HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Mamadou Diallo, Nicolás Almagro, Usain Bolt, Robert Lewandowski

Mamadou Diallo

Mamadou Diallo is 42 today. He is a former Senegalese footballer who played for fifteen clubs in his nineteen year career . The striker won 46 caps for Senegal, scoring 21 goals in a career which saw him represent his country at the African Cup of Nations in 1994. He also went on to play for Senegal at the 2007 Beach Soccer World Cup scoring one goal and receiving one red card.

Nicolás Almagro



Nicolás Almagro is 28 today. He is a Spanish professional tennis player, ranked world no. 16 on the ATP World Tour. He is known to be a dark horse in any ATP tournament, even, in the era where Tennis might be witnessing the four best players in the history of the sport, Almagro has still held his own to win 12 ATP titles. Although he hasn't won a Grand-slam tournament yet, he's gone as far as reaching the quarter finals where his dreams were shattered by his close friends and compatriots Rafael Nadal (thrice in the French Open) and David Ferrer (once in this year's Australia open).

Usain Bolt

Usain Bolt is 27 today. He's one of the very few athletes that need no introduction as he's widely regarded as the fastest man ever. He is the first man to hold both the 100 metres and 200 metres world records since fully automatic time measurements became mandatory in 1977. Along with his teammates, he also set the world record in the 4×100 metres relay. He is the reigning Olympic champion in these three events, the first man to win six Olympic gold medals in sprinting and an eight-time World champion. He was the first to achieve a "double double" by winning 100 m and 200 m titles at consecutive Olympics (2008 and 2012) and topped this through the first "double triple" (including 4×100 m relays).

Although he's more famous as a 100 m undisputed champion (and hence, the world's fastest man), Bolt is actually a more accomplished 200 m runner. While he hadn't won any significant 100 m title prior to the 2008 Olympics, he had already bagged numerous crowns in the 200 m event at the youth, junior and senior levels before gaining worldwide popularity with his sprint double victory at the Beijing Games. Further, at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, Bolt completed a hat-trick of 200 m World titles by winning his 3rd straight gold in the event. His 2009 record breaking margin for 100 m, from 9.69 seconds (his own previous world record) to 9.58, is the highest since the start of fully automatic time measurements.

His achievements in sprinting have earned him the media nickname "Lightning Bolt" and awards including the IAAF World Athlete of the Year, Track & Field Athlete of the Year and Laureus Sportsman of the Year (three times). He is the highest paid athlete ever in track and field. He has been called the world's most marketable athlete. By bagging 3 gold medals at the 2013 World Championships, Bolt became the most successful athlete in the 30-year history of the prestigious world championships.

Robert Lewandowski



Robert Lewandowski is 25 today. He is a Polish footballer who plays as striker for the German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and the Polish national team. Currently, he's one of the most feared and most wanted strikers in Europe as his last two seasons has seen him score an outstanding 66 goals, not forgetting the four goals he scored against Spanish champions Real Madrid becoming the first player to score four goals in a Champions League semifinal match.