"ONE MORE TIME" Usain Bolt

Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt claimed yet another world record as he recorded a stunning victory in the 200m final at the World Championships.
Bolt set a time of 19.19 seconds to demolish the previous record of 19.30 he set in winning Olympic gold last summer in Beijing.
The 22-year-old finished well clear of the field, with silver medallist Alonso Edward finishing in 19.81. Wallace Spearmon of the United States took bronze.
Bolt, who also smashed the 100m record in Berlin on Sunday, is now the first man to hold the 100 and 200m World and Olympic titles at the same time.
After a nervy opening which saw Frenchman David Alerte false start, Bolt streaked off the blocks and took the lead within 20m.
He put on the afterburners around the bend to leave the chasing pack trailing in his wake and after storming over the line, Bolt glanced down to the electronic display and pointed at his historic time.
Earlier in the week Bolt had said he did not think a 200m record was on after missing a month of training earlier this year following a car crash in Jamaica.
And after the 200m Bolt told BBC Sport: "I can definitely say I didn't expect that because I was a little bit tired.
"I said let's try because people are really looking out for this, I said it won't hurt to try. So I tried really hard and now I'm really tired.
"Maybe next time I should just run the 200m or the 100m alone. My form was going backwards. I wasn't running upright. It wasn't a good race but it was a fast one."
Bolt, who completed his 200m win a day before his 23rd birthday, set three world records when winning his Olympic golds in Beijing last summer and his breathtaking performances in Berlin have enhanced his reputation as the best sprinter of all time.
"I definitely showed people that my world records in Beijing were not a joke," he said.
And Bolt said he is closing in on his aim of becoming a sprinter the world will never forget.
"I keep telling you guys my aim is to become a legend," he added. "I don't think about records. I don't put myself under pressure. I know what to do and I go and execute.
"I did well for myself and I am on my way to becoming a legend so I am just happy."
America's Shawn Crawford, who finished fourth, admitted he was left in awe by Bolt's display. "Just coming out there, I'm just waiting for the lights to flash 'game over,' because I felt like I was in a video game," said Crawford. "That guy was moving - fast."

Tito Ortiz (23/08/09)

Jacob "Tito" Ortiz (born January 23, 1975) is a Mexican American participant of the sport of mixed martial arts, or 'MMA'. Ortiz's career has been mostly within the UFC organization. A former Light-Heavyweight UFC champion, Ortiz has become one of the sport's most shining stars, headlining several Pay Per View championship undercards, and appearing on the covers of various magazines, such as Black Belt Magazine. He is a native of Huntington Beach, California. Tito Ortiz is recognized as a charismatic, if controversial and highly-criticized fighter. Whatever the opinions of Ortiz, he undeniably is both a showman and a talented fighter.
Ortiz began his martial arts career as a wrestler in his sophomore year of high school. Under coach Paul Herrera, Ortiz would place 4th in the state high school championships as a senior. Following high school, Ortiz continued his wrestling career winning a California state junior college title for Golden West College. Following his stint at Golden West, Ortiz wrestled at Cal State Bakersfield. While never a full-time starter, Ortiz did gain significant experience training with future NCAA and world champion Stephen Neal.
His mixed martial arts debut was at UFC 13. He beat Wes Albittron on the tournament's first round by referee stoppage due to a barrage of punches, but lost a bout that he was dominating early on to Guy Mezger in the next round. The Mezger match was interesting as it showed the potential Ortiz had for dominating his opponents with control and hard, sharp elbows (ground and pound). It also demonstrated the very real lack of experience Ortiz had. The fighters were stood up over a disputed end to the fight (Ortiz claimed Mezger tapped). It was ruled the fight should restart (as custom at that time, standing) and Ortiz, as reasonably instructed by his corner, shot in to quickly finish the fight. A slight miscalculation in distance and technical inexperience in MMA found Ortiz caught in a guillotine choke from which Ortiz had no idea how to escape.
In February 2005, Ortiz took time away from the UFC and was offered deals with several promotions, including PRIDE Fighting Championships and the Don King-backed World Fighting Alliance, but none came to fruition. Ortiz opted to try his hand at professional wrestling, signing with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a guest referee.
In November 2005, Dana White announced that Ortiz and Ken Shamrock would coach The Ultimate Fighter 3 reality TV series on Spike TV, which premiered in April 2006. Ortiz's first fight in his return occurred at UFC 59 on April 15, 2006 against previous The Ultimate Fighter 1 winner Forrest Griffin. Ortiz won via split decision. His next fight was against UFC Hall Of Famer Ken Shamrock at UFC 61 on July 8, 2006, a match which was to conclude a main storyline in The Ultimate Fighter 3. Ortiz won in the first round by TKO due to a stoppage by referee Herb Dean due to strikes. Shamrock protested that the stoppage was early. On August 25, 2006, at the UFC 62 weigh-ins, Dana White announced a rematch between Ortiz and Shamrock for October 10, 2006 on Spike TV, as the main event of Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3: The Final Chapter. Ortiz beat Shamrock for the third time in this fight, which was stopped in the first round due to strikes. Ortiz's rematch with Chuck Liddell (for the UFC Light Heavyweight championship) at UFC 66 (December 30, 2006) ended in defeat via referee stoppage in the third round. UFC 66 is estimated to be currently the UFC's biggest pay-per-view success to date with just over 1 million buys.He then fought against undefeated The Ultimate Fighter 2 winner Rashad Evans on July 7, 2007 at UFC 73. The fight ended in a draw after Ortiz was penalized for grabbing the fence. Ortiz' last fight on his contract with the UFC was a unanimous decision loss to undefeated Lyoto Machida at UFC 84 on May 24, 2008. With all three judges scoring the fight 30-27 to Machida. Ortiz came painfully close to submitting Machida in the third round with a triangle choke before transitioning to an armbar. However, Machida managed to escape and survived the round, winning a unanimous judge's decision. The fight concluded Ortiz' stay with the promotion as he chose not to re-sign, citing his frustration with UFC-president Dana White as a major factor in the decision.

