Tom Brady 44, the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback with six Super Bowl titles retired very recently after a dream career which saw him as the oldest NFL Most Valuable Player at the age of 43, the only player ever to win three Super Bowls spread across three separate decades.
Tiger Woods at 46, the15 time major golf champion and widely regarded as one of the best golfers and athletes of all time remains still an active pro- golfer after multiple life -threatening injuries.
Roger Federer at 36, the tennis legend tied to both greatness and longevity was the first male tennis player to win 20 Grand Slam tennis tournaments only to be upstaged by both his fellow compatriots cum rivals Rafael Nadal 36 and Novak Djokovic 35 are tied at 22 Grand Slams each and still looking good for a couple of more seasons.
JIMMY ANDERSON at 40, the English archimage of swing bowling who captured 600 wickets as the first ever fast bowler in the history of the game on 25 August 2020 still continues to be a force to reckon with in international cricket.
Sachin Tendulkar, arguably the world’s greatest batsman played his 200th Test match at the age of FORTY and amassed a world record of 15,921 runs.
Serena Williams quit when she was all of FORTY after winning a record number of 23 singles Grand Slam titles and a combined total of 39 Grand Slams (singles & doubles/mixed), the most in an Open Era by any tennis player.
Lionel Messi, the dream merchant who famously lived upto his dream of winning the World Cup for the Les Albiceleste prior to his retirement was 35 years old at Qatar (November 2022) with a two- decade old international career already behind him.
And only last week….
LEBRON JAMES 38,the NBA professional and hoopster from Los Angeles Lakers connected a step back jumper to score a world record by taking his career total to a staggering 38,388 points in a two decade long journey to become the highest scorer in NBA professional history, eclipsing a record that had stood for close to four decades (courtesy Kareem Abdul Jabbar) . This record not only has class written all over it but exemplifies an athlete’s resounding skill, talent, speed, stamina and endurance combined with the fine art of balancing one’s family life and a sporting career extraordinary.
That Lebron’s is a numero-uno sporting record can only be possibly guaged in terms of its unique achievement and magnitude with another unique record which even till date after 39 years still remains unbroken, when one unassuming 32 – years old from then Czech Republic, Jarmila Kratochvilova last lap burst shattered the 800 metres world record with a world record winning time of 1min 53.28 secs at the Helsinki World Championships in 1983. That Jarmila also won the 400 metres with another world record time (later broken) is what transcends these athletes from mortal sportspersons to immortal dream merchants.
Only, Oksana Chusovitina 47, an eponymous skilled gymnast who represented four former countries (now still representing Uzbekistan) has redefined her sport and has no peers in her sporting odyssey which spans EIGHT consecutive OLYMPICS.
Closer home our very own Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami, Sania Mirza, an Anil Kumble have all had a dream run over their illustrious career of nearly two decades and called it a day on the wrong side of THIRTY after being champion players. Laender Paes, finally hung his racquet at the age of FORTY- SEVEN having won a record 18 Grand Slam titles in doubles and mixed doubles
Needless to say, all of them have but one thing in common- the pure passion for the sport they played and which made them conquer dizzying heights of glory and fame in their respective professional career. They were and will remain the ultimate dream merchants of their respective sport.
Their mantra – LONGEVITY FOR SUCCESS AND GREATNESS.
Two decades in any sport at the highest- level calls for supreme physical fitness, mental endurance, motivation, balancing one’s personal life with their passion and above all the support of fans, family& kids and own pro-team.
Sportspersons are born to attain success or failure and successful athletes are those who last long to chase their goals unmindful of failures, super successful amongst them last longer till they realise their own dream(s) and to become part of sporting folklore.
As sports lovers and fans, we could not have dreamt anything better as the age of super dads and super moms has well and truly arrived.
