Michael Phelps

 Full Name:         Michael Fred Phelps

Bio:                   US swimmer Michael Phelps made his appearance on the world stage at the age of 15, as the youngest member of 2000 Sydney Olympic Games team. In Athens in 2004, his haul of six gold and two bronze medals was one of the most amazing performances in Olympic swimming history. He went on the be the most successful athlete at three Olympic Games. In 2008 in Beijing he won all eight of the events he competed in. In Phelps last appearance at the 2012 Olympics, he won four golds and two silver, leaving him with a tally of 22 Olympic medals (18 of them gold). He is being hailed as 'the greatest Olympian of all time'.

Also Known As:  Baltimore Bullet, MP

Born:                   June 30, 1985

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Parents:               Fred and Debbie Phelps

Physical Attributes:     Height: 6 ft. 3in. (193 cm)

Weight:                  165 (88 kg)

Feet size:            14

Arm span:           200 cm

Sport:                 Swimming

Team / Club:       USA, North Baltimore AC

Events:                Freestyle, Butterfly and Individual Medley events

Personal Bests:    Phelps seems to break a world record almost daily, so it is    hard to keep up with his personal bests!

Achievements:   

Only swimmer to ever break seven world records at one meet

Youngest member of 2000 Olympic Games team, and youngest male Olympian since 1932.

Swimmer of the year 2001 (USA Swimming) plus more ...

He broke five world records at the 2003 world championships

Athens Olympic Results, 2004

400m individual medley,4:08.26 WR,1st

4x100m freestyle relay,3:14:62,3rd

200m freestyle,1:45.32 AR,3rd

200m butterfly,1:54.04 OR,1st

4x200m freestyle relay,7:07.33,1st

200m individual medley,1:57.14 OR,1st

100m butterfly,0:51.25 OR,1st

4x100m medley relay,3:31:54 WR,1st

Beijing Olympic Results, 2008 (8 x gold)

100 m butterfly     50.58 (OR)

200 m butterfly     1:52.03 (WR)

200 m freestyle     1:42.96 (WR)

200 m individual medley 1:54.23 (WR)

400 m individual medley 4:03.84 (WR)

4×100 m freestyle relay  3:08.24 (WR)

4×200 m freestyle relay  6:58.56 (WR)

4×100 m medley relay    3:29.34 (WR)

London Olympic Results, 2012 (4 gold, 2 silver)

100 m butterfly     51.21 (1st)

200 m individual medley 1:54.27 (1st)

4×200 m freestyle relay  6:59.70 (1st)

4×100 m medley relay    3:29.35 (1st)

200 m butterfly     1:53.01 (2nd)

4×100 m freestyle relay  3:10.38 (2nd)

What You May Not Know:    

Has Two Sisters:    Whitney and Hillary

Favorite Music:       Rap (DMX)

Favorite Movie:      Austin Powers

Phelps swam in the 2000 Sydney Olympics as a 15 year old in a single event, the 200m butterfly, finishing fifth.

In 2001 Phelps broke the world record in the 200 m butterfly to become the youngest man ever to set a swimming world record (15 years and 9 months).

In his career he set 39 world records (29 individual, 10 relay)

David Beckham

David Robert Joseph Beckham was born on the 2nd of May 1975, in Leytonstone, London, England, and if this was a movie commercial, I guess it would say: "He was born to be a soccer player!" - Because that is what he always wanted to be.

His talent was obvious at an early age, but talent alone is not enough, because the world is full of talented people who didn't become anything. But his father would make sure David's talent wasn't wasted, as he was doing a lot of practicing with his son, especially passing and crossing the ball - the very trademark of Beckham today: the pinpoint accurate crosses.

All this training was soon to pay off. In 1986, aged 11, David Beckham won a Bobby Charlton Soccer Skills Award. The trophy was presented at Old Trafford; a place that would later become like another home to David. Also included in the prize for winning the Soccer Skills Award was a trip to FC Barcelona to train with them for two weeks under Terry Venables, Barcelona’s coach at that time.

Strengths: An incredible crosser of the ball, Beckham has the ability to put the ball where he wants it and creates numerous scoring chances with his vision. He also boasts one of the deadliest free-kicks in the business.

Weaknesses: A lack of pace has hindered his impact somewhat at the highest level, but Beckham's real weakness is a hot-headed temperament which has seen him sent off for petulance in the past.

