• May 17 down the years

Boxing champion commits suicide

Randy Turpin beat Sugar Ray Robinson in July 1951 to take the world middleweight title © Getty Images

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1966
The suicide of Randy Turpin, who shot himself a month short of his 38th birthday. Money worries were the real killer. Top boxers didn't always make as much as they should, and when his business ventures failed, Turpin fought as a wrestler and worked in a scrapyard. When the Inland Revenue hit him with a huge unpaid tax bill, he was declared bankrupt. There was nothing left for a man who'd once had it all. Randolph Adolphus Turpin, champion of the world. A strong and rugged middleweight with a decent punch, he had personal problems even when he was winning. In his first 44 pro fights, his only two defeats came after his wife brought a case against him for assault then got custody of their daughter. Turpin avenged both defeats, including the one by Albert Finch. Turpin's brother Dick (a gift to headline writers) was the first mixed-race boxer to win a British title. Finch took it from him, Randy took it off Finch. Then he won the European middleweight title in 48 seconds. When the dazzling Sugar Ray Robinson (born May 3 1921) swept into town on July 10 1951, Turpin was ready. Like other fighters after him, he crowded the great man for 15 rounds to take his world middleweight title. But the downhill slope was only two months away. On September 12, a desperate Robinson threw enough punches to save himself from defeat on cuts. When Sugar Ray retired, Turpin won a version of the world title recognised only in Britain, then lost a fight for the real vacant title. After that it was back to British and Commonwealth title fights. And the money battles he couldn't win.

1994
Nigel Walker was a former international high hurdler who switched to rugby union and played on the wing for Wales. Today he equalled the national record by scoring four tries in an international match. Compelled to play World Cup qualifiers against the might of Portugal and Spain, Wales began by scoring 100 points for the first and only time, winning 102-11 in Lisbon. Their other winger, captain Ieuan Evans, scored three of their 16 tries. So did centre Mike Hall. And Neil Jenkins helped himself to 11 conversions. But it was a mismatch that should have been missed out. So was the game against Spain four days later, when Evans scored another three tries but Wales won only 54-0.

1978
The 82nd Boston Marathon ended in the closest race so far. Bill Rodgers held off fellow American Jeff Wells by just two seconds. It was the first of Rodgers's three consecutive wins in the race, to go with his success in 1975. Wells never won it.

2000
In swimming, the oldest world record on the books was broken at last. In the space of four days in 1981, a freakishly fast 16-year-old American set world records in the 100 and 200 metres butterfly. Mary T Meagher had also set two in the 200 when she was only 14. Both her 1981 times lasted 18 years, the one in the 200 several months longer before it was broken today. Australia's Susie O'Neill swam 2 minutes 5.81, just 0.15 seconds faster than Meagher.

Christine Ohuruogu's gold medal in Beijing was the third major championship she had won © Getty Images

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1984
Christine Ohuruogu was born in London. Her best time for the 400 metres is only third on the British list, behind Kathy Cook (born May 3 1960) and Katharine Merry, who both won Olympic bronze medals in the event. But it was Ohuruogu who won something brighter. And not just at the Olympic Games. She had a triple crown of years, gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in 2006 and World Championships in 2007 culminating in another at the 2008 Olympics (August 19). In those last two competitions, she took advantage of Sanya Richards's famous fallibility - but Ohuruogu's strength in the finishing straight was as impressive as her competitive nerve. Of course, she nearly didn't make the Olympics. Suspended for a year after missing three out-of-competition drug tests, she was banned for life from competing for Britain at the Olympics. The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the ban, but it was lifted when she threatened to compete for another country. There's a surprise.

1928
The Olympic Games opened in Amsterdam. They didn't close until 12 August.

1981
Carlos Reutemann won the Belgian Grand Prix. The previous two races had been won by Nélson Piquet, Reutemann won the one before that. Piquet crashed out after two laps today, but the two of them were neck-and-neck all season. Piquet won the world title, Reutemann finished just a point behind after leading before the last race on October 17. He never won the world title. Piquet won it twice more.

1945
Tony Roche was born in Wagga Wagga. While Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall were away playing professional tennis, fellow Australians Roy Emerson, John Newcombe, and Roche stayed behind to win Grand Slam singles titles. Roche won only one, the French in 1966 in between losing finals to Fred Stolle and Emerson. When the Lavers and Rosewalls came back, they beat Roche in three major finals. Laver won the first Open Wimbledon in 1968 (July 5) and completed the Slam at the US Open the following year (September 8 1969), and Rosewall won the US the following year. Chronic elbow problems meant Roche was never a force in singles again. Doubles though was a different matter. He and Newcombe were among the greatest pairs of all time. Newc banging down that big serve, Roche providing touch and a left-hander's angles. They were Wimbledon champions five times, including three in a row. Roche also won the mixed three times, from 1965 to 1976. He helped Australia win the Davis Cup four times and later coached the likes of Ivan Lendl, Pat Rafter, Lleyton Hewitt, and Roger Federer. Sinewy and craggy, he once and joined a group of professionals known for their good looks. What number was he in The Handsome Eight? Thirteenth, he replied.

1997
Frano Botica scored 23 points on his rugby union debut for Croatia against Latvia. He'd landed two drop goals on his debut for New Zealand against France eleven years earlier. Better known as a rugby league player with Wigan, Botica scored a record number of points in Challenge Cup finals (April 29 1995).

1878
Edwin Mills was born in Warwickshire. Don't mock the tug-of-war. It's an ancient and natural test of strength and it used to be an Olympic sport. Mills was one of three City of London policemen (the others were Fred Humphreys and John Shepherd) who won gold in 1908, silver in 1912, and gold again in 1920, when Humphreys and Mills were 42. Tug-of-war was on the athletics schedule in those days, so they're the oldest Olympic champions in track and field.

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