Sporting figures become heroes not just because they provide us with sterling on-field performances but the fact that they reinforce what worldly-wise, cynical people usually believe happens only on celluloid: the triumph of all that is good and great and that indomitable never-say-die spirit.

Two uplifting real life sporting stories recently put a smile on the face, a song on the lips, a tear in the eye and... you know all of that sterling stuff.

The first is that of former Australian Olympic gold medallist swimmer Dawn Fraser, who held the freestyle world record from 1956 to 1972, in an age before swimming waters started churning over material used for swimsuits, fighting off a mugger near her Australia home. Fraser, who is now 71, showed a man who tried to rob her home that he messed with the wrong gal or gran.