The Kings of the Comeback - We take a look at the greatest comebacks in sporting history.

This week in San Francisco saw the final race in the America’s Cup sailing event. The comeback by Oracle Team USA, featuring Brit Ben Ainslie, is rightly now considered one of the most remarkable comebacks in sporting history. Having been docked two points before the cup had even started, before falling 8-1 behind, an unbelievable run saw them draw into contention before clinching the cup in a dramatic winner takes all final race.

Is this the greatest comeback of all time? Here are some other contenders from over the years to reminisce over:

Dennis Taylor 


The bespeckled and quirky Taylor staged one of the greatest comebacks in snooker history. In the 1985 Crucible final, legend Steve Davis was at the top of his game and by the second session Taylor trailed 8-0. The comeback that ensued was truly epic, forcing it back to 17-17 frames each, Taylor took the nerve-tingly final frame. The famous finger-wag will go down as one of the most iconic celebrations in sport.

2012 Ryder Cup 

Known as the ‘Miracle of Medinah’ the European teams comeback against the Americans in Chicago, as they trailed 10-4 going into Sunday’s singles, was truly a miraculous performance. Jose Maria Olazabal’s men hushed the partisan team USA crowd and orchestrated an amazing recovery, Martin Kaymer sank the putt that saw the Cup gloriously returning to Europe.

Allez les Bleus 

The 1999 Rugby World Cup Semi-Final between France and New Zealand is often cited as the greatest game in its history. A rampant Jonah Lomu put the All Blacks into a dominant 24-10 lead and they looked set to play the game out to reach the final. However, France came back to defy all the odds and the favourites went spiralling out. In particular an exceptional performance from Christophe Lamaison, recording a 28-point haul, led Les Bleus to a 43-31 victory.


Botham's Ashes - Headingley 

England may have had an unprecedented run of Ashes success in recent years, but back in the 80’s it was another period of Australian dominance. In the 1981 Headingly test Australia were on the verge of going 2-0 up within four days. Then Ian Botham stepped up to bat, not leaving the crease until he had recorded a defiant innings of 149. England followed-on, forcing the the Aussies to bat again. Bob Willis then recorded sensational figures of 8-43 and England became the second ever test team to win after following-on. The confidence and glory gained from this victory led England to a 3-1 series victory.


Faldo the Masters Master

This could easily be labelled an amazing choke, but regardless the 1996 Masters saw a scintillating Faldo come back from six shots down to beat Greg Norman. As Norman crumbled in the final round, Faldo’s 67 saw the Englishman win by five shots and claim his third Masters title.







So, what is your favourite sporting comeback of all time?

The Great North Run - Great for Charity and Athletics....

The Great North Run the second biggest half marathon in the world was another runaway success this year, providing a welcome boost to the struggling local economy and raising an estimated £28m for charity.

The men's race featured one of the most dramatic finishes in the event’s history, which cemented the outstanding day in the public mind.

The race reached came to thrilling end when Britain's Olympic hero Mo Farah, the best long distance runner in the world, entered into an epic duel with Ethiopian rival Kenenisa Bekele which saw him lose out by one second at the last.

Mighty Mo commented after the last gasp sprint: "It was a great race. It was a great finish.

"I thought when Kenenisa went with a mile to go I thought the pace was just ridiculous!

"I thought I'd come back and close the gap slowly. I managed to close a little bit of it. But you know, you can't take away what he has. He has a great speed and it came down to the last 200m."

Their dual and breathtaking sprint finish is sure to be remembered for years to come. As will the sight of the near 56,000 runners who braved the awful weather forecasts and enhanced the reputation of this remarkable event, which was officially started by World 400m Champion Christine Ohuruogu and England Cricketer Graeme Swann.

David Hart, spokesman for organisers Nova International, said: “It was an incredible day – one of the greatest races in athletics history.

“It had probably the greatest finish of any Great North Run in recent years, the crowd were sensational, and it was a great day for the region and the 56,000 runners involved.

“Thankfully the weather didn’t turn out to be quite as challenging as had been forecast.

“A couple of people have been taken to hospital and are under observation, but overall it was a fantastic day and Nova, as organisers, are very, very proud of how it went.”

