Australian Legends - Tennis

 

On 24 January 2003 , Australia Post issued the stamp set feature the Australian  tennis legends . The issue consist of 4 postage stamps and designed by Belinda Marshall

The recipients of the 2003 Australia Day, Australian Legends Award and the subjects of this year’s Australian Legends stamp issue – Margaret Court MBE and Rod Laver MBE – are undeniably giants of, not simply Australian tennis but world tennis. 

 

Margaret Court

Margaret Court is possibly the greatest women’s tennis player of all time. She was born in Albury in New South Wales, on 16 July 1942 and rose to prominence when she won her first Australian singles title. In 1970 Court won the second ever female Grand Slam and she remains the only player to achieve a Grand Slam in doubles as well as in singles.

Margaret Court MBE with her Wimbledon trophy after winning the title

Court went on to win seven Australian titles in a row and in 1963 she was the first Australian woman to win Wimbledon.

 

She retired briefly then returned to international tennis in 1967 and continued winning major titles after the birth of the first of her four children.

Gerd Kanter, Olympic gold medalist

25.09.2008

Gerd Kanter  was born  on May 6, 1979 in Tallinn, Estonia. Gerd Kanter is an Estonian discus thrower. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he took gold with a throw of 68.82 meters, one meter ahead of second-place finisher Piotr Malachowski of Poland.

On 15 March 2009 he won the European Cup Winter Throwing event in Los Realejos, Tenerife, Spain with 69.70. On 22 March 2009, he set a world indoor best 69.51 m in Växjö, Sweden. At the 2009 World Championships in Athletics he returned to defend his world title. He had a best throw of 66.88 m, which was enough for the World bronze medal.

Personality Stamps of Luxembourg 2010

Nicolas Frantz (1899-1985)

The Luxembourger racing cyclist Nicolas Frantz was born on 4 November 1899 in Mamer. In the course of his 12-years professional career (1923 to 1934) he got 60 victories.Nicolas Frantz also won the Luxembourg championship for 12 consecutive years (from 1923 to 1934).

In 1924, he placed second in the Tour de France and he was fourth the following year. In 1926 he was second once again, 1 hr 22 min 25 sec behind Belgian Lucien Buysse.
In 1927, Nicolas Frantz achieved immortality, beating the Belgian Maurice Dewaele by 1 hr 22 min 25 sec.

One year later, he won the Grande Boucle once again, this time by 50 min 7 sec over André Leducq.In 1929, Nicolas Frantz took fifth place in the Tour de France and won two stages. Frantz won Paris-Brussels in 1927 and Paris-Tours in 1929. He twice finished in the top three of the world championships.

He later became the Luxembourg sports manager in the Tour de France from 1949 to 1957. Nicolas Frantz was the sports manager of Charly Gaul’s first national team in the Tour de France.He died on 8 November 1985 in Mamer.

Jean Soupert (1834-1910)

Jean Soupert, born on 20 February 1834 in Dommeldange and died on 17 July 1910 in Limpertsberg, was a grower of roses.

With Pierre Notting, also a nursery grower at Constantin Wilhelm in Luxembourg-Clausen, Jean Soupert launched, in 1855, their own new rose business, “Soupert & Notting” in Luxembourg-Limpertsberg.

From 1856, the new roses developed: “Tour de Malakoff”, “La Noblesse” and “Duc de Constantine” (1857), achieved great success. Of the numerous medals won at international competitions in France, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Italy, United Kingdom, and the United States of America, 130 have been preserved in the numismatic section of the National Museum of History and Art in Luxembourg.

Anne Beffort (1880-1966)

Anne Beffort was born on 4 July 1880 in Neudorf to a family of 10 children. The father was a gardener in Clausen (where young Anne got to know Robert Schuman). She died on 20 July 1966 in Davos (CH).

Holder of a teaching certificate, Anne Beffort began teaching at a primary school. This allowed her to put aside some modest savings, suffi cient though to pursue her aim: university studies. After receiving a subsidy from the Luxembourg government, she enrolled first at Münster, then at the Sorbonne. She was a student of professor Gustave Lanson, and the first Luxembourger to present a doctoral thesis, entitled “Alexandre Soumet, his life, his works (1908)”.

Upon her return to Luxembourg, Anne Beffort was asked by Aline Mayrisch to participate in the creation of the first public school for young girls. Anne Beffort taught French in this school which bears the name Robert Schuman and which celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2010. She was relieved from her duties by the German occupier during World War II.

Anne Beffort published numerous articles in the daily press and in Luxembourg magazines, sensitizing public opinion on French-Luxembourg cultural relations.In 1937, she was the co-founder of the Friends of the Victor Hugo House Association in Vianden. She chaired this association until her death. Anne Beffort passed away in Davos in 1966 at the age of 86. Her ashes are kept at the Fetschenhof cemetery in Luxembourg.

