in my early childhood i had read a poem in which the poet dreads competing with a sportperson,even in the wildest of his dreams.last night i saw the wimbeldon final between roger federer and andy roddick.i am not a follower of tennis.i have seen some matches earlier also,not for tennis but for sania and anna kurnikova.i can write a book on the things i don't know about tennis,but then what made me to see yesterdays match for more than four hours without bating an eyelid?.the things which are common in every sport are competitiveness,sportman spirit and emotions.you get a feeling which pumps adrenaline in your veins and you devote your eyeballs to that sport.yesterday's match was a beauty,longest final set in any wimbeldon final.it was a touchy moment when roddick said sorry to pete sampras for not being able to defend his record.the match was a close shave and made me believe that one don't win silver but lose gold.here i want to share my list of seven all time great players in individual events for whom winning was a habit-
1.lance armstrong-a professional cyclist who won the tour de france a record beaking seven consecutive years from 1999-2005 after recovering from cancer.in 1996 he was diagnosed with cancer and had surgery on his brain tumours.after his surgery his doctor admitted that he had had less than a 50% survival chance.before his cancer treatment he had won two tour de france stages.
2.muhammad ali-the geatest heavyweight boxer ever who described his style as"float like a butterfly,sting like a bee".he threw his olympic gold medal into ohio river after being refused service at a'white only' restaurant.
3.roger federer-swiss tennis player who won record 15 grand slam titles.
4.michael phelps-american swimmer who has won 14 career olympic gold medals,the most by any olympian,holds seven world records in swimming.
5.arnold schwarzenegger-a bodybuilder awarded the title of mr.universe at age 22 and went to win the mr.olympia contest a total of seven times.
6.tiger woods-an american golfer who has more career major wins and PGA tour wins than any other golfer on earth.
7.michael schumacher-a seven time formula one world champion.
