They also switched sports

Jonathan Davies The Welsh fly-half caused a sensation in 1988 when he switched codes, moving to professional rugby league club Widnes. With 27 union caps Davies said he needed the financial security that Widnes would provide. Unlike others, he proved a success, becoming a League star and playing for Britain. At the age of 33 he switched back and quickly re-adapted to the demands of international rugby union.

Andy Goram When Goram defected from the Scotland football squad on the eve of the last World Cup, Ayr Cricket Club, with whom Goram had signed, held their breath. The goalkeeper’s cricket career had been on ice during his time at Rangers, when his contract prevented him from adding to his three Scotland caps. "If I thought I could have made the same money playing cricket, I would have done so," he said when he moved to Rangers from Hibs. As a 14-year-old pace bowler Goram attracted Lancashire’s interest. Coincidentally, former Rangers’ manager Scott Symon was the first man to win football and cricket caps for Scotland.

Paula Chalmers Chalmers, a 29-year-old from Melrose, is a dual-internationalist, representing Scotland at hockey and rugby. Decision time came in 1996 after hockey internationals against Ireland and France, when she felt that it was "impossible" to carry on playing both at such a high level. After choosing rugby, she played an important part in the 1998 Grand Slam-winning team, and later took over the captaincy. "I’ve never looked back and regretted it," says Chalmers, who continues to play club hockey.

Lance Armstrong Before his three Tour de France wins, his fight against cancer and his first world championship at the tender age of 21, Lance Armstrong excelled at triathlon. At 13, he won the Iron Kids’ Triathlon and became a professional triathlete just three years later. Running and swimming were gradually squeezed out as cycling took over in the Texan’s late teens, but Armstrong retained the bulky build of a triathlete in his early years as a cyclist. He has since claimed that chemotherapy and a year’s inactivity saw the shoulder and arm muscles built up through triathlon finally waste away, allowing him to develop into a Tour de France champion.

Michael Jordan The basketball legend applied his midas touch to the world of professional baseball after his retirement on the eve of the 1993/94 season. He played as an outfielder for the Birmingham Barons, affiliates of the Chicago White Sox, but not for long. A disappointing season saw Jordan return to basketball in 1995. In his first full season back he led the Chicago Bulls to their best ever season. He retired, again, in 1999 and, resisting any temptation to persist with a faltering movie career, returned to basketball with the Washington Wizards.