Career high: Captaining England and sealing their progress to the 2002 World Cup with a last-minute free-kick winner against Greece.

Career low: Being sent off for flicking out at Argentina's Diego Simeone at the 1998 World Cup and consequently becoming the subject of a nation's abuse for his behaviour. Missing out on the 2010 World Cup through injury was also a crushing blow.

Style: Hard working, unselfish, inspirational and a real team player.

Quotes: "The spotlight will always be on me, but it's something I'm learning to live with as the years go by." David Beckham, April 2009.

Trivia: Beckham holds the English appearance record for an outfield player, beating Bobby Moore's haul of 108 caps when he played against Slovakia in March 2009.

Sachin Tendulkar

 Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was born April 24, 1973 in Bombay, India. Given his first cricket bat at the age 11, Tendulkar was just 16 when he became India's youngest Test cricketer. In 2005 he became the first cricketer to score 35 centuries (100 runs in a single inning) in Test play. In 2007 Tendulkar reached another major milestone, becoming the first player to record 15,000 runs in one-day international play.

Early Years

Professional cricket player. Largely considered cricket's greatest batsman, Sachin Tendulkar was born April 24, 1973 in Bombay, India, to a middle-class family, the youngest of four children. His father was a professor while his mother worked for a life insurance company.

Named after his family's favorite music director, Sachin Dev Burman, Tendulkar wasn't a particularly gifted student, but he'd always shown himself to be a standout athlete. He was 11 years old when he was given his first cricket bat and his talent in the sport was immediately apparent. At the age of 14 he scored 329 out of a world record stand of 664 in a school match. As his accomplishments grew, he became a sort of cult figure among Bombay schoolboys.

After high school Tendulkar enrolled at Kirti College, where his father also taught. The fact that he decided to go to the school where his father worked was of no surprise. Tendulkar's family is very close and years after he'd achieved stardom and cricket fame, he continued to live next door to his parents.

Professional Play

Tendulkar made his debut in international competition at 16 with a match against Pakistan in Karachi. He wasted little time matching the expectations surrounding his arrival on the professional field. At the age of 18 he scored a pair of centuries in Australia, then in 1994 racked up a score of 179 in a match against the West Indies.

Tendulkar was just 23 when he was named captain of his country's team for the 1996 World Cup. While the tournament proved to be a disappointment for his club, Tendulkar did nothing to diminish his own standing as one of the world's dominant players. He finished out the World Cup as the event's top scorer.

In India, Tendulkar's star shined even brighter. In a country reeling from troubled economic times, the young cricketer was seen as a symbol of hope by his countrymen that better times lay ahead. On national newsweekly went so far as to devote an entire issue to the young cricketer, dubbing him "The Last Hero" for his home country. His style of play—aggressive and inventive—resonated with the sport's fans, as did Tendulkar's unassuming off the field living. Even with his increasing wealth, Tendulkar showed humility and refused to flaunt his money.

Philanthropy

Tendulkar sponsors 200 underprivileged children every year through Apnalaya, a Mumbai-based NGO associated with his mother-in-law, Annabel Mehta. A request from Sachin on Twitter raised INR1.025 crore (US$160,000) through Sachin's crusade against cancer for the Crusade against Cancer foundation. Sachin Tendulkar spent nine hours on the 12-hour Coca-Cola-NDTV Support My School telethon on 18 September 2011 that helped raise INR 7 crore – INR 2 crore more than the target – for from the creation of basic facilities, particularly toilets for girl students, in 140 government schools across the country.

Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson

Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is a retired American professional boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight titles at 20 years, 4 months, and 22 days old. Tyson won his first 19 professional bouts by knockout, 12 of them in the first round. He won the WBC title in 1986 after defeating Trevor Berbick by a TKO in the second round. In 1987, Tyson added the WBA and IBF titles after defeating James Smith and Tony Tucker. He was the first heavyweight boxer to simultaneously hold the WBA, WBC and IBF titles, and the only heavyweight to successively unify them.

Tyson has been married three times and has eight children with several different women.

