From Yogi Berra to Jonah Lomu: A look at some notable sports deaths from 2015

Johan Lomu (AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS)

(Paris, France) - AFP Sports notable sports deaths of the year:

ATHLETICS

Yulia Balykina

Belarussian Olympic sprinter was discovered dead aged 31 in a forest near Minsk in November. Multiple Belarus sprint champion she competed in the 100m and 4x100m relay at London 2012, before picking up a two-year ban for drugs in 2013. A 28-year-old man - said to be her boyfriend - was charged with murder.

BASEBALL

Yogi Berra

Iconic New York Yankees catcher, known for his folksy sayings, died on September 22 aged 90. The Hall of Famer and three-time Most Valuable Player was a 15-time All Star and 10-time World Series champion.

Tommy Hanson

Former Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitcher died aged 29 on November 10 of catastrophic organ failure, a day after being admitted to hospital following a respiratory problem.

BASKETBALL

Phil 'Flip' Saunders

Coach/president of the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves, who won more than 1,000 games over a 35-year career, succumbed to cancer aged 60 on October 25.

BOXING

O'Neil Bell

The Jamaican-born former cruiserweight champ was gunned down and killed after getting off a city bus on November 27 in Atlanta with police suggesting robbery was the motive. Bell held the World Boxing Council, International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Association titles at the same time after knocking out France's Jean-Marc Mormeck in 2006. He retired with his record at 27-4 with one draw and 25 KOs.

CRICKET

Brian Close

Former Yorkshire and England captain and one of the most physically courageous players in cricket history, died at the age of 84 on September 14. He became aged 18 the youngest player to earn a Test cap when he made his debut against New Zealand in 1949. Close scored almost 35,000 runs as a batsman, including 52 centuries with a highest innings score of 198. He also took 1,171 first-class wickets as an off-spin bowler and over 800 catches as a fielder.

Frank Tyson

Former England fast bowler, nicknamed 'typhoon' for his ferocious pace, died aged 85 in his adopted homeland, Australia, on September 27. Remembered for his 28-wicket haul in five Tests during the 1954-55 Ashes series in Australia, which England won 3-1. Born in Lancashire, Tyson played 170 matches for Northamptonshire, claiming 525 wickets at an average of 20.94, and took 76 wickets in 17 Tests for his country. He emigrated after injury forced his retirement at 30 and began a second career as a school headmaster, coach, commentator, journalist and writer.

Tom Graveney

Former England captain and president of Marylebone Cricket Club, died aged 88 on November 3. Graveney made 11 centuries in 79 Test matches for England between 1951 and 1969, scoring 4,882 runs at an average of 44.38. After retirement in 1972 he became a commentator. "Synonymous with a golden era of England batsmen," was how BBC commentator Jonathan Agnew described him.

FOOTBALL

Marton Fulop

Former Hungary goalkeeper, who played for a string of English Premier League clubs, died from cancer aged just 32 on November 12. He had spells with Tottenham Hotspur, and Sunderland, who signed him in 2007 before loaning him out to English sides Leicester City, Manchester City and West Bromwich Albion. In 2013 he announced that he was taking a break to recover from a tumour removal operation, but never returned to professional football again.

Howard Kendall

Liverpool Town Hall's flag was at half mast in honour of the Everton great who died on October 17 aged 69. He won the league title as a player in 1969 as part of the famous 'Holy Trinity' along with Alan Ball and Colin Harvey. Returning as manager in 1981 he guided the club to two league titles, the FA Cup and European Cup-Winners' Cup in the club's most successful era.

Udo Lattek

German coach, who won the European Cup, UEFA Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup with three different clubs - Bayern Munich, Borussia Moenchengladbach, and Barcelona died on February 4 aged 80. In total, he won 14 titles and along with Giovanni Trapattoni is the only coach to have won all three major European club titles.

Junior Malanda

Gifted Belgian under-21 international captain and Wolfsburg midfielder who was killed when the car he was travelling in slid off the road and smashed into a tree on January 10. He had been on the way to Hanover airport to join his Bundesliga club teammates for a winter break in South Africa.

Ron Springett

Former Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper who was a member of England's 1966 World Cup winning squad died at the age of 80 on September 13. He finally received a winner's medal in 2009 following a change to FIFA's rules.

