Top 10 sporting divorces

Greg Norman and Chris Evert separated suddenly after only 15 months of marriage and after they'd revealed themselves to the world as a sparkling love match. We look at the weird world of sporting marriages - and divorces.

He spent US$2 million on his wedding to Chris Evert and a settlement of US$108 million to leave ex-wife Laura Andrassy. Over 15 months, that works out to US$7.3 million a month. Hmmm.

While Greg Norman and Evert have maintained a silence over why they broke up, various "friends" and sources have pointed to problems with each other's adult children and, puzzlingly, an inability to decide whose mansion they lived in.

The truth is probably, as they said in the X-Files, "out there". But through all the following examples of sporting marriage mishaps, some consistent themes run. Ego, the inability to marry diverse lives and schedules, kids (even grown-up ones) and infidelities are often there, as is the feeling that some of the most bizarre stuff is a publicity stunt.

Whether it is sporting star married to sporting star or sporting star married to entertainment star, the pressures of married life are obviously greater than for mere mortals - and so is the level of public infighting, the money involved and weirdness.

New Zealand has had its sporting divorces but, with our comparatively uncomplicated and "no-blame" divorce laws, inner secrets are rarely revealed. Most of the top 10 weird divorces are American - there must be a reason for that...

10. Dennis Rodman & Carmen Electra

There's a line from the movie Men In Black which says it all about Dennis Rodman. The movie, based around a backdrop of heavily-disguised aliens living secretly on Earth but with the connivance of government, mentions that an alien high commissioner wanted tickets to the next Bulls NBA game.

"Ask Dennis Rodman," says the Will Smith character, " he's from that planet."

"Rodman?" came the response, "you're kidding - not much of a disguise."

That was the thing with Rodman - he always appeared to be from another planet specially with publicity stunts like wearing a wedding dress to promote his autobiography and claiming to be a cross-dressing bisexual. But he never appeared more other-wordly than when he married actress/singer Carmen Electra for 10 days.

Rodman said the marriage should be annulled because he was drunk at the wedding but later Electra came out with memoirs which revealed that she used to call him the "n" word during lovemaking to spur him to greater heights. She said they once had sex in their chauffeur-driven Bentley when Electra had to ask the chauffeur to make Rodman stop.

Even after all this, the couple decided not to divorce after 10 days and had an on-again, off-again relationship that lasted two years before they finally called it all off. They made headlines in 1999 when police had to intervene in a family dispute when, ahem, Electra tried to insert a piece of penne pasta into Rodman's rear while he slept.

Please, take them back to their planets.

9. Lisa Curry & Grant Kenny

They were Queensland's and Australia's golden couple for decades - the Olympic swimmer who won multiple Commonwealth Games gold medals (Curry) and the Olympic canoeist and surf lifesaving icon whose golden hair and brown skins told the story of the perfect people in the perfect lifestyle in "the lucky country".

But, after 23 years of marriage, Lisa Curry moved out of their A$3.5 million mansion in Mooloolaba in May. No reason has been given and, beyond saying that no third party was involved, the only clue that has come to light has been insider' sources saying they had grown apart well before the split.

They were two of the highest-paid sporting stars in the country and their collective worth was believed to be close to A$80 million. They own the highly successful Curry Kenny Group, the largest owner of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters in the country, with a fleet of about 60 aircraft. There has been speculation that pressure on the couple last year - when Curry was suffering debilitating heart problems and when a helicopter belonging to the group crashed, killing the pilot and three women aged 19 and 20 - proved too much for the relationship.

8. Mike Kekich & Fritz Peterson

Okay, this wasn't a divorce as such; more of a swap, really. Kekich and Peterson were the two New York Yankees who, in 1973, announced they had not only swapped wives but children and even dogs. Susanne Kekich went to live with Peterson, taking her two kids and the family terrier, while Marilyn Peterson went to live with Kekich, taking her two kids and the family poodle.

The "swap" outraged many in the US and there were few other items that went anywhere near removing this story from the front pages 36 years ago. The two pitchers' careers sagged under the pressure and the Marilyn Peterson-Mike Kekich match burned out a few months later and they parted. Susanne Kekich and Fritz Peterson endured, however, staying together and having four kids of their own.

"Neither Fritz nor I will ever make it into the Hall of Fame," Kekich said many years later, "but I know our names keep cropping up in the Hall of Shame. I don't lose any sleep over it but I really don't think it's fair."

