10 Sporting Heros who Goggle – Can you name their sport?
Did you know that tens of thousands of sports-related eye injuries occur every year, and most are preventable through the use of protective eyewear? Below is a list of ten-star athletes who recognized the risks and made sports safety eyewear a priority. For fun, see if you can identify the sport each athlete played (or plays) before reading the answers that follow:
a. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
b. Eric Dickerson
c. Janko Tipsarevic
d. Edgar Davids
e. Ato Boldon
f. Michael Phelps
g. James Worthy
h. Horace Grant
i. Morgan Hurd
j. Danny Jansen
a. (Basketball) Trendsetter Abdul-Jabbar first began wearing basketball goggles in 1968 after having his cornea scratched in an NCAA game.
b. (Football) Dickerson opted to wear prescription goggles instead of contacts, sporting a cool look while keeping his eyes safe.
c. (Tennis) Janko started out wearing glasses to protect his eyes from the sun, then went for prescription goggles for clear vision and safe eyes on the court.
d. (Soccer) After having surgery on his eyes for glaucoma in 1999, Edgar Davids started wearing goggles.
e. (Track & Field) Wearing goggles made Boldon a trailblazer in his sport!
f. (Swimming) Most swimmers use goggles, but Olympic gold-medal-winning Phelps made his style a gold standard.
g. (Basketball) After an eye injury in his third NBA season, Worthy started wearing protective goggles – permanently!
h. (Basketball) Whether he was with the Bulls, Magic, Lakers or SuperSonics, Grant had different-color goggles to coordinate with his uniform, adding some fashion flare to his
fast footwork.
i. (Gymnastics) Hurd is a silver medalist in the balance beam and a member of the USA Women’s National Gymnastics team. Sport prescription goggles keep her eyesight –and balance – sharp.
j. (Baseball) Along with basketball, baseball continues to be one of the most dangerous sports for the eye without proper protection. Kudos to this Toronto Blue Jays catcher for making prescription sport glasses a winning play!
Whether or not you could identify these sports stars, the message is clear: many famous athletes choose sport eye protection to keep eyes safe and vision clear. And today, shatterproof polycarbonate lenses and a wide variety of sport-specific styles, shapes, tints, with or without prescription, are available. If you or a loved one are engaged in a sport activity, ask our Atlantic Eye Optical Department (see https://atlanticeye.com/services/optical-center/) for eye-protection options so you can safely enjoy the game!