Perseverance and sports...

Going through the newspaper today I found a very interesting article. Schumi returning back to F1 till Massa fully recovered and was fit enough to drive the Ferrari again. This particular bit of news generated both excitement and curiosity in me (as always.. I'm still a curious kid... ;))
At 40 Michael Schumacher will be the oldest person to race in the highest level of car racing in the present era. Though he still has to go through the fitness tests, I'm sure he'll come out of them with flying colors. But through all of this I began to wonder about perseverance and sports.
Everyone of us must have seen someone who has overcome all odds to defy things which are not possible in a normal course of life. Let us take the example of Tom Watson, who recently reached the playoffs of the Pga tour. At 59 years of age he was the oldest man to reach the finals of the tour. Though he had won 5 british PGA tours in 70s, reaching the finals of the same british open in 2009 about 3 decades later leaves us with awe and respect of the man.
Another example can be given in this respect. Basketball seldom has athletes who persevere through life changing beatings, but one man in particular, Alonzo Mourning, went through retirement which was caused by a failed kidney. Despite the injury, and a life changing kidney transplant, Mourning came back to basketball, and has since won a championship ring.
But the question now arises "What makes these men achieve the impossible?" Because at the end of the line lies greatness, and to get there, they need to persevere through the painful times and constantly train and take beatings. Although greatness lies at the end of the string, many end up on a tangent, and find themselves fatally injured and removed from the sport.
Coming to one of my favorite sportsperson of all time Lance Armstrong. His story of fighting the deadly cancer and survive it to win a record 7 consecutive Tour de France titles is known to all of us. Before Schumacher he was the one who returned to cycling tracks again and believe it or not he made podium finish. Thus, perseverance and sports have had steady relationship. A combination of these two qualities in a person leads to greatness which encompasses not only sports but every field of life and we all remember only those persons who are greats...... :)