Arnold Palmer was born in 1929 in Latrobe, Pennsylvania in the United States. Arnold Palmer was the first star of sport’s television age (in the 1950s). He’s considered by many as one of the greatest Golf players of all time. He won the US Masters tournament in 1958, 1960, 1962 and 1964. He also won the US Open in 1960. He also has the 1961 and 1962 British Open titles behind his name. Arnold Palmer was inducted in the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. He also received the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998. He participated in his first PGA Tour in 1955. In his career Arnold Palmer had 62 PGA Tour wins. He also has 94 Professional wins behind his name. He is nicknamed as “The King”. He also known as one of “The Big Three” (the other two being Gary Player from SA and Jack Nicklaus from the United States). They are well-known for popularizing the sport of golf. In 2004 he completed his last US Masters. It was the 50th consecutive US Masters tournament he’d played in. In 2000 he was ranked the 6th greatest player of all time in Golf Digest magazine’s rankings.

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James Cleveland “Jesse” Owens was born in 1913 in Alabama in the United States. He’s considered by many as one of the greatest athletes of all time. He won 4 gold medals at the Olympic games in 1936 in Berlin (in then Nazi occupied Germany). He won the Gold medal in the 100m, 200m, long jump and 4 x 100m relay at the games. Jesse Owens received several tributes in his later years and following his death. In 1970 Jesse Owens was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in the US. President Gerald Ford Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to him in 1976. A. Mrkos at Klet discovered an asteroid in 1980 and named it after Jesse Owens. Jesse Owens died of lung cancer in 1980 after smoking for 35 years. Before his death in that year he was trying to convince then US President Jimmy Carter not to boycott the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow (then in the USSR). A street close to the Olympic stadium in Berlin, Germany was named after Jesse Owens in 1984. In 1990 US President George H. W. Bush awarded the Congressional Gold Medal posthumously to Jesse Owens. Two US postage stamps have been issued to honor Jesse Owens, 1 in 1990 and 1 in 1998. At this year’s World Athletics Championships in Berlin, Germany all US Track and Field team members wore badges with “JO” to commemorate his victories in the same stadium 73 years ago.

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The United States of America have qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This will be the 6th consecutive and 8th overall FIFA World Cup that the country competes in. The United States played in its first FIFA World Cup in 1930. They managed to reach 3rd place in that year’s competition (the best they’ve ever done in the FIFA World Cup tournament). Soccer is not the most popular sport in the United States but it has grown in popularity since the 1970s. The United States hosted the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The final of that year’s tournament was played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The United States have competed in 4 FIFA Confederations Cup and achieved their best result in history this year. They reached the final of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa, but lost to Brazil in the final at Coca Cola Park Stadium in Johannesburg. The United States are currently ranked at #11 on the FIFA Rankings. The country is part of CONCACAF, the North American Soccer Confederation. The team is currently coached by Bob Bradley (since 2006). Cobi Jones is the most capped player in United States soccer history. He represented his country 164 times between 1992 and 2004. Landon Donovan is the top goal scorer in United States soccer history. He’s currently still an active player and has scored 42 goals in 115 matches. Landon Donovan has been involved in US soccer since 2000. The United States National Soccer team are also referred to as “The Yanks”, “The Stars and Stripes”, “The Red, White, and Blue”. I’m sure that the United States will be one of the teams to watch in South Africa when they play in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The US has really improved it’s soccer in the last few years.

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John Patrick McEnroe was born in 1959 in Wiesbaden in West Germany. His father was in the United States Air Force and was stationed there at the time. In 1960 the McEnroe family moved to New York City in the United States. John McEnroe started playing tennis when he was only 8 years old. His parents enrolled him into the Eastern Lawn Tennis Association when he was 9 years old. He started playing in regional tournaments and then moved on to compete in the US national junior tournaments. By the time he was 12 yrs old he was ranked at #7 in his age group. At 18 years old he made it into the main draw at Wimbledon. He managed to make it to the semi-finals where he lost to fellow American Jimmy Connors. This was the best performance at the time by a qualifier at a Grand Slam and a record performance by an amateur in the open era.

After 1978 McEnroe joined the professional tour. In 1979 he won his first US Open title, he followed this up with US Open victories in 1980, 1981 and 1984. He made it to his first Men’s Singles Wimbledon Final in 1980, but lost against Bjorn Borg from Sweden. He returned to Wimbledon in 1981 and played against Bjorn Borg again in the final, and this time he achieved victory in 4 sets, stopping a run of 41 consecutive victories by the Swede at the All England Club. He also won the Men’s Singles Title at Wimbledon in 1983 and 1984. In total, McEnroe has 7 Grand Slam Titles behind his name, 4 at the US Open and 3 at Wimbledon. He was ranked as the No 1 Player in the World in March 1980. John McEnroe’s tennis triumphs did not end with the Men’s Singles. He also has 9 Grand Slam Doubles titles behind his name. 5 were at Wimbledon and 4 were at the US Open. He also has one Mixed Doubles French Open title behind his name. His partner in this match was Mary Carillo. In 1983 he was ranked No 1 in the World for Doubles as well. He held this position for a record 257 weeks. McEnroe had 3 different doubles partners for his Grand Slam Doubles victories. Peter Fleming (his partner in 7 of the victories), Mark Woodforde (responsible for 1 US Open Grand Slam title) and Michael Stitch (responsible for his last 1992 Grand Slam title in Doubles at Wimbledon). In the end John McEnroe was the runner-up in 4 different Grand Slam Finals, 2 at Wimbledon, 1 at the French Open and 1 at the US Open. Over the years he had been sucked into rivalries with Bjorn Borg, Ivan Lendl and Jimmy Connors.

He retired from professional tennis in 1992, still ranked at #20 in the world. John McEnroe is known for his shot-making artistry and superb volleying, for his confrontational on-court behavior, which landed him in trouble with umpires and tennis authorities frequently. He’s also credited for the “You can not be serious!” which he first directed toward an umpire during a match at Wimbledon in 1981. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1999. His younger brother, Patrick McEnroe was also a professional tennis player. Jonn McEnroe and his brother are both acting commentators for Grand Slam Tournament coverage on US Television nowadays. He also does commentary for the BBC for Wimbledon in the UK. In recent years John McEnroe has had various television appearances on 30 Rock, CSI: New York, Curb your Enthusiasm and in Anger Management, Mr Deeds and You Don’t Mess With The Zohan. A few artists, including House of Pain have also mentioned John McEnroe in their songs. He’s also appeared in numerous television commercials over the years, most recently for EA Sports, National Car Rental and Kellogg’s. John McEnroe is also quite well-known in my country, South Africa. John McEnroe returned to the top-level doubles competition in 2006. He became the oldest male player to win an ATP title in 30 years when he won the SAP Open at San Jose.

Related Links:
John McEnroe – ATP World Tour
John McEnroe – International Tennis Hall of Fame

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• November 3, 2009 -- Famous Golfers: Arnold Palmer (0)
• November 2, 2009 -- Famous Athletes: Jesse Owens (0)
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