moorer to take the title, and in 1999 he sold the rights to his name on a best-selling kitchen grill for $138 million.

Which athlete won the Olympic long jump four Games in a row, from Los Angeles 1984 to Atlanta 1996?

Carl Lewis won 65 long jump competitions in a row over ten years; the run ended at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, where Mike Powell beat him with a world record of 8.95 metres.

Which sprinter's 1988 records of 10.49 seconds for 100 m and 21.34 for 200 m have never been beaten?

Florence Griffith Joyner ran the 10.49 while the gauge for her race read no wind at all, though strong tailwinds were measured in the races around it, and she retired abruptly in February 1989.

Which Kenyan ran the first sub-two-hour marathon in Vienna in 2019, a time not ratified as a record?

Eliud Kipchoge ran 1:59:40 behind a pace car and rotating pacers; his ratified best, 2:01:09 in Berlin in 2022, was a world record at the time.

Which Englishman ran the first sub-four-minute mile at Oxford's Iffley Road track in May 1954?

Roger Bannister's 3:59.4 lasted just 46 days as a record before John Landy beat it, and he then spent forty years as a neurologist.

Which Lakers guard retired in 1991 after an HIV diagnosis, then was MVP of the 1992 All-Star Game?

Magic Johnson told a press conference on November 7, 1991 that he would retire immediately, yet months later he co-captained the Dream Team to Olympic gold in Barcelona.

Which Yankees center fielder hit in 56 straight games in 1941 and later married Marilyn Monroe?

Joe DiMaggio eloped with Monroe at San Francisco City Hall in January 1954, but she filed for divorce after only nine months of marriage.

Which forward from the Portuguese island of Madeira was the first man to score at five World Cups?

Cristiano Ronaldo did it with a penalty against Ghana in 2022, and owes the name Ronaldo to his father's admiration for US president Ronald Reagan.

Which Manchester United player, later a Spice Girl's husband, scored from the halfway line in 1996?

David Beckham spotted Wimbledon goalkeeper Neil Sullivan standing a long way off his line and floated the ball over him, on the opening day of the Premier League season.

Which moustached American swimmer won seven golds at Munich in 1972, each in world-record time?

Mark Spitz retired straight after Munich at just 22, and said he first grew the moustache because a college coach told him he couldn't.

Which golfer, nicknamed the Golden Bear, won a record sixth Masters in 1986 at the age of 46?

Jack Nicklaus's 1986 win was his final major and took his record total to 18, and he sealed it by shooting 30 on the back nine of the final round.

Which Warriors guard became the NBA's first unanimous MVP in 2016 after making 402 three-pointers?

Stephen Curry broke his own single-season three-point record that year, reaching 402 by making ten in the Warriors' final regular-season game.

Which skateboarder landed the first 900, two and a half mid-air turns, at the 1999 X Games?

Tony Hawk landed it on June 27, 1999, the same year the video game series built around his skating, Pro Skater, made its debut.

Which Ethiopian won the 1960 Rome Olympic marathon barefoot after his new shoes gave him blisters?

Abebe Bikila won again in Tokyo four years later, this time wearing shoes and only five weeks after an operation to remove his appendix.

Which tennis player finally won Olympic singles gold at Paris 2024, aged 37, on Roland Garros clay?

Novak Djokovic beat Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets for the one big prize he lacked, having managed only a bronze at Beijing 2008.

Which Celtics forward from French Lick, Indiana, won three straight NBA MVP awards in the 1980s?

Larry Bird stayed at Indiana State for another season after Boston drafted him sixth overall in 1978, and remains the only forward to win the MVP three years running.

Which 49ers quarterback threw 'The Catch' pass and won four Super Bowls without an interception?

Joe Montana threw 122 Super Bowl passes without one being intercepted, and The Catch, his touchdown pass to Dwight Clark, beat Dallas to send the 49ers to the first of the four.

Which tennis player sought US asylum at 18 in 1975 and went on to win nine Wimbledon singles titles?

Martina Navratilova walked into the US immigration office in New York after losing a US Open semi-final, and Czechoslovakia stripped her of her citizenship.

