Leaving your career at the top is the hardest thing in the world for sports stars. Seized by the Pascalian void, many champions hesitate before hanging up their gloves or crampons, snowshoes or skis. Anthology.
Also read Of infinite sadness: Rafael Nadal beaten in his last match
Björn Borg (tennis)
Before the modern era, he was considered the greatest tennis player of all time. But the Swede Björn Borgafter a first retirement at the top in 1984, returned to the courts for a farewell tour unworthy of his talent in 1991. Slow, overwhelmed, still playing with his antique wooden racket, he had hardly shone, losing to finish in the first round of the 1993 Moscow tournament.
Muhammad Ali (boxing)
The greatest figure in the history of boxing ended his career on the sly with three defeats against opponents he would have knocked out ten years earlier. Physically out of weight, he faced Trevor Berbick on December 11, 1981 in the match nicknamed “The Drama in the Bahamas”. Muhammad Ali loses the fight on points and above all takes head damage. Three years later, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Michael Jordan (basket-ball)
A bit like Björn Borg, Michael Jordan first went to the top… twice, first in 1993 after a first hat-trick with the Chicago Bulls to become a baseball player, the wish of his deceased father, then in 1998 after another hat-trick…
