Jessica Ennis-Hill, heptathlon
Greatest achievements: gold medal at London Olympics (2012), three-times World Champion (2009, 2011 2015), silver medal at Rio Olympics (2016)
Ennis-Hill announced her retirement from athletics in October. The 30-year-old decided to focus on family-life after the Rio de Janeiro Olympics this summer. After a breakthrough season in 2009, Ennis-Hill dominated the heptathlon, winning gold in front of her home fans at the London Games and silver at this year’s games in Rio. There were also golds at the 2009 and 2015 world championships and she was this year awarded a third world title after drug cheat Tatyana Chernova was stripped of her 2011 gold.
What she said
“I’ve always said I want to leave my sport on a high and have no regrets and I can truly say that.”
What they said, Denise Lewis
“You have brought much joy to athletics fans around the world and inspired a generation of girls to follow their dreams.”
Yelena Isinbayeva, pole vault
Greatest achievements: gold medal at Athens Olympics (2004), gold medal at Beijing Olympics (2008), set 28 world records in her career, the latest of which still stands today at 5.06 metres
Isinbayeva retired in August at the age of 34. Considered by many as the greatest-ever female pole vaulter, she burst onto the scene in 2004 when she claimed her first Olympic gold in Athens. Four years later she won her second at in Beijing. After finishing third at the London Games, she vowed she would retire an Olympic champion. This ambition was never realised after a blanket ban was imposed on the entire Russian athletics team at Rio 2016 after the discovery of a state sponsored doping programme in Russia. Isinbayeva was prevented from taking part, despite there being no evidence of wrongdoing by her.
Advertisement
What she said
“I’m very happy that I fulfilled my dreams, I won all possible medals, all possible titles, I won the trust and love of all the fans in the world.”
Peyton Manning, American football
Greatest achievements: two-times super bowl Champion (2007, 2016), MPV Super Bowl XLI (2007), record NFL career passing yards (71,940)
After a career spanning 18 seasons, world-renowned quarterback Manning retired in March, aged 39. He played in four super bowls, winning the championship twice, in 2007 and 2006. He also won the coveted MVP Super Bowl award for his outstanding individual performance in Super Bowl XLI. “The Sheriff” threw 71,940 yards during his 14 years at Indianapolis Colts and four years at Denver Broncos — an all-time NFL record. He also holds the records for most touchdown passes (539) and his record 14 seasons with more than 4,000 passing yards thrown shows how consistent he was throughout his career.
What he said
“I fought a good fight, I finished my football race, and after 18 years, it’s time.”
What they said, Denver Broncos president Joe Ellis
“Peyton Manning revolutionised the game.”
Kobe Bryant, basketball
Advertisement
Greatest achievements: five-times NBA champion (2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010), two-times NBA Finals MVP (2009, 2010), NBA Most Valuable Player (2008)
LA Lakers stalwart Bryant retired in April, aged 37. Bryant signed off an illustrious 20-year career with a match-winning 60-point haul against Utah Jazz in his farewell appearance. Bryant was the youngest-ever player to reach 30,000 points and is the all-time leading scorer in Lakers history.
What he said
“I gave everything I could to the game, that’s why I’m so comfortable walking away. I bared my soul to this game, I left it all here.”
What they said, Kevin Durant
“His legacy is unbelievable, 20 years in the league; you can’t beat that, that’s what every player dreams of doing.”
Charlotte Edwards, cricket
Greatest achievements: three Ashes (2008, 2013, 2014), World Cup (2009), ICC World Twenty20 (2009), more than 10,000 runs for England, awarded MBE in 2009 and CBE in 2014 for services to cricket
England’s longest-serving and most successful women’s cricket captain retired from international duty in May. Edwards called an end to her 20-year England career after receiving 309 caps — more than any other England player. Edwards’ decorated career included three Ashes wins and a World Cup and World Twenty20 double in 2009. She was awarded the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the year in 2008 and was recognised by Wisden as their Cricketer of the year in 2014.
What she said
As a 16-year-old girl making my debut for England, I couldn’t have dreamt that I would have had such an amazing time with so much success. I am most proud of where the women’s game is now.”
