By E. Graydon Carter

When the rains ended at this year's Wimbledon, Jimmy Connors, 29, again had his place in the sun: the legendary grass of Centre Court. In the title match, Connors revived fires of the past to defeat last year's champion, 23-year-old John McEnroe, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4. The triumph marked Connors' first Wimbledon championship since 1974, an eight-year span between victories topped only by Bill Tilden's nine-year hiatus (1921 to 1930). "I was going to do anything not to let this chance slip by," said Connors afterward. "I was going to fight to the death." Another veteran, two-time Wimbledon Winner Martina Navratilova, 25, slammed to a 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Chris Evert Lloyd, 27, in the women's final. The victory offered a bonus: $500,000 for winning the first three tournaments in the Playtex Challenge (the other two were the U.S. Indoors and the Family Circle Cup). Centre Court matters concluded, the Wimbledon governing body--which had refused McEnroe membership last year as punishment for his superbrat behavior--issued a final decision: "The committee of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club announce that Mr. J.P. McEnroe has been elected an honorary member of the club."

Some 1 million keyed-up rock fans poach under the midday sun at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. There are 600 police officers at your disposal, but you still face the classic problem of transporting the feature star to center stage without getting him mobbed. If you are Lieut. Colonel James Hackett, 50, of the St. Louis police force, you enlist that myopic master of outrageous disguise from Middlesex, England, Reginald Kenneth Dwight. In standard police clothing and cruiser, Hackett and Dwight then casually drive the 15 blocks to the Gateway Arch. Once backstage, Dwight looks around, then begins to peel the blue to reveal a black matador outfit trimmed with gold sequins, a gold belt and a pink sash, and his true identity for more than a decade: Elton John, 35. The crowd gets its man, but the police lose a future New Centurion. Says Hackett wistfully: "He looks pretty good in uniform."

His grands jetes were supposed to be no more than a leap of the imagination. Grounded by a knee injury at 34, almost twice the age of some of his male colleagues, Mikhail Baryshnikov seemed destined for full-time duty as artistic director of the American Ballet Theater. But last week at the 19th century Teatro Nuovo at Spoleto, Italy, "Misha" returned to his airborne artistry, performing with elan in Other Dances, a new work by Choreographer Jerome Bobbins, 63. As for speculation that his turn as a dancer is almost over, "That 'almost' can mean a lot of things," says Baryshnikov. "Meanwhile, I go on dancing."

Once upon a time there was probably no cotton-pickin' way to get Sammy Davis Jr., 56, onto the set of a television show like the yahoo repertory Hee Haw. But that was before the onetime freedom marcher ("I was there in Selma") was paid a backstage call by Roy Clark, 49, during a stint in Las Vegas. Next thing he knew Sammy was onstage in Nashville, with Minnie Pearl, 69. Says Davis: "I really felt welcome. We're all family." He even brought along his own wardrobe: six huge diamond rings, two diamond-and-gold bracelets, a gold wristwatch, a gold choker and a gold-and-diamond pendant with his initials on it. No trouble picking him out of the crowd in the cornfield.

--By E. Graydon Carter

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.