Since 2003 the “Anne Beffort” prize is awarded each year by the Town of Luxembourg to a person or organisation working in the domain of equal opportunity between men and women.

Argentine’s Sport Idol I

Argentine post released the stamp series featured the Argentine’s sport Idol I on October 11, 2008. The athletes have featured are Juan Manuel Fangio, Hugo Porta,  Emanuel David "Manu" Ginóbili, Roberto De Vicenzo.

Juan Manuel Fangio is a racing car driver from Argentina, who dominated the first decade of Formula One racing. He won five Formula One World Driver's Championships — a record which stood for 46 years until eventually beaten by Michael Schumacher — with four different teams (Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Maserati), a feat that has not been repeated since. Many still consider him to be the greatest driver of all time. He has the highest winning percentage in Formula One (46.15%) compared to Michael Schumacher's 33.83%.

Argentine’s Sport Idol II

Argentine Post released the stamp series features the Argentine’s Sport Idol II on September 26, 2009. The athletes have featured are Guillermo Villas, Delfo Cabrera , Luciana Paula Aymar, Juan Esteban Curuchet .

Guillermo Apolinario Vilas  is a retired professional tennis player from Argentina.He was born on August 17,1952, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is a left-handed baseliner.

He was in the year-ending top ten from 1974 through 1982. He was a clay-court specialist but also played well on hard, grass, and carpet surfaces.

Guillermo Vilas got his first big break in the 1974 Masters tournament (played on grass), where he defeated Ilie Năstase in the final.He won four Grand Slam titles: the 1977 French Open and the 1977 US Open (both played on clay) and the 1978 and 1979 Australian Open (both played on grass). He was also the runner-up at the French Open three times (1975, 1978, and 1982) and at the Australian Open once (January 1977).

Guillermo Vilas retired from the ATP tour in 1989 but still played ATP Challenger Series until 1992. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1991. Guillermo Vilas was in the stands at Flushing Meadows to cheer on his countryman, Juan Martín del Potro, who beat Roger Federer in a surprising upset in the US Open.

 

Delfo Cabrera Gómez  was an Argentine athlete, winner of the marathon race at the 1948 Summer Olympics in one of the most dramatic finishes in athletics history.

He was born on April 2, 1919 in Armstrong, Santa Fe. Delfo Cabrera played football as a youth, but decided to turn to athletics after Juan Carlos Zabala's triumph at the 1932 Summer Olympics.

He moved to Buenos Aires in 1938 and began training in San Lorenzo de Almagro under Francisco Mura. At the same year, he won his first national championships title (in 5000 m). Over the years he would win 9 more titles, but none of them in marathon.

Cabrera served in the army during the World War II, where he met Juan Perón. After the war, being a friend of Perón, he was active member of Justicialist Party. He received the Peronist Medal in 1949.

The London Olympic Games were Cabrera's first major international tournament.Cabrera gained the first rank of  the tournament.Cabrera participated also at the 1952 Summer Olympics, gaining sixth place in the marathon. Cabrera ended his athletics career after finishing sixth at the 1954 Boston Marathon. After that he taught physical education in several schools.

Delfo Cabrera died in a car accident near Buenos Aires on August 2, 1981.

Luciana Paula Aymar  is an Argentine field hockey midfielder. In 1997, she was part of the national team that won the Pan American Games Junior Championship, and a year later she debuted with the senior national team, finishing fourth at the World Cup. She was also the youngest Argentinian to be accepted into the squad, at just 16.

Aymar is known for her ability to beat opposing players using her dribbling skills, for which she has been compared with Argentine football idol Diego Maradona.

Aymar is part of a generation in Argentine field hockey that has won several international tournaments from the 1999 Pan American Games on, including an Olympic silver medal, and three Champions Trophies. Her outstanding performances have driven her to be chosen as the FIH player of the year seven times, five more than hockey legend Alyson Annan, although the award was only introduced in 1998, towards the end of Annan's career.

Juan Esteban Curuchet  is a road bicycle racer and track cyclist from Argentina. He was born on February 4, 1965 in Mar del Plata.Curuchet represented Argentina at the Summer Olympics in 1984, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008.

He won the madison at the 1999 Pan American Games with his older brother, Gabriel Ovidio Curuchet. He also won the madison at the 2003 Pan American Games and 2007 Pan American Games alongside Walter Pérez.

Curuchet holds an Argentine record of participating in six non-consecutive Olympic games. He closed his Olympic career at 43 by winning n the madison at the 2008 Summer Olympics.