Your Daily Dose: Dreams come true

Just because the sports world has stopped doesn't mean your sports consumption has to. In this Daily Dose series, Arvinash Ravindran looks at fan interactions.

Joseph Schooling, then only 13 in 2008, posing with Michael Phelps. Eight years later, he beat his idol in Rio to win Singapore's first Olympic gold medal.
Joseph Schooling (right) beat his idol Michael Phelps in Rio to win Singapore's first Olympic gold medal. PHOTO: ST FILE

A FAN WHO BEAT HIS IDOL

It is an image that has since gone viral: 13-year-old Joseph Schooling posing with his idol Michael Phelps when the swimming legend came to the Republic for a training camp in 2008. Eight years later, the Singaporean beat his hero in the 100m butterfly in Rio to win his country's first Olympic gold medal.

"My dad hosted the US Olympic team at a country club in Singapore," Schooling told CNN, in reference to Singapore Island Country Club.

"I was doing a Chinese composition paper and my mum said 'Joe! Michael's there, Michael's there! Get up!' I was halfway through writing but dropped everything, went down and took a picture with him - that picture: me, with my glasses and braces, looking starstruck."

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NO KIDDING AROUND

Many players often do not have an answer when Roger Federer is across the net. But when Grigor Dimitrov invited a young fan to take his place during his BNP Paribas Showdown exhibition match in 2015 against the Swiss maestro, he needed just one chance to outmanoeuvre Federer.

After hitting two forehands and a backhand, the kid conjured a lob winner over the 1.85m-tall legend.

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HEART RATE SPIKES

They came at her like a bolt from the blue. Usain Bolt had just won the 200m title at the 2016 IAAF Diamond League event in London and he celebrated by throwing his running spikes to a fan.

"I will cherish these for the rest of my life," she tweeted.


A WEFIE ON THE FIELD

Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger ended his international career in 2016 by posing for wefie with a fan wearing a "Schweinsteiger 7" shirt after winning the match against Finland.

The 2014 World Cup winner was in tears as he left the pitch in Monchengladbach while fans rose to give him a standing ovation.


WOODLAND'S INSPIRATION

American golfer Gary Woodland was about to make the most important shot at the 2019 US Open when he heard a voice in his head telling him "You got this". They were the words of a tweet sent by Amy Bockerstette, a girl with down syndrome who played the sport.

Woodland had to meet her after winning his first Major tournament as she was his inspiration.

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A DREAM COME TRUE

Haidar Mustafa lost his parents in a bombing in Beirut when he was three.

An online movement #CristianoMeetHaidar brought the tragic story to the football star's attention.

The Real Madrid fan was flown to Madrid in 2015 to meet his idol Cristiano Ronaldo, a moment that brought him to tears.


BIG MAN HUG

Courtside seats at a National Basketball Association (NBA) game are typically a treat. One fan was at the heart of an unexpected move in the first quarter of the game between the Boston Celtics and Utah Jazz in 2011.

After Shaquille O'Neal flew into the front row following a defensive attempt, the four-time NBA champion gave out a hug.

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A MARRIAGE PROPOSAL ON COURT

Steffi Graf had a reputation for being businesslike on court. Yet she showed her funny side during a Wimbledon match against Kimiko Date in 1995.

After a fan shouted: "Steffi, will you marry me?", she took her time before replying: "How much money do you have?"

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 01, 2020, with the headline Your Daily Dose: Dreams come true. Subscribe