After Marc Marquez sealed the MotoGP Rider’s Championship at the final race in Valencia, he became the youngest ever world champion in his first season, stunning onlookers with some masterful performances well past his years. With this in mind I take a look at five other rookies that took their respective sports by storm:
1. Lewis Hamilton
Hamilton burst onto the F1 scene in 2007 driving for McLaren Mercedes. The young Brit was meant to be Fernando Alonso’s rear gunner, with the purpose of helping the Spaniard defend his Driver’s title. Hamilton had obviously not read the script however, pushing his illustrious team-mate all the way he eventually missed out on the title by one point to Kimi Raikkonen. Despite this, the F1 world had taken note.
2. Usain Bolt
The Jamaican went into the 2008 Olympics relatively unknown and without any experience of a games before. He came out a triple Olympic champion, dominating the rest of the field with consummate ease. His 100 metre performance the most striking, effectively winning the race in half the distance Bolt then celebrated well before the finish and still smashed the world record.
3. Boris Becker
In 1985, an unseeded 17-year old German ran riot as he stormed to Wimbledon glory. Boris Becker entered Wimbledon as a supposed ‘also-ran,’ by the end of the tournament he’d written his name into tennis history. Beating eighth seed Kevin Curren in the final 3 sets to 1, it became one of the greatest debuts ever. Then to prove it was no fluke, Becker defended his title successfully the following year.
4. Swansea City
The first Welsh side in the Premier League, Swansea shook it up with their exuberant passing style and refreshing attacking tactics. Led by Brendan Rodgers, the Swans finished in 11th place, beating the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and eventual champions Manchester City at home. It may have been their first ever Premier League season but they were a revelation, winning plaudits from far and wide. It is a testament that they are now an established Premier League side, taking Europe by force.
5. Eddy Merckx
For many the greatest ever cyclist. Like the rest on the list he had to start somewhere. Making his Tour De France debut in 1969, Merckx took a hat-trick of some of the most prestigious prizes the sport has to offer. Many riders target one, Merckx had other ideas though, taking the green jersey for point’s leader, the polka dot jersey for best in the mountains and topped it off with the yellow jersey for being overall leader. What a lead it was too, Merckx won the tour by a mammoth 18 minutes.
