• March 5 down the years

Foster wins a thriller

Brendan Foster was a grinder from the front over long distances © Getty Images

Enlarge

1977
Brendan Foster achieved an ambition by winning the National Cross-County title. In one of the best races in the event's history, he broke away with two miles to go but finished only one second ahead of defending champion Bernie Ford, with former champions Tony Simmons and David Black third and fourth.

1939
Judy Grinham was born in London. For three years, she was the young queen of the 100 metres backstroke. At 17, she won gold in a great race at the Olympics on December 5, 1956, setting the inaugural long-course world record. At the Commonwealth Games two years later, she set world bests in winning the 100 yards backstroke and medley relay, then won the 100 backstroke at the European Championships, where she also won bronze in the 100 freestyle and two relay medals. She retired from competitive swimming on her 20th birthday.

1999
At last, after three silver medals, the last on March 9 1997, Colin Jackson won the 60 metres hurdles at the World Indoors, setting a Championship record of 7.38 seconds.

In the same Championships ten years earlier, Colin Jackson finished second to Roger Kingdom of the USA; John Regis won the 200 ahead of Ade Mafe, reversing their positions in the European Indoors on February 19; Ireland's Marcus O'Sullivan won the 1500.

2014
Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith's international career ended with a 2-1 series defeat in Australia. With just two wickets remaining, the visitors were bowled out in the deciding match with only 27 balls of Test left.

Smith was handed the South African captaincy aged just 22 - their youngest ever leader - and went on to become the most capped Test captain in history with 109 matches to his name. Significant double-hundreds of 277, 259 or 234 stand out in his 27 Test centuries and he retired not only as one of South Africa's greatest-ever players, but one of the best to grace the world of cricket.

1886
Paul Radmilović was born in Cardiff. An exotic and forgotten name today, but that's today's fault, not his. This was one of Britain's most successful Olympic competitors. He took part in six Games, four of them as captain of the water polo team. Three minutes from the end of the final in 1920, he scored the winning goal against hosts Belgium. That was his fourth Olympic gold medal. He'd won two in water polo, in 1908 and 1912, and only the War prevented another one in 1916. He was also a member of the British team who won the 4x200 metres freestyle relay in 1908. He reached the finals of the 100 and 400 metres free at the 1906 Intercalated Games, and his international swimming career lasted an amazing 30 years.

1994
Oscar de la Hoya won his first world title. In only his 12th pro fight, he took the WBO super-featherweight belt from Denmark's Jimmi Bredahl, who'd won it in his 13th. Bredahl was unbeaten before this, but he hadn't met anyone worthy of the name, and De la Hoya knocked him down in the first two rounds before stopping him in the tenth.

World record holder Randy Matson failed to make the US Olympic team in 1972 © Getty Images

Enlarge

1945
Randy Matson was born in Texas. At 6ft 7in, he was one of the first really tall shot putters, and those long levers and 19 stones added more than a metre to the world record. His longest throw of 21.78 metres would have won him the Olympic title every year except 1988. He won it himself in 1968, after silver in 1964, but was never all that comfortable in major events. He scraped through the US Olympic trials in 1968 and failed to make the team in 1972, when he was still the world record holder. Nevertheless, in many people's opinion he's still the greatest shot putter of all time, partly because he achieved what he did before widespread use of drugs began in the 1970s. Except not quite. Drugs may not have been pandemic in the Sixties, but they were readily available, and in a 1972 newspaper interview Matson admitted to having taken steroids, knowing they were illegal (other sources specify the steroid as Dianobol). So he's just another thrower with an asterisk beside his name.

1977
The South African Grand Prix was the third of that year's Formula One Championship. It was the first Niki Lauda won on his way to regaining the drivers' title from Britain's James Hunt, who started on pole. Unfortunately the race wasn't remembered for that. When two fire marshals ran across the track to look at a crashed car, they took a crazy risk. Cars were racing past them as they got to the other side, and the first marshal had to jump out of the way of incoming traffic. The one just behind him simply didn't have time. He was hit by the Shadow-Ford driven by Britain's Tom Pryce. The marshal died after being thrown horribly high in the air, and his fire extinguisher hit Pryce on the head and killed him. With all the ways there were of dying in the sport in those days, you didn't need something like this. Pryce was 27 years old.

2009
Mac Henderson died aged 101. At the time, McLaren Henderson was the longest-lived international rugby player. He was capped three times at No.8 in 1933. Scotland won all three matches to become Four Nations champions.

1965
Ernie Terrell outpointed Eddie Machen to win the ersatz WBA heavyweight title. But big Ernie knew he wouldn't be recognised as the world champion until he met Muhammad Ali on February 6, 1967. Or Cassius Clay as he insisted on calling him...

© ESPN EMEA LTD