...across a broad spectrum of life, there is a group of celebrities who have, often very quietly, turned 40 over the past 12-15 months.
Stefan Edberg, the gentleman Swede who captivated a whole generation with his outstanding battles with Boris Becker, turned 40 in typical relative anonymity in Jan 2006. He espouses the best of great champions - they know how to win, they know how to win with grace, they live life by their own lofty standards, and when they feel those standards cannot be sustained they go away...very few sports personalities have shown this ability to know themselves and their limitations as well. I have fond memories of the epic come-back at Wimbledon in the summer of 88 against the mysterious and vastly under-appreciated Miroslav Mecir - that to me is a game for the ages... I still remember the impudent Michael Chang upsetting Edberg's rhythm at Roland Garros by standing inside the baseline for his FIRST serve and costing Stefan the opportunity to win the one grand-slam tourney he never won...
...very different in upbringing and polish, very different in terms of social milieu and comfort in the limelight was Scottie Pippen. More misunderstood than appreciated, Pippen for numerous fans of the NBA from the late 80s through the early 2000s represented the quintessential team basketball player. While showing an ability to light up the scorecard, Scottie is best remembered for the times he did not do anything statistically and yet changed the outcome of games and playoff series. Who can forget the defensive job he did on Indiana's Mark Jackson taking the point guard out of the game entirely with his swarming defense and leaving the potent offense in shambles.... the series of charges he took from Karl Malone as he proved that he could defend all 5 positions on the court (of course having Greg Ostertag at Center helped!) in the two NBA Finals series against Utah. His occasional blog on espn.com is remarkable for its candor and honesty - hopefully he will find a way to get back and involved in the game of basketball again. The NBA could use grassroots champions like him to sustain the game as it becomes increasingly elitist...
...JK Rowling turned 40 in July 2005... again a champion like Pippen who goes to show that where there is a will, there is definitely a way... how else can one explain the metamorphosis of a single-mother on welfare creating one of the most significant alternate worlds since the heyday of Tolkien...
For fans of Bollywood, Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan all turned 40 over the course of 1965... amazing coincidence this.
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Stefan Edberg is also the only person to have won the Grand Slam as a junior. For me his most impressive feat was winning the US Open (in '92?) in spite of trailing by a break in the 5th set in three consecutive matches (I think it was the year he beat Pete Sampras in the finals).
A true measure of the guy is that he won the ATP sportsmanship award so many times, it is now officially known as the Edberg Sportsmanship Award.
By the way, he also won the gold when tennis was a demonstration sport in 1984 and two bronzes in 1988.
Steve and Mark Waugh - June 2 1965.
..the Waughs indeed..read that AR Rehman is pushing 40, not there yet!
how about vishwanathan anand? should be close to 40 as well i guess....not sure.....
I know he is younger than 40 - Dibyendu Barua is in the turning 40 generation, and Anand is 3-4 years younger.
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