Shaquille O'Neal (22/08/09)

Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal (born March 6, 1972), frequently referred to simply as "Shaq", is an American professional basketball player, rapper, and actor. He is widely perceived as one of the most dominant players in the history of the NBA. Currently, he plays at center for the Cleveland Cavaliers. O'Neal has won four NBA Championships: three with the Los Angeles Lakers and one most recently in 2006, with the Miami Heat.
Throughout his career, O'Neal established himself as a formidable low post presence, putting up career averages of 25.2 points on .581 field goal accuracy, 11.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game (as of May 2008).
At 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m), 325 lb (147 kg; 23.2 st) and U.S. shoe size 23, he is famous for his physical stature. His physical frame gives him a power advantage over most opponents, and for a man of that size, he is quick and explosive.
O'Neal's "drop step", (called the "Black Tornado" by O'Neal) in which he posts up a defender, turns around and, using his elbows for leverage, powers past him for a very high-percentage slam dunk, has proven an extremely effective offensive weapon, though it has been limited in recent years. In addition, O'Neal frequently uses a right-handed jump hook shot to score near the basket. The ability to dunk frequently contributes to his career field goal accuracy of .582; he is the second most accurate shooter of all time.
Opposing teams often use up many fouls on O'Neal, limiting the playing time of their own big men. O'Neal's physical presence inside the paint has caused dramatic changes in many teams' offensive and defensive strategies that can be seen over the course of his career.
O'Neal's primary weakness is his free-throw shooting. His career average is 52.4%. He once missed all 11 free throws in a game against the Seattle SuperSonics on December 8, 2000, a record. In hope of exploiting O'Neal's poor foul shooting, opponents often commit intentional fouls against him, a tactic known as "Hack-a-Shaq". O'Neal is the fourth-ranked player all-time in free throws taken, having shot 10895 in 1117 games through the 08-09 season. On December 25, 2008, O'Neal missed his 5,000th free throw, becoming the second player in NBA history to do so along with Wilt Chamberlain.
O'Neal has been able to step up his performance in big games, having been voted three-times NBA Finals Most Valuable Player.
On his own half of the hardwood, O'Neal is considered to be a capable defender, and he was named three times to the All-NBA Second Defensive Team. His presence serves to intimidate opposing players shooting near the basket, and he has averaged 2.4 blocked shots per game over the course of his career.
As a teammate, O'Neal is also noted for his ability to form symbiotic relationships with young, talented guards. Playing alongside O'Neal, talents like Penny Hardaway, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade blossomed into legitimate superstars.

Tiger Woods (21/08/09)

Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Currently the World No. 1, he was the highest-paid professional athlete in 2008, having earned an estimated $110 million from winnings and endorsements.
Woods has won fourteen professional major golf championships, the second highest of any male player, and 70 PGA Tour events, third all time. He has more career major wins and career PGA Tour wins than any other active golfer. He is the youngest player to achieve the career Grand Slam, and the youngest and fastest to win 50 tournaments on tour.
Woods has held the number one position in the world rankings for the most consecutive weeks and for the greatest total number of weeks. He has been awarded PGA Player of the Year a record nine times, the Byron Nelson Award for lowest adjusted scoring average a record eight times, and has tied Jack Nicklaus' record of leading the money list in eight different seasons. He has been named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year a record-tying four times, and is the only person to be named Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year more than once.
Since his record-breaking win at the 1997 Masters Tournament, golf's increased popularity is attributed to Woods' presence. He is credited for dramatically increasing prize money in golf, generating interest in new audiences as the first person of Asian American and African American descent to win the Masters, and for drawing the largest TV audiences in golf history.
Eldrick (Tiger) Woods, now 33 years of age, has had an unprecedented career since becoming a professional golfer in the late summer of 1996. He has won 92 tournaments, 70 of those on the PGA Tour, including the 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2005 Masters Tournaments, 1999, 2000, 2006 and 2007 PGA Championships, 2000, 2002, and 2008 U.S. Open Championships, and 2000, 2005 and 2006 Open Championships. With his second Masters victory in 2001, Tiger became the first ever to hold all four professional major championships at the same time. He is the career victories leader among active players on the PGA Tour, and is the career money list leader.
Woods won 11 tournaments in 2000, nine on the PGA Tour, one on the PGA European Tour and the PGA Grand Slam. In addition, Woods and David Duval won the World Cup team title for the United States. He earned $9,188,321 on the PGA Tour ($11,034,530 worldwide) and broke the PGA Tour record of $6,616,585 which he set in 1999.
Tiger increased his record total on the PGA Tour career money list to $76,579,376 through 2007, and had won $94,038,162 worldwide.
His nine PGA Tour victories in 2000 equaled the fifth highest total ever and were the most since Sam Snead won 11 in 1950. He had eight PGA Tour victories in 1999, and 11 victories worldwide while winning $7,681,625.
In 2000, Woods matched the record of Ben Hogan in 1953 in winning three professional major championships in the same year. Hogan won the Masters, U.S. Open and The Open Championship. Tiger also became the first since Denny Shute in 1936-37 to win the PGA Championship in consecutive years.

Michael Schumacher (20/08/09)

Michael Schumacher (born 3 January 1969, in Hürth-Hermülheim, Germany) is a German former Formula One driver and seven-time Formula One world drivers' champion, and current advisor for Ferrari. According to the official Formula One website, he is "statistically the greatest driver the sport has ever seen". He is the only German to win the Formula One World championship, and is credited with popularizing Formula One in Germany. In a 2006 FIA survey, Michael Schumacher was voted the most popular driver of the season among Formula One fans.
After winning two championships with Benetton, Michael Schumacher moved to Scuderia Ferrari in 1996 and won five consecutive drivers' titles with them from 2000–2004. Schumacher holds many records in Formula One, including most drivers' championships, race victories, fastest laps, pole positions, points scored and most races won in a single season. Schumacher is the only Formula One driver to have an entire season of podium finishes, a feat he accomplished in 2002. His driving sometimes created controversy: he was twice involved in collisions that determined the outcome of the world championship, most notably his disqualification from the 1997 championship for causing a collision with Jacques Villeneuve. After the 2006 Formula One season Schumacher retired from race driving. Schumacher planned to return to F1 racing for the 2009 European Grand Prix as a replacement for injured Ferrari driver Felipe Massa. However, it then became apparent that he was not fit enough to race due to a neck injury he sustained during a German Superbike test earlier in the year. Off the track, Schumacher is an ambassador for UNESCO and a spokesman for driver safety.

He has been involved in numerous humanitarian efforts throughout his life and donated tens of millions of dollars to charity. He is the elder brother of former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher, currently racing in Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM). They stand as the only brothers in F1 history to have both won races and they scored the first sibling 1-2 finish in Formula One.
Michael was at one point the highest paid racing driver in the world and second highest earning sportsman in the world, earning a reported $80 million US in 2004 ($40m of which was his salary from Ferrari). His younger brother Ralf became the third highest paid driver in Formula 1 in 1999, and his pay after the 2000 season was raised to US$15.5 million.
Michael has had to cancel his planned F1 racing return due to neck injuries he sustained in early 2009 racing motorcycles.
A disappointed Eddie Jordan, who gave Michael his first F1 drive in a Jordan car, questioned why Michael ever risked such an injury saying, "What was he thinking with the bikes, he had rocks in his head."
Interviewed by the BBC, Jordan questioned, "What he was doing on it, I don't know - thats his business" and continued "his idea, in racing that motorcyle, was that he would be in a positon perhaps at 40 years of age to come back and race Superbikes. I mean what was he thinking of, is he out of his mind, this was just insanity...with the tyre contact on the road that they currently have in motorcycles, this was a step too far in my opinion."

