Sports Facts
Haile Gebre Selassie is regarded universally as the greatest distance runner of all times.
With a career that sees him breaking records as they are made, Haile has built an extraordinary reputation as an exceptional athlete who is setting a new level in long-distance running.
As a child he had to run 10 kilometers a day each way to go and come back from school. At age 16, without any formal training, he entered the Addis Ababa marathon, and finished in 2:42.
The Ethiopian runner, who won 2 Olympic Golds and 4 world titles in 10000 meters, runs with a habit as a child when he used to run 10 kilometers to school every day whilst holding his books.
Peter Maravich was the greatest scorer in major college basketball history and an NBA Hall of Famer who played for the Atlanta Hawks. Several people had started calling him Pistol Pete and a “hot dog” (remember this was the 70’s).
One fan even created a sign saying, “Pistol Pete, why do hot dogs cost $2 million in Atlanta and 50 cents in Philadelphia. Maravich however was neither comfortable with this nickname nor the amount of fame and complications that came with a b-ball lifestyle.
In a 1974 interview with the Beaver Country Time, after only having played 4 years in the NBA, he said, “I don’t want to play 10 years in the NBA and die of a heart attack at the age of 40.. ”
However, he continued to play in the NBA for 10 more years. Then, at the age of 40 he passed away. It is likely that he died from an undetermined heart disease.
Jim would balance the glove on his right arm, and as part of the follow through when he threw the baseball, he would slide the glove onto his left hand so he could catch any balls that came back to him! This method of pitching became his signature style, and he became very well known through his college years.
When he graduated college, he was picked up by the California Angels, and later played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago White Sox, and the New York Yankees! In 1993, he would throw the first no hitter at Yankee Stadium in over 10 years! Jim Abott didn't let his minor disability prevent him from playing a game that he loved, and being remembered as one of the best Major League Baseball Pitchers of all time.
Serhiy Nazorovych Bubka is a retired Ukrainian pole vaulter. He represented the Soviet Union until it's dissolution 1991.Throughout his athletic career he won multiple awards, such as six consecutive IAAF World Championships, Olympics gold and broke the world record for men’s pole vaulting 35 times!
He currently holds the world record of 6.14 meters (20 feet 1 ¾ inches), and the current indoor world record of 6.15 meters! Sergey Bubka has set 35 world records in the progression of pole vaulting’s highest mark. The only time he lost his outdoor record, he immediately reclaimed it on his next run, moments later.
Neither Bubka’s indoor or outdoor records have been beaten in nearly 18 years! The fact that most of the time the record he improved was his own, demonstrates his absolute dominance in the event.When you love something, you will always give your everything to become the best.
Team USA was a big favorite to win basketball gold at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. Americans teams had won the gold at every Olympic competition to that point, and boasted an overall record of 55-0 Olympic play.
Led by future pros like Bobby Jones, Doug Collins and Tom Henderson, the Americans cruised through the opening round, and then crushed Italy, setting up a gold medal matchup with the Soviet Union.
Things were pretty tense, between the USSR and the U.S back then because of the Cold War. Winning at everything against the other country was vital to both. The final match was very controversial; it was a tight game from start to finish.
The USSR scored on the very last second on a play that the U.S considered unfair. To this day the U.S team refuses to collect their silver medals.
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