James Bond: Sports Star

Among his many attributes James Bond is a master sportsman. Whether it is based on physical prowess, hand-eye coordination, instinct, strategic nous or teamwork, 007 has proved his mastery in a diverse range of disciplines. Below is a survey of his unique sporting escapades. Surely an Olympic gold is only a matter of time. 

Golf

As seen in Goldfinger (1964)

Bond travels to Royal St. George’s Golf Course to continue his investigation into German businessman and gold lover Auric Goldfinger. Posing as an old club member, 007 is paired with Goldfinger, who has encountered Bond previously in Miami. The stakes between Bond and Goldfinger start small — “Shall we make it a shilling a hole?” suggests Bond — but soon escalate when 007 drops a bar of lost Nazi gold on to the green, designed to pique Goldfinger’s curiosity.

Supposedly playing by the “strict rules of golf”, what follows is perhaps the most underhanded golf game in sports history. Tied with two holes to play, there is cheating on both sides — when Goldfinger’s ball goes missing, his caddy Oddjob drops a ball from his trouser leg; Bond stands on his opponent’s ball in the rough —until Bond cheekily triumphs by switching Slazenger balls so that his opponent has putted the wrong ball and must therefore forfeit the game.

Stock Car Racing

As seen in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)

Escaping SPECTRE henchmen on skis, Bond (George Lazenby) takes refuge in the Swiss village of Stechelberg during the winter festival. He encounters his lover, Tracy di Vincenzo (Diana Rigg), who is in Switzerland searching for him.

Fleeing in her Mercury Cougar XCR7, Tracy (behind the wheel) and Bond evade the SPECTRE operatives by driving into a hazardous stock car race taking place on an ice-track, bumping into cars like dodgems at a fairground. “Looks like we’ve hit rush hour,” quips Bond. 

Karate

As seen in The Man With The Golden Gun (1974)

During his hunt for world-class assassin Scaramanga (Christopher Lee), Bond (Roger Moore) is captured and taken to the martial arts academy of Hai Fat (Richard Loo), a cohort of Scaramanga. Wearing a pale blue karate suit, Bond watches two students fight to the death and is implored to fight a skilled student. As is martial arts tradition, the pair bow at the start of the fight, Bond kicking his opponent unceremoniously in the face, knocking him unconscious.

The master of the school then instructs Chula (Chan Yiu Lam) to take on 007. After a very tentative bow, the fight begins, the pair matching each other blow for blow. Punching Chula out, Bond delivers a cursory bow and dives headfirst through a window to make his escape.

Shooting

As seen in Moonraker (1979)

Bond (Roger Moore) is on his way to the airport, but is invited to join a pheasant hunt by billionaire Hugo Drax (Michel Lonsdale) on his estate in California. “It’s a pity you leave us,” says Drax. “Such good sport.”  

During the shoot, Drax, a crack shot with a rifle, places a marksman hidden in a nearby tree to take out 007. Bond goes along with the ruse, and when a bird flies across his eyeline, Bond fires his shotgun, missing the pheasant but killing the sniper. “You missed, Mr Bond,” remarks Drax, to which Bond responds, “Did I? As you said… such good sport.”

Rock Climbing

As seen in For Your Eyes Only (1981)

Bond has tracked heroin smuggler Kristatos (Julian Glover) to St. Cyril’s, a monastery in the northern mountains of Greece. Only accessible from the ground by a cabled basket, Bond realises he must scale the cliff to lower the basket down for the rest of his crew. 

Bond’s painstaking ascent is disrupted by a bird flying out of a nook, causing him to momentarily lose his grip, but he soon makes it to the top — only for henchman Apostis (Jack Klaff) to deliver a swift kick, sending 007 back over the edge and dangling from a great height. With classic 007 ingenuity, Bond uses his boot laces to help lever himself up, only for Apostis to start dislodging the carabiner hooks holding the ropes suspending Bond. Just as Apostis loosens the final hook, Bond manages to kill him by throwing a spike, sending him plummeting to the ground.

Tennis

As seen in: Octopussy (1983)

Investigating suave Afghan prince Kamal Khan (Louis Jordan), Bond (Roger Moore) teams up with British secret service intelligence operative Vijay (played by professional tennis player Vijay Amritraj). Vijay works as a professional tennis coach at Khan’s sports club, a talent that comes in handy when he is called on to help 007 escape Khan’s henchman in a motorised rickshaw.

During a chase down a bust street, Vijay fends off the heavies by swiping at them with his tennis racquet, the crowd enraptured by his handiwork like a centre court final.

Horse Racing

As seen in: A View To A Kill (1985)

Roger Moore’s final 007 adventure is rooted in the world of horse racing. Discovering Bond’s true identity, industrialist and horse owner Max Zorin (Christopher Walken) compels the secret agent to take part in a steeplechase to the death. 

As Bond sets off, Zorin plays dirty by booby trapping the course, be it raising the fences or having his goons whip 007 with riding crops. With Bond in the lead, Zorin activates steroids inside 007’s ride, forcing the horse off course. Bond sees salvation in his assistant, Sir Godfrey Tibbett (Patrick Macnee), driving his Rolls-Royce, only to discover his manservant has been killed by deadly assassin, May Day (Grace Jones).

Skiing

As seen in The World Is Not Enough (1999)

From On Her Majesty’s Secret Service to The Spy Who Loved Me to For Your Eyes Only, Bond has proved himself to be a championship skier. Assigned to protect M (Judi Dench)’s family friend Elektra King (Sophie Marceau) in Azerbaijan, 007 (Pierce Brosnan) accompanies King to survey her oil pipeline, the pair enjoying a joyous ski down the Caucasus mountains (“You ski very well, Mr Bond,” King tells him).

Out of the clear blue sky, assassins piloting four parahawks — skidoos suspended from parachutes — circle for the kill. Sending Elektra down a gully, Bond leads them into the trees — but not before the killers start dropping grenades. After one of the vehicles gets caught in the trees, two parahawks land, disengage their parachutes, and chase 007 on the slopes, the first being caught in the blast of a grenade, the second flying off a cliff after Bond does an emergency skid, quipping, “See you back at the lodge.” 

To 007’s surprise and chagrin, the parahawk sprouts another parachute and re-enters the fight. Bond thinks quickly and, during a death-defying leap, punctures the parahawk with his ski pole, causing the vehicle to go out of control and crash into the remaining parahawk. 

Fencing 

As seen in: Die Another Day (2002)

Returning to the UK from Cuba, Bond picks up the trail of diamond magnate Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens) at an exclusive fencing academy in London. He banters with fencing instructor Verity (Madonna), who introduces him to Miranda Frost (Rosamund Pike), Graves’ publicist and Verity’s protégé, “the finest blade in the club”. They soon join Graves, who challenges Bond to a wager: a duel at £1000 a point.  At this point, Verity steps away: “No thanks, I don’t like cock fights.”

After Graves wins the initial best-of-three hits, Bond increases the stakes by introducing one of Graves’ blood diamonds into the wager. After Bond cuts Graves’ hand, the latter ups the ante by swapping fencing swords for cutlasses, the winner being the first to draw blood from the torso. What follows is a ferocious fight, both men swapping weapons, as they destroy the beautiful décor of the stately club. Moving outdoors, Bond cuts Graves in the stomach, throwing him into a fountain. As Graves gets up to retaliate, Miranda intervenes, and the two men reluctantly shake hands.