Tiger Woods wrote sports history with his comeback. But the golf superstar is not the first person to make such a sensational comeback. See more of tge greatest comebacks in sports history right here.
Tiger Woods: The Return of the Golfing Legend
Tiger Woods was the dominator of the golf tour at the turn of the millennium. Golf is Tiger Woods, no one can hold a candle to the American. In 2001, at just 26 years of age, he held all four major titles on the PGA Tour at the same time, known today as the ‘Tiger Slam’ because he had not won all four majors in one season. In 2008, he had to struggle with his first injury problems, and in 2009, his personal problems made headlines worldwide and the Tiger took an indefinite leave of absence from golf. He wanted to take care of his family, but his marriage to Swede Elin Nordegren still fell apart. The American underwent several operations and struggled to get back on the tour from 2011. He returned to the extended world elite with his first successes in the Ryder Cup and on the tour. But it was only his victory at the 2019 US Masters – his 15th major victory overall and his first major triumph since 2008 – that crowned the comeback of the now 43-year-old. ‘The greatest comeback in sports history,’ writes NBA superstar Steph Curry, for example, about the golf legend’s comeback. Golf legend Phil Mickelson says: ‘What a great moment for our sport. A day for the history books.’ There’s nothing more to be said.
Niki Lauda: Formula 1’s Fire Survivor
The first miracle was that the reigning world champion Niki Lauda (left, next to Alain Prost) survived a horrific fire accident at the Nürburgring in 1976. The second miracle was his astonishing recovery—back in the cockpit of his Ferrari just 42 days later at the Italian Grand Prix. While James Hunt claimed the championship that season, Lauda reclaimed his dominance the following year, becoming Formula 1 world champion for the second time at age 28.
Alain Prost, like Lauda, also stepped away from Formula 1 in 1991 but returned in 1993 to capture another world title before retiring for good. This kind of resilience and determination mirrors the drive needed to succeed in any competitive environment. Speaking of high stakes, fans of thrilling competition can explore platforms like Slotozen Casino, which offers a Slotozen no deposit bonus to get started. It’s a chance to experience the action without any initial commitment, just like these legendary comebacks that required taking calculated risks for ultimate rewards.
Mario Lemieux: Dominating on Ice After Battling Cancer
Mario Lemieux was considered as the successor to ice hockey legend Wayne ‘The Great One’ Gretzky. Lemieux dominated the NHL with his Pittsburgh Penguins at the beginning of the 1990s. The two Stanley Cup titles in 1991 and 1992 were only supposed to be the beginning of a dynasty in the ‘Steel City’ – but the Canadian’s battle with cancer shocked the sports world in 1993, far beyond Pittsburgh. The then 28-year-old ended his career, concentrated on radiotherapy and subsequently took over the management of the Penguins. In December 2000 – at the age of 35 – he announced his comeback, led the Penguins into the play-offs several more times and, at the end of his career (2006), is the second most successful scorer in NHL history, with 1,883 points per game, behind Wayne Gretzky (1,921 points per game). Today, Lemieux is still a partner of the Penguins and is promoting research into blood cancer with his Mario Lemieux Foundation.
Muhammad Ali: Fighting the Odds
Of course, Muhammad Ali cannot be left out of this list. Officially named ‘Sportsman of the Century’ by the IOC in 1999, the former world champion, who died in 2016, is simply the greatest boxer of all time for many sports fans. In 1967, Ali was stripped of his title because he refused to do military service in the US military, which would have meant deployment in Vietnam. He avoided the five-year prison sentence he was facing only because he was able to pay bail. In 1970, his boxing ban was also lifted. It took four years before Ali was able to regain the world title he had been stripped of in 1967 in the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ against George Foreman. He was only the second heavyweight boxer in history to refute the unwritten law: ‘They never come back!’
Serena Williams: A Grand Slam After Motherhood
With 23 Grand Slam titles, Serena Williams is the most successful tennis player of the Open era. Only Australian Margaret Court has more titles than the American, with 24. Williams won the Australian Open in spring 2017 while already pregnant, and in September 2017 she gave birth to her daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. After suffering a pulmonary embolism during childbirth, the new mother was in critical condition for days, but she returned to the tour in February 2018. Since then, she has not been able to win a Grand Slam tournament again. But the fact that the perhaps greatest tennis player in history played her way into the finals at both Wimbledon and the US Open in 2018 is considered a minor sporting miracle in the tennis world.
Michael Phelps: A Golden Comeback
After winning his 22nd medal at the London Olympics, Michael Phelps initially ended his career as the most successful Olympian in history. Only to announce his comeback to the US swim team in 2014. He then won his 19th to 23rd gold medals in Rio in 2016, before ending his career as one of the greatest athletes of all time.
Michael Jordan: Basketball’s GOAT
Michael Jordan – the GOAT (‘Greatest of all time’). After winning three titles with the Chicago Bulls, the then 30-year-old Jordan retired from basketball in tears. His father, James Jordan, had been murdered shortly before. So the icon decided to fulfil his father’s wish and become a professional baseball player. After a brief stint in the New York Yankees‘ junior teams, Jordan returned (’I’m back”) on 18 March 1995 and won another three championships with his Bulls from 1996 to 1998. After his career ended again in 1999, he returned to the court in 2001 for the Washington Wizards – but we will keep quiet about this chapter in the unique career of arguably the greatest basketball player of all time.
