Images that tell endless stories [Part 4]
Images that tell endless stories [Part 4]
This blog primarily deals in words. You don’t see a lot of images here. I don’t have the patience to create illustrations for you, although I must accept that visuals do make reading a more compelling and immersive experience. Plot twist: I continue to waddle in random thoughts and stitching tiny tight paragraphs that try to say a lot in as few sentences as possible. At least that has been my goal here for quite some time now. But every once in a while, I do share photographs—some clicked by me; some clicked by others duly credited—with my hot takes on them. In fact, this is the fourth installation of the images series. The previous installation happened in October last year.
Today, I am sharing some of my favourite sports images, recently published by The Guardian. They posted 50 iconic images. In the interest of time, I am going to comment on only 15 of them.
Here we go –
It’s incredible that a hit has been named a flop. Of course, I am talking about Fosbury Flop here. When Dick Fosbury attempted his groundbreaking back-towards-the-bar move in 1968 Olympics, the audience were spellbound. They’d never imagined high jump could be done this way. Half a century later, Fosbury Flop is the most common approach to professional high jumping.
I’ve written extensively on this blog on how Federerphile is basically synonymous with carrying a heartache forever. Still, nothing can match the grief of watching Federer lose to Nadal in that epic Wimbledon final of 2008. When the match was finally over, Federer showed grace by hugging Nadal while his fans, like me, were shedding tears as the mighty Spaniard climbed up the stands to hug his family.
Very few things scare me as much lizards and the ocean. And to imagine there are people in this world who are OK with the idea of riding massive waves for fun—and that too on a fucking surfboard! When I first watched Garrett McNamara’s video of maneuvering through a 100-foot wave, I had so many thoughts running through my anxious head; the most striking one being “Why?”
For some cinematic reason, I always associated this beautiful click from 1999 World Cup with the British film Bend It Like Beckham (2002). Interestingly, in 2004, FIFA banned removal of jerseys for celebratory purposes. Anyway, the sheer joy of scoring the penultimate goal can’t be described in words. I know this because I’ve never scored such a goal in my life, so I better not try to describe that feeling in words.
On average, about seven boxers die every year, either inside the ring or during training. Suffice to say that it’s a dangerous sport and given the brutal rawness attached to it, boxing enjoys mythical propositions of awe and attention in sports entertainment. Even I’ve been obsessed with boxing after moving to Mangalore and I genuinely feel the above image is the greatest drone shot of all time.
People today, especially young men and women, don’t realize the quantum of sacrifice that went to secure female rights in the 20th century. When suffragette Emily Wilding Davison threw herself in front of the royal horse in 1913—resulting in her tragic death—she was trying to bring attention to women’s voting rights in Great Britain. 15 years later, women in England, Scotland and Wales gained enfranchisement.
When Olga Korbut did what she did at the Munich Olympics, she was so startling that the spectators went silent and the judges were confused. When her routine was complete, the former group of people applauded her for the incredible move—it’s called Korbut Flip in gymnastics—while the judges didn’t know how to score her performance because her gravity-defying stunt was totally out of the textbook.
Those who understand speed also know what it means to cheat death. In the world of sports entertainment, very few know it better than F1 drivers. The above picture is from 1994 when Max Verstappen’s dad Jos Verstappen’s car caught fire at the German Grand Prix. He survived without third degree burn but for a few long moments, the world came face-to-face with inferno in the pits.
This picture is epic. His body is merging with the water while his limbs draw your sympathy. But here’s the thing: he doesn’t need your pity. With one dive, this image tells us everything we need to know about human spirit. Speaking of challenges, water is 830 times more dense than air. But with the right amount of diligence and determination, athletes like Xavi Torres keep defying the odds.
Of all the male sprinters who have breached the 10-second milestone, only one remains untainted (no pun intended) by doping. And that is why Usain Bolt is perhaps the greatest sprinter of all time. In the above image, he is leagues ahead of his competitors at the Rio Olympics. What makes this moment memorable is Bolt’s mindful expression for the camera while others remain focused ahead.
As of today, Mike Tyson is one of the wisest figures on the internet. You can listen to him drop gems on podcasts and college lectures. 30 years ago, he was a different beast. Always seemingly agitated and ready to kill his opponents inside the ring. When he bit off Evander Holyfield’s ear, something broke: a long-held tradition of champion boxers restraining themselves from exhibiting their animal instincts in public.
When you think of football stampede, you think of Hillsborough disaster in 1989. 97 innocent lives were squandered that fateful day. However, the above photograph is from 1985, where 39 football fans were killed. Some of the people in this very picture didn’t make it. What we are witnessing here are the final moments of some of these people in the shot. That liminal fear in their eyes as they reach out for help.
There have been many streakers in sports, mostly in England, who have made the news but none come close to the Christ-like perfection of this shot. You can note how the cops are holding his arm while another is hiding his modesty, while another fellow is rushing in from behind to cover him up. And in this conundrum, the streaker seems to be pointing at something to raise a seemingly valid question.
I first learned about Greg Louganis during school days, thanks to Sunday Mid-day’s spread on Mother’s Day. It featured sportspersons who were actively encouraged by their mothers to pursue their respective sports. Louganis was in the list. In this pic, shot at Seoul Olympics, he hit the board and bled, only to get up and win the category. He was HIV positive at the time and never competed in the Olympics again.
Despite all the Nazi hullabaloo, when Jesse Owens won four gold medals in Berlin, Hitler apparently nodded at him. When he returned to his home country, Franklin Roosevelt wouldn’t even greet him at the White House, let alone grant him a state honour. Later, he faced such hardship in life that he had to sprint against horses to get by. Which makes you wonder, what was he really running for at the 1936 Olympics?