Which center left the Shanghai Sharks to become the first overall pick of the 2002 NBA draft?

Yao Ming, the only child of two former professional basketball players, spent his whole NBA career with the Houston Rockets before foot injuries forced him out in 2011.

Which Pirates outfielder died in a 1972 plane crash while flying aid to earthquake-hit Nicaragua?

Roberto Clemente had reached exactly 3,000 regular-season hits three months earlier, and the Hall of Fame waived its waiting period so he could be elected in 1973.

Which Austrian driver raced again six weeks after suffering severe burns at the Nürburgring in 1976?

Niki Lauda was given the last rites in hospital, yet came back at the Italian Grand Prix and lost that year's title to Britain's Hunt by a single point.

Which All Blacks wing scored four tries against England in the 1995 Rugby World Cup semi-final?

Jonah Lomu ran straight over the top of England's Mike Catt for the first of them, and a kidney disorder later cut short his international career.

Which Indian batter debuted in Tests at 16 and was the first player to reach 100 international centuries?

Sachin Tendulkar faced Pakistan in Karachi in November 1989 for that debut, and India announced its highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, for him as he retired in 2013.

Which Australian sprinter lit the Olympic cauldron at Sydney 2000 and then won the 400 metres?

Cathy Freeman ran her lap of honour carrying both the Aboriginal and Australian flags, even though unofficial flags were banned at the Games.

Which boxer, the only eight-division world champion, was elected a senator in his home country in 2016?

Manny Pacquiao, nicknamed PacMan, won the first of his world titles at flyweight and sat in the Senate of the Philippines until 2022.

Which Dutch forward left Sweden's Jan Olsson stumbling with a new turn at the 1974 World Cup?

Johan Cruyff feigned a pass, dragged the ball behind his standing leg and spun away, and the move has carried his name, the Cruyff Turn, ever since.

Which defender, nicknamed Der Kaiser, won the World Cup as captain in 1974 and as manager in 1990?

Franz Beckenbauer is credited with inventing the modern attacking sweeper, and once played on with a dislocated shoulder because his side had used both substitutes.

Which French forward scored a hat-trick in the 2022 World Cup final yet finished on the losing side?

Kylian Mbappé scored twice in two minutes to wipe out Argentina's 2–0 lead and even converted his kick in the shoot-out, but France still lost it.

Which American soccer star debuted for the US at 15 and was twice FIFA World Player of the Year?

Mia Hamm won World Cups in 1991 and 1999, and Nike named a building on its corporate campus after her.

Which Boston Celtics center won 11 NBA championships in a 13-year career, finishing as player-coach?

Bill Russell became the first Black coach to win an NBA title, and after his death in 2022 the league retired his number 6 for every team.

Which Cleveland running back quit football at his peak while in England filming The Dirty Dozen?

Jim Brown retired when owner Art Modell threatened fines for every week of training camp he missed, having led the league in rushing in eight of his nine seasons.

Which Jets quarterback publicly guaranteed victory over the favoured Colts before Super Bowl III?

Joe Namath made the promise to a heckler at a Miami banquet three days before the game; a teammate had nicknamed him Broadway Joe after a Sports Illustrated cover.

Which Auburn Heisman winner became an All-Star in two major sports, with the Royals and the Raiders?

Bo Jackson had turned down the Yankees out of high school to keep a promise to his mother about college, and a hip injury ended his football career in 1991.

Which Giants center fielder, the Say Hey Kid, made an over-the-shoulder catch in the 1954 World Series?

Willie Mays ran down Vic Wertz's drive about 425 feet from home plate at the Polo Grounds, keeping two Cleveland runners from scoring in a tied game.

Which Seattle Mariners outfielder broke an 84-year-old record by collecting 262 hits in a single season?

Ichiro Suzuki passed George Sisler's mark of 257, three years after arriving from Japan's Orix BlueWave and winning Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season.

Which tennis player won five Wimbledon titles in a row from 1976 and retired at just 26?

Björn Borg stayed so calm on court that he was nicknamed the Ice Man, and after his shock exit from the game he put his name to a fashion label.

Which heavyweight from Brockton, Massachusetts, retired in 1956 with a perfect record of 49 wins?