His first marriage was to actress Robin Givens, from February 7, 1988 to February 14, 1989. Givens was known for her work on the sitcom Head of the Class. Tyson's marriage to Givens was especially tumultuous, with allegations of violence, spousal abuse and mental instability on Tyson's part. Matters came to a head when Tyson and Givens gave a joint interview with Barbara Walters on the ABC TV newsmagazine show 20/20 in September 1988, in which Givens described life with Tyson as "torture, pure hell, worse than anything I could possibly imagine." Givens also described Tyson as "manic depressive" on national television while Tyson looked on with an intent and calm expression. A month later, Givens announced that she was seeking a divorce from the allegedly abusive Tyson. They had no children but she claims to have had a miscarriage; Tyson claims she was never pregnant and only used that to get him to marry her. During their marriage, the couple lived in a mansion in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

His second marriage was to Monica Turner from April 19, 1997 to January 14, 2003. At the time of the divorce filing, Turner worked as a pediatric resident at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington DC. She is the sister of Michael Steele, the former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland and former Republican National Committee Chairman. Turner filed for divorce from Tyson in January 2002, claiming that he committed adultery during their five-year marriage, an act that "has neither been forgiven nor condoned." The couple had two children, Rayna and Amir.

On May 25, 2009, Tyson's 4-year-old daughter Exodus was found by her 7-year-old brother Miguel, unconscious and tangled in a cord, dangling from an exercise treadmill. The child's mother untangled her, administered CPR and called for medical attention. Exodus was listed in "extremely critical condition" and was on life support at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix. She died of her injuries on May 26, 2009.

Eleven days after his daughter's death, Tyson wed for the third time, to long-time girlfriend Lakiha "Kiki" Spicer, age 32, exchanging vows on Saturday, June 6, 2009, in a short, private ceremony at the La Bella Wedding Chapel at the Las Vegas Hilton. Spicer was a resident of nearby suburban Henderson, Nevada. County marriage records in Las Vegas show the couple got a marriage license 30 minutes before their ceremony. Spicer is the mother of Tyson's daughter Milan and son Morocco. His other children include Mikey (born 1990), Miguel (born 2002) and D'Amato (born 1990). He has a total of eight children including the deceased Exodus.

Tyson has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. While on the American talk show The View in early May 2010, Tyson revealed that he is now forced to live paycheck to paycheck. He went on to say: "I'm totally destitute and broke. But I have an awesome life, I have an awesome wife who cares about me. I'm totally broke. I had a lot of fun. It (losing his money) just happened. I'm very grateful. I don't deserve to have the wife that I have; I don't deserve the kids that I have, but I do, and I'm very grateful."

In March 2011, Tyson appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to discuss his new Animal Planet reality series, Taking on Tyson. In the interview with DeGeneres, Tyson discussed some of the ways he had improved his life in the past two years, including sober living and a vegan diet. However, in August 2013 he admitted publicly that he had lied about his sobriety and was on the verge of death from his alcoholism.

In 1988, Tyson became the lineal champion when he knocked out Michael Spinks after 91 seconds. Tyson successfully defended the world heavyweight championship nine times, including victories over Larry Holmes and Frank Bruno. In 1990, he lost his titles to underdog James "Buster" Douglas, by a knockout in round 10. Attempting to regain the titles, he defeated Donovan Ruddock twice in 1991, but he pulled out of a fight with undisputed heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield due to injury. In 1992, Tyson was convicted of raping Desiree Washington and sentenced to six years in prison but was released after serving three years. After his release, he engaged in a series of comeback fights. In 1996, he won the WBC and WBA titles after defeating Frank Bruno and Bruce Seldon by knockout. After being stripped of the WBC title, Tyson lost his WBA crown to Evander Holyfield in November 1996 by an 11th round TKO. Their 1997 rematch ended when Tyson was disqualified for biting Holyfield's ear.

In 2002, he fought for the world heavyweight title at the age of 35, losing by knockout to Lennox Lewis. He retired from professional boxing in 2006, after being knocked out in consecutive matches against Danny Williams and Kevin McBride. Tyson declared bankruptcy in 2003, despite having received over US$30 million for several of his fights and $300 million during his career. Tyson was well known for his ferocious and intimidating boxing style as well as his controversial behavior inside and outside the ring.

Tyson is considered one of the best heavyweights of all time. He was ranked No. 16 on The Ring's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time. and No. 1 in the ESPN.com list of "The hardest hitters in heavyweight history". He has been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame.

