7 examples of true friendships that came about because of sports

First and foremost, sport teaches the utmost respect for your fellow man. Whether it is a high-performance sport or an amateur one. Although many people say that there can be no true friendship in sports, athletes themselves often prove the opposite.

Sports are a true challenge to warm human relationships and teach you to leave rivalry only within the confines of competition. The people we’ve written about are up to the challenge.

Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz – Formula 1

Motor sport more than any other teaches you to maintain respect and attention to detail in any situation, as it is often not about achievement but about life.

Modern Formula 1 is truly special and interesting because of the friendly atmosphere in the paddock, despite all the gossip and intrigue. Racers are friendly with each other, but from them you can definitely distinguish a couple of “bros” who continue their friendships and outside the race tracks.

And even though Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz are on different teams today, the memes and endorsements don’t stop that. For proof, check out their milk relay that Sky Sports did a couple of years ago.

Sergei Bobrovsky and Artemi Panarin – hockey

The next pair of friends has a prize from the NHL in the category: “Best Bromance” (a term for male friendship in the English-speaking world – ed.). In case you don’t know, meet Sergei Bobrovsky and Artemi Panarin. The friends even live next door to each other in St. Petersburg and spend a lot of time together.

Their acquaintance happened in 2015, when both met in the American Aspen at training camp. When Panarin moved to the Columbus team, it was Sergei who accelerated his adaptation in the team in every possible way.

In frequent and joint live broadcasts in social networks hockey players, like the previous couple, banter with each other. You can tell by their style of communication outside of the ice arenas that they have found some unique bond of their own, which helps both in life and in sports.

LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony – basketball

As the story goes, in 2002, two young guys crossed paths before a high school team game and got to talking. No one expected that a really strong and friendly relationship could come out of it. And what is it now? For 20 years, the guys have been true bros. During that time, the players have overcome the trials of league championships, MVP titles and Olympic Games more than once.

During that period, when Anthony lost his place in the Houston Rockets team and practically did not go on the parquet for a year, LeBron actively stood up for him on social networks and provided public support if it came to the side of accusations. Anthony returned to the floor and once again became an important figure in world basketball, and at the moment generally plays with a friend for the legendary Lakers.

Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield – boxing

The history of the friendship of these two is steeped in drama, from which they successfully got out of in the status of cronies. First, in 1996, Evander Holyfield defeated Mike by technical knockout in the 11th round of the fight. Six months later, the boxers met for a rematch, where Tyson bit off part of Holyfield’s ear in another clinch, and the fight continued.

Some time later, Tyson again attempted to bite off Evander’s second ear, for which he received a disqualification. As a guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 2009, Tyson apologized to Holyfield, to which he replied that Mike had long since been forgiven, even on the day of the fight. Nike decided to cement this “alliance” and made a very cute video for the boxers.

Now the boxers call each other brothers, take part in joint charity projects and, of course, a lot of jokes. Holyfield even released his barbecue sauce, where the slogan was: “With my sauce you will definitely want to bite someone’s ear off.” It didn’t take long for a response from Mike: “Indeed, the ear would taste much better with your sauce.”

Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Maxwell are soccer players

They’re so different, and yet they’re together – that’s the slogan about Zlatan and Maxwell. The Swedish striker is 20 cm taller, self-loving, efficient, likes to be in the center of attention. The Brazilian defender is almost the exact opposite. And yet they became friends as youngsters at Ajax, and since then their careers have developed side by side. They played together for Barcelona, Inter and PSG.

Several pages in Zlatan’s autobiography are devoted to stories about Maxwell and their adventures together. Ibrahimovic is sure that this friendship is for life.

Learn more about friends in sports here:

Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki – Big Tennis

There is a stereotype in society that is sometimes debunked, as in this case: Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki. The tennis players remain friends, both in times of great victories, failures, severe injuries and after.

This was especially evident in 2014, when Serena helped Caroline through her depression over the breakup of her relationship with famous golfer Rory McIlroy. Then, when Wozniacki ran the New York Marathon, also in 2014, Serena was waiting for her at the finish line.

Despite their constant rivalry within the confines of the court, they remained and continue to be true friends for better and for worse. Serena once recalled that it was unbearable for her to watch Wozniacki’s final game at the Australian Open in 2018, so she purposely went to bed before the broadcast. Already afterward, when the Dane won the tournament, Williams could not hold back tears of joy for her friend.

Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka – big tennis

The friendship of these two strongest tennis players in Switzerland, surprisingly enough, has gone through fire, water and copper pipes. They managed to share the taste of great victories, and also go through a real rivalry between them. Despite this, in 2008 they won the Olympic Games as a pair, of course, not without difficulty.

Federer had just lost to James Blake in the quarterfinals of the Beijing Olympics in singles when he had to go up against the legendary Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes in doubles. Wawrinka proved to be a true friend, fully supporting Roger without letting him finally give up. As soon as the game started, Stan noticed that Roger had forgotten the loss and was ready to win again. And so he did. Already after the final victory at the Games, Federer “warmed” his hands on the lying Wawrinka. The public called this ritual “15 seconds of friendship”.