IMRAN BOWLS ALL OUT IN A DIFFERENT BALL GAME
Pakistan’s charismatic former captain is rising to the top of list of athletes turned politicians
Former cricket great Imran Khan is on the verge of becoming prime minister of Pakistan. Innumerable jocks have turned into politicians around the world, starting from the high school quarterback who is elected class president. But the confluence of all-time great athlete and head of government represented by Khan is rare.
If you don’t follow the sport, you might not know that Khan was not merely a garden-variety professional athlete, but was probably the greatest cricketer ever from Pakistan, a country where cricket is by far the dominant sport. He is also one of the sport’s best ever all-rounders, players who can both bat and bowl well. Now on the cusp of the top office in the land, he is looking for a rarely achieved double.
Among those who have served in high office around the world are Lasse Viren (four track gold medals, Finland parliament), Sebastian Coe (two track gold medals, member of parliament, now Lord Coe), Vitali Klitschko (heavyweight champion, mayor of Kiev), Manny Pacquiao (multiple boxing championships, Philippines senate), Romario (World Cup Golden Ball, Brazil senator), and Ilie Nastase (tennis star, Romanian senate). But none of them were presidents or prime ministers.
The closest to achieving what Khan is poised to achieve may be George Weah, a productive striker who was the winner of football’s highest award, the Ballon d’Or, in 1995, playing for AC Milan. Last year, he was elected president of Liberia. He and Khan sit at the top of the pile for now. At least until LeBron James, Usain Bolt or Roger Federer takes a shot at high office.
In the United States, you could almost fill a Congress with former pro athletes who have served: Their numbers have included AFL quarterback Jack Kemp, who was also a vice-presidential nominee. He was joined as a legislator by baseball Hall of Famer Jim Bunning; basketball superstar Bill Bradley; decathlete Bob Mathias; Steve Largent, JC Watts, Jon Runyan and Heath Shuler of the NFL; Tom McMillen of the NBA; and sprinter Ralph Metcalfe, among many others.
Alan Page was a Viking turned Minnesota Supreme Court judge, and Byron White, whose nickname was Whizzer, led the NFL in rushing before World War II and served for more than 30 years in the big leagues of the judiciary branch, the US Supreme Court.
NBA mayors have included Dave Bing (Detroit) and Kevin Johnson (Sacramento).
As for those who made it to the top job, athletic backgrounds are common. President Donald Trump played baseball in school, and once had the game-winning hit in a prep school championship. For pure physical specimens, the top prizes probably go to Theodore Roosevelt, a fitness fanatic who enjoyed getting into the ring with champion boxers, and George Washington, who may not have thrown a coin across the Potomac but did win an iron bar hurling competition.
Perhaps the Oval Office sports MVP was Gerald Ford. He was the starting centre on the Michigan football team, but elected not to go the professional route at a time when the game was in its infancy.
In Canada, Ken Dryden (goalie, member of parliament) and Frank Mahovlich (centre, senator) made the transition from rink to legislature. Dryden took a run at the top job, finishing fifth in the race for leadership of the Liberal Party in 2006.