The Times Sporting Legends

A must-read collection for all sports fans

Step into the exhilarating world of legendary athletes with this collection of obituaries from The Times.

From the trailblazing athletes of the early 20th century to the celebrated champions of recent decades, this book brings to life the enduring legacies of sports’ brightest stars.

Featuring era-defining obituaries and rare, behind-the-scenes photographs from The Times archive, this collection offers an intimate journey through the lives and legends of sport’s most iconic figures including:

• Althea Gibson – The first Black player to win Grand Slam singles titles (Wimbledon and U.S. Nationals in the 1950s).
• Shane Warne – One of the cricket greats, known for his charismatic personality and off-field antics.
• Muhammad Ali – Legendary boxer and civil rights activist whose refusal to be drafted into the Vietnam War led to the loss of his boxing titles.
• Baroness Rachael (Heyhoe) Flint – One of England’s leading women cricketers in the 1960s–70s and a driving force behind the first women’s Cricket World Cup (1973).
• Joe Frazier – Relentless and iconic, the first boxer to defeat Muhammad Ali in ‘The Fight of the Century’.
• Pelé – Often described as the greatest footballer of all time, he scored over 1,000 goals during his career and became a global ambassador for the sport.
• Fanny Blankers-Koen – Dutch track star who won four Olympic gold medals at the 1948 London Games. Known as ’the flying housewife’.
• Sir Bobby Charlton – A symbol of resilience and sportsmanship in football, he survived the Munich air disaster of 1958 which claimed the lives of eight of his Manchester United teammates.
• Rob Burrow – Former professional rugby league player who became a powerful advocate for awareness and research into Motor Neuron Disease after being diagnosed with the condition in 2019.
• Tori Bowie – American sprinter who rose to global prominence with multiple medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Authoritative, insightful and endlessly engaging, this collection of biographies of sporting legends is a must-read for sports fans and anyone with an interest in fascinating life stories.