Sport

One-time teenage tennis sensation Jelena Dokic endured years of abuse by an obsessive father, but rather than being broken, she found the courage to speak out.

For Karen Murphy, pursuing a full-time career in lawn bowls was a risk that paid off in spades: first gold medals and international glory, and now induction into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

From childhood fanatic to Socceroos coach, Ange Postecoglou has had a long, successful and often complicated relationship with the beautiful game, as a new biography reveals.

Beyond straight match reports and timely player updates, the art of sportswriting, when done well, can be as transcendent and game-changing as the most exquisite display of athleticism.

Sports films typically centre on a loveable underdog beating the odds. The hero in 1969’s Downhill Racer is more like disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong – all ambition and no soul.

The victim of a violent father, John Healy sought consolation in alcohol before ending up in prison. He took to chess with a skill matched only by his talent for self-destruction.

The sudden death in 1993 of NBA star Reggie Lewis on the far side of the world was unsettling and profound to the author, then a 12-year-old child dealing with his own anxiety and fears.

When sporting superstars retire, it is usually accompanied by a grand event or gesture in their honour, something Richmond’s Dustin Martin had no interest in when he gave the game away.

Thirty years on from the epic basketball game at the centre of Space Jam, key figures recall the day an ingenious Bugs Bunny teamed with the legendary Michael Jordan in a stand for good against evil.

For legally blind Paralympic cyclist turned surfer Matt Formston, every challenge is an opportunity to think bigger, including tackling the ‘Mount Everest of surfing’.