World's Greatest Sportsman

[Anonymous Claret]

Following on from Britain's Greatest Sportsman, where do we start with this one?

I am sure everyone will have a different opinion but even though he lost today I am going for Novak Djokovic. In an era when 2 other tennis players could have been the greatest tennis players of all time Novak has surpassed them both and is still competing with elite players many years younger than himself. A special mention too for Alcaraz who could also go onto greatness similar to Djokovic, Federer and Nadal if he stays focused and injury free.

Some cyclists such as Merckx, Hinault and Cavendish may be considered by some to be the greatest?

Some may consider footballers such as Maradona, Messi, Pele or Ronaldo?

Or you may think of athletics stars such as Lewis or Bolt?

Although everyone is entitled to their own opinion I will struggle to take seriously any mention of F1 drivers or yachtsmen

[equinox]

Lance Armstrong

[karatekid]

Mike Tyson. The most brutal of sports and the most brutal competitor from such a young age against some of the best ever.

[BurnleyFC]

Anyone of the elite track and field athletes - Usain Bolt, Carl Lewis, Michael Johnson.

[Tricky Trevor]

Jesse Owens. For Embarrassing Hitler
Don Bradman. For a 99+ batting average
Phil Taylor. For being so great at an advanced age.
Barry John. Poetry in motion.

I’d steer clear of anybody from the drugs era.

[Lip]

Billy Boston.MBE A rugby league genius.

[equinox]

Mike Tyson. The most brutal of sports and the most brