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Goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar first came to the limelight while playing for VV Noordwijk Football Club when he was spotted by the famous Ajax club of Amsterdam. After progressing up the ranks of Ajax’s youth coaching and training scheme, he won the Best European Goalkeeper award and made 226 appearances for Ajax.

England footballer Rio Gavin Ferdinand is of mixed St Lucian, Dominican and Anglo-Irish descent. His father, Julian Ferdinand emigrated from St. Lucia. His mother, Janice Lavender, is Anglo-Irish. He has several brothers and sisters. Anton Ferdinand, the West Ham defender, is his brother, while his cousin is former England striker, Les Ferdinand.

Former long jumper Bob Beamon was responsible for one of the most amazing feats in sport. On October 18, 1968, Beamon set a world record for the long jump in the Olympics in Mexico City, with a jump of 8.90 m (29 ft. 2½ in.). He bettered the existing record by a huge margin of 55 cm. It led to the creation of a term - Beamonesque - to describe spectacular feats.

In ancient times, Olympic champions were looked after by the people of their city for the rest of their lives. But they were also expected to fight in the front line if a battle arose. Sometimes the wall protecting the city was demolished to signify that a city which had an Olympic champion living in it, had no reason to fear any enemy.

Footballer Wayne Rooney who is now one of Manchester United’s leading players was an Everton supporter when he was very young, and he first played for Everton in the youth team. He used to wear a T-shirt under his jersey that read "Once a blue, Always a Blue" (blue being the colour of the Everton club’s jersey). But he soon left Everton for Manchester United.

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