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It never occurred before this juncture to reflect upon the true fighters in Sport, not just in their Sport, but away from it too. There have been quite a few athletes to have combated one of the most dreaded diseases in many of its forms – Cancer. Cancer is an illness that is perennially dreaded, even before it strikes. The requisite of mental resilience to combat the illness is immense, and who better than athletes would be acquainted with the same?
Here are a few athletes who have not only tackled various forms of Cancer, but have beaten it and emerged stronger in resolve than before and most likely who will be someone Yuvraj Singh should look up to in his quest of conquering the ailment.
Lance Armstrong, is a former American professional road cyclist and one of the few athletes to have beat Cancer and to have come back stronger after the ailment put him down.
His talent for bicycle racing became apparent after he won the UCI World Championship in 1993 being one of the youngest to do so. He participated in the Thrift Drug crown of cycling and won it thrice, something that had never been done before; he collected a Triple Crown of Cycling: the Thrift Drug Classic in Pittsburgh, the K-Mart West Virginia Classic and the CoreStates USPRO national championship in Philadelphia and was awarded $1 million for the same. He was surpassing his abilities and exceeding expectations. But in 1996, his performances began to wane and he only lasted five days in the Tour De France.
The reason for the decline became apparent when Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1996. It was in the third stage when it was identified and had spread to his lungs, brain and abdomen. Armstrong needed to undergo immediate surgery and chemotherapy to stand any chance of survival. He underwent orchiectomy to remove his contaminated testicle, even after which the doctors said he had less than a 40% chance of survival.
His chemotherapeutic treatment carried on while his brain tumours were surgically removed. After the chemotherapy ended in mid- December, his cancer went into complete diminution. By 1998, he began training with serious regime, spending what was a very critical week in the stimulating Appalachian terrain around Boone in North Carolina with his racing friend.
His cycling comeback began in 1998 and in 1999, he won the Tour De France which included four stages, but that didn’t completely satisfy him as the big guns hadn’t participated in that tour. He went onto win the Tour De France after that for the next 7 years at a stretch marking that as one of the greatest comebacks in the history of Sport.
Martina Navratilova was a former World no.1 tennis player from Czech. She is the winner of 18 Grand Slam singles titles, a record 31 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles and a 10 time Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. She holds the record for the lengthiest winning streak in the Open Era of 74 consecutive matches. She and her doubles partner King each won a record 20 Wimbledon titles.
Navratilova had been diagnosed early in 2010 with Breast Cancer. She described the news of her having Cancer as her 9/11. A month after being informed, she had the tumour removed surgically followed by radiation therapy. Luckily for her, she didn’t have to undergo chemotherapy as the surgery was minor.
Navratilova competed in the 24.9 mile cycling portion of a triathlon in Hawaii in less than 2 weeks of surgery. After the triathlon, she got back onto court to play an exhibition tennis match against Lindsay Davenport who was in awe of how Martina had coped with her Cancer diagnosis.
Navratilova underwent radiation treatment in Paris four times a week for 6 weeks. She insisted on Paris as she was to commentate in the French Open along with compete in the Legends doubles tournament partnering with 1998 Wimbledon Champion – Jana Novotna. As treatment coincided with the tournament, she would go for treatment in the morning, commentate in the afternoons and compete in the evenings. Despite not being a 100%, she competed in the French Open Legends final and won convincingly. Just two days after her last session of therapy, she headed to the Wimbledon to provide an analysis for a Tennis channel.
Navratilova not only is an inspiration for how she played her tennis but her commitment towards the game and her attitude and mental fortitude while battling a disease that can deteriorate the toughest, even if it isn’t at its strongest.
3. Arnold Palmer
Arnold Palmer is an American professional golfer who is arguably regarded as one of the greatest to have played men’s professional golf. He had started swinging his first clubs at the age of four. He started his professional career when he won the Canadian Open. He won seven titles in the tournaments the golfing world considers the major championships – U.S. Open (1), Masters Tournament (4), British Open (2) and the PGA Championship, which he never won but ended second best, thrice. He had a massive fan base that supported him and flocked to watch him in action, named the ‘Arnie’s Army’. He earned the title of ‘Athlete of the Decade’ in the 1960s by the Associated Press. 
Palmer was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer in 1997, at the age of 68. Although there was no physical indication of the same, the PSA test results that were a part of his routine, incited the doctor to recommend a biopsy. The biopsy resulted in showing traces of cancer in the first stage and Palmer decided to undergo surgery to entirely remove his prostate followed by a radiation therapy that would last about 7 weeks.
Inside eight weeks of his treatment, he was found back on the golf course and getting back to shape. However, Palmer at that age felt that he was weaker than he had earlier been and that it would require a lot of time for him to get back to where he used to be on a fitness level after practices. Palmer being a stoic Cancer survivor takes pride in his resolve and urges people suffering/recovering from Cancer to believe that they can overcome the ill-effects it has and still enjoy their life the way they’d like to.
