Nicol David voted greatest athlete of all time in online poll
The name Nicol David is no stranger to Malaysians. The talented athlete is our country’s pride and joy as she has helped Malaysia gained tremendous recognition with her incredible achievements time and time again. And now, she can add another title to her long list of achievements – the World Games’ Greatest Athlete of All Time – a title befitting our squash legend, indeed.
Nicol David came up trumps in online poll by a landslide
Image credit: Nicol David
In an online poll held by the International World Games Association, on its 40th anniversary, Nicol David knocked off the other competitors in the World Games’ global online poll by a landslide. She garnered a grand total of 318,943 votes in comparison to runner-up James Kehoe, an Irish tug-of-war athlete’s 113,120 votes. Meanwhile, in third place was Ukraine’s powerlifter Larysa Solovlova coming in at 80,790 votes.
In fact, the eight-time world champion was the only representative from Asia – a true testament to all her past impressive accomplishments that landed her a spot as a contender for the title of The World Games’ Greatest Athlete of All Time.
A walk through Nicol’s record-breaking career
Image credit: PSA World Tour
Nicol David’s long list of accolades includes three World Games gold medals, two Commonwealth Games gold medals, a total of seven Asian Games titles, and a whopping 81 titles from the Professional Squash Association (PSA) Tour, among many others throughout her 20 years of sports career.
New Straits Times reported that Malaysia’s squash queen is also the longest-standing record holder for being the World Number 1 female player in her sport. In 2006, she clinched the spot and successfully held on to the title for the next 9 years.
In 2008, she was recognised with the Darjah Setia Pangkuan Negeri award, which earned her the title of Datuk.
Although Nicol David has retired back in 2019, she is still active in the court in other ways, predominantly bring involved in programmes that encourage participation of girls and women in sports in Colombia, where she is currently residing.
Nicol David continues to make Malaysians proud
Malaysia has no shortage of impressive talents in the sports community. From the formidable badminton player Datuk Lee Chong Wei, to amazing diver Pandelela Rinong, to stellar cyclist Azizulhasni Awang, and exceptional squash icon Nicol David, these athletes are not just extremely skilled in what they do, but have risen to become one of the world’s best. We look forward to more young and upcoming Malaysian athletes taking the global stage soon.
Keep reading for more stories of inspirational Malaysians:
- Datin Sue Ding ran 250KM across the Sahara to raise funds for charity organisations
- Malaysian student wins Korean Speech Contest
Cover image adapted from: Nicol David and PSA World Tour
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