Shock & awe in the playground

Athletes defying insurmountable odds with heroic valour is part of sport’s appeal. But sport is also a window into the dark side of human mind. Here are some moments that made us gasp in awe and grumble in disgust.

HALL OF FAME
Dadagiri, Men in Blue style
Nice guys finish last”, is the poster one would imagine a young Sourav Ganguly posting on the wall of his bedroom. Ganguly’s princely ways and ‘give back as good as you get’ philosophy enamoured him to many fans and also distanced him from many of his international peers, including Steve Waugh. Love him or hate him, it can’t be denied that he ushered in a new era for Indian cricket, one with more aggression and more wins abroad. M.S. Dhoni has carried forward where Ganguly left off, and it’s no surprise that with such inspirational leaders India ends the decade as the top-ranked Test team in the world.

Olympic glory
Abhinav Bindra, who won the 10m air rifle gold at the Beijing Olympics, became the first Indian to bag an individual gold at the Olympics. This was India’s most successful decade at the Olympics. Karnam Malleshwari won a bronze medal in the 69kg weightlifting event at the Sydney Games. Four years later in Athens Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore became the first Indian shooter to win an Olympic medal, getting a silver in the men’s double trap. Boxer Vijender Singh and grappler Sushil Kumar also added bronze medals in Beijing.

Phelps’ swim-athon
American swimming star Michael Phelps made news with his six-gold output at the 2004 Athens Olympics, but four years later at Beijing, he broke Mark Spitz’s Olympic record of 7 golds as he won a jaw-dropping eight golds. His 14 golds in the last two Olympics put him atop the all-time Olympic gold medal winners list.

Bolt-ing spree
If ever a moniker befits an athlete perfectly it’s ‘Lightning Bolt’. Jamaican Usain Bolt reached speeds which most thought the human body wasn’t capable of at Beijing. He won the 100m gold in 9.69 seconds, mind-boggling as that may seem, he could have run faster had he not slowed down and celebrated 20 metres before the finish line. He followed it up golds in the 200m and 4x100m relay, both in world record times. He added three golds at the 2009 Berlin IAAF world championships.

T20 champions
A bunch of rank outsiders led by a rookie captain completed one of the most unlikely and memorable triumphs in the history of the game, and in the process gave shape and popularity to the shortest format of cricket. M.S. Dhoni’s maverick captaincy coupled with a team bristling with up-and-comers saw India win the inaugural world T20 championship in South Africa. The highlight of the event was Yuvraj Singh hitting Stuart Broad for 6 sixes in an over.

Tendulkar’s winning innings
There’s not a lot that can be said about Sachin Tendulkar that hasn’t already been done. The Little Master continues his record-breaking career scoring runs all across the globe and against every type of bowling attack. Tendulkar hit 21 Test centuries between 2000 and the end of 2009 and added another 21 tons in ODIs, to take his career total to 43 and 45 respectively — well beyond closest competitor Ricky Ponting of Australia. Tendulkar also assumed the mantle of the greatest run-scorer in the game breaking both the Test and ODI record for career runs. Having recently celebrated his 20th year of top-flight cricket, Tendulkar keeps on demonstrating, as he did en route to a trailblazing 186 against Australia recently, he’s far from done.

Pistol Pete & Federer Express
When Pete Sampras won his 14th career Grand Slam at the 2002 US Open and called it quits, many felt that the rigours of the modern game would ensure his record stands for at least a century. It didn’t even last a decade. Switzerland’s Roger Federer dominated tennis in a way not witnessed before, and he did it not with mere power but with grace and seemingly effortless ease. At the 2009 Wimbledon Federer, who had just won his maiden French Open title to complete a career Grand Slam, had Sampras’ record in his sight with Andy Roddick being the only thing between him and major no. 15. With Pistol Pete watching from the stands, Federer quelled Roddick’s challenge winning 16-14 in the fifth set of a marathon match — and for once, the Swiss ace shed no tears of joy.

Cycling superstar
Lance Armstrong overcame cancer to become the most decorated Tour de France champion, winning seven straight crowns, including six this decade. Not content, he staged another comeback in 2008. The 37-year-old finished an admirable third in this year’s Tour. Wanting to go out on a high, Armstrong announced he will return in 2010 aiming to become the first rider to win the Tour in three separate decades.