The race was not just about the professional athletes though, it boasted a variety of interesting and famous characters, from celebrities like former football star turned TV pundit Robbie Savage (alongside referee Graham Poll) and Spice Girl Mel C, to hordes of fun runners who took part to achieve personal race goals and raise huge amounts of cash for a range of worthy cause.

During the race an estimated 82,000 litres of water was drunk by parched runners.

From just 12,000 competitors at the first run in 1981, the event has now grown to more than 55,000 accepted entrants from more than 100,000 applicants.

F.A.O Greg Dyke: England have always been Rubbish...

When new F.A Chairman Greg Dyke was presented to the media last week, he spent much of his first press conference bemoaning the falling number of Englishmen playing football in the Premier League.

"The real challenge for us looking forward is that we've gone from 70% English players in the Premier League to 30% and it's still falling. If that continues, we won't have a chance in hell in future tournaments. We have got to stop that decline and we've got to get more English players playing at the highest level."

Since his comments there has been a media frenzy, many football journalists have jumped at the chance to get behind this view and add their foreigner blaming opinions to the debate. The most prominent statistic used to highlight this lack of English talent, is the fact that when the PL was launched in 1992, 75 per cent of players were English and now it is down to just 32%.

Which explains England's glorious World Cup victory in 1994.

On the surface Greg Dyke’s comments might seem sensible, the sort of everyfan schtick you are likely to hear at the pub before a game. However if you think about it with any level of insight, the idea that the foreign talent in the Premier League is diminishing the quality of the England team is clearly and obviously not true.

If we look at the history of the England team, apart from a glorious aberration on home soil in 1966, they have actually always been pretty average. Even when the league was full of a near 100% Englishmen we were not in fact world beaters. There is an argument to say that since the influx of foreign born stars, the England team has actually got better. In the 70’s and 80’s England often didn't qualify for major tournaments, since the advent of the Premier League the England team have regularly qualified and been consistent in getting to the knock-out phases, before going out to the first good team they have come across.

The elephant in the room is that England does not produce enough players of the required quality to surpass their foreign colleagues, if they were good enough they would of course be first picks. The idea that limiting the foreign players in the league will increase the quality of English players is nonsense, if they cannot compete at club level against these players they are unlikely to be better at international level. Not forgetting that the knock on effect of such a move would not only reduce the quality of the League, but is also likely to reduce the interest from fans around the world.

So what is the problem?

The coaching and education of young players is the key to this problem, the standard of grass roots coaching in this country is simply appalling. England just doesn't compare to countries like Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Brazil and even smaller nations. Grass roots football still has too much emphasis on kick and rush tactics, long balls and rewarding strength over technique. We have less qualified and professional coaches than these countries by a significant margin and have only just stopped our young kids from running around huge 11-a-side pitches at the age of ten!!

So next time an England team is being outplayed and knocked out at the first hurdle. Please remember, it is not the fault of the Dennis Bergkamp's, Eric Cantona’s and Cristiano Ronaldo’s of this world. It is because we have only recently given up on our over reliance on prehistoric tactics and valuing strength over technique. England players also seem to show a genuine lack of composure, which manifests itself as our heroes being brave blood stained "warriors". Real composure and bravery is not a blood stained defeat, but risking a piece of skill or passing in a pressurised situation and not resorting to long ball tactics every time something goes wrong.

Quite simply, England need better players. Players with more quality and technique on the ball. Reducing the amount of good foreign players in the league will not improve this.

…And lets not get started on the fact that English players on the whole are scared to play abroad and generally seem to put a minimal amount of effort in to improve their game after they have “made it”.

“Not Good Enough” Dan Evans beats rival Tomic.

The British number three Dan Evans proved a particularly harsh critic wrong, by beating Benard Tomic yesterday at the US Open and the critic couldn’t have been closer to the Australian number one. Last year in Miami Tomic’s father John, told Evans that he was not even good enough to practice with the Australian.

The British number three won their second-round encounter by three sets to one and record the best win of his career, not only making Tomic’s father eat his words but highlighted the hard work and practice he has put into improving his game.

Post match, Evans recalled Tomic’s fathers comments when he was in Miami for qualifiers.

"I was there playing qualifiers," said Evans, 23. "His dad said I wasn't good enough to practise with him."

