The Baltimore Ravens’ upset win over the New England Patriots in Massachusetts on Sunday night not only allowed Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh to exact revenge for a painful loss there at the same stage last season.
Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh. Photo: Flickr, Keith Allison
San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh. Photo: Flickr, Football Schedule
It also meant he would take his side to arguably the biggest game in sport – the Super Bowl. Their opponents? The San Francisco 49ers, coached by a certain Jim Harbaugh.
For the Harbaugh brothers’ parents (continuing the alliterative theme, their names are Jack and Jackie), this squabble, in what has already been dubbed the “HarBowl”, could be hard to contain.
But it is hardly the first time siblings have lined up against each other on the biggest stage of all:
Venus and Serena Williams
It must be hard to be upstaged by your younger sibling, but that is what Venus, herself a legend of the sport, has had to endure. Serena, younger by a year and three months, has won 15 grand slams to her sister’s seven, and has triumphed in six of their eight encounters in grand slam finals. But they get on well enough as perhaps the most successful doubles pairing of all time, adding a third Olympic gold to their collection at London 2012.
Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee
The sight of the Yorkshire brothers sharing the top step of the London 2012 triathlon podium warmed the hearts of Team GB fans, after a hard-fought triathlon in which Alistair, the elder brother, won gold, with Jonathan claiming bronze (after collapsing at the finish, much to his brother’s obvious dismay) behind Javier Gomez of Spain.
Jonny was then crowned world triathlon champion in New Zealand in October, although Ali was unable to take part.
Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko
When Wladimir, the younger by nearly five years, beat Britain’s David Haye in July 2011, it ensured the Ukrainian brothers held all four major belts – those of the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO – between them. Vitali is often regarded as a better fighter than Wladimir, but the theories will not be substantiated: the brothers have vowed never to fight one another.
Others
To be honest, these were pretty much the first three pairs of siblings who came into my head when thinking about sporting success. Since, I’ve thought of a few more who might deserve a paragraph or two of their own:
Steve and Mark Waugh
Michael and Ralf Schumacher
Peyton and Eli Manning
Bobby and Jack Charlton
Rory and Tony Underwood
Mauro and Mirco Bergamasco?
Gavin and Scott Hastings??
An Early Bath 