When Athletes change sports

Jeff Kravitz gettyimages

After MMA fighter Ben Askren’s humiliating defeat to Youtuber Jake Paul in the boxing ring on Sunday I’ve decided to take a look at athletes who have tried their hand at more than one sport during their careers. 

Rafael Van De Vaart

Van De Vaart is a product of Ajax’s illustrious youth academy and has played for the likes of Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid.

Arguably the greatest achievement of his career was helping the Netherlands reach the World Cup final in 2010. Since hanging up his boots in 2018 VDV has swapped his studs for the arrows and become a professional darts player.

The 38-year-old took to the oche under the jurisdiction of the British Darts Organisation at the Denmark open in 2019. Things got off to a flyer for him as he defeated Thomas Anderson 4-2 in the first round of the tournament but he bowed out against Mogens Christensen in the second round.

It is unlikely that he will be able to perform at the same level as his Dutch compatriots Michael Van Gerwen and Raymond Van Barneveld but it would be some story if he did!

Curtis Woodhouse

Growing up Woodhouse had two loves football and boxing. He would go on to have a career in both sports firstly as a footballer captaining Sheffield United at the age of 19, before eventually becoming a pro boxer in 2006. 

The defining moment in his career came when he won the prestigious British Title at Light-Welterweight in a split decision victory over Darren Hamilton in 2014. In an interview with IFLTV after the bout “The Troll Hunter'' described it as his “destiny” to win the Lonsdale belt.

Petr Cech

Cech stands at 6”5 and holds the record for the most clean sheets in the Premier League with 202. After retiring from football in 2019 he returned to Chelsea to assume the role of technical and performance advisor.

Alongside his new role, he ventured onto the ice rink to play for semi-professional hockey team Guildford Phoenix on a part-time basis.

The small-sized goals proved to be a perfect fit for him and he put in a man-of-the-match display on his debut which included two penalty saves in a penalty shoot-out win.

Usain Bolt

Central Coast Mariners must have thought they’d hit the commercial jackpot when they took the Olympic sprinter on trial, especially after he scored two goals vs Macarthur South West United in a pre-season friendly.

“Lightning Bolt” looked to be fulfilling a childhood dream and Mariners wanted to extend his stay but both parties were unable to agree on a deal.

Perhaps this was for the best as fellow A-League player Andy Keogh didn’t speak very highly of his footballing ability stating that “He had a touch like a trampoline,” not exactly a glowing report is it.