22nd

  • Cosmo Duff-Gordon, was born on this day in 1862.  A prominent Scottish landowner and sportsman, he is also known for the controversy surrounding his escape from the sinking of the RMS Titanic. As a sportsman, Duff-Gordon was most noted as a fencer, representing Great Britain at the 1906 Intercalated Games, winning silver in the team épée event. King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra were among distinguished spectators at one of the final bouts between Cosmo and his German opponent Herr G. Casimir. Duff-Gordon served on the organizing committee at the 1908 Olympics, appointed by Lord Desborough, chairman of the British Olympic Association. He was also a self-defence enthusiast who trained with champion Swiss wrestler Armand Cherpillod at the Bartitsu Club in London’s Soho district. was a co-founder of the London Fencing League, a member of the Bath Club and the Royal Automobile Club. He was also a sheriff and magistrate in his native Kincardineshire, near Aberdeen, where his ancestral country estate Maryculter was located.
  • English cricketer Jack MacBryan was born in 1892, he played for Cambridge University and Somerset and made one almost imperceptible appearance in a Test match for England. MacBryan was also a field hockey international and won a gold medal at the 1920 Olympic Games with the Great Britain and Ireland team. MacBryan was educated at Exeter School, where he played cricket for the school and was captain in 1911. After school he joined the Somerset Light Infantry. In 1914, a month later the outbreak of World War I, he was wounded and captured at the battle of Le Cateau, and he was a prisoner for the rest of the war. After the war he enrolled at Jesus College, Cambridge, where he won his blue for cricket in 1920. An amateur and a right-hand batsman, MacBryan was the leading Somerset batsman in the years after the World War I and was called up for the Old Trafford Test match against the South Africans in 1924. But the match was ruined by rain, and MacBryan remains the only Test cricketer who neither batted, bowled nor dismissed anyone in the field (where he spent 66.5 overs). His chance never came again. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1925.
  • On this day in 1894 the first motorized racing event was held, the route was from Paris to Rouen, a distance of 80 miles.
  • Today in 1912 the 5th Olympic Games in Stockholm came to a close.
  • Marcel Cerdan was born on this day in 1916,  a French pied noir world boxing champion who was considered by many boxing experts and fans to be France’s greatest boxer, and beyond to be one of the best to have learned his craft in Africa. His life was marked by his sporting achievements, social lifestyle and ultimately, tragedy, being killed in an airplane crash in 1949 at the age of 33. The Palais des sports Marcel Cerdan is named in his honour.
  • The former BBC television Match of the Day presenter Jimmy Hill was born today in 1928.
  • Lasse Viren, the top Finnish long-distance runner, was born in 1949. He won gold in the 5000 and 10,000m at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics, the first man to win both races at consecutive Games.
  • On this day in 1973 the 60th Tour de France was won by Luis Ocana of Spain.
  • Today in 1984 Kathy Whitworth won the Rochester Golf International, which was her 85th career win.
  • Australian swimmer Jessica Abbott was born today in 1985. She first competed for Australia at the 2000 Oceania Swimming Championships in Christchurch where she won gold in the 4×100m freestyle relay alongside Melinda Geraghty, Michelle Engelsman and Joy Symons and won bronze in the 50m backstroke. At the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, Abbott won bronze in the 400m individual medley in 4:47.11 and finished 6th in the 200m individual medley in 2:17.00. She competed in the 2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Yokohama, Japan in the 200m butterfly and made the finals both the 200 and 400m individual medleys. At the 2003 World Championships in Barcelona, Abbott finished 21st in the 400m individual medley. At the 2003 World Swimming Championships in Barcelona, both Jessica and her sister Chloe Abbott represented Australia in swimming simultaneously – the first sisters to do so since Karen and Narelle Moras at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
  • Charlotte Kalla, Swedish cross country skier was born on this day in 1987, she has been competing at international level since the 2003-2004 season. She won a bronze medal in the 4x5km relay at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec, and a gold medal at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2015 10km in Falun. On 6 January 2008, Kalla won the second edition of Tour de Ski in her debut in the event.
  • This day in 1990 saw Phil Michelson win the 90th edition of the US Golf Amateur Championship. 
  • The 130th running of the British Golf Open in 2001 was won by David Duval who shot a 274 at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club.