Schumacher’s drive
Between 2000 and 2004, Michael Schumacher won five straight F1 drivers’ titles and more races than anyone in the history of the sport. In 2002 Schumacher’s lowest position was a third place finish, as he won 11 of the 17 races and came second in another five. In 2004, Schumacher won 13 races and wrapped up the championship with almost a third of the season to go. But, to define Schumacher by statistics alone, no matter how compelling they are, would be a travesty of justice. More than all the records he holds, it was just the sight of ‘Schumi’ behind the wheel of a scarlet Ferrari that delighted fans and purists alike. It’s a testament to his unmatched driving skills that even years after his retirement, many team owners still want him at the helm and fans and media pray for an unlikely return to the fast lane.

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HALL OF SHAME
Drugs, lies & Marion
In the 2000 Sydney Olympics no one left a greater impact than American sprinter Marion Jones winning five medals including three golds, a feat never accomplished by a female athlete. Comparisons are odious but inevitable, and soon she was being likened to Carl Lewis — when lining her up next to Lewis’ great rival and convicted dope fiend Ben Johnson would have been a more apt juxtaposition. Seven years of denials later Jones finally confessed to using designer steroids created at the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (Balco), which were undetectable at the time, during the Sydney Games. Promptly she was stripped of her Olympic medals, but further embarrassment was on the way as she was sentenced to prison for six months on charges of perjury.

Tiger in the woods
Tiger, Tiger burning bright? In flames. The golfing legend soared to dizzying heights to become the first billionaire sportsman and then experienced the pits when the sponsors terminated their contracts after his multiple extra-marital affairs were out in the opening following a car crash that was triggered after his Swedish wife swung a golf club into his shining SUV to end a blazing argument over Tiger's sexcapades in the wee hours. For someone who was a literal poster boy, the fall has been devastating. The superstar had been reduced to laughing stock, with numerous spoofs doing the rounds with a long list of mistresses coming back to maul Tiger.

Gentleman’s game gamble
In April 2000 the Delhi Police intercepted a call which led to the biggest controversy to hit cricket since the Bodyline series in 1932. At first, it seemed blasphemous to even think that principled men such as Hansie Cronje and Mohammed Azharuddin could be involved in a practice as foul as match-fixing. As details emerged, the true magnitude of this scandal was felt. Cronje, Azhar and former Pakistan skipper Salim Malik were banned for life. However, with Cronje's untimely death in 2002, the main culprits behind this racket escaped investigators and law enforcement agents.

Chappell’s e-mail
India captain Sourav Ganguly lobbied for Greg Chappell’s appointment as India’s coach. But it backfired. In his second tour, Chappell wrote an e-mail to BCCI stating that Ganguly was unfit to lead the team, both mentally and physically. Ganguly lost the captaincy to Rahul Dravid, and was dropped from the squad. He was eventually recalled, after pressure from fans and politicians, and closed out his career in style hitting his maiden double ton and calling it a day after India’s 2-0 Test series win over bitter rivals Australia at home.

Shane’s pill Warne-ing
A day before Australia began their title defence at the 2003 World Cup, Shane Warne tested positive for a banned diuretic. The sheikh of tweak said under oath that he was given the medicine, which also works as weight-loss pill, by his mother prior to an appearance on a television show. He was handed a one-year ban. True to this champion status Warne served the time and came back with a vengeance ensnaring 217 wickets in his final 38 Tests to bow out in grand style.

Hockey’s new low
The national sport of hockey has been a source of great pride for the country with stick wizards like Dhyan Chand and Balbir Singh Sr leading India to eight Olympic golds, the last of which came in the 1980 Moscow Games. But in 2008 the hockey team failed to even qualify for the Olympics. A month later, erstwhile IHF general secretary K. Jothikumaran was caught accepting bribes to select players for the senior national team which led to the entire federation being dissolved. Hopes of reviving Indian hockey are slim but possible. New Delhi hosting the World Cup next year could be the first step to recovery.

Zidane’s head butt
The most graceful player to ever grace the beautiful game was scripting a fairy tale end to a glorious career. Eight years after leading France to World Cup glory in Paris, Zinedine Zidane converted a penalty against Italy in Berlin. After Italy levelled and the match went into extra-time Zizou shocked the world. Provoked by Marco Materazzi, who referred to his sister in derogatory terms, Zidane rammed his head into the Italian defender’s chest and was sent off by the referee. Italy were crowned world champions after a penalty shoot-out.