Items17The creator’s order
  1. 1Gordie HoweGordie HoweBorn 31 Mar 1928Ice hockey, Detroit Red Wings, Houston Aeros and Hartford Whalers. Howe won six scoring titles and four Stanley Cups with Detroit and retired in 1971, then returned two years later in the rival WHA to play on a line with his sons Mark and Marty, winning that league's MVP award in his mid-forties.…0i
  2. 2Martina NavratilovaMartina NavratilovaBorn 18 Oct 1956Tennis. Navratilova won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, including nine at Wimbledon, with a serve-and-volley game. After retiring from singles in 1994 she returned to the tour as a doubles specialist in 2000, using the same net game in a format that rewarded it, and won her last major, the 2006 US…0i
  3. 3Paolo MaldiniPaolo MaldiniBorn 26 Jun 1968Football, AC Milan and Italy. Maldini made his Milan debut at 16 in 1985 and played his last match at 41 in 2009, all for one club. He made his name as an attacking left-back, then moved into the centre of defence as his pace declined, relying on positioning instead of recovery speed, and won the…0i
  4. 4Ryan GiggsRyan GiggsBorn 29 Nov 1973Football, Manchester United. Giggs played for United from 1991 to 2014 and won 13 league titles, a record. He began as a fast left winger who beat defenders on the outside, and in his thirties moved into central midfield, where passing and positioning mattered more than speed, a change that let him…0i
  5. 5Andrea PirloAndrea PirloBorn 19 May 1979Football, Brescia, AC Milan, Juventus and Italy. Pirlo started as an attacking midfielder behind the strikers, struggled to hold a place in that role, and was moved into a deep playmaking position in front of the defence, first at Brescia under Carlo Mazzone and then at Milan under Carlo Ancelotti.…0i
  6. 6Dara TorresDara TorresBorn 15 Apr 1967Swimming, United States. Torres swam at five Olympic Games between 1984 and 2008, retiring and returning more than once. At her final Games in Beijing, aged 41, she won three silver medals, including the 50 metres freestyle by one hundredth of a second short of gold, after rebuilding her training…0i
  7. 7Roger FedererRoger FedererBorn 8 Aug 1981Tennis, Switzerland. Federer switched to a larger racket head in 2014 and, after knee surgery cost him most of 2016, came back with a flatter, more aggressive one-handed backhand taken early, a change worked on with coach Ivan Ljubičić. At 35 he won the 2017 Australian Open, beating Rafael Nadal in…0i
  8. 8Oksana ChusovitinaOksana ChusovitinaBorn 19 Jun 1975Artistic gymnastics, Soviet Union, Germany and Uzbekistan. Chusovitina won team gold for the Unified Team in 1992 and has competed at a record eight Olympic Games, representing three countries. In a sport where most careers end in the early twenties, she narrowed her focus to vault, the apparatus…0i
  9. 9Jaromír JágrJaromír JágrIce hockey, Pittsburgh Penguins, Kladno and many others. Jágr won two Stanley Cups as a teenager in 1991 and 1992 and five scoring titles in his prime as a fast, puck-carrying winger. As his speed declined he relied on his size and on protecting the puck along the boards, played NHL hockey until he…0i
  10. 10James Anderson (cricketer)James Anderson (cricketer)Born 30 Jul 1982Cricket, England and Lancashire. Anderson played Test cricket from 2003 to 2024 and took 704 wickets, the most by any fast bowler. Early in his career England coaches tried to remodel his action, which led to a stress fracture; he went back to his natural action, then added reverse swing and the…0i