This Day in Sports History

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1948: Hungarian boxer László Papp wins the first of three consecutive Olympic gold medals; beats British middleweight Johnny Wright on points at the London Games.

1975: One of the fastest bowlers of all time is born. Shoaib Akhtar was twice clocked going past the 100 mph barrier – though the figures remain unofficial – but he generated as much interest for his bowling action and his attitude to the game. When on song, Shoaib was a fearful proposition – however, along with the star performances came several controversies and brushes with the authorities. He had to remodel his action after suspicions of throwing, and his attitude came in for severe criticism after his listless performances in Pakistan’s 1-2 series defeat against India in 2003-04. He showed glimpses of his lethal best on a few occasions since then, but missed more Tests than he played, though he was in the headlines often, due to injury and controversy (an alleged drug scandal in 2006, a spat with team-mate Mohammad Asif the year after, and being declared unfit to play after an attack of genital warts). Shoaib retired from international cricket after a disappointing 2011 World Cup.

1976: In the fifth and final Test of a blazing summer, Viv Richards completed his highest Test score, a murderous 291 at The Oval, finishing with 829 runs in the series – which West Indies won 3-0. King Viv eventually scored 1710 Test runs in 1976, a record that stood for 30 years, until Mohammad Yousuf compiled 1788 runs in 2006.

1988: US beats Jamaica 5-1 in 2nd round of 1990 world soccer cup.

2008: American super-swimmer Michael Phelps wins 3 gold medals, all in world record time, in the one day at the Beijing Olympics; 200m I/M (1:54.23), 200m butterfly (1.52.03) and 4 x 200m freestyle relay (6:58.56).

2016: American swimmer Michael Phelps ends his career at the Rio Olympics as part of the winning 4×100 medley relay, his record 23rd gold medal.

2016: Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson wins blue riband women’s 100m gold in 10.71 at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics; American Tori Bowie second in 10.83 and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica 3rd 10.86.

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