International Sporting Heroes of the Past Quiz

Answer: Baseball

George Herman "Babe" Ruth (1895-1948) was a professional baseball player whose career in MLB spanned 22 seasons (1914-1935). He started his career with the Boston Red Sox as a left-handed pitcher. However, he achieved his immortal fame as a slugging outfielder with the New York Yankees from 1920 -1934.

He spent his last season (1935) with the Boston Braves. During his career he established numerous batting records in MLB. He was a World series Champion on seven occasions (three with the Boston Red Sox and four with the NY Yankees).

Answer: Cricket

Don George Bradman (1908-2001) was an Australian cricketer and is widely acknowledged the greatest batsman of all-time. His test batting average of 99.94 over a career spanning 20 years is considered one of the great achievements of any sport. In a sport, which is in excess of 140 years, his records stand head and shoulders above any test batsman before or since.

He was knighted by King George VI in 1949, thus becoming Sir Donald Bradman. It is coincidental that two giants of their sport, baseball and cricket, were both christened "George".

Answer: Golf

Arnold Palmer (1929-2016) was an American professional golfer. Although he won just seven major golf titles and 62 PGA Tour titles, Arnold Palmer was one of golf's trailblazers and one of the most popular golfers of all-time. In the age of the 1950s and 1960s when golf was first televised to the public, he became the superstar of golf.

His impact on golf has benefited the professional game and the players that followed. He was affectionately known as "The King".

Answer: Basketball

Wilt Chamberlain (1936-1999) was an American professional basketball player. He started out with the University of Kansas, then the Harlem Globetrotters before playing in the NBA (1959-1973). At 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) he was not only a giant of a man but his achievements in the sport also stood tall.

His achievements were numerous but included 2 x NBA Championships, 4 x NBA Most Valuable Player and 13 x NBA All-Star. Not to mention, the first and only player to score 100 points in a single game. His number 13 has been retired by the Golden State Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Answer: Ice Hockey

Gordie Howe (1928-2016) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player from 1946-1980. He spent 25 of those seasons with the Detroit Red Wings and gained the nickname "Mr. Hockey". He was a 23 x NHL All-Star and held numerous scoring records until many were broken by Wayne Gretzky in the 1980s.

He won four Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings (1950, 1952, 1954 and 1955). He also won the individual Art Ross Trophy (league points scorer) six times and the Hart Memorial Trophy (player judged most valuable to his team) on six occasions.

Answer: Soccer

Johan Cruyff (1947-2016) was a Dutch professional footballer and coach. He was the important cog in the great Dutch teams of the 1970s who were known for their football philosophy of Total Football. He started his career with Ajax Amsterdam (1964-1973) and with them won eight Dutch titles and three European Cups.

He was named European Footballer of the Year on three occasions (1971, 1973 and 1974). In 1973 he moved to Barcelona for then a world record transfer fee. He finally retired as a player in 1984 and during that time he represented the Netherlands on 48 occasions. Once retired as a player he took to management, firstly with Ajax (1985-1988), Barcelona (1988-1996) and finally Catalonia (2009-2013).

In 1999 he was voted by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics as the European Player of the Century and second behind Pelé as the World Player of the Century.

Answer: Formula One GP

Juan Manuel Fangio (1911-1995) was an Argentinian racing car driver and he was nicknamed "El Maestro" (The Master). During the 1950s he dominated Formula One motor racing winning the World Drivers Championship five times (1951, 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1957).

His first Formula One race was the 1950 British Grand Prix and his last was the 1958 French Grand Prix. In all he had 52 starts for 24 victories. He retired in 1958 and he is regarded by many as one of the greatest Formula One drivers of all-time.

Answer: Athletics

Paavo Nurmi (1897-1973) was a Finnish middle and long distance runner. He held world records from 1,500 metres to 20 kilometres. He competed in three Olympic Games (1920 Antwerp, 1924 Paris and 1928 Amsterdam). He won 9 gold medals and 3 silver medals.

He most successful Olympics were in Paris in 1924 where he won 5 gold medals. During his career he was nicknamed he "Flying Finn". He carried the Olympic torch into the stadium and lit the Olympic flame at the start of the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. In 1996 "Time" magazine selected Paavo Nurmi as the greatest Olympian in 100 years.

