Ben Hogan
Sticking with golf, it's hard to ignore Hogan who survived a car crash to win the US Open in 1950. Hogan collided with a bus on a foggy night in 1949, in which he threw himself across the legs of his wife Valerie to protect her. He ended up with a double-fracture of his pelvis, a fracture collarbone, a fractured left ankle, broken ribs and a blood clot which proved to be near fatal. The mangled car was used to promote the dangers of 'reckless driving' while Hogan's mangled body recovered and 11 months later he returned to the golf course and won the US Open for a second time, his fourth major title. He went on to win nine majors in total.
Niki Lauda
The reigning Formula One world champion had built a seemingly insurmountable lead in the 1976 standings, winning four of the season's first six races, when he crashed early in the German Grand Prix. His Ferrari burst into flames and Lauda was trapped in the wreckage, suffering severe burns to his head and lung damage.
Although he walked from the scene, he later fell into a coma, but returned to finish fourth at the Italian Grand Prix six weeks later. Despite the disfigurement suffered in the accident, Lauda allowed only enough reconstructive surgery to enable his eyelids to function normally. His scars and trademark cap remained with him the rest of his career. Although he narrowly lost the '76 championship to Briton James Hunt, Lauda captured his second title the following year and retired in 1979. Three years later, he returned and picked up his third world championship in 1984, before calling it quits 12 months later.
Monica Seles
It remains one of the most shocking sights on a tennis court.
Seles sitting at the end of the court reaching around to her back where she had been stabbed with a knife by a crazed fan. The incident happened during a 1993 match in Hamburg with Gunter Parche, an obsessed fan of Seles' rival Steffi Graf, stabbing the top ranked player in the world with a boning knife.
Seles, who had won nine Grand Slams up until the stabbing, took two years away from the game following the incident. On her return she won the Canadian Open before reaching the final of the US Open before losing to Graff.
She did however win a 10th Grand Slam title the following year when she took out the 1996 Australian Open, her fourth title in Australia.
Michael Jordan
On March 18, 1995, Michael Jordan announced his return to the NBA with a two-word press release: "I'm back".
After dominating the basketball landscape for a decade and taking the concept of sports star marketing to dizzying new heights, No 23 had earlier shocked the sports world by chucking in the hoops to pursue a career in baseball. He eventually gave up the idea, returning to basketball.
Many questioned whether Jordan - who had led the Chicago Bulls to a three-peat of NBA titles from 1991-1993 - would be able to recapture his skills. It didn't take long for doubts to be erased, with Jordan leading the Bulls to another three-peat from 1996-1998. In the final game of the 1998 finals against Utah, with his team trailing 86-83 and 40 seconds left on the clock, Jordan scored from a lay-up, stripped Karl Malone and sank the winning basket - a perfect end to his career.
Alfie Langer
He was the virtuoso veteran who proved, in the deciding Origin match in 2001, that sporting fairytales can come true. It seemed inconceivable at the time - the 35-year-old Allan Langer had left the NRL in 1999 to play in the English Super League, before Wayne Bennett persuaded him to return. It was a clandestine operation, with reports at the time suggesting the 165cm "Alfie" even boarded the plane to Australia under a false name.
Bennett backed his man but was also desperate - a year earlier the Maroons had suffered their worst ever defeat (56-16) in game three and he had lost skipper Gordon Tallis for the decider. Critics were unconvinced; Phil Gould wondered about the lack of depth north of the border, if they had to "bring back 35-year-olds to win".
The Little General made a nervous start to the most anticipated Origin clash ever, before setting up two early tries. He scored himself in the second half and Queensland romped to a 40-14 win and a cherished series victory.
The headline in Sydney's Daily Telegraph simply read "Bloody Alf". The success prompted Langer to restart his NRL career with the Broncos and he also played another year for Queensland, taking man of the match in the third game before retiring with 34 Origin caps and 10 tries to his name.
Dan Carter
It's often forgotten the injury and form issues that the All Blacks number 10 went through in the lead-up to the 2015 Rugby World Cup. After suffering a groin injury at the 2011 World Cup, it looked like the injury woes were to haunt Carter once again when he suffered a leg injury at the start of the Super Rugby season. His form then started to take a turn as he played regular games in the 12 jersey outside Colin Slade.
Carter remained the first choice 10 for the All Blacks at the World Cup and he regained form to get back to his best on the big stage. But he then suffered a knock to a knee in the quarter-final against France.
However, despite his knee 'blowing up' on the eve of the semifinal against South Africa, the All Blacks veteran kicking two conversions, a penalty and a crucial dropped goal to set up a 20-18 victory. A week later he put in a man of the match performance in the final over Australia to lead the All Blacks to a second straight title.
