David Beckham Profile

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Birth Name:     David Robert Joseph Beckham

Birth Date:     May 2, 1975

Birth Place:     Leytonstone, London, England, UK

Height:     5' 11½

Nationality:     British

Profession:     Actor, member of Real Maddrid Football Club, Model

Education:     Manchester United to their youth training program at the age of 14

Husband/Wife:     Victoria Beckham Adams (former member of Spice Girls; born on April 17, 1975; married on July 4, 1999)

Father:     David Edward Beckham (married in 1969 in Hoxton, east London)

Mother:     Sandra West

Sister:     Joanne (born in 1982) and Lynne (born in 1972)

Son:     Cruz Beckham (born on February 20, 2005 in Madrid via Caesarean section), Romeo James (born on September 1, 2002 at 9.40am; at the Portland Street Hospital in London), Brooklyn Joseph Beckham (born on March 4, 1999)

Daughter:     Harper Seven Beckham (born on July 10, 2011 weighing at 7lbs 10ozs in Los Angeles, California)

Claim to fame:     English football superstar signed with Manchester United in 1993 and Real Madrid in 2003

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David Beckham

David Beckham

David Beckham

David Beckham

David Beckham

Levi World Cup canceled because of warm weather

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HELSINKI (AP) — The World Cup ski races scheduled for northern Finland next week were canceled Thursday because of a lack of snow and unusually warm weather.
The International Ski Federation (FIS) was looking to reschedule the men's and women's slaloms that were slated for Levi on Nov. 12-13 and would provide more information by Sunday.
"The situation was looking promising until last Friday, when the forecast changed," said Hans Pieren, an FIS race director. "Even with the highly efficient snowmaking installations, we simply had no chance when it's not cold enough."
The federation said there was no snow cover in Finland at the end of October, "although it ought to reach the middle and north of Lapland by this time of the year."

Roger Federer

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Roger Federer (born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 17 October 2011, he is ranked world no. 4 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles. He is one of seven male players to capture the career Grand Slam and one of three (with Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal) to do so on three different surfaces (clay, grass and hard courts). He is the only male player in tennis history to have reached the title match of each Grand Slam tournament at least five times. Many sports analysts, tennis critics, and former and current players consider Federer to be the greatest tennis player of all time.

Federer has appeared in an unprecedented 23 career Grand Slam finals, of which 10 were consecutive appearances, and appeared in 18 of 19 finals over the four and a half years from the 2005 Wimbledon Championships through the 2010 Australian Open, the lone exception being the 2008 Australian Open. He holds the record of reaching the semifinals or better of 23 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments over five and a half years from the 2004 Wimbledon Championships through the 2010 Australian Open. At the 2011 US Open, he reached a record 30th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Federer has won a record five ATP World Tour Finals (shared with Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras) and 17 ATP Masters Series tournaments (tied second all-time). He also won the Olympic gold medal in doubles with his compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. He spent eight years (2003–2010) continuously in the top 2 in the year-end rankings. His rivalry with Rafael Nadal is considered one of the greatest of all time in the sport. In 2011, he was voted the second most trusted and respected human in the world, second only to Nelson Mandela.
As a result of Federer's successes in tennis, he was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for a record four consecutive years (2005–2008).He is often referred to as the Federer Express or abbreviated to Fed Express, or FedEx, the Swiss Maestro, or simply Maestro. In 2011, Federer was ranked no. 25 on the Forbes Celebrity 100 List.

Lindsey Vonn

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Lindsey Caroline Vonn (born October 18, 1984) is an American alpine ski racer with the U.S. Ski Team. She has won three consecutive overall World Cup and downhill championships (2008, 2009, 2010), the first American woman and third woman ever to accomplish this. Vonn won the gold medal in downhill at the 2010 Winter Olympics, the first ever in the event for an American woman. Vonn also won three consecutive World Cup season titles in Super G (the first American woman to do so), and two consecutive titles in the combined.

Vonn is one of five women to have won World Cup races in all five disciplines of alpine skiing – Downhill, Super G, Giant slalom, Slalom, and Super combined – and, as of October 2011, has won 42 races in her career. With her Olympic gold and bronze medals, two World Championship gold medals in 2009 (plus three silver medals in 2007 / 2011), and three overall World Cup titles, Vonn has become the most successful American skier in ski racing history.

Vonn received the Laureus World Sports Awards Sportswoman of the Year for 2010. She was also honored again as the USOC's sportswoman of the year for 2010.

LeBron James

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LeBron Raymone James (born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he was a three-time "Mr. Basketball" of Ohio in high school, and was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA superstar while a sophomore at St. Vincent – St. Mary High School. He was selected with the number one pick in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Listed as a small forward, James has set numerous youngest player records since joining the league. He was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2003–04, was named the NBA Most Valuable Player in 2008–09 and 2009–10, and has been both an All-NBA selection and an All-Star every season since 2005. In 2010, a much-publicized free agency process ended with James signing with the Miami Heat.

James led the Cleveland Cavaliers to consecutive playoff appearances from 2006 through 2010. In 2007, the Cavaliers advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, but lost to the San Antonio Spurs. In 2011, James and the Miami Heat advanced to the NBA Finals but lost to the Dallas Mavericks. James has been a member of the USA national team, winning a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics and gold at the 2008 Olympics.