His bronze statue stands outside the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Answer: Tennis

Maureen Connolly (1934-1969) was an American tennis player, affectionately known as "Little Mo". As a 16 year old in 1951 and until she retired from competitive tennis at the age of 20 years in 1955 she had won nine Grand Slam singles titles, five Grand Slam Doubles titles and three Grand Slam Mixed Doubles titles.

In 1953 she became the first woman to win all four Grand Slam singles titles. A horseback riding accident in 1955 ended her tennis career. In 1966 she was diagnosed with cancer and sadly died in 1969, aged 34 years.

Unfortunately, we will not know her true potential if she had continued competitive tennis for another 10 years.

Answer: Boxing

Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) was an American boxer and activist. As an amateur under his birth name Cassius Clay, he won the Olympic gold medal in the light-heavyweight division at the 1960 Rome Olympics. He turned professional a few months later. In February 1964 he entered the ring as a 7-1 outsider against the World Heavyweight Champion Sonny Liston.

At the beginning of the seventh round Liston did not answer the bell and Clay won the fight on a TKO. Not long after this fight he changed his name to Cassius X, then Muhammad Ali.

There is so much to write about this man who taunted his opponents with sayings, poems and quotes that have become synonymous with the man. He is widely regarded as one of the most significant, if not the greatest, sports personality of the 20th Century.

Answer: Cycling

Jacques Anquetil (1934-1987) was a French professional road racing cyclist and the first man to with the Tour de France five times (1957, 1961, 1962, 1963 and 1964). He also won the Giro d'Italia (1960 and 1964) and the Vuelta a España (1963). He won numerous Stage Races including the Paris-Nice on five occasions.

He broke the hour record on twice, the first being in 1956 and the second in 1967.

Answer: Surfing

Duke Kahanamoku (1890-1968) from Hawaii is considered the father of modern day surfing and was simply known as "The Duke". He competed in three Olympic games winning three gold medals and two silver medals. He travelled the world giving swimming lessons combined with exhibitions of surfing which at the time, was only known in Hawaii.

He is believed to be responsible for the development of surfing in Australia when he gave an exhibition at Sydney's Freshwater Beach in 1914. The surfboard he used that day is still on display at the Freshwater Surf Club.

He popularised surfing in mainland America in 1912. Not only was he a swimmer and surfer but he was also an actor, law enforcement officer and businessman. He appeared in the 1955 movie "Mister Roberts".

He was the first person to be inducted into both the Swimming Hall of Fame and the Surfing Hall of Fame.

Answer: American Football

Vince Lombardi (1913-1970) was an American football player, coach and executive in the NFL. Lombardi had a number of assistant and coaching positions (including five years at West Point). However, it was at the Green Bay Packers that he made his mark on American football.

He was Head Coach from 1959-1967 and in that period the Green Bay Packers won 6 x NFL Championships and the first two Super Bowls (I and II). The Super Bowl trophy is named in his honour and he is considered to be one of the greatest coaches in American football.

Answer: Rowing

Jack Beresford (1899-1977) was a British rower who won five medals at five consecutive Olympics from 1920-1936 winning 3 gold and 2 silver. He won the Diamond Challenge Single sculls at Henley-on-Thames on four occasions and was twice successful at the Gold Cup Challenge, Philadelphia.

At his last Olympic (1936) he carried the flag for the British delegation at the Opening Ceremony. With Adolph Hitler watching the rowing, Jack with his partner Dick Southwood, in the double sculls, passed the favoured German crew with 200 metres to go to take gold. Beresford later wrote "the sweetest race I ever rowed".

Answer: All-round female athlete

Babe Didrikson Zaharias (1911-1956) was an American all-round athlete who achieved great success at golf, basketball and athletics. At 18 years of age she was encouraged to take up basketball and was selected an All-American for the three years 1930 to 1932.

She won two gold medals at the 1932 Olympic Games in the 80 metres hurdles and javelin. In both of these events she broke the Olympic record. She also won a silver medal in the high jump. In 1934 she turned her attention to golf and in 1938 became the first woman to compete in a PGA tournament, the Los Angeles Open.

She played the same event again in 1945. It was not until 2003 that another female golfer played a PGA tournament in Annika Sorenstam (Sweden). During the 1940s and 1950s she was the dominate female golf winning 48 professional title with 41 of them coming after the LPGA was founded in 1950.

As an amateur she won the U.S. Women's (1946) and British Ladies Amateur (1947) titles. She also won the U.S. Women's Open on three occasions (1948, 1950 and 1954).