Jonah Lomu, who died unexpectedly in November, 2015, at the age of just 40, after suffering a heart attack, was hailed as the first international superstar in rugby union. Lomu suffered from a rare kidney condition, known as nephrotic syndrome, which hampered his playing career and, ultimately, contributed to his death.

Lomu made his international debut, playing one the wing, for New Zealand against France at Lancaster Park, Christchurch on June 26, 1994, less than two months after his nineteenth birthday; in so doing, he became the youngest player ever to play for his country, beating the previous record set by inside centre Edward Wrigley in 1905. However, it was at the Rugby World Cup, hosted by South Africa, the following year that Lomu rose to prominence.

Standing 6’5″ tall and weighing in at 18 stone or more, Lomu was well-built, muscular and blessed with exceptional speed and nigh on unstoppable in full flight. He was particularly devastating in the semi-final against England in Cape Town, scoring four tries in a 45-29 victory, which led opposing captain Will Carling to call him ‘a freak’. New Zealand eventually lost the final 15-12 to the hosts at Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg, but Lomu was nonetheless named as ‘Player of the Tournament’.

At the 1999 Rugby World Cup, principally hosted by Wales, he scored eight tries to break the record for the most tries in a single tournament. All told, his 63 international caps yielded 37 tries, 15 of which came at the Rugby World Cup, making Lomu the joint-highest try scorer, alongside South African wing Brian Habana, in the history of the tournament.

Sogelau Tuvalu is an American Samoan athlete, who briefly found fame at the World Athletics Championships in Daegu, South Korea in 2011. Having failed to make the entry standard for the shot put, as the fastest runner in is high school, Tuvalu was chosen by his coach to compete in the 100 metres, for which no such standard existed for his country.

Thus, on August 27, 2011, Tuvalu, lined up in the fourth heat of the preliminary round of the 100 metres at the Daegu Stadium. Aged just 17, not wearing running spikes and, according to the Daily Mail, ‘twice the size of the other six competitors’, the youngster was fighting a losing battle right from the gun. Commensurate with his pre-race odds, of 50,000/1, Tuvalu was always a long way last and trailed in 4.89 seconds behind the winner, Malaysian Mohammed Noor Imran Hadi.

Nevertheless, Tuvalu ran hard all the way to the finish line, even managing a dip finish, and was rewarded with a personal best time of 15.66 seconds. In slightly breathless, but nonetheless enthusiastic, trackside interview with BBC Sports broadcaster Sonja McLaughlan, he said that his first experience of international competition was ‘really fun’ and, despite his obvious limitations, described athletics as a ‘cool sport for me’. Tuvalu later told French television that he had devoted four hours a day for a month to his preparation for the World Championships and described his participation as ‘a dream come true’.

Remarkably, 15.66 seconds is not the slowest time for the 100 metres recorded at the World Athletics Championships. On August 2, 1997 in Athens, Greece, Kim Collins of Saint Kitts and Nevis ‘ran’ his heat in a time of 21.73 seconds alhough, in his defence, he suffered an injury mid-race, slowed to a walk and limped across the line.

Knighted in 2007 for services to charity and cricket, Sir Ian Botham is widely regarded as one of the finest all-rounders in the history of cricket. Born in Oldfield, Cheshire on November 24, 1955, Botham made his first-class debut for Somerset against Lancashire in the County Championship in May, 1974, at the age of 18. He made his Test debut for England in the third Test against Australia at Trent Bridge, Nottingham in July, 1977 and just over two years and 21 matches later, on August 30, 1979, became the fastest player to score 1,000 runs and take 100 wickets in Test cricket.

A right-handed batsman and right-arm fast medium bowler, ‘Beefy’, as Botham was popularly known, scored an aggregate of 5,200 runs in Test cricket, at an average of 33.55, and took 383 wickets, at an average of 28.40. He achieved his highest Test score, 208, against India at the Kensington Oval, London on July 8, 1982 and his best bowling figures in a single innings, 8/34, against Pakistan at Lord’s, London on June 15, 1978.

However, Botham will always be best remembered for three match-winning performances, two with the bat and one with the ball, in the Ashes series in 1981, subsequently dubbed ‘Botham’s Ashes’. After losing the first Test at Trent Bridge and being out for a pair in the drawn second Test at Lord’s, Botham resigned the England captaincy and was replaced by his predecessor, Mike Brearley, who had been tempted out of retirement.

At Headingley, England followed on and were quoted at 500/1, at one point, to win the third Test. However, Botham produced a remarkable display of hitting, scoring an unbeaten 149, off just 148 deliveries, towards at second innings total of 356, setting Australia a total of 130 to win. In an inspired spell, England fast bowler Bob Willis produced figures of 8/43 in the second innings, reducing Australia to 111 all out, and the home team scored the unlikeliest of victories. In the fourth Test at Edgbaston, Botham took five wickets for one run in 28 balls, to put England 2-1 ahead in the six-match series, scored 118 in the second innings of the fifth Test at Old Trafford, which England also won, and took ten wickets in the drawn sixth Test at the Kensington Oval.