Notable Sports people in history.

WOLF ANGEL

WOLF ANGEL

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There are those Sportspersons who have a 'Great Sporting "moments" and those whose achievements are either defined or perhaps enchanced by their longevity.'
Post those who feel are derserving of recognition.

Any sports, genders and from any part of the world across many time periods
 

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A = Muhammad ALI
* BOXER *
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Born: Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. - January 17th, 1942 - - Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Died June 3rd, 2016 (aged 74)

If ever 'The Greatest' could be attributed to anyone, then the owner of the 'Louisville lip' surely can lay claim to having such a title connected to them

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Muhammad Ali - Wikipedia
 
Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He achieved these victories in the 100m, 200m, long jump, and 4x100m relay events. His performance made him the most successful athlete of the 1936 Games and the first American to win four track and field gold medals at a single Olympics.
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The story of Adolf Hitler snubbing Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin Olympics is complicated: while Hitler did not publicly congratulate Owens, he didn't shake the American medalists' hand. Owens later clarified that the true snub came from U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who declined to meet him due to political concerns.
 

Trischa Zorn is an American Paralympic swimmer. Blind from birth, she competed in Paralympic swimming. She is the most successful athlete in the history of the Paralympic Games, having won 55 medals, and was inducted into the Paralympic Hall of Fame in 2012


Her success in the Paralympic Games was not only based on the sport itself. Her entire career revolved around overcoming great difficulties in all aspects of life and inspiring others. That is why she was pursuing a law degree as well, which later helped her become an attorney for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

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As a kid I was pretty much a regular at Santa Anita Racetrack in California and Johnny
was my favorite jockey. He got to know me by sight of me hanging over the rail
as he walked his horse onto the track and waiting for him to mount in the paddock area.
One day he tossed me a ring off a bridle. He will always be one of the greats to me.
Significant horses
Honours
Racing awards
Major racing wins
Johnny Longden

Longden, circa 1947
OccupationJockey / Trainer
BornFebruary 14, 1907
Wakefield, Yorkshire, England
DiedFebruary 14, 2003 (aged 96)
Banning, California, U.S.
Career wins6,032
American Classics wins:
As a jockey:
United States Triple Crown (1943)
Kentucky Derby (1943)
Preakness Stakes (1943)
Belmont Stakes (1943)
As a trainer:
Kentucky Derby (1969)
Preakness Stakes (1969)
Other
United States Champion Jockey by earnings
(1943, 1945)
United States Champion Jockey by wins
(1938, 1947, 1948)
George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award (1952)
Avelino Gomez Memorial Award (1985)
Eclipse Special Award (1994)
United States' Racing Hall of Fame (1958)
Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (1958)
Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame (1976)
Fair Grounds Racing Hall of Fame (1995)
Lifesize bust at Santa Anita Park
Longden Turf Course at Bay Meadows Racetrack
Longden Avenue, Arcadia, California
Count Fleet, Busher, Jet Pilot, Your Host, Whirlaway, Noor, Rushaway, Swaps,
T.V. Lark, Four-and-Twenty, George Royal, Majestic Prince
 
I only have one baseball card. A 1970 Pittsburgh Pirates Dock Ellis.

On June 12, 1970, while pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the San Diego Padres, Dock Ellis threw a no-hitter. So what makes that so notable?

He later revealed in 1984 that he had taken LSD earlier in that day, thinking he didn't have to pitch. Turns out he did. He described his experience as surreal, saying that at times he couldn't see the catcher clearly and that the ball would sometimes appear small and sometimes large. He also said he thought the home plate umpire was Richard Nixon. Apparently his pitching was so bizarre that nobody could hit it.

The story has since become a legendary and widely-discussed tale in baseball history, though naturally its full veracity has been debated by some. Ellis himself, however, never wavered in his account, and after his playing career, he became a drug counselor, using his own struggles with substance abuse to help others


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D = Alfredo Di STEFANO
* SOCCER *

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Born: 4th July 1926, Barracas, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Died: 7th July 2014, Gregorio Marañón Hospital, Madrid, Spain
  • The hero of the most successful club team in history, the great Real Madrid team of the late 50s.
  • He was the inspiration for 5 Consecutive European Cup wins (1956-60), - - scoring in the final in each year.
  • He scored 216 goals in 283 appearances for Real Madrid.
  • Despite playing for ARGENTINA, COLUMBIA and SPAIN, -circumstance meant he never played in a world cup.
Alfredo Di Stéfano - Wikipedia
 
Wilt Chamberlain
Widely considered the strongest man ever to play basketball, he was also a remarkable all-around athlete. He set a state record for the high jump during a meet when, on impulse - he was there to do the broad jump, a sport he excelled at - he asked the track coach if he could enter the high jump event.

He had NEVER trained for this particular event and in fact had never tried it before.

He won the high jump competition and set the state record!

Bill Russell, his long-time Celtic opponent, said he always believed Wilt deliberately held himself back while playing, because he was afraid he might seriously hurt someone. There's also an anecdote that during the filming of the second Conan movie, Wilt totally embarrassed Schwarzenegger in the weight room, lifting heavier weights with more reps than AS could do.

