The Greatest Miracle Ever Happened in Sports

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I am an avid follower of sports. Since the age of 9 in 1982, when Doordarshan live beamed Football World Cup, played in Spain from the Quarter-finals onward, I kept myself abreast on major sporting events. However, 1983 Cricket World Cup drew me passionately towards sports. That miraculous event of India against 60/1 odds, lifting the World Cup at Lords will be one of the greatest folklore in sports history. But Leicester City Football Club winning the English Premier League this year might well be the greatest miracle ever happened in sports. 






Miracles do happen in sports. Apart from the Indian win in 1983 Cricket world Cup, there are few other such rousing wins. In 2001, Goran Ivanisevic from being ranked 125 and a wild-card entry to ultimately winning the Wimbledon was nothing short of a miracle. Similar, was in 1991 when James 'Buster' Douglas from being 42/1 odds, to knock-out defeating two year world heavyweight undefeated boxing champion Mike Tyson to become undisputed champion of the world. A group of untested college and amateur US players winning gold in 1980 Winter Olympics, defeating the mighty Soviet Union on the way, who were winners of the 6 among the 7 Olympic games, was another. This event is since coined "Miracle on Ice".  In football, the unexpected winning of Euro 2004 by minnows Greece was another miracle.

However, in all the above incidents, the event of the miracles happened for the duration from 1 hour in the case of Buster Douglas win against Tyson, to about three weeks when India won the 1983 World Cup. But in Leicester's case, the miracle scripted for nearly a year. Day after day, week after week, month after month, Leicester City sustained their excellence which is the most difficult thing to do in sports.

There are many reasons why sports pundits around the world are terming it as "the most unlikely triumph in the history of sports". Leicester, spent last season languishing at the bottom of the table, just about managing to avert relegation. Starting this season with sacking of Manager Nigel Pearson and replacing by 64 years old Italian Claudio Ranieri, the club owned by Thai travel retail company, King Power, had a meagre budget purse and no big stars. In fact Manchester United has spend more on new players in the last two seasons than Leicester have in their 132-year existence. Quite unsurprisingly, the bookmakers Ladbrooks & William Hill offered odds of 5000-1 at the start of the season, but finally paying out 25 million Pounds, the largest in British sporting history.

With now at sight of Champions League, Leicester did not dream big on day one itself. Rather, the dream was gradually constructed. Ranieri and his boys step by step built the foundation to the monumental achievement. Ranieri is now the most praised man in England. He was infamously sacked as Chelsea manager in 2004 by club owner Roman Abramovich, who claimed the Italian would "never win the title". 12 years later Ranieri and his men will be given guard of honour by Chelsea. In the meanwhile, Leicester boys, Jamie Vardy and Algerian Riyad Mahrez, have become the most sought after football star.  Together their achievement has been highly praised by the Executive Chairman of Premier League, Richard Scudamore, pointing out, "if this was a once in a 5000 year event, then we have 5000 years of hope ahead of us".

Jamie Vardy broke the Premier League record for consecutive games scored in, by scoring 13 goals in 11 games

Riyad Mahrez receiving the PFA Players' Player of the Year 2016.


A film has been planned of the success story, which is also nothing short of a Harvard Business School lesson stuff, that tells, despite all odds, all deficiency, all ignominy, by sheer step-by-step planning, guts and grits, miraculous success do happen in life. 


         

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