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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Max Rushden

Vonk, Zoeller, Tomba: sometimes all you need is a name for sporting nostalgia

Clockwise from top left: Olga Korbut, Alberto Tomba, Michel Vonk, Fuzzy Zoeller, Conchita Martínez.
Clockwise from top left: Olga Korbut, Alberto Tomba, Michel Vonk, Fuzzy Zoeller, Conchita Martínez. Composite: Alamy, Getty, Shutterstock

A while ago there was an advert for Nescafé Gold Blend where a man stands in an amphitheatre in front of everyone he has ever met in his whole life. Eighty thousand people all split into categories: family, ex-girlfriends, co-workers etc. They all begin on their feet and are told to sit down if he hasn’t spoken to them for years, or they can’t remember his name, until we are left with those truly special to him. That inner circle get to share a Nescafé. With all due respect to the popular instant coffee – after all that effort you’d hope for a cafetiere at the very least.

“Dudes can literally just sit around and name old sports players and just have the best time.” That was a tweet sent by someone called EM Hudson from somewhere in the US on 15 July 2021. It has been retweeted 49,000 times and has almost 300,000 thousand likes.

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