Michael Phelps, Zinedine Zidane, Michael Jordan, Niki Lauda and Kim Clijsters are all champions in their own right. While one is an Olympic champion, the other redefined the game of basketball with his mid-air antics. Football will never see a player like Zidane and Lauda showed the world what racing is all about. Clijisters, on the other hand, proved that tennis was not about just power.
These five athletes all have one thing in common. They had retired from the sport they love but came back for one more spell to domination.
Michael Phelps: After the 2012 Olympics, United States' swimming maestro Phelps retired from swimming. However, in April 2014, Phelps came out of retirement. At the recently concluded Rio Olympics, Phelps retired from the sport again, but with a fantastic performance where he won five gold medals and one silver.
Zinedine Zidane: One of the best footballers in the world, Zidane won the "Player of the Year" award three times and retired after Euro 2004. However, he returned for the 2006 World Cup for France and took his team to the finals, winning the Golden Boot in the tournament.
Michael Jordan: He is one of the greatest basketball players of all time and Jordan was no ordinary talent. He was a six-time NBA Champion and also won an Olympic gold for the United States. However, he retired and tried his hand at baseball. But, such was his class on the court that even baseball could not justify his talent. He came back in 1995 and won three consecutive championships with the Chicago Bulls.
Niki Lauda: He was a two-time Formula One champion with Ferrari and soon after, survived a career threatening crash in 1976 and retired from the sport. However, he made another winning return in 1982 and became the world champion with McLaren.
Kim Clijsters: The Belgian tennis ace was World No. 1 and won her first Grand Slam in 2005 at the US Open and eventually retired in 2007. She came back in 2009 and won her second US Open title and went on to win the Australian Open as well and returned to the No. 1 spot.
