Imran Khan: from World Cup captain to imprisoned former prime minister

Imran Khan captained Pakistan to their only Cricket World Cup victory in 1992, then put his £90,000 ($121,000) prize money and his fame to work raising funds for a free cancer hospital named after his mother Shaukat Khanum, who died of cancer in 1985. At the hospital's opening in 1994, he said:

The Oxford graduate was elected an MP in 2002, became prime minister in 2018 and ruled until 2022. His later years in politics took a darker turn:

• •In November 2022 he was wounded in the leg in an assassination attempt.
• •He has been in prison since August 2023, facing scores of charges ranging from corruption to inciting violence, after anti-establishment riots in May 2023.
• •Now 74, he says his imprisonment is politically motivated.
• •In February of this year, 14 former Pakistani national cricket captains, along with academics and intellectuals, publicly called for his release.

George Weah: mocked in 2005, elected Liberia's president in 2017

George Weah starred for Monaco, where he played under Arsene Wenger, who turned him into the player he became, and later played for Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan. In 1995 he won the Ballon d'Or and was named FIFA World Player of the Year, the first African to achieve that double.

His first presidential run came in 2005 at age 39. Dubbed a "babe in the woods" over his inexperience and lack of education, he was mocked and lost the run-off. He was elected senator in 2014, defeating the son of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who had beaten him in the 2005 election, and becoming the first Liberian sportsman elected to the upper house. In 2017 he won the presidency after trouncing his opponent in the second round.

His government was accused of corruption despite his anti-corruption pledge, and he lost the next election narrowly to Joseph Boakai, whom he had beaten in 2017. On defeat he said: "This is the time for graciousness in defeat."

Manny Pacquiao: titles across four decades and a distant third in 2022

Manny Pacquiao is the first boxer to hold world titles across four decades. He lost a House race in 2007, was elected to the House of Representatives in 2010 and was re-elected in 2013. Of combining boxing with politics, he said: "It just needs discipline. You just need time management."

Critics pointed to the lack of parliamentary bills he authored and his frequent absences from the legislature to train and fight. His Senate record drew mixed notes as well:

• •He was elected to the Senate in 2016.
• •Among the proposals he supported was the restoration of capital punishment.
• •He ran for president in 2022 and finished as a well-beaten third.

Though Pacquiao had criticised election winner Ferdinand Marcos, Marcos was magnanimous and in the same year appointed him secretary and lead convenor of the Philippines Anti-Poverty Commission. On the appointment, Pacquiao said: "I experienced sleeping on cardboard on the streets, consuming only water, having nothing to eat and earning coins just to help my family." He added: "Our poor countrymen are really in my heart."

Riner's reported 2027 bid now opens his own chapter.