Usain Bolt, Ashish Nehra, Kaka, Felipe Massa: Sportstars who retired in 2017

Many legends from various sports brought the curtain down to their illustrious career this year. Here is a look back and a tribute to the sporting personalities who hung up their boots this year.

1. 👁 Usain Bolt retirement in 2017
   

   1 / 16

   An era ended when Usain Bolt retired this August after his participation in the IAAF World Championships London 2017. The 31-year old still holds the World record for the 100 meter sprint with a time of 9.58 seconds set in 2009. Bolt didn’t get the best end to his career as he limped off in the 4 X 100m relay final and finished with a bronze medal in the 100m sprint at the Athletics World Championship. Even though his career ended in an unexpected way, he still remains one of the greatest sprinter of all times. Usain Bolt is the only sprinter to capture 100 and 200 meter track titles at three consecutive Olympics. He holds the world record of 9.58 seconds in the 100m and 19.19 in the 200m – both set in Berlin in 2009. (Source: AP)

1. 👁 Ashish Nehra retirement in 2017
   

   2 / 16

   The Feroz Shah Kotla was jam-packed to bid farewell to the Delhi cricketer Ashish Nehra in November. Nehra, who was Indian cricket’s last link to the uncertain nineties, made his India debut in 1999 under the captaincy of Mohammed Azharuddin and throughout his career he played 17 Tests, 120 ODIs and 26 T20 Internationals. In his career, Nehra picked 44 Tests, 157 ODI and 34 T20 wickets. He was also a part of the 2011 World Cup-winning squad with a match-changing performance in the semi-final against Pakistan. However he missed the final due to a finger fracture. (Source: AP)

1. 👁 Shahid Afridi retirement in 2017
   

   3 / 16

   Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi announced his retirement from international cricket in February, ending an illustrious 21-year career. The 36-year-old star had already quit Tests in 2010 and ODI cricket after the 2015 World Cup but was still captaining the Pakistan Twenty20 team at the 2016 world championships in India. (Express Photo by Partha Paul)

1. 👁 Francesco Totti retirement in 2017
   

   4 / 16

   Francesco Totti, who announced retirement in May this year, has been the pride of AS Roma, having dedicated 25 years of his life and career to the only club he ever played for. Even though he has won only one title with the club (2000/01), he can hope for more even after his retirement as he has agreed to join the technical board of Roma. Totti was also part of the Italian squad that won the World Cup in 2006. (Source: Reuters)

1. 👁 Kaka retirement in 2017
   

   5 / 16

   Former AC Milan and Real Madrid midfielder Kaka retired from football in December. The devout 35-year old joined Milan in 2003 for a transfer fee of 8.5 million euros. After winning the Ballon d'Or in 2007, he joined Los Blancos in 2009 for a transfer fee of 65 million euros - the second highest bid that the football world had seen back then.

1. 👁 Adam Voges retirement in 2017
   

   6 / 16

   Australia’s attacking batsman Adam Voges announced his retirment from international cricket in February, 2017. Though he made his One-Day International and T20 debut for Australia in 2007, it took him 8 more years to earn a Test call. Voges featured in 20 Test matches for the national side in which he scored 1485 runs. He averaged a healthy 61.87 and had a highest score of 269 not out. He was one of the most trusted batters for the outfit in the last two years. (Source: AP)

1. 👁 Martina Hingis retirement in 2017
   

   7 / 16

   Hall of Famer Martina Hingis, one of only six women's players to hold the No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles at the same time, announced her retirment in October this year. The 37-year old won Grand Slam titles Nos. 24 and 25 at the US Open in September, capturing the women's doubles and mixed doubles titles. Overall, she won 13 major doubles titles, along with five in singles and seven in mixed doubles. (Source: AP)

1. 👁 Felipe Massa retirement in 2017
   

   8 / 16

   Felipe Massa brought the curtain down on his Formula One career when the 2017 season draws to a close. Massa was due to call it a day in F1 last year but decided to stay on after Valtteri Bottas left Williams for Mercedes. Massa has won 11 races and been on the podium 41 times during his F1 career. (Source: Reuters)

1. 👁 Somdev Devvarman retirement in 2017
   

   9 / 16

   Somdev Devvarman began the year with the announcement of his retirement. The 31-year old is the only Indian to have reached the final of the Chennai Open, He won the singles gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Later that year, he also won singles gold at the Asian Games apart from a doubles gold along with Sanam Singh. In 2011, he was honoured with the Arjuna Award. (Source: Express file)

1. 👁 Xabi Alonso retirement in 2017
   

   10 / 16

   Xabi Alonso announced his retirement in March on Twitter with the caption, "Lived it. Loved it. Farewell beautiful game." He made his senior debut in 2000 with Real Sociedad, then made the move to England with Liverpool and won the Champions League. He picked up a La Liga title and another UCL trophy during a 5-year stint with Real Madrid before joining Bayern Munich, where he won two Bundesliga titles.

1. 👁 Younis Khan retirement in 2017
   

   11 / 16

   Younis Khan, who has played 115 Tests for Pakistan in a career spanning 17 years, announced his retirement from international cricket in early April. He holds a unique world record of having scored a century in 11 countries. His highest Test score of 313 — notched up against Sri Lanka in 2009 — is the third highest by a Pakistani batsman.

1. 👁 Frank Lampard retirement in 2017
   

   12 / 16

   Frank Lampard announced retirement in February, following a contract expiry at New York FC. He has won three Premier Leagues titles, four FA Cups, two League Cups and the UEFA Champions League in his 21- year long career, playing for West Ham United and Manchester City. He is the all-time leading scorer of the Blues with 211 goals from 649 appearances. (Source: AP)

1. 👁 Floyd Mayweather retirement in 2017
   

   13 / 16

   After already retiring twice, after beating Ricky Hatton in 2007 and Manny Pacquiao in 2015, Floyd Mayweather retired for the third time after beating Conor McGregor in August 2017. He holds a record of 50 wins in 50 professional bouts with 27 by stoppage. (Source: AP)

1. 👁 Misbah-ul-haq retirement in 2017
   

   14 / 16

   Misbah-ul-Haq announced his retirement from the longest format of the game in April. He captained the Test side in 53 matches, winning 24 and losing 18 games. Under his able leadership, Pakistan climbed to No. 1 spot for the first time in the Test rankings after beating England at The Oval in 2016. However, after Pakistan hurtled to a 3-0 whitewash in Australia, Misbah came under severe pressure to quit captaincy.

1. 👁 philipp lahm retirement in 2017
   

   15 / 16

   In his 15-year career, Philipp Lahm walked away with eight Bundesliga titles, six DFB-Pokal wins, and one UEFA Champions League title, won as part of a treble in a season where he was Bayern's captain. He also captained Germany during their 2014 World Cup win. (Source: AP)

1. 👁 Andrea pirlo retirement in 2017
   

   16 / 16

   Legendary Italian football player, Andrea Pirlo called time on his illustrious career this November. The 38-year-old played his last match for New York City before announcing his retirement. In an international career spanning over 13 years, Pirlo went on to play 116 matches for Italy and scored 13 goals. He also led his former club AC Milan to two Serie A titles before moving to Juventus with whom he won yet another title. Pirlo featured for the New York City FC in the last two years of his career. (Source: AP)