Rocky Marciano gave up his dream of being a major-league catcher after failing a tryout with a Chicago Cubs minor-league team, and 43 of his 49 wins were knockouts.

Which golfer, a seven-time major winner, gave his name to a drink of iced tea and lemonade?

Arnold Palmer took flying lessons to beat his fear of it, and the airport in his home town of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, was renamed for him on his 70th birthday.

Which Lakers center won three straight NBA Finals MVP awards and starred in the film Kazaam?

Shaquille O'Neal dunked so hard in his first NBA season that he twice broke the backboard supports, and the league fitted stronger ones the following year.

Which sprinter wore a leg brace as a child after polio, then won three golds at the 1960 Olympics?

Wilma Rudolph came home to Tennessee hailed as the fastest woman on earth, and refused to attend her welcome parade until it was integrated, a first for her home town.

Which American high jumper won gold at Mexico City 1968 by going over the bar backwards?

Dick Fosbury could land on his back only because foam pads had replaced sawdust pits, and by the next Olympics 28 of the 40 jumpers had copied his flop.

Which Australian batter ended with a Test average of 99.94 after a duck in his final innings?

Don Bradman needed only four runs to finish on exactly 100, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's post box number, 9994, honours the figure he was left with.

Which AC Milan striker won the 1995 Ballon d'Or and was later elected president of Liberia?

George Weah lost a presidential run-off in 2005 before winning the 2017 election, and he was the first Ballon d'Or winner to play for an African national team.

Which cyclist, nicknamed the Cannibal, won five Tours de France and five Giros d'Italia?

Eddy Merckx owed the nickname to a teammate's daughter, who heard from her father that the Belgian would not let anyone else win a race.

Which distance runner won the 5,000 m, 10,000 m and marathon at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics?

Emil Zátopek entered the longest race at the last minute, having never run one before, and his wife Dana won javelin gold moments after his 5,000 m victory.

Which Yankees shortstop, nicknamed the Captain, reached 3,000 career hits with a home run in 2011?

Derek Jeter is also remembered for The Flip, when he ran across from shortstop to backhand a loose ball to his catcher, a play that won an ESPY award.

Which five-time NFL MVP was the first starting quarterback to win Super Bowls with two teams?

Peyton Manning did it after neck surgery cost him the whole 2011 season, when the Colts released him and he signed with the Denver Broncos.

Which American diver struck his head on the springboard at Seoul 1988 and still won gold?

Greg Louganis suffered a concussion in that preliminary round, yet left Seoul with both the springboard and platform titles, just as he had in Los Angeles in 1984.

Which cricketer captained Pakistan to the 1992 World Cup and later became its prime minister?

Imran Khan founded Pakistan's first cancer hospital in 1994 and named it after his mother, who had died of the disease.

Which 1960s Lakers guard does the NBA logo's silhouette show, according to its designer?

Jerry West was named Finals MVP in 1969 even though his team lost the series, and his late-game scoring earned him the nickname Mr. Clutch.

Which pole vaulter broke the world record 35 times and was the first to clear six metres?

Sergey Bubka raised the mark by 21 centimetres in all between 1984 and 1994, helped along by a Nike contract that paid a bonus for every new record.

Which figure skater won three straight Olympic golds, then became one of Hollywood's highest-paid stars?

Sonja Henie also won ten world titles in a row, and her touring ice shows opened up professional careers for less famous skaters.

Which goalkeeper, nicknamed the Black Spider for his dark kit, won the Ballon d'Or in 1963?

Lev Yashin was also a goaltender for Dynamo's ice hockey team, winning the Soviet Cup in 1953 before he gave up that sport to concentrate on football.

Which American speed skater won all five men's events at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid?

Eric Heiden won more golds at those Games than every nation except the Soviet Union and East Germany, then became a professional cyclist and an orthopedic surgeon.

Which American cyclist, shot in a hunting accident in 1987, won the 1989 Tour de France by eight seconds?

Greg LeMond told his team car not to give him split times in the final time trial, then overturned Laurent Fignon's lead for the closest finish the race had ever seen.