Trump's victory shocks athletes

The division could not be any clearer, around half of the people in the US are celebrating while the others are stunned. Against most predictions and odds, Donald Trump will become the 45th President of the United States after a bitter campaign - winning rather comfortably once the dust settled in the crucial swing states. 

His victory has evoked all sorts of reactions across the board, from politics and society to the stock markets, and indeed within the world of sports.  

Although most athletes, coaches and officials try to maintain a neutral public stance whenever it comes to politics - to avoid angry fans and keep sponsors happy - many athletes did not hold back their opinions regarding the election's outcome. Examples included Olympic champion skier Julia Mancuso, Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio and, in a break with the neutrality typically associated with his Swiss roots, Atlanta Hawks shooting guard Thabo Sefolosha. All three seemed baffled at the result.

Others such as golfer John Daly grabbed opportunity to congratulate the new president-elect. The two-time Majors champion refers to Trump, a keen golfer, as a friend; he urged the property mogul to stay true to his campaign's slogan and "make America great again."

Some took a more humorous approach such as Joel Embiid, the Cameroonian Philadelphia 76ers center - nicknamed "The Process" - urged the US to "trust the Process" even if America was "tanking." 

Tennis great Martina Navratilova expressed herself in a much harsher tone through Twitter. The Czech-born left-hander became an American citizen in 1981; she supported Hillary Clinton's campaign and was shocked by the results.

Manchester City's often outspoken captain Vincent Kompany lashed out at Trump's victory. Under the hash tag "#SadWorld," he joked that putting "all the idiots around the world in power" was part of a broader plan for next generation reality television.

Javi Martinez from Bayern Munich processed the news more humorously. He voiced fears that his plans of playing in Major League Soccer in the distant future may have been ruined by the imminent Trump presidency.

But the former Fulham and Manchester United player Louis Saha did not find the results funny at all.

In England, football legend Gary Lineker, who has become more and more of a political animal of late, alluded to a year of ballot box upsets including the "Brexit" vote for the UK to leave the EU:

And finally, in a near-bombshell, Tom Brady confessed he did not vote for Trump. However this was not the star quarterback but rather an English rugby player of the same name. The New England Patriots player had refused to comment on the election campaign and does not have a Twitter account.