In 2015, Serena Williams beat Maria Sharapova to claim her sixth Australian Open title. It also marked her 16th consecutive victory over the Russian pro-tennis player. This photograph shows Serena Williams in 2007 as she celebrates winning a point against Sharapova.
This was the year she would start with renewed vigor, challenging herself to rise up in the rankings once more. She was unseeded in the 2007 Australian Open tournament after dropping to number 81 in the world rankings, regarded as out of shape. She ousted Maria Sharapova in the tournament, marking the start of her journey back to the number one spot.
Dr. Roger Bannister Running for His Life
Two years before Roger Bannister, a British middle-distance athlete, even thought of breaking the mile run record, he broke the British record in the 1500m as a participant in the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. This would inspire Bannister to go for “The Miracle Mile.”
He couldn’t train as hard as he wanted to because, at the time, he had been working as a junior doctor. The goal was to make the mile run in under four minutes and, while he didn’t quite make his high benchmark, he still accomplished it in four minutes and 59.4 seconds. This photo shows Bannister during the British Empire Commonwealth Games on Aug. 7, 1954, against John Lundy. He snagged Sports Illustrated magazine’s first “Sportsman of the Year” award.
The Redskins And Their Logo
Fans of the Washington Redskins will be stoked to see one of their earliest uniforms. Burgundy and gold was their color combo, right from the start, though their helmet logo has undergone an upgrade. While the letter logo is commonplace among football teams, the Redskins made the controversial move to change the innocent “R” you can see here to a Native American head, the logo you’ll be familiar with today.
With concerns being repeatedly raised, not just from Native American communities, but from all parts of America, many are calling for the Redskins to go back to their original logo: the simple and elegant R. While this would likely satisfy some, there’s no avoiding the fact that the name itself carries almost as much controversy.
Gooden Goes Down!
It’s always interesting when athletes from two different sports meet. And it seems to be a running gag when one of those athletes is a fighter, for punches to be thrown. Here, we can see Dwight Gooden doing a poor job of dodging the deadly right hook of Mike Tyson. While we all know Tyson went on to become the undisputed heavyweight champion, Gooden had no idea at the time.
This iconic photo was taken at Shea Stadium way back in September of 1986. The other player you can see, laughing in awe of Tyson’s shot, is Darryl Strawberry. At the time, Gooden and Strawberry were big names. Tyson, on the other hand, had yet to make as much of a splash in boxing as Gooden and Strawberry had made in baseball. A month after this shot was taken, though, he took the heavyweight title from Trevor Berbick.
Richard Petty And His NASCAR Look
Another smoking sports star. Though at least this one’s not in the midst of the action! Here, we see NASCAR superstar, Richard Petty, doing a damn fine job of making smoking cool… something we can’t help feeling uncomfortable about, especially considering what we said earlier about sports stars being role models for children.
There’s no denying it, though; he does look pretty boss with that staunch cigar in his mouth, those wisps of smoke curling around his face, and that Dirty Harry aura about him. The shot was taken in March of 1981. That cowboy hat you see him in, with the rooster feathers? It was as much Petty’s trademark as the cigar hanging casually from his mouth.