Leicester City’s 5000/1 odds for winning the Premier League will probably go down as the best underdog story of all time, but there are plenty more. So this week, we’re branching out from football and taking a look at some of the worlds greatest underdog stories!
Boris Becker wins Wimbledon 1985 An unseeded Becker was a complete unknown going into the tournament. Whilst he had won the warm-up tournament at Queens, many commentators thought he was too young to challenge seriously at Wimbledon. Remarkably, at the age of just 17, Becker made it to the final where he beat the big-serving South African Kevin Curren and gave us one of the best Wimbledon and underdog stories of all time.
The Miracle on Ice, US vs the Soviet Union 1980 Winter Olympics
Fair to say most of us will have no knowledge of Ice Hockey but ‘the miracle on ice’ may ring a few bells. In the 1980 Winter Olympics a team of American amateur and college players defeated a world-class team from the Soviet Union. It was a tournament made even more significant due to the Cold war providing the backdrop and tensions running high on and off the ice!
1990- Buster Douglas knocks out Mike Tyson In 1990 the undisputed champion of the world Mike Tyson was knocked out by 42-1 underdog James ‘Buster’ Douglas. The intimidating Mike Tyson had gone into the fight undefeated and was expected to win easily, but Buster Douglas dominated the fight and knocked Tyson out in the 10th round to shock the world.
2002 Oakland Athletics- Baseball Oakland Athletics had one of the smallest budgets in the league. However, they went on a historic run of 20 games unbeaten, a record that still stands today. Their success is credited to their coach Billy Beane, who introduced a new scouting system that completely changed how baseball was ran in the US. If you’ve not seen it check out the movie ‘Moneyball’.
We create some of our own ‘underdog’ stories at our Dads v Dads games with our DADS v DADS Football, because it’s really not all about winning games, it is also about helping others get involved and keep playing too! That’s why the winners of our Fantasy League generally (not always) have played the most games 🙌🙌.