And, of course, he is the only NBA player to have ever scored 100 points in a game. His vertical leap was 50 inches, and he once blocked a basketball that was lobbed high enough to be even with the top of the backboard. He would bench-press 650 lb. before a game.

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Wilt's bio:
Wilt Chamberlain: Life and Career of the Basketball Legend
 
Maybe not for longevity, as the OP mentions, but one singular moment comes to mind: Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute mile.

At a time when it was widely believed to be humanly impossible, Bannister became the first to run a mile in under four minutes. Showing that barriers often exist only in the mind and inspiring others to follow.

 
Magna-Carta said:
Maybe not for longevity, as the OP mentions, but one singular moment comes to mind: Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute mile.
- At a time when it was widely believed to be humanly impossible, Bannister became the first to run a mile in under four minutes, - showing that barriers often exist only in the mind and inspiring others to follow.
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  • 'Breaking' the 4 minute mile was a significant achievement and as you say - moreover - "showing that barriers often exist only in the mind and inspiring others to follow"
 
I can’t say I’m a huge football/soccer fan, I prefer Rugby, but there’s no denying the career of the Brazilian, Pelé. His ability of scoring goals even when the ball was already in the air was remarkable. Kicking the ball over his head and behind him, then into the back of the net: the bicycle kick!


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Pelé in the 1981 movie, Escape to Victory:

 

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Magna-Carta said:
I can’t say I’m a huge football/soccer fan, I prefer Rugby, but there’s no denying the career of the Brazilian, Pelé.
Click to expand...
Best player I've ever seen .....

Representing
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Brazil
FIFA World Cup
Winner 1958 Sweden .

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Winner 1962 Chile . . . . . . . . . . .
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Winner 1970 Mexico
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Bobby ORR:
* ICE HOCKEY *
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1979
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Born March 20th, 1948 - Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada

Achievements:
  • First and only defenceman to score nine hat tricks
  • First defenceman to score 30 goals (1969–70) and 40 goals (1974–75) in a season.
  • First player to record 100 assists in a season (1970–71)
  • Only defenceman to win the Art Ross Trophy as league leader in scoring (1969–70, 1974–75)
  • Only defenceman to win the Lester B Pearson Award
  • Only player ever to win the Norris Trophy, Art Ross Trophy, Hart Trophy, and Conn Smythe Trophy in one season (1969–70)
  • Highest single season plus-minus rating, +124 in 1970–71
    • Second all-time in career plus-minus rating (+597; retired as the overall leader)
    • Never finished a full season less than +30 since +/- became a statistic (beginning with the 1968–69 season)
Awards:
Records:
  • Most points in one NHL season by a defenceman (139; 1970–71)
  • Most assists in one NHL season by a defenceman (102; 1970–71).
  • Most 100-point seasons by a defenceman (1969-70 - 1974-75).
  • Highest plus/minus in one NHL season (+124; 1970–71)
  • Most assists in one NHL game by a defenceman (6; tied with Babe Pratt, Pat Stapleton, Ron Stackhouse, Paul Coffey and Gary Suter)
  • One of two players to win four major NHL awards in one season (Hart, Norris, Art Ross, and Conn Smythe in 1970), as well as the only player to win the Norris and Art Ross in the same season. The other was Alexander Ovechkin in 2007–08.
  • Fastest goal from start of overtime to clinch the Stanley Cup (0:40; 1970, game 4)
 
Ayrton Senna.

A different kind of sportsperson, but an athlete in every sense, where fitness and mental agility were supreme. An amazing career. Reflecting on his 1988 qualifying lap at the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix, he said:

"Suddenly I realised that I was no longer driving the car consciously. I was driving it by a kind of instinct, only I was in a different dimension."

His words give me the impression of an almost out-of-body experience, as if he were somehow outside the car, watching himself drive. Truly “in a different dimension.”

Later he described the experiences as if time slowed down, and with a heightened state of awareness

You might need to open it within YouTube:

 
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Wayne GRETZKY
* ICE HOCKEY*

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Born January 26th, 1961 - Brantford, Ontario, Canada

Widely considered the best Ice Hockey player of all time, he is
  • The ALL-TIME NHL RECORD Points, Goals and Assists scorer (having more assists than any other player has points!).
  • He won an incredible 9 MVPs, is the only player to have scored 200 points in a season, something he did 4 times.
  • He won a total of 4 stanley cups with the Oilers and holds more than 60 NHL records.
Wayne Gretzky - Wikipedia
 
Billie-Jean KING:
* TENNIS*

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Born: Billie Jean Moffitt - November 22nd, 1943 - Long Beach, California, U.S.A.
  • The record 20 championships won at Wimbledon.
  • Being one of Nine women to form the Virginia Slims tour.
  • Becoming President of the Women’s Tennis Association.
  • The first tennis player named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year and the first female to ever receive the honour.
  • One of the first female athletes to disclose her homosexuality and champion LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) rights.
  • The founder of Women’s Sports Magazine and the Women’s Sports Foundation.
  • Time Magazine’s Woman of the Year..
  • Earning the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in 2009.

Billie Jean King - Wikipedia
 

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