Proud parents: A file picture of Desmond and wife Ann Marie looking at some of Nicol’s achievements. GEORGE TOWN: Five-and-a-half-day-week, six hours a day of training and a punishing schedule as a professional player that lasted for almost 20 years. These were among the sacrifices Datuk Nicol Ann David, who just claimed the World Games’ Greatest Athlete of All Time (GOAT) honour, had to make before the curtain came down on her illustrious career in 2019. Her 74-year-old father, Desmond David, said they were always in constant touch with Nicol via social media and phone calls since she turned professional back in the 1990s.