Roger Federer

Roger Federer

Roger Federer (born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss professional tennis player who, as of October 2013, is ranked world no. 6 by the ATP. Numerous commentators, pundits, former and current players of the sport have deemed Federer the greatest tennis player of all time.

Federer was born at the Basel Cantonal Hospital in Basel, Switzerland. His father, Robert Federer, is Swiss, from Berneck, near the borders between Switzerland, Austria and Germany, and his mother, Lynette Federer (born Durand), from Kempton Park, Gauteng, is a South African whose ancestors were Dutch and French Huguenots. Federer has one sibling, his older sister Diana. He holds both Swiss and South African citizenship. He grew up in nearby Birsfelden, Riehen and then Münchenstein, close to the French and German borders and speaks (Swiss) German, French and English fluently, German being his native language.

Federer was raised as a Roman Catholic and met Pope Benedict XVI while playing the 2006 Internazionali BNL d'Italia tournament in Rome. Like all male Swiss citizens, Federer was subject to compulsory military service in the Swiss Armed Forces. However, in 2003 he was deemed unfit because of a long-standing back problem and was subsequently not required to fulfill his military obligation. He grew up supporting F.C. Basel and the Swiss National Football Team. Federer also credits the range of sports he played as a child—he also played badminton and basketball—for his hand-eye coordination. Federer has stated in various interviews that he is an "avid cricket fan" having met Sachin Tendulkar twice. "I was always very much more interested if a ball was involved," he says. Most tennis prodigies, by contrast, play tennis to the exclusion of all other sports. In later life, Federer has been friends with the golfer Tiger Woods.

He holds several men's world records of the Open Era: holding the world no. 1 position for 302 weeks overall; including a 237-consecutive-week stretch at the top from 2004 to 2008; winning 17 Grand Slam singles titles; reaching the finals of each Grand Slam tournament at least five times (an all-time record); and reaching the Wimbledon final eight times. He is one of seven men, and one of four in the Open Era, to capture the career Grand Slam, and one of three (with Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal) to do so separately on clay, grass, and hard courts. Federer also shares the Open Era record for most titles at the Australian Open with Agassi and Novak Djokovic (4), at Wimbledon with Pete Sampras (7) and at the US Open with Jimmy Connors and Sampras (5).

Federer has appeared in 24 men's Grand Slam finals, with 10 in a row, both records, and appeared in 18 of 19 finals from the 2005 Wimbledon Championships through to the 2010 Australian Open. He is the only man to reach at least the semifinals of 23 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments, from the 2004 Wimbledon Championships through the 2010 Australian Open. At the 2013 Australian Open, he reached a record 33rd Grand Slam semi-final, and at the 2013 French Open a record 36th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final. He has also won the most matches, 260, in men's Grand Slam tournaments.

Federer's ATP tournament records include winning six ATP World Tour Finals, playing in the finals at all nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments (a record shared with Djokovic and Nadal), and having won the most prize money of any player in history, with over $78,000,000. He also won the Olympic gold medal in doubles with his compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games and the Olympic silver medal in singles at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. He spent eight years (2003–2010) continuously in the top 2 in the year-end men's rankings and ten (2003–2012) in the top 3. Federer is the first tennis player, male or female, to earn more than 50 Million US Dollars in prize money.

Federer has won the ATPWorldTour.com Fans' Favourite Award a record eleven times straight (2003–2013) and the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award (voted for by the players) a record nine times (2004–2009, 2011–2013), both being awards indicative of respect and popularity. He also won the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year Award twice in 2006 and 2013. He was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for a record four consecutive years (2005–2008). Federer is at times referred to as the Federer Express, shortened to Fed Express or FedEx, and the Swiss Maestro,[21] or just Maestro. He is the only tennis male player to be No. 1 for more than 300 weeks.

Vettel

Vettel

Sebastian Vettel (born 3 July 1987[1]) is a German Formula One racing driver, currently driving for the Austrian racing team Red Bull Racing. He is the current World Champion, having won the championship in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013.

Vettel was born in Heppenheim, then West Germany. He has one younger brother, Fabian, and two older sisters, Melanie, a horserider, and Stefanie, a physiotherapist for disabled children. Vettel suggested in an interview that he was terrible at school, but earned his Abitur with a respectable grade, however.