He added: "We went to practise, it was all booked, I got to the practice hut. His dad said: 'No, no, he's a qualifier, I'm not hitting with you'.

"So it was one of those. A bit embarrassing, but hey."

Tomic could do nothing to halt the rampant Evans after winning the first set, and the man from Birmingham agreed afterwards that it was the best win of his career:

"That's probably the best I've had to fight back," said the world number 179. "In the Davis Cup, I've always been pretty much up when I've won the matches."

Evans reward for reaching the third round of the Grand Slam for the first time,  is a guaranteed $60,000 and a draw against 19th seed, the Spaniard Tommy Rebredo.

Five-time US Open champion Rodger Federer could be next on the horizon if Evan’s manages to make it through to the fourth round. Federer himself was not ‘too good’ for Evan’s when he chose to practice with him before the match on Thursday

"It was amazing to hit with someone so good," said Evans. "I really enjoyed it, actually had a really good hit.

"It was a very good experience. He's a nice guy, was interested in what I did. It was good."

Tomic, ranked 52nd, said after the match "It shows you anybody can play in the top 250, a lot of guys can play. It's just a matter of consistency. The guys in the top 100 and top 50 are more consistent.

"He's playing well for the first time. This is his best result. He played very well against Kei. I knew if he beat Kei it was going to be difficult.

"I think I started well but just lost the concentration, lost my energy level. I couldn't execute my shots, go after my shots, and from then he took over."

Dan Evans magnificent rise in performance levels and subsequent victories, highlight the improvements that can be made with hard work and practice. Some may even argue Tomic’s fathers comments could have acted as the catalyst behind these improvement.

The Ashes 2013 England Make History....

The last time England won the Ashes by a margin of four test margin was down under in 1978-79, only losing once in Melbourne during an emphatic 5-1 series victory. If they win the final test at the Oval this weekend England will have completed their biggest ever Ashes victory on home turf and put down a definitive marker of superiority over the Australian side.

With the series already wrapped up, there could be a temptation for England to ease down and take a rest. However, England Captain Alastair Cook has fielded his best side and is determined to make history:

"I think it would be very special to win the Ashes 4-0," he said.

"That is what our motivation is as a side and we are hopefully going to pick the right side - the side that we think can win this Test match. Training has been good the last couple of days and we haven't done anything different, [treating the match] as if it were 1-1 in the series and that was our aim for this week.

"We don't need any more motivation - that is enough for us. To win a Test match for England is big enough motivation and we have a lot of record-breakers in this team. Every time you beat Australia it is a good feeling."

Uniquely this winter offers up the second of back-to-back Ashes series, so it is important that England remain dominant in this final test to strike a psychological blow.

"It will be one of those strange things," Cook added.

"When we get to Australia we will be saying 'what is gone is gone' and it won't make any difference during that first hour in Brisbane.

"But sitting here now, as a side, those little things can make a difference and if we can keep putting Australia under pressure in certain areas of their play then we know that will count well when we go down to Australia. If we can continue winning games of cricket then that is all we can do."

Not only can England create history competing at the Oval with the Ashes in the bag for the first time since the fabled summer of 1981, they also have the opportunity of moving above India to second place in the world test table.

Christine Ohuruogu continues to 2016 Olympics

After Christine Ohuruogu’s heroic gold medal exploits in Russia on Monday, it appears she is not content with just regaining her world title, revealing that she is now targeting the Rio Olympics in 2016. This will be particularly important to Ohuruogu after narrowly missing out on on Olympic gold at London 2012.

Ohuruogu, now stands alone as Britain’s most successful female athlete ever after winning her third global title, and joins the likes of Jonathon Edwards and Daley Thompson with three major championship gold medals. Mo Farah with four major titles, is the only Britain with more.

After her win on Monday, Ohuruogu revealed she was disappointed with her time, despite beating her personal best.

"The rounds were really easy for me – I ran 49.7 in the semi-finals without batting an eyelid so I know that there's more," said Ohuruogu. "I have 49.2 as a time I can run in my head so I was a bit disappointed that I ran 49.41."

It is unlikely that this World Championships will see another race as exciting or as closely contested. Ohuruogu dramatically dipped for the line after making up a huge gap on Amantle Montsho, who led her by 10 metres.

