Away they go
Is this the year of super star retirement? Nashwa Abdel-Tawab takes a close, and perhaps final look, at four sports icons on the way out
Michael Jordan is exiting at the end of the season and Pete Sampras is seriously contemplating going the same route. Barring a major rethink, Martina Hingis is calling it quits while Mike Tyson's ring days are numbered. They could all be gone by the time 2003 comes to an end but they will leave legacies behind that their fans will never let go of.
Jordan, left, turned 40 on Monday, at the twilight of a career that has netted six NBA crowns, seven scoring titles, five Most Valuable Player awards and a multitude of records. And he has done everything with a style that has made "His Airness" one of the world's most famous sportsmen.
When he came out of retirement in 2001, NBA attendance rose by a third. Adored by fans the world over, Jordan also has the unqualified respect of his peers. "He's the greatest to ever play the game," said LA Lakers centre Shaquille O'Neal, generally considered the best in the business at present. "His attitude as a player and a person has raised the bar for all of us," said New Jersey guard Jason Kidd at the recent All-Star game. "He meant everything to the game -- he still does," added Philadelphia's Allen Iverson, another top-class shooting guard.
Jordan, who says this will definitely be his last season as a player, has a more humble view on his impact on the game. "I just want to be remembered as a hell of a competitor that never gave up on anything, as a guy who truly loved the game and loved to take challenges, always against the odds."
Sampras is still undecided about his career, as he "searches for reasons" to return to the tennis circuit, according to his brother. Gus Sampras. Gus is the tournament director of the ATP's Scottsdale event, where the US Open champion is next scheduled to play.
Sampras has pulled out of next week's tournament in San Jose because he is still not ready to return to the circuit, and may not travel to Arizona the following week.
Gus Sampras said that while the former world No 1 had not yet pulled out of his event, he was not quite mentally ready to begin playing again.
He said: "Pete's still searching for reasons to come back."
Sampras has not played a tournament since winning the US Open in September -- his record 14th Grand Slam career win. He withdrew from the San Jose tournament, his first of the year, saying he wasn't fully prepared for the event.
But Gus felt that his brother would get the urge to play again once the season progresses. "He told (me) he's just not ready now," Gus said. "He's been working out a lot off court and doing some hitting.
Hingis's injury-enforced retirement brings an end to a remarkable career that has been in steady decline for the last three years. Hingis took over at the top of women's tennis in 1997 when she won three of the four Grand Slams, only missing out at Roland Garros.
Her victory in the Australian Open, aged just 16 years and three months, made her the youngest Grand Slam singles winner in the 20th century. The only Grand Slam to allude her is the French Open, an event she once described as "torture".
It was in a petulant display in the 1999 final at Roland Garros that Hingis's aura of invincibility began to slip, as she lost to Steffi Graf. A tearful Hingis was roundly booed by the Paris crowd, and she never fully recovered from that loss.
Hingis first underwent surgery on her right ankle in October 2001. Seven months later she needed a similar operation on her left ankle. She fought her way back and reached the 2002 Australian Open final but lost to the then world No 1 Jennifer Capriati.
Hingis has not won a Grand Slam for nearly three years and in October she slipped out of the world's top 10 for the first time in six years.
But despite her premature retirement, one of the most talented players the game has known has achieved more than most by the age of 22, moving into third place on the career prize-money list, surpassing the $16 million mark.
Although Tyson is still in the ring, his golden days are behind him. He was an untouchable fighting machine, comparable to any of the great fighters in any era. That despite his defeats to Evander Holyfield and James 'Buster' Douglas, this was a man who, at his best, was superior to all the heavyweights of his era and revolutionised boxing in the 1980s. He won 49 battles and lost three. His explosive ring style has always intimidated opponents since he became the youngest ever heavyweight champion at the age of 20.
Since being jailed for rape, Tyson has seen attempted comebacks delayed by indiscretions like biting Holyfield's ear during a fight and brawling at a media conference with Lennox Lewis.
Last week, Tyson's assistant trainer Jeff Fenech quit the fighter's camp, fuelling rumours that the former champion's comeback fight next weekend will be cancelled.
Fenech, a former Australian triple world boxing champion, says Tyson's preparations for the bout against Clifford Etienne next Saturday were in disarray.
The Australian revealed the former champion had trained only twice in the last six or seven days in preparation for the Memphis fight. And he gave this dire prediction: if Tyson loses against Etienne, he will probably never box again.