He also mentioned that his childhood heroes were "The three Michaels", who were Michael Schumacher, Michael Jordan, and Michael Jackson. He stated that he wanted to be a singer like Michael Jackson, but realised that he could not as he did not have the voice. Vettel is also a fan of The Beatles, collecting several records, including Abbey Road and his favourite song being "Drive My Car". In an interview on Top Gear, Vettel stated that he was a fan of British comedy such as Little Britain and Monty Python's Life of Brian.

Vettel lives in Thurgovia, Switzerland amongst other racing drivers and is a fan of German football team Eintracht Frankfurt. Vettel has described himself as competitive, private, and impatient. Vettel also appears in advertisements for Head & Shoulders. In the German version of Cars 2, Vettel was featured as a voice-over.

In his first year driving for Red Bull in 2009, Vettel finished the season as the youngest-ever World Drivers' championship runner-up. The following year he went on to become the youngest driver ever to win the World Drivers' Championship. In the same year he helped Red Bull win the team's first World Constructors' Championship. He followed up his first championship with a second in 2011, becoming the youngest double world champion in the history of the sport, as well as a third in 2012 and a fourth in 2013 to become the sport's youngest triple and quadruple champion, respectively.

Vettel holds numerous other "youngest" Formula One records, among them: the youngest driver to have taken part in an official practice session of a Grand Prix, to score championship points, to lead a race, to secure pole position, and to win a race. He is also currently third in the overall tally of pole positions behind fellow German Michael Schumacher and three-time world champion Ayrton Senna.

Gareth Bale

Gareth Bale

Gareth Frank Bale (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh footballer who plays for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and the Wales national team as a winger.

Bale was born in Cardiff, Wales, to parents Frank, a school caretaker, and Debbie, an operations manager; he attended Eglwys Newydd Primary School at Whitchurch. He is the nephew of former Cardiff City footballer Chris Pike. It was while at this school he first came to the attention of Southampton at age nine, when he was playing in a six-a-side tournament with his first club, Cardiff Civil Service Football Club. Growing up, his football hero was fellow Welshman and Manchester United player Ryan Giggs.

Bale attended Whitchurch High School in Cardiff. He was a keen athlete and played football alongside future Wales rugby captain Sam Warburton, rugby, hockey and excelled at athletics. As a 14-year-old he says that he ran the 100 metre sprint in 11.4 seconds. Because of his superior footballing skill, the school's PE teacher, Gwyn Morris, had to write special rules which restricted Bale to playing one-touch football and not using his left foot. Whilst at Whitchurch, Bale trained at Southampton's satellite academy in Bath, although there was initially some doubt if Southampton would give him a scholarship due to his height.

Despite being only 16 at the time, he helped the school's under-18 side win the Cardiff & Vale Senior Cup. He left school in the summer of 2005 with a Grade A in PE amongst his GCSE results. In his final year at school, he was awarded the PE department's prize for services to sport. In the presentation, Morris commented:

"Gareth has a fierce determination to succeed and has the character and qualities to achieve his personal goals. He is one of the most unselfish individuals that I have had the pleasure to help educate."

Bale lives in London with partner Emma Rhys-Jones, his high school sweetheart. Their first child, born at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff on 21 October 2012 was named Alba Violet.

Bale began his professional career at Southampton, playing at left back and earning acclaim as a free kick specialist. He moved to Tottenham Hotspur in 2007, for an eventual £7 million fee. During his time at Spurs, managerial and tactical shifts saw him transform into a more offensively-oriented player. From the 2009–10 season, Bale became an integral part of the team, rising to international attention during the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League. He was named PFA Players' Player of the Year in 2011 and 2013, and was named in the UEFA Team of the Year in 2011.

Bale has received plaudits from his peers, who have described him as a footballer with "tremendous speed, great crossing ability, a great left foot and exceptional physical qualities". During the 2012–13 season he was awarded the PFA Young Player of the Year, the PFA Players' Player of the Year and the FWA Footballer of the Year awards.

On 1 September 2013, he was transferred to Spanish team Real Madrid for an undisclosed fee. The Spanish press (and Real Madrid TV) reported £77 million (€91 million), while the English press reported a world record transfer fee of £85.3 million (€100 million), which would be above Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer record fee of £80 million (€94 million)