"How you see the race in your head is never how it replays on camera," she said. "I am just surprised at how I managed to stay so calm in what looks like a really bad place."

The fantastic news for Athletics fans, is that Ohuruogu is now planning to continue to the Rio Olympics in 2016 and try again for Gold. This means another 3 years of intense training, waking up early in the cold winter months and dedicating her life to the sport.

"It's another three winters of snow and cold but I've given someone my word I will be there in 2016," said Ohuruogu. "I'm going to be 30 next year but I think I can go faster. I'm happy to get the British record but it's not quite fast enough."

Ohuruogu's coach, Lloyd Cowan, confirmed that Ohuruogu is to end her career in Rio, adding: "That's where we will finish the story. She will be 32 and I think in her prime, but you can't keep pushing the body. We have to be smart. So that's where we will do the last chapter."

Cowan believes that her determination has hardened by the one-year suspension she served between 2006-07 for missing three drugs tests. "When you go through something like that it changes you," he said. "My conversation with her at that time was: 'If you go through something like this then nothing should ever faze you in your life because this is vicious, this is very, very vicious.'"

We’re glad that Christine will carry on to represent Britain in Rio and try to become the most decorated British athlete ever, she has put in some special performances and defied the odds on multiple occasions. Despite her achievement she has not always been shown the respect she deserves by the British media and by extension the public, because she is not pushed forward as a ‘star’.

Christine also teaches us an important lesson, it may be a cliche but never has ‘it’s not over until its over’ been so true, never giving in, dipping for the line and pushing right to the finish are qualities that we should always remember in life, in whatever we do!

Is Gareth Bale to become the most expensive footballer ever?

The start of the new Premier League season may still be a few weeks away, but the summer transfer window is in full swing. Rumours of transfers fill the back pages of every newspaper and there is none bigger than Gareth Bale’s proposed world record move from Tottenham to Real Madrid.

Gareth Bale ascent from being a potential flop at left back, to being one of the most coveted attacking footballer’s in the world marks a fairytale career turnaround. It was after all only four years ago that the then left back, had just played 24 games for Tottenham and been on the losing side every time, a Premier League record. There was even talk of him going on loan or being sold to relegation bound Birmingham City. After that dreadful run, It was during this period whilst out through injury, that Bale set about rebuilding himself to become the player he is today.

On his return to the team he appeared stronger than ever before and it seemed we were witnessing a transformation similar to that which Cristiano Ronaldo underwent at Manchester United. After spending his time out building his physique in the gym, he was now built like a boxer and the promising signs of talent now seemed to result in a spectacular end product. The epitome of the new Bale came when he announced himself to the world during a Champions League game versus Inter Milan in October 2010. Bale beasted Inter’s Brazilian right-back Maicon at the San Siro, at this time Maicon was considered the best defender in the world, and Bale ran past him as if he wasn't there to score a spectacular second half hat-trick.

Since that game Bale has not looked back, season on season and game after game he has improved. His stats show a meteoric rise in effectiveness, that has resulted in him being one of the most creative and threatening players in the Premier League. Last season he scored twenty-one goals and provided seven crucial assists in the Premier league alone, despite spending several periods out through injury.

The staggering sum of £100 million that Real Madrid are prepared to offer Tottenham for his services would shatter all previous transfer records. The current highest transfer record is Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer to Real Madrid in 2009, however the contrast between their stages of development when completing the move is quite marked. Ronaldo was transferred on the back of consistently incredible goal scoring feats, almost single handedly winning Manchester United titles and the Champions League. Madrid bought Ronaldo knowing they had the real deal, but with Bale there is still room for doubt. Only time will tell if this is one of the best or worst transfers in football history, if indeed it even happens at all!

The Top 5 Most Expensive Player Transfers Ever

No	Player	Fees	From	To
1	Cristiano Ronaldo	£80M	Manchester United	Real Madrid
2	Zlaten Ibrahimovic	£56M	Inter Milan	Barcelona
3	Kaka	£56M	AC Milan	Real Madrid
4	Radamel Falcao	£55M	Atletico Madrid	AS Monaco
5	Hulk	£52M	FC Porto	Zenit