Supermodels, singers and actors: 7 celebrities who almost became Olympians

 

He’s one of Hollywood’s favorite stars, but eight years before he started acting, British star Jason Statham was a dedicated diver trying to make it to the Olympics.

After finding a love for diving while on holiday with his parents in Florida, the then teenager signed up for the UK team and was part of the British team during of the year. Statham participated in the Olympic Trials for the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul and the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games but was unable to make the finals of the main event. But he represented his country at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand.

 

He told the BBC in 2008: “It’s a shame I didn’t make it to the Olympics.” I started very late. Maybe it was none of my business. I had to do another game.”

Vera Wang

People dream of having a custom-made Vera Wang wedding dress, but for the fashion designer herself, she dreamed of becoming an Olympic gold medalist.

At the age of 8, Wang began competing in figure skating and by the age of 19, he had already made a name for himself in the sport, earning a spot at the 1968 US National Championships in Philadelphia. .

He said: “I was completely dedicated to it South China Morning Post‘s Post Magazine in 2020. However, he and his partner missed out on a place at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble. “I was disappointed when I didn’t qualify for the Olympic team,” he says.

The loss ultimately resulted in “heartbreak” and the end of Wang’s skating career. He went on to study in Paris for a year where he discovered his love for fashion, and is now one of the most famous designers in the world.

Robert Anderson

 

His acting career spanned over 50 years and included major credits such as Star Wars, Lord of the Courts and The Princess Bride but, before the late English star started his successful career in Hollywood, he had another one – a fence.

Anderson started fencing as a boy, and despite a brief break when he served in the Royal Marines in World War II, he went on to win many awards for fencing and teaching soldiers. – with him his knowledge.

After the war, the actor represented Britain at the 1952 Olympics in Finland, but did not make it to the podium. However, two years before that, when he competed in the 1950 world championships, he won gold and silver. He did not participate in the 1953 tournament.

Geena Davis

 

Leaving Thelma & Louise to Grey’s Anatomy and countless roles in between, Geena Davis doesn’t know how to work effectively. But, 10 years after winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, he decided that he would try to win another award – an Olympic medal.

The 68-year-old actor spoke to him People magazine in 2020, I remember watching the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and quickly became fascinated with shooting. He said: “It’s amazing and beautiful, and I thought to myself, ‘I wonder if I could be good at that?’

Although he was not involved in sports in his youth, once he started acting in movies, he learned baseball, fencing, tae kwon do and many other athletic skills for his role, and got that he is “right” in almost everything.

In 1997, at the age of 41, he found an archery coach and began training hard, getting so good that he participated in the US archery team trials before 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Unfortunately, he came in 24th place, which means he did not qualify, but his efforts were not wasted because he won the 1999 Sydney International Golden Arrow sports competition.

Bruce Dickinson

 

You may know him as the frontman of the much-loved heavy metal band Iron Maiden, but Bruce Dickinson is a man of many talents, including wire, which almost took him At the Olympic Games.

To talk to TimesThe singer said that despite impressing his coaches and being a leading candidate for the Olympics as the seventh best athlete in Britain, he retired from the sport at the age of 23 because he was felt silly “protecting 18 year olds”.

In 2013, he revealed to a Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten that he is still immersing himself in the game. “I fence because I enjoy it, and the result is that I end up in good shape. Actually, the fence is very similar to the way I run on the stage. Or maybe I run on the stage like that because it is the fence. either way, it works for me.”

His latest hint about the game came in February when he told the Timefound a “wonderful” group in France.

Bella Hadid

 

Bella Hadid has a place on the road to walk next to Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell as one of the most successful supermodels, but before fulfilling her journey, the 27-year-old model dreamed of participate in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

In 2015, USA Today reports Hadid, daughter of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Star Yolanda and real estate developer Mohamed Hadid, was a nationally ranked equestrian on her way to competing in the Olympics. Unfortunately, her dreams ended quickly when she was diagnosed with Lyme disease, a debilitating bacterium.

Yolanda announced the news in her Bravo TV blog post in 2016, writing, “Bella had to give up her lifelong dream of having a career in riding and shooting for the Olympics due to symptoms of he is strong. [of Lyme disease] and not being able to ride.”

Cody Simpson

Cody Simpson, 27, became an overnight YouTube sensation in 2009 when he was just 12 years old. She went on to release four studio albums, toured with Justin Bieber, began an acting career, and dated A-lister Miley Cyrus.

In 2019, she announced that she would retire from the industry to pursue swimming and in January 2020, the Australian singer qualified for the Australian Olympic trials in the 100m butterfly. In the trials, the star had even greater success, achieving a best time of 50.22s, but failed to reach the final.

Simpson continued to pursue his dream and last year won silver in the men’s 100m butterfly at the 2023 World Championships in Athens and gold in the men’s 4x100m relay event at the world championships in Budapest. However, he came fifth at the 2024 Australian Swimming Trials and was just one second short of qualifying for the Paris Olympics.

Now Simpson is determined to return to music.

Lillie Rohan is a London-based reporter covering life and entertainment who joined the Herald in 2020. She specializes in all things reality TV, movies and music.