Famous Sporting Comebacks

To be fitter after 40 will require facing a few obstacles and you are going to have to sweat for it. What it won't involve is spending hours in the gym everyday, after all if, like me, you have a family you would want to spend as much time with them as possible.

Here are some famous sportsmen and women who have returned to the fray:-

• George Foreman: Olympic Champion in 1968 at the age of 19 and went on to become world champion five years later when he defeated Joe Frazier. He lost his belt later to Mohammed Ali in the legendary 'Rumble in the Jungle'. But after some 12 years out of the game Foreman stunned the world of boxing when he floored Michael Moorer in 1994 at the age of 45. He remains the oldest ever boxing world champion.


• Lance Armstrong: The Texan survived cancer and went on to win seven consecutive Tour De France crowns before retiring in 2005. This year he returned to the saddle after four years away and finished third. An impressive feat for a 37 year old, totally inspirational.


• Steve Redgrave: Immediately after winning gold at the 1996 Olympic Games he stated that if anyone found him near a boat again they could shoot him. Despite this he went back for the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and won his fifth consecutive gold medal whilst battling against diabetes.


• Niki Lauda: Won the world F1 Championship in 1975 and 1977 and quit in 1979 to focus on his airline. He returned in 1982 and in 1984 won his third world title with Mclaren.


• Dara Torres: The champion of coming out of retirement, swimmer Torres quit twice only to return to the pool in Beijing at the age of 41 and won three silver medals in the 50m free, 4 x100m free and 4 x 100m relay. She competed in the 1984, 1988 and 1992 Olympics before returning to the blocks at Sydney 2000 and winning five medals. She then continued her education, started a family in 2006 before announcing her second return to competition a few months later.