Advertisement
What they said, Tom Harrison, ECB chief executive
“She leaves the most wonderful legacy, having inspired countless women and girls around the world to pick up a bat and a ball.”
Brendon McCullum, cricket
Greatest achievements: Highest run-scorer in Twenty20 internationals (2,140), first New Zealand batsman to score a triple hundred in a Test (302 against India), Awarded an ONZM (Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit) in 2015
McCullum called time on his international cricket career, aged 35, after New Zealand’s Test series against Australia came to an end in February. McCullum, who captained New Zealand in all three forms of the game is the all-time highest run-scorer in International Twenty20 cricket, scoring 2,140 runs for his country. He also became the first ever New Zealander to score a triple hundred in a Test match when he scored 302 runs against India in 2014. Even in his final match, McCullum took one final record, scoring the fastest Test century, from just 54 balls, against Australia.
What he said
“Hopefully I’ve brought some fun and enjoyment and some real culture back into the set-up in the time that I’ve had as captain.”
What they said, Kane Williamson, New Zealand team-mate
“I’ve always loved Baz’s fearless approach to fast bowling, but especially his pride in hitting sixes. However, if there was one aspect to his game that he particularly dined out on, it was his one Test wicket, getting a caught-and-bowled after delivering one of his medium-pacers to Pakistan’s Sarfraz Ahmed in the Dubai Test.”
Advertisement
Fabian Cancellara, cycling
Greatest Achievements: two-times Olympic time-trial gold medallist (2008, 2016), four-times world time-trial champion, seven-times Tour de France stage winner
Cancellara brought his decorated career to an end, retiring after the Rio Olympics, aged 35. A renowned road cyclist, Cancellara was an outstanding one-day racer and three-times winner of the Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Flanders. While he never won a Grand Tour, the Swiss won seven individual stages of the Tour de France, and spent a total of 29 days in the yellow jersey — longer than anybody not to win the race. A world-class sprinter, Cancellara enjoyed the majority of his success in time-trial events. He World Championship gold four times between 2006 and 2010, and was crowned Olympic champion in Beijing in 2008 and Rio in earlier this year.
What he said
“To leave the sport at the end of this season with the gold medal is just a perfect way to end my career.”
What they said, Cédric Vasseur, former cyclist
“He’s an icon of cycling. In addition to being a good sportsman, he’s a phenomenon. He has a personality, he’s friendly to the journalists and fans, and he can race.”
Nemanja Vidic, Football
Greatest achievements: five-times Premier League champion (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013), Champions League winner (2008), Premier League Player of the Season award (2009)
Vidic, the former Manchester United captain, retired from football in January at the age of 34. Recognised as one of the greatest defenders of the Premier League era, Vidic formed a formidable defensive partnership with Rio Ferdinand, and the pair helped lead Manchester United to five Premier League titles and the Champions League in 2008, the club’s first since 1999. His contribution was recognised by being named in the PFA Team of the Year in four times, while he won the Premier League Player of the Year award for the 2008-09 season, when United went 14 consecutive games without conceding a goal.
Advertisement
What he said
“People ask me what I do these days and I tell them I’m a full-time driver. I drive for my three boys – to school, to football. It takes a lot of time.”
What they said, Rio Ferdinand
“He became a defender that was feared, he could fight with the most physical, he crunched into tackles, he attacked the ball better than anyone I’ve ever seen . . . but as he will tell you with a smile, he could also play with the ball too, which made him complete and a great defender.”
Michael Phelps, swimming
Greatest achievements: World’s most decorated Olympic athlete, 23 Olympic gold medals — six in Athens (2004), eight in Beijing (2008), four in London (2012), five in Rio (2016)
Phelps retired in August, after the Rio Olympics, at the age of 31. In 2000 it was clear he’d be something special when he reached the 200 metres butterfly final in Sydney aged only 15, but no one could have anticipated the six gold medals he won four years later in Athens. Entering the 2008 Beijing Games as hot favourite in all his events, Phelps dealt with the pressure and expectation and won eight golds — an individual record for a single Games. Entering the Rio Olympics in his thirties, many had written Phelps off, but he proved his doubters wrong and won another five gold medals.
