Hockey Great Wayne Gretzky Retires - Source: Getty
Wayne Gretzky retired in 1999 at the age of 38. He played 20 seasons in the NHL and broke more than 50 records. But he may have never reached those heights were it not for a certain intervention 11 years back.
In September 2017, Gretzky appeared on the Valuetainment YouTube channel. "The Great One" opened up about the time he made up his mind to shorten his career.
In 1988, Gretzky was going through a phase where he felt mentally exhausted from the grueling season. Having been traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the LA Kings that year, he felt that he would be done playing within the next five years.
But interestingly, his wife took him to Billy Blanks, who changed his life's course. Blanks was the founder of Tae Bo a fitness program in the United States that gained popularity in the 1990s.