7. Shane & Simone Warne

Simone Warne probably wins the prize as the most put-upon wife in these columns. They divorced back in 2005 after Warne's infamous and seemingly uncontrollable infidelities went from obvious to Oh my God, he's at it again. His texting, seemingly always landing him in trouble, became the stuff of jokes, soiling the career of perhaps the greatest bowler that has ever played cricket. They seemed set to reconcile in 2007 until Simone was sent a text - you guessed it - from Shane that was meant for another woman.

Latest reports from Australia earlier this year suggest they might, yet again, be getting back together. Most people don't care now - but these two seem unable to be without each other. Don't bowl her another wrong un, Warnie...

6. Hulk Hogan & Linda Hogan

Hulk Hogan, real name Terry Bollea, married Linda Claridge in 1983 and they were together for 24 years, enjoying a multi-million dollar wrestling and entertainment empire before separating. Linda said later news of Hulk's affair sparked her decision to end the marriage.

Lawyers at the time - when their son Nick was facing a civil suit re a car accident - suggested the divorce was a publicity stunt designed to foil the suit. However, the divorce went ahead and 48-year-old Linda began an affair with a 19-year-old, a student at the same school Nick and their daughter Brooke attended.

Asked years later about the accusation of suit-dodging, Hogan said he wished he was still with his wife. "If this is a ploy, her being intimate with a 19-year-old kid is pretty good acting," Hogan said. "For me to be able to handle my 48-year-old wife sleeping in a bed with a 19-year-old boyfriend and using my gym, and driving my cars, and living in my house. I guess we've got a pretty good act going on cause that's a lot to take on," Hogan said.

Hogan now lives with his daughter and reportedly has health issues with injuries suffered while wrestling.

5. Joe Di Maggio & Marilyn Monroe

She was...well, everyone knows who she was...and he was a fading star (but arguably THE biggest star) in US baseball history. They eloped in 1954 after a courtship which transfixed the nation but their relationship was coloured by her career (she was just making it big) and his jealousy.

It ended 274 days later when Di Maggio, upset at her famously revealing skirt-flying pose for the movie The Seven Year Itch, apparently hit her. Whatever their diferences, Di Maggio remained devoted to Monroe, famously sending a bunch of red roses to her crypt for 20 years after her death and never talking about their life together.

4. John McEnroe & Tatum O'Neal

He was a 26-year-old tennis star, she was a feisty daughter of a movie and TV star. She said she married McEnroe little realising that she had chosen a man like her own father, who she claimed verbally and physically abused her. She told tales of 1980s designer drugs, how McEnroe had them at home "like a wine cellar" for offering to friends and how she became woefully addicted.

She said the marriage went downhill when McEnroe started blaming her for his tennis losses. McEnroe said O'Neal gave as good as she got but the marriage ended in 1993 after seven years and three kids when she claimed a confrontation became violent. McEnroe maintained a mostly dignified silence after winning custody of the children because of Tatum's drug dependency and has been happily married to singer Patti Smyth since 1997.

3. Mike Tyson & Robin Givens

These two married in 1988 and lasted only a year. Givens was an actress, Tyson one of the most feared heavyweight boxers ever seen. In a famous interview on the TV show 20/20 Givens described life with Tyson as "pure torture" and detailed why - seeking a divorce a month after the show. Tyson kept quiet then but this month, over 20 years later, told Oprah Winfrey that he indeed had "socked" Givens but that she had "socked" him back.

Well, that's all right then.

2. Michael Jordan & Juanita

Now, if you're going to be a stellar, mega-rich sports star, then this is the way to get divorced. Michael Jordan, still basketball's superstar, split from his wife of 17 years in 2006 and agreed to a US$168 million settlement. Theirs was an amicable split, neither has dished the dirt on the other and Jordan did it hard for a while, buying a US$280,000 Miami house in a bit of a comedown. But don't feel too bad for "His Airness" - he was already a wealthy basketball star with the Chicago Bulls when the couple met on a blind date in 1984 and they signed a prenuptial agreement that entitled her to half his fortune, but she claimed only a third.

1. Bernie Ecclestone & Slavica

She is 1.88m. He is 1.59m. She is 28 years younger and a statuesque former Armani model. He looks like Woody Allen after being given a bad fright. But 78-year-old Bernie Ecclestone, the supremo behind Formula One, is a powerful man and he heads this little list because he allegedly agreed to pay US$1 billion to Slavica in May to end their 25-year marriage - easily a record in the sporting context. Most of Ecclestone's Empire was in Slavica's name (for tax reasons, allegedly) and the dimunitive F1 boss has many properties, some in swanky in Chelsea, was part-owner of Queen's Park Rangers football club and, in 2004, he sold a home in Kensington Palace Gardens for a then record sum of