What he said
“I knew this was the last time. I knew this was the last race that I ever had, the last Olympics that I ever had. And everything just really hit hard.”
What they said, Mark Spitz, nine-times Olympic swimming champion
“Not only is this guy the greatest swimmer of all time and the greatest Olympian of all time, he’s maybe the greatest athlete of all time. He’s the greatest racer who ever walked the planet.”
Lleyton Hewitt, tennis
Greatest achievements: two-times grand slam-event winner, youngest player to become world No 1 (aged 20), two-times Davis Cup winner
Hewitt retired aged 34 following his second-round exit in the Australian Open in January. Winner of the 2001 US Open and Wimbledon in 2002, he was a true icon of the sport, becoming the youngest-ver men’s world No 1, at just 20. He went on to spend 80 weeks at the summit of the sport — the tenth longest in the Open Era. Despite an outstanding individual career, his Davis Cup wins in 1999 and 2003 will be remembered by many as his greatest achievements.
What he said
“Playing for Australia has always been my biggest honour. Getting the gold jacket off John Newcombe and Tony Roche when they picked me to play Davis Cup was one of the great days of my life. I feel fortunate.”
What they said, Rafael Nadal
“I have always had something special with you. You are a big inspiration of my tennis and my mentality. I think your love and passion for this sport is a great inspiration for the next generation too. Thank you very much.”
Steve Davis, snooker
Greatest achievements: six-times World Championship winner, first player to make a 147 break in a professional competition, end-of-season No 1-ranked player six consecutive years (1984-1989)
Davis brought a glittering 38-year career to an end, retiring in April at the age of 58. Considered by many as the greatest snooker player of all time, the “Ginger Magician” dominated the sport in the 1980s, winning the World Championships six times and spending seven consecutive years at the top of the snooker world rankings. Davis and Dennis Taylor’s 1985 World Championship final remains the most watched programme shown on BBC2 — drawing 18.5 million viewers.
What he said
“My father passed away recently and it was natural time to stop playing. I should have done it ages ago; I played a bit for my father. I am delighted to have such a great time in the game. I was lucky to have a hobby as my profession.”
What they said, Dennis Taylor
“It is a sad day because he changed snooker completely when he came on the scene. He was the first player to put in six-seven hours’ practice. What an ambassador he has been.”
Kevin Sinfield, rugby league
Greatest achievements: seven-times Super League winner, two-times Challenge Cup winner, highest points-scorer in Super League history, awarded MBE in 2014
Kevin Sinfield retired at the end of the 2015-16 season aged 35. The former England and Leeds Rhinos captain will look back with pride on a glittering career, which included seven Super League titles and two Challenge Cups. Sinfield’s achievements were recognised by the nation in 2014 when he was awarded an OBE, and he was also runner-up in the 2015 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award – making him the only Rugby League player ever to finish in the top three.
What he said
“I have been privileged and deeply honoured to have enjoyed a 20-year career as a professional rugby player and to retire, on my own terms rather than through injury, is something I feel lucky to be able to do.”
Paul O’Connell, rugby union
Greatest achievements: three-times Six Nations winner, two-times European Champions Cup winner, third-most capped player for Ireland
Former Ireland and Munster captain O’Connell was forced to retire in February after failing to recover from a hamstring tear sustained during the 2015 Rugby World Cup. The lock became a talismanic figure for the Ireland team, and was instrumental in their 2009 Six Nations victory — Ireland’s first Grand Slam in 61 years. His performance at the tournament earned him the captaincy of the 2009 British and Irish Lions squad, and he also went on to captain Ireland to back-to-back Six Nations titles in 2014 and 2015. One of the toughest men in world rugby, O’Connell played the final minutes of the Lions’ 23-21 victory against Australia in Brisbane in 2009 with a broken arm. It’s no surprise, then, that even with his hamstring severed from the bone, he still attempted to hobble off the pitch in what became his final game.
What he said
“Since sustaining the injury at the World Cup I have been fully focused on returning to fitness and starting an exciting new chapter for both myself and my family in Toulon. Unfortunately this will no longer be possible”
What they said, Dan Carter
“The guy is world class; such a competitor and an absolute beast.”