Sport / Sports
Greats of “Club 40” LeBron, Hamilton & Ronaldo in their prime Just a decade ago, they would have long been enjoying their sporting retirement, while today they are seemingly still competing in full force L eBron James, Lewis Ham- ilton and Cristiano Ron- aldo have all celebrated their 40 th birthdays, but calling it a day hasn’t even crossed their minds.
think I’ll be stopping anytime soon,” says Hamilton, who has committed himself to Ferrari until 2027. The youngest of these three Club 40 greats is Cristiano Ronaldo, who was born on 5 th February. And we really can’t even hazard a guess at when this Portuguese ace will hang up his football boots. Cristiano looks like a youngster despite having com- pleted four decades of life, and he exercises and trains more than ri- vals who are half his age. He relo- cated to Saudi Arabia in an attempt to preserve his body and fulfil sev- eral major wishes. The first is to play in an official match with his eldest son prior to retiring. Cristiano Ron- aldo Jr., who turns 15 in June this year and is currently training at the youth academy of Al Nasr, where his father plays. Several sources indicate that Ronaldo is highly motivated to achieve this dream – similar to the way LeBron has managed to play with his son Bronny. His second wish is to play for Por- tugal at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Ron- aldo has won 33 trophies in his ca- reer, at both club and representative levels, but he’s never been a champi- on of the world. His third wish is to achieve a career total of one thousand goals scored, thus ranking him along- side the great Pele. By mid-February 2025, when this article was written, his total stood at 924 goals. “It’s about living in the moment, enjoying the moment, seeing the re- sponse that my legs will give me to let me know if I can reach one thou- sand goals. I’m afraid I’m running out of time,” said Ronaldo, speaking in November 2024. However, that fear seems to have since dissipated, as Ronaldo last month extended his contract at Al Nasr until June 2026.
in the 2024 NBA draft, with which they became the first father and son duo to play for the same club in the world’s strongest basketball league. And the way he’s started, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he managed to “await” 17-year-old Bryce, who’s certain to be drafted – due to his surname, if nothing else. What is LeBron’s secret? His longevity and ability to maintain top form well into the fifth dec- ade of his life is attributed to rig- orous exercise, careful nutrition and dedication to post-game recovery. James inspires athletes as he sets new standards for longevity in pro- fessional sports. Then there’s the indestructible Lewis Hamilton, who’s only eight days younger than the king of bas- ketball. This seven-time Formula 1 champion has set dozens of records that will probably never be broken. Even Hamilton himself didn’t initial- ly believe he’d be racing in his forties, but he received a “ludicrous offer” that he couldn’t refuse: to drive for Ferrari. The Brit has also often noted that F1 is a sport that’s both physi- cally and mentally exhausting, while he’s described the season as “crazi- ly long” and requiring that he spend significant time away from his family. Nonetheless, here he is, 18 years af- ter his F1 debut, starting again from scratch, at Ferrari. “I never thought I’d be racing in my 40s, I’m pretty sure I said I wouldn’t, but it looks like I’ll be rac- ing for a while. I feel young. I’m train- ing better than ever before, so I don’t
The “King” of the NBA is the eld- est among them. Born 20 th Decem- ber 1984, he has four championship rings and four Olympic golds with the U.S. national team. And he still isn’t satisfied. This February saw him be- come the oldest player in NBA histo- ry to score 40 points in a single game, surpassing the previous record that had been held by none other than Michael Jordan. LeBron has previously expressed his desire to play alongside his sons, Bronny and Bryce. That dream was partially realised when the LA Lak- ers selected Bronny as the 55 th pick
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