Beloved Malaysian squash star Nicol Ann David is leading the online poll for World Games’ “Greatest Athlete of All Time.”
Squash legend: Many believe David deserves a spot among the greats after breaking international records and winning titles during her career spanning over two decades.
- The 37-year-old athlete, who retired in 2019, is considered the most successful Malaysian sports figure in history, according to Says.
- David’s only disappointment was never having the chance to represent Malaysia as an Olympian, as squash was never included as an Olympic sport.
- David is the only athlete representing an Asian country in the online poll that shortlisted 23 other candidates.
- As of this writing, David has so far accumulated 175,005 votes from fans, which is nearly 100,000 more than the current second place, Russian sumo wrestler Batyr Altyev (78,414 votes).
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Get to know David: The heavily lauded athlete was born in Penang, Malaysia, with an interest in the sport at the age of 5, according to Britannica.
- When David was 15, she became the youngest woman to win a World Junior Championship and defended her crown again in 2001. In between those competitions, she also became the youngest woman to win the 2000 Savcor Finnish Open.
- She became the first Asian female to be officially ranked as the number one female player in the world in January 2006.
- Overall, David has won eight World Open crowns.
- Now into retirement, David plans to create her own foundation, giving talks and more, with the goal of empowering young girls to take up sports, according to The Malaysian Reserve.
- “Retirement has been great. I am absolutely loving it…Waking up in the morning not having to train for competitions or having to make sure I am mentally sound and ready for a season,” she told the publication.
GOAT of World Games: The “World Games Greatest Athlete of All Time” poll includes a variety of sports from all editions of The World Games’ history from 1981 to 2017, including archery, bowling, canoe and lacrosse.
- Anyone can vote for their favorite athlete on the website via this link.
- Voters are required to vote for two candidates: two votes to your first-choice candidate and one vote to your second-choice candidate. Single-candidate votes will not be counted.
- Only 10 highest ranked candidates will advance to the next level which starts on Jan. 20.
- The winner will be crowned after voting ends on Feb. 1.
Feature Image via Getty (left), @NicolDavid (right)
