Second comings are nothing new for sport's gods

Monica Seles was stabbed by a fan of her rival, Steffi Graf. Photo / AP

Easter Sunday is remembered for one story above all others. In deference to the occasion, Andrew Alderson looks at 12 apostles who have attempted a sporting resurrection of sorts.

Evander Holyfield
Boxing

Retired in 1995 with a heart condition, returned to have the helix of his ear bitten off by Mike Tyson, retired again, then oscillated in and out of the ring well into his 49th year. Was last seen on this year's Celebrity Big Brother UK as the first evicted housemate. It followed a fellow housemate suggesting more sportspeople should open up about their homosexuality. Holyfield confided to her - and a hidden microphone - "But that ain't normal."

Al Oerter
Athletics

The discus thrower claimed four consecutive Olympic gold medals from 1956 to 1968. Aged 43, he had another crack in 1980, missing selection by one place despite throwing a personal best 69.46m that year. Oerter tore a calf muscle during the 1984 trials and exited the throwing circle permanently aged 50 in 1987. He had no regrets, once posing the rhetorical question: "Have you ever seen a longer face than on an athlete who has quit in their prime?" Temepara Bailey Netball"I'm kind of like a Band-Aid. Once the wounded are healed I get peeled off and thrown away." Bailey said in reference to her victorious Mystics return over the Tactix last weekend. She expects to be there no more than a fortnight but how tempting will it be to stay? Presumably the struggling Mystics have made it worth the 38-year-old's while to step back from a promising television presenting career, albeit temporarily.

Bob Simpson
Cricket

The Australian selectors turned to the 41-year-old to save them during the World Series Cricket turmoil in April 1977. It was almost 10 years after his last test. Simpson secured a 3-2 victory in six tests against India, scoring 539 runs at 44.92. However, Australia were beaten 3-1 in five tests by the West Indies in 1978. Simpson's form dipped, scoring 199 runs at 22.11. He wasn't required to don the baggy green again but resurrected Australia as coach in the 1980s.

Michael Phelps
Swimming

Why re-test the waters? What will adding to 18 gold, two silver and two bronze Olympics medals achieve? Only Phelps knows, but news he's a slave to the black line again, a la Mark Spitz and Ian Thorpe, was predictable. Phelps is 28 and odds favour his legacy losing its lustre, but that's not the mindset that made him an Olympic champion. Intrigue builds.

Sir Mark Todd
Equestrian

Retired after the Sydney Olympics aged 44; returned to elite eventing for the Beijing Games and won his fourth Badminton title in 2011. A renowned horse whisperer, Todd was the oldest winner since the event began in 1949. His key attribute? Self-assurance. "I seem to have an ability to cope. Pressure brings out the best in me."

Monica Seles
Tennis

A 25cm kitchen knife savaged the 19-year-old in her pomp, having racked up eight grand slam titles in three years. Unemployed lathe operator Gunter Parche stabbed the blade 1.5cm between Seles' shoulder blades on court in Hamburg on April 30, 1993. He couldn't stand the thought of Seles keeping his compatriot Steffi Graf from the No 1 ranking. Seles' mojo never fully returned but she managed to win the 1996 Australian Open.

Niki Lauda
Motor racing

The reigning Formula One champion won four of the first six races in 1976 before crashing at Germany's Nurburgring. Lauda was trapped in his Ferrari, suffering severe head burns and lung damage. Despite disfigurement and a championship defeat to James Hunt, he returned to win the following year and retired in 1979. Three years later he returned. He won his third world championship in 1984.

Michael Jordan
Basketball

"I'm back" entered the press release hall of fame on March 18, 1995 when His Airness announced his return to the Chicago Bulls for the 1995-96 NBA season after struggling with the transition to baseball. The Bulls went on to win three consecutive titles (1996-98) to back up the previous three (1991-93) prior to Jordan's original "retirement". As part-owner of the Washington Wizards he returned to the court in 2001; glory eluded him.

Fanny Blankers-Koen
Athletics

Social mores indicated becoming a mum in 1941 was tantamount to retiring. Instead Blankers-Koen, known as "The Flying Dutchmam" or in keeping with the patronising mood of the era "The Flying Housewife", kept breaking records. In 1948 she became the first female track and field athlete to win four gold medals at the same Olympics. More importantly she dismantled prejudice about gender, age and motherhood in the process.

Sir Brian Lochore
Rugby

The retired All Black captain answered an SOS to play the Lions at Wellington in 1971 as a lock. He wrote the legendary, "Gone to Wellington, playing test tomorrow", note which he left on the kitchen table for wife Pam...but that's where the fairytale ended. New Zealand were beaten in the third test and lost the four-test series 2-1.

Greg Searle
Rowing

Buying a Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy was just one of myriad tasks on his family to-do list once he'd collected bronze, as a 40-year-old, in the British rowing eight at the London Olympics. The hours of sacrifice were worth it for an athlete who had a gold (Barcelona coxed pairs) and bronze (Atlanta coxless four) but spent 16 years in the Olympic wilderness including a spell as an America's Cup grinder.