Championship boredom

[Deckerd]

Snooker: Ronnie O'Sullivan won the World Champs last year for the umpteenth time, left competition and became a pig farmer. The purse was so attractive he came back for one more WSC this year and because he's the most talented natural player of all time, he's in the final. Half way through the current champs he announced he's never going to play after this.

Can you think of obvious world champions who just gave up because they lost motivation?

 

[Holdfast]

Ronnie's so fickle, that I wouldn't take any retirement statements seriously. He'll probably change his mind again at some point. Brilliant player (and it says something when his multiple world titles/final appearances are still an underachievement compared to his talent), but mentally all over the place from one year to the next. Hell, sometimes from one frame to the next!

Anyway, Bjorn Borg is probably the archetype for the trope of the LostChampion. George Best is another example, and so would be Bobby Fischer (if you'll allow games other than sports).

In all those cases - and with Ronnie - it's not so much that they lost motivation; more like they all had their share of inner demons that needed addressing in other settings.

 

[Angel4576]

Hasn't Ronnie now said that he can't afford to retire.

I guess his ultimate decision will depend entirely on which way the wind's blowing at the time.....

 

[Ain Jalut]

I cannot think of any, but i don't watch sports regularly.