  • New Zealand rugby union full-back Jarrod Cunningham, died of Motor Neurone Disease at the age of 38 on this day in 2007. Cunningham played for his home town rugby club from 1990 to 1997, during which time he was trialled for the All Blacks in 1993, but was kept out of the side by Andrew Mehrtens. He played Super 12 rugby for Auckland Blues in 1996, and then Wellington Hurricanes in the 1997/98 season. In July 1998, he joined English Rugby Premiership side London Irish, playing 82 games and scoring 18 tries and 848 points. In the 2000/1 season he was the league’s leading point’s scorer, with 324. After tests at Charing Cross Hospital, Cunningham was diagnosed with suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a form of Motor Neurone Disease in June 2002. He immediately retired from professional rugby, and started the Jarrod Cunningham SALSA Foundation in March 2003 with the aim of providing hope, education and inspiration for fellow sufferers of ALS. In November 2004 he was awarded the IRB Spirit of Rugby award in recognition of his work in raising awareness of the disease. He returned home to New Zealand in December 2004.
  • On this day in 2012 Bradley Wiggins becomes the first British cyclist to win the Tour de France, it was the 99th edition of the world famous cycle race.

23rd

  • On this day in 1827 the first US swimming school opened in Boston.
  • Herman Kruusenberg, Estonian Greco-Roman wrestler was born in 1898. He competed in the light heavyweight event at the 1920 Summer Olympics. Kruusenberg was born to a farmer, and worked on the family farm through all his life. He never trained in a club, and learned wrestling from Georg Lurich, who was born nearby and taught local boys when visiting his parents. Kruusenberg won the Estonian titles in 1921–1923 and placed third at the 1923 Baltic Championships.
  • Australian Ballerina Laurel Martyn was born in 1916, as Laurel Gill. In 1933, she left Australia for England and studied with Phyllis Bedells. In 1934 she won a choreographic scholarship from the Association of Operatic Dancing (later the Royal Academy of Dance) for Exile, her first composition. In 1935 she became the second Australian to win the Adeline Genée Gold Medal. Martyn joined the Vic-Wells Ballet (later Sadler’s Wells) in December 1935, the first Australian woman to be accepted into the company. By 1938, she was a soloist. That same year, she returned to Australia and became a dance teacher. She joined Edouard Borovansky’s eponymous ballet corps in 1940 and remained until her marriage to Lloyd Lawton in 1945.
  • Today in 1921 American Edward Gourdin set a then long jump record at 25 ft 2 ¾ in.
  • The Turkish winner of the 1948 Freestyle Featherweight Wrestling Olympic title, Gazanfer Bilge was born today in 1924. He began wrestling in his age of 17, and was admitted to the national team during his military service. After winning the European champion title, he became the first Olympic gold medallist for Turkey. Gazanfer Bilge retired in 1953 from active sport after his exclusion from participation at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952. The International Fair Play Committee (CIFP) in Paris, France honoured him with the “2002 Public relations – Service to Sports and Community Trophy”. Gazanfer Bilge also owned a large overland coach business. He donated to the town where he was born and grown up a primary school for hearing impaired students, a vocational school for physical education and sports at Kocaeli University, an orphanage and a building for homeless people. He also supported many young wrestlers and students with scholarships. A sports hall located in Büyükçekmece, Istanbul, opened in August 2006, is named after him as well.
  • On this day in 1931 France announced it was unable to afford to send a team to 1932 LA Olympics.
  • A few cricket births – Clive Rice, South African International all-rounder was born today in 1949  Rice ended his First Class cricket career with a batting average of 40.95 and a bowling average of 22.49. He captained Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club from 1979 to 1987.His career coincided directly with South Africa’s sporting isolation, and his international experience was limited to his post-prime days. He played three One Day Internationals for South Africa following the country’s return from sporting isolation. He was controversially left out of the squads for the one-off Test against West Indies and the 1992 Cricket World Cup. Despite this he is widely regarded as one of the best all-rounders of his generation, alongside Imran Khan, Ian Botham, Kapil Dev and his county team-mate Richard Hadlee. On 28 July 2015, Rice died in hospital at the age of 66, suffering from a brain tumour.
  • Rice shares his 1949 birthday with Brian Close of Yorkshire, who made his debut for England against New Zealand at Old Trafford to become the then youngest Test cricketer, he was 18years and 149days old.
  • Another England Test cricketer, Graham Gooch, was born in 1953. He made his Test debut in 1975, but was banned from Test cricket after leading the England rebels against South Africa in 1982. He returned to captain the side to a memorable victory over the West Indies in the Caribbean in 1990. Gooch capped this auspicious start to the year with a record-breaking performance against India.
  • Today in 1966 John Pennel pole vaulted to a new world record of 5.34 m.
  • British cyclist Tommy Simpson died of exhaustion on Mount Ventoux during the 1967 Tour de France. Simpson, the first Englishman to wear the prized yellow jersey in the Tour de France, collapsed on the gruelling 13th Marseilles-Avignon stage, in intense heat. The last words of the 29 year-old former world road-race champion were ‘Put me back on my bike’. As a token of respect, the other riders allowed another Briton, Barry Hoban, to ride through and take the next stage the following day.