Albert Pujols

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José Alberto Pujols Alcántara (born January 16, 1980), better known as Albert Pujols (Spanish pronunciation: [puˈxols]), is a Dominican-American professional baseball player, who is currently a free agent. A first baseman, Pujols is considered one of the top players in Major League Baseball,and was the most feared hitter in baseball in 2008, according to a poll of all 30 MLB managers.

He won the National League Rookie of the Year award in 2001, and has since been selected as an All-Star nine times, and won the National League Most Valuable Player Award three times. He has also twice won the National League Hank Aaron Award, and has two World Series rings from the Cardinals' 2006 and 2011 titles.

At the end of the 2011 season, he led all active players in batting average (.328), slugging percentage (.617), and OPS (1.037), and ranked 37th in number of home runs in Major League Baseball history.He was selected by ESPN.com as the greatest player of the decade from 2000–09. He stands 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) tall, weighs 230 pounds (100 kg), and bats and throws right-handed.

Lance Armstrong

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Lance Edward Armstrong (born Lance Edward Gunderson on September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times, after having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support. He last rode for (and helped found) UCI ProTeam Team RadioShack.

In October 1996 he was diagnosed as having testicular cancer, with a tumor that had metastasized to his brain and lungs. His cancer treatments included brain and testicular surgery and extensive chemotherapy, and his prognosis was originally poor. He went on to win the Tour de France each year from 1999 to 2005, and is the only person to win seven times, having broken the previous record of five wins, shared by Miguel Indurain, Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx, and Jacques Anquetil.

In 1999, he was named the ABC Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year. In 2000 he won the Prince of Asturias Award in Sports. In 2002, Sports Illustrated magazine named him Sportsman of the Year. He was also named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for the years 2002–2005. He received ESPN's ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006, and won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality Award in 2003. Armstrong announced his retirement from racing on July 24, 2005, at the end of the 2005 Tour de France, but returned to competitive cycling in January 2009, and finished third in the 2009 Tour de France. He confirmed he had retired from competitive cycling for good on February 16, 2011.

Shaquille ONeal

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Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal, born (March 6, 1972), nicknamed "Shaq" is a former American professional basketball player. Standing 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) tall and weighing 325 pounds (147 kg), he was one of the heaviest players ever to play in the NBA. Throughout his 19-year career, O'Neal used his size and strength to overpower opponents for points and rebounds.

Following his career at Louisiana State University, O'Neal was drafted by the Orlando Magic with the first overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft. He quickly became one of the top centers in the league, winning Rookie of the Year in 1992–93 and later leading his team to the 1995 NBA Finals. After four years with the Magic, O'Neal signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers. He won three consecutive championships in 2000, 2001, and 2002. Amid tension between O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat in 2004, and his fourth NBA championship followed in 2006. Midway through the 2007–2008 season he was traded to the Phoenix Suns. After a season-and-a-half with the Suns, O'Neal was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2009–10 season. O'Neal played for the Boston Celtics in the 2010–11 season before retiring.

O'Neal's individual accolades include the 1999–2000 MVP award, the 1992–93 NBA Rookie of the Year award, 15 All-Star game selections, three All-Star Game MVP awards, three Finals MVP awards, two scoring titles, 14 All-NBA team selections, and three NBA All-Defensive Team selections. He is one of only three players to win NBA MVP, All-Star game MVP and Finals MVP awards in the same year (2000); the other players are Willis Reed in 1970 and Michael Jordan in 1996 and 1998. He ranks 5th all-time in points scored, 5th in field goals, 12th in rebounds, and 7th in blocks.

In addition to his basketball career, O'Neal has released four rap albums, with his first, Shaq Diesel, going platinum. He has appeared in numerous films and has starred in his own reality shows, Shaq's Big Challenge and Shaq Vs.. On July 14, 2011, O'Neal announced that he will join Turner Network Television (TNT) as a color commentator on its NBA basketball games.

Peyton Williams Manning

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Peyton Williams Manning (born March 24, 1976) is an American football quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). Manning holds the record for most NFL MVP awards with four. He was drafted by the Colts as the first overall pick in 1998 after a standout college football career with the Tennessee Volunteers. He is the son of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning and the older brother of current New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning.

Manning holds NFL records for consecutive seasons with 4,000 or more yards passing and the most total seasons with 4,000 or more yards passing in a career. Manning holds the sixth highest career passer rating (94.9) in NFL history and the highest single-season passer rating (121.1 in 2004). He is the all-time Colts franchise leader in career wins, career passing yards, pass attempts, pass completions, and passing touchdowns.

In 2009, he was listed by The Sporting News as the No. 1 player in the NFL. Also in 2009, Fox Sports named him player of the decade.

Since the Colts drafted Manning in 1998, the team has the highest conversion rate on 3rd down (44.6%) and 4th down (61.1%) plays in the NFL. While leading the Colts to their Super Bowl XLI victory in 2007, Manning helped the team to an NFL record by converting 56.1% of its 3rd downs.

An extremely marketable player outside of football, Manning has appeared in numerous commercials, was featured on the covers of the NFL Fever games for the Xbox, hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live, and guest-voiced on The Simpsons, along with his brothers, Eli and Cooper.

Manning's pre-snap routine has become one of the most recognizable scenes in the NFL. Prior to each play in a football game, the offensive team generally huddles; however, Manning and the Colts almost always skip the huddle, instead using a hurry-up offense with numerous audibles at the line of scrimmage. In 2010, he was named the eighth best player in NFL history, according to the NFL's top 100 show, and is the only active player in the top 10 category.