Williams Sisters (19/08/09)

Venus Ebony Starr Williams was born June 17, 1980, she is a former World No. 1 American tennis player who, as of July 4, 2009, is ranked World No. 3. She has won a Wimbledon singles title in two of the past three years and is reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open doubles champion. She is the elder sister of Serena Williams, currently ranked No. 2. She holds the record for the fastest serve struck by a woman in a main draw event.
Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) on four separate occasions; as of July 27, 2009, she is ranked World No. 2. She is the reigning US Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon singles champion and has won 22 Grand Slam titles: 11 in singles, nine in women's doubles and two in mixed doubles. In addition, she has won two Olympic gold medals in women's doubles. She also has won more Grand Slams than any other active female player and has won more career prize money than any other female athlete in history. In 2005, Tennis Magazine ranked her as the 17th-best player in 40 years.
Venus Williams and Serena Williams are professional tennis players and sisters who have played numerous times in grand slam finals. The current head to head record between the two is 11-10, in Serena's favor. However, Venus Williams still takes the lead with the most grand slam wins between the two. They have met in a total of eight Grand Slam finals (with Serena leading Venus 6-2), ahead of seven finals played by Steffi Graf and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and by Helen Wills Moody and Helen Jacobs but well behind the record of fourteen finals set by Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. The two sisters' most recent grand slam matches were played in the 2008 and 2009 final at Wimbledon and the 2008 quarterfinals of the US Open.
Both Williams sisters have been ranked World No. 1 in their career. Venus has been top ranked for a total of 11 weeks, beginning in February 2002. Serena has been top ranked for a total of 66 weeks, beginning in July 2002. Serena is the current World No. 2 and Venus is the current World No. 3. The Williams Sisters are the only two women during the open era to play each other in four consecutive Grand Slam finals.

The professional relationship and dynamic between Venus and Serena Williams is deeply affected by their close personal relationship. The notion of two top professionals emerging from the same family to compete against one another is unprecedented, and is a scenario which has been described as being "as improbable as one set of parents raising Picasso and Moza.net." Peter Bodo, further speaking to the unlikeliness of two Grand Slam champions emerging from the same family states "It's a common occurrence that will cease to be possible, perhaps ever again, the moment they set the sticks aside."
The dynamic between family members can often be intense and emotionally charged. Grand Slam champion Chris Evert has said of facing her sister Jeanne Evert, "It was the worst feeling ever. We were both very competitive and Jeanne wanted to kill me. We couldn't even look at each other. We just played the balls and wanted to win and then get off the court and not deal with it.”

Usain Bolt (18/08/09)

Usain Bolt was born 21 August 1986, he is a Jamaican sprinter and reigning Olympic champion over 100 m. He is the current world record holder in the 100 m (9.69 s), world junior record holder in the 200 metres (19.93 s), and Jamaican record holder in the 200 m (19.67 s). His name and achievements in sprinting have earned him the media nickname "Lightning Bolt". Bolt was born in Trelawny, Jamaica and educated at the William Knibb Memorial High School. At the age of 15 he won a gold and two silver medals at the 2002 World Junior Championships in front of a home crowd in Kingston, becoming the youngest world junior gold medalist ever. He won another gold medal at the 2003 World Youth Championships, running the 200 m in 20.40 seconds. Usain Bolt and retired Jamaican sprinter Michael Green are the past students of William Knibb.
In 2004 Bolt ran the 200 m in 19.93 seconds, becoming the first junior to break the 20-second mark; breaking Lorenzo Daniel's world junior record.
At the 2007 Jamaican Championships, Bolt ran 19.75, breaking the 36-year-old national record held by Don Quarrie by 0.11 seconds. At the World Championships in Osaka, Bolt won a silver medal in the 200 m behind American Tyson Gay.
On 3 May 2008, Bolt ran 9.76 (+1.8 m/s) in the 100 m at the Jamaica Invitational, then the second fastest legal performance in the history of the event, behind compatriot Asafa Powell. Later that month, on 31 May 2008, Bolt ran 9.72 (+1.7 m/s), establishing a new world record in the 100 m at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York, breaking the 9.74-second record of Powell. This was only his 5th senior run over the distance. On the 13 July 2008 in Athens, Greece Usain once again broke the 200 m national record by running 19.67.
As the new 100m world record holder, Bolt arrived at the Beijing Summer Olympics as the favorite in both the 100 m and 200 m. After finishing his quarterfinals and semifinals in 9.92 and 9.85, on 16 August 2008, Bolt won the Olympic 100 m final in 9.69 (+0.0 m/s), far ahead of second place finisher Richard Thompson (who finished in 9.89), and shattering his own world record. Not only was his mark made with no tailwind, indicating the quality of his performance, but amazingly he appeared to slow down and celebrate near the finish line after realizing he had secured the gold medal. Bolt warmed up wearing shorts, in contrast to conventional wisdom to keep the athelete's legs warm before a race, indicating his relaxed demeanor and confidence. Curiosly, during the final, his right shoelace have come undone
He is coached by Glen Mills and currently attends the University of Technology, Jamaica. Bolt has 6 sub-10 seconds in 100 m and 12 sub-20 seconds in the 200 m.
In August 2009 in Berlin, Bolt improved the 100 m world record to 9.58 seconds to win his first World Championship gold medal in what was the largest ever margin of improvement in the 100 m world record since the beginning of electronic timing.