Martina Navratilova: Records That Defy Time
Martina Navratilova was the dominant athlete on the women’s tour in the 1980s. It was only with the rise of a certain Steffi Graf that the native of Czechoslovakia lost her supremacy on the tour. She announced her retirement in 1994 and in 2000 she was inducted into the International Tennis Federation’s Hall of Fame. Shortly after her induction, the former world number one decided to make a comeback on the tour and set records that will stand for ever: in 2002, she won the WTA tournament in Madrid together with Natalja Zwerewa and, at the age of 46, broke Billie Jean King’s record as the oldest winner of a WTA tournament. In 2006, she won the mixed doubles final at the US Open alongside Bob Bryan, becoming the oldest Grand Slam winner in history at the age of almost 50.
Alessandro Zanardi: From Tragedy to Paralympic Glory
Alessandro Zanardi won two world championship titles in the Champ Car series and won a total of 15 races. In Formula 1, on the other hand, he only managed to score one point in the 1993 race in Brazil. After a fateful touring car accident at the Lausitzring in 2001, the Italian lost both legs and had to be resuscitated several times. He returned to the World Touring Car Championship in 2005, and in 2006 he was even back in a Formula 1 test car. After his motorsport career ended, he embarked on a second career in Paralympic sports. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, the then 46-year-old won gold in both the individual time trial and the road race, as well as silver in the mixed team event.
Hermann Maier: The Herminator’s Triumph
The ‘Herminator’, Hermann Maier, was the most dominant skier in the speed disciplines of downhill and super-G at the turn of the millennium. 2-time Olympic champion, 2-time world champion – then came the shock. After a motorcycle accident in 2001, it was unclear for a long time whether Maier would ever be able to ski again. Even amputation of his leg was considered. But the Austrian fought back, won an Olympic silver and bronze medal in Turin, and crowned his comeback in 2005 with the world championship title in the giant slalom in Bormio. Maier retired from active racing in 2009, but is still considered one of the greatest downhill skiers of all time.
Martin Schmitt: The Ski Jumping Comeback King
Martin Schmitt’s most successful years were around the turn of the millennium: world champion on the large hill in 1999 and 2001, Olympic champion in Salt Lake City in 2002. Then came the turning point. Personal and sporting problems, the crash into sporting insignificance. Then in 2009, the comeback: silver at the World Championships in Liberec and a year later he wins Olympic silver with the team in Vancouver. It was only in 2014 that the now 36-year-old Schwenninger retired from active sport as a four-time world champion and one-time Olympic champion.
Kim Clijsters: A Champion’s Second Act
In 2003, at just 20 years old, Kim Clijsters is the world’s number one tennis player. In 2005, she won her first Grand Slam title and won the Fed Cup with Belgium. ‘I’m only 22, but my body feels much older,’ she said after her triumph in New York. Two years later, at 25, the Belgian ended her career. In 2009, she returned to the tour and won her second Grand Slam title just six months later at the US Open, in front of her daughter Jada. She was able to repeat this triumph the following year. In 2012, she ended her career at Flushing Meadows in 20th place in the world rankings.
George Foreman: The Oldest Heavyweight Champion
When George Foreman entered the ring against Muhammad Ali in 1974, he was the favourite. However, he was dethroned by his challenger in the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’. Ali refused to give him a rematch, so the American ended his career in 1977. He returned to the ring in 1987 and in 1994, at the age of 45, became the oldest heavyweight world champion of all time. The twenty-year gap between losing and regaining the world title is the longest such gap in boxing history.
Björn Borg
Björn Borg (right, next to Ivan Lendl): By the age of 25, the Swede had won Wimbledon five times and the French Open four times – and had lost his motivation. In 1982 and 1983, Borg only played the tournament in Monte Carlo, then announced his retirement, only to compete in Stuttgart in 1984. The brief comeback ended with a 3-6, 1-6 defeat against Henri Leconte. In 1991, Borg made a new attempt. The almost 35-year-old gave a pitiful picture, was a fossil with no chance of success from a different tennis era. After two and a half years and twelve first-round defeats in as many tournament starts, the nightmare was over.
Monica Seles
Monica Seles: In 1991, Seles became the youngest tennis player in history to reach the top of the world rankings, and Steffi Graf’s long-standing dominance began to crumble. Then came 30 April 1993. On Centre Court in Hamburg, Seles was stabbed by a confused Graf fan. It was the day that ‘damaged her soul,’ as Seles later wrote in her biography. Seles’ external wound healed quickly, but it took years before the once-tough competitor returned to the tennis court. Although she celebrated another Grand Slam victory at the 1996 Australian Open, she struggled with an eating disorder before finally ending her career in 2008.
Greg LeMond: Cycling’s Miracle Comeback
Greg LeMond: In April 1987, professional cyclist LeMond was as good as dead. In a hunting accident, the American, who had won the Tour de France the year before, was critically injured by his brother-in-law, with more than 60 shotgun pellets landing in his body. In 1989, he returned to the Tour, still with numerous bullets in his back – and won by eight seconds over Frenchman Laurent Fignon after a dramatic duel. In 1990, LeMond’s third and final triumph on the Grand Loop followed.
