Underdogs barking up the right tree | Barry Aldworth

The world of sport can at times seem very predictable. The same teams win the same trophies and the same players dominate year in year out. However sometimes this predictable nature of sport is shattered… Sometimes the underdog comes out on top; sometimes the easy victory becomes a bitter loss. Throughout this article I will highlight some of the people who turned the sporting world on its head.Only a stepping stone: Sometimes the underdog is not an immediate success; this was the case with former heavyweight world champion James Braddock. Such was his failure in the early portion of his career that when the Great Depression hit America, Braddock had to hand up his gloves and search for another way to support his family. However a growing interest in the fighting game led to him returning to the ring one year later. The James Braddock who returned after a year away was a drastically different fighter to the old Braddock, who was an easy victory for guys on their way to a world title fight. He began to dominate boxers. Eventually the “Cinderella Man” was given the chance to fight reigning champion Max Baer, who viewed an easy win over Braddock as a great way to cement his legacy. In true underdog fashion however Braddock won the fight and in doing so threw away his underdog label to be replaced by the title of World Champion.Greece; kings of Europe: Entering the 2004 European Championships everyone was talking about the same teams who would walk away with the tournament… France, Portugal maybe even the Czechs. Throughout the group stages of the tournament Greece did very little to change this belief only qualifying based on goals scored. However once the Greek team escaped their group the path of the tournament changed drastically. The team beat each of the 3 favourites to win the tournament, being crowned champions of Europe after an ugly 1-0 win over Portugal in the final.Running on fibre, carbon fibre: How many of us could become one of the best in the world at a sport after your parents were told you would never walk? Oscar Pistorius can claim to have done such a thing. Born into difficult circumstances he could have simply given up, but when the technology to enable Pistorius to walk became available, he took it one step further; he would run. Having forged a hugely successful career in the Paralympics, Pistorius went in search of a new challenge; the Olympics. At London 2012 Pistorius achieved his dream of running in an Olympic race, and went beyond it by qualifying for the semi-finals. “You’re not disabled by the disabilities you have, you are able by the abilities you have.” A man, who could have very easily given up, proved to us that nothing is impossible.Injury slows you down, yeah right: Goran Ivenisevic for most of his careers was the “almost there” guy. Despite being ranked number two in the world, and winning numerous minor tennis tournaments, Ivenisevic had never won a grand slam championship. Then injuries struck, years of carrying the monkey of “greatest player to never win a major” on his back had left his shoulder seriously damaged. Having missed most of the 1999 and 2000 seasons with the injury, many felt that when Ivenisevic returned in 2001 he would never be the player he once was. In a way they were right; Ivanisevic surpassed everything he had done before and finally won a grand slam at Wimbledon in 2001.Sport is a world where certain teams or players can create a dynasty. However it is the moments when this dynasty is broken by a young or old pretender that are forever lodged in our minds. Success in sport doesn’t come to everyone, but once in a while it is possible for everyone to succeed in sport.