The 14 Greatest Comebacks in Sports History

Careers written off and then rewritten. Exile, injury, illness and collapse, and the returns that followed.

1. 1
   Muhammad Ali

   Stripped of his title and exiled from boxing for three years, he returned and regained it in 1974.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Tiger Woods

   Won the 2019 Masters after years of back surgeries.
   952pts
3. 3
   Alex Smith

   Came back to the NFL after a compound leg fracture and 17 operations.
   685pts
4. 4
   Mario Lemieux

   Returned from Hodgkin's lymphoma and won the scoring title the same season.
   633pts
5. 5
   Niki Lauda

   Nearly died in a fiery 1976 crash and was racing again six weeks later.
   548pts
6. 6
   Serena Williams

   Came back from a pulmonary embolism to win more majors than she had before it.
   548pts
7. 7
   George Foreman

   Regained a heavyweight title in 1994, twenty years after losing his first.
   548pts
8. 8
   Ben Hogan

   Almost killed in a 1949 head-on collision, he won the US Open the next year.
   464pts
9. 9
   Valentino Rossi

   Broke his leg mid-season in 2010 and was back on the bike within six weeks.
   365pts
10. 10
    Monica Seles

    Stabbed on court in 1993, she returned two years later and won another major.
    365pts
11. 11
    Peyton Manning

    Missed a full season with a neck injury, then won an MVP and a Super Bowl in Denver.
    365pts
12. 12
    Petra Kvitova

    Recovered from a knife attack that badly damaged her playing hand.
    249pts
13. 13
    Tyson Fury

    Left boxing amid depression and addiction, then returned to the heavyweight summit.
    249pts
14. 14
    Andre Agassi

    Fell to No. 141 in the world in 1997, then finished 1999 as No. 1.
    110pts