FORMULA ONE

Jules Bianchi

Popular and talented French driver died in hospital in Nice on July 18 from head injuries suffered in a crash at the Japanese Grand Prix in October 2014. He was 25. Bianchi joined the Marussia team in 2013 and competed in 34 grands prix. He was the first F1 driver to perish from a racing accident since triple world champion Aryton Senna in 1994.

GOLF

Charlie Sifford

A pioneer in breaking the colour barrier as the first African-American golfer on the US PGA Tour and in the World Golf Hall of Fame died aged 92 on February 4. A mentor to 14-time major champion Tiger Woods who regarded him as part of the family. "My grandfather is gone and we all lost a brave, decent and honorable man," said Woods. He served in the US Army in World War II, seeing action in the bloody battle for Okinawa. Joined the US PGA tour in 1960, winning the 1967 Greater Hartford Open and 1969 Los Angeles Open.

Calvin Peete

Most successful African-American player who overcame a debilitating childhood arm injury to win 12 PGA Tour titles, died on April 29 aged 71. Affectionately nicknamed "Mr Accuracy" for his metronomic ability to hit long and accurate drives his heyday came during a four-year streak between 1982 and 1986 when he recorded 11 of his 12 tournament victories. His best finish in a Major was joint third in the 1982 USPGA Championship.

RACING

Pat Eddery

Legendary 11-time British flat champion jockey who won a staggering 4,600 races in a glittering three-decade career, died after a long battle with alcoholism at the age of 63 on November 10. After riding his first winner in 1969 the Irish-born horseman went on to claim three Epsom Derbies among 14 British classics, and four Prix de l'Arc de Triomphes, the highlight Dancing Brave in 1986.

Peter O'Sullevan

The 'Voice of Racing' - whose measured delivery called thousands of races home in a towering half century career as commentator for the BBC, died aged 97 on July 29. Using binoculars taken from a World War II German U-Boat O'Sullevan's voice is indelibly linked with some of the great winners of all time - including triple Grand National hero Red Rum, the mighty Arkle, and the epic Grundy-Bustino battle at Ascot. A Daily Express racing correspondent and owner, O'Sullevan may never have taken up commentary if he'd followed his mother's advice who after his first appearance on television told him: "Darling, I saw you on television yesterday and you looked absolutely ghastly. I do hope you're never going to do that again."

Kauto Star

Dual Gold Cup and five-time King George VI Chase winner trained by Paul Nicholls who died after complications relating to a paddock fall aged 15 on June 30.

RUGBY UNION

Jonah Lomu

Pioneering global superstar died suddenly aged 40 on November 18 prompting an outpouring of grief at the loss of "a legend of the game". The hulking New Zealand winger dragged rugby union into the modern era. He shot to international fame at the 1995 World Cup in South Africa, a year after becoming the youngest ever All Black at the age of 19 years and 45 days. At his peak, the 1.96 metre (6ft 5in) Lomu weighed 120 kilograms (265 pounds) and could cover 100 metres in 10.8 seconds, providing a combination of speed and power that terrorised opponents. While the All Blacks ultimately lost to hosts South Africa in the 1995 final, the tournament's defining image was of Lomu trampling over a hapless Mike Catt on his way to four tries in the All Blacks' semi-final win over England. "He's a freak, and the sooner he goes away the better," England captain Will Carling said after the match. Lomu scored 37 tries in 63 Tests between 1994 and 2002. All this despite suffering from the rare kidney disorder nephrotic syndrome. In 2004 he received a kidney donated by friend and radio broadcaster Grant Kereama. When it failed in 2012 Lomu said: "I'm really lucky, I've already lived more in one lifetime than many would in six or seven lifetimes."

SWIMMING

Camille Muffat

The 400m freestyle gold medallist at the London 2012 Olympics died alongside top French sailor Florence Arthaud (57) and Olympic lightweight boxer Alexis Vastine (28) when two helicopters smashed into each other during the filming of a reality survival TV show in Argentina on March 10. Moffat was 25. Her former coach Fabrice Pellerin said: "What's hard is to reconcile the image I have of Camille, who was unsinkable, with what happened."