  • Sticking with cycling, Rik Verbrugghe, Belgian road racing cyclist was born in 1974. In 1996, he turned pro and has since become a Belgian time trial champion, competed in the 2000 Olympics, won a stage at the Tour de France, three stages at the Giro d’Italia, and the one-day Ardennes classics—La Flèche Wallonne, and the overall and two stages of the Critérium International. In 2008 he announced his retirement, and subsequent role as team director at Quick Step during the 2009 and 2010 seasons. In 2011 he became team director at BMC Racing Team.
  • Hungarian chess Grandmasterwho is considered the best female chess player of all time, Judit Polgár, was born in 1976. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, at the time the youngest to have done so, breaking the record previously held by former World Champion Bobby Fischer. She was the youngest ever player to break into the FIDE Top 100 players rating list, ranking No. 55 in January 1989, at the age of 12. She is the only woman to qualify for a World Championship tournament, having done so in 2005. She is the first, and to date, only woman to have surpassed the 2700 Elo rating barrier, reaching a career peak rating of 2735 and peak world ranking of No. 8, both achieved in 2005. She was the number 1 rated woman in the world from January 1989 up until March 2015, when she was overtaken by Chinese player Hou Yifan; she was the No. 1 again in the August 2015 women’s rating list, in her last appearance in the FIDE World Rankings.She has won or shared first in the chess tournaments of Hastings 1993, Madrid 1994, León 1996, US Open 1998, Hoogeveen 1999, Sigeman & Co 2000, Japfa 2000, and the Najdorf Memorial 2000. Polgár is the only woman to have won a game against a reigning world number one player, and has defeated eleven current or former world champions in either rapid or classical chess: including Magnus Carlsen, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik and Boris Spassky. On 13 August 2014, she announced her retirement from competitive chess. In June 2015, Polgár was elected as the new captain and head coach of the Hungarian national men’s team. On 20 August 2015, she received Hungary’s highest decoration, the Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary.
  • Gail Emms, English badminton player, was born in 1977. Her best results included winning gold at the 2006 World Championships in Madrid, 2004 European Championships in Geneva, and a silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games, partnering Nathan Robertson in the mixed doubles. At the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester she won a bronze medal with Joanne Goode in the women’s doubles and won gold as part of the England team in the mixed team event. She also took the World Badminton Grand Prix title in 2003 with Nathan Robertson. In the English National Badminton Championships she won the mixed doubles three times and the women’s doubles twice.
  • Former Pakistani cricketer Jahangir Khan died in 1988 at the age of 78. He entered the annals of cricket lore because at Lord’s in 1932 one of his deliveries hit a sparrow and killed it. The sparrow, stuffed and mounted on a cricket ball, is now displayed in the Lord’s museum.
  • Greg LaMond won the Tour de France for the second time in 1989, beating Laurent Fignon by a mere 8 seconds.
  • Also in 1989, Britain’s Mike Russell became the youngest world professional billiards champion at the age of 20 years and 49 days. He defeated Peter Gilchrist for the title at Leura in Australia.
  • British cyclist Chris Boardman rode a world record 1 hour distance of 52,270km on this day in 1993
  • The only person to have held world records at both long jump and triple jump, Chūhei Nambu, died aged 93, on this day in 1997. The Japanese track and field athlete.was a member of the Japanese Olympic team at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, where he competed in three events. His best performance came in the triple jump, where he placed fourth, while his countryman Mikio Oda won the gold. In the long jump, he finished ninth, and his 4×100m relay team was eliminated in the heats. Nambu’s real breakthrough came in 1931. After improving his Japanese record a few times, he landed a long jump just two cm short of 8m, a new world record, which stood as an Asian record until beaten by Hiroomi Yamada in 1970. The next year, at the Los Angeles Games, he was one of the favourites for the Olympic titles in both horizontal jumps. Nambu was disappointed with his third place in the long jump, but took revenge in the triple jump final, held a few days after the long jump. His winning mark of 15.72m set a new world record. Thereby, Nambu became the first athlete to hold the world record in both horizontal jumps. He retained both records until 1935, when he lost them to Jesse Owens (long jump) and Jack Metcalfe (triple jump). Nambu was also a strong sprinter. He won the 100m at the 1930 and 1933 Japanese Championships and set a Japanese record at 10.6 seconds in 1931. After retiring from competitions Nambu became a sports journalist for Mainichi Shimbun. He also remained active in sport, being head coach for the Japanese Athletics Association, and acting as manager of the national team at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. In 1992, he was awarded the Olympic Order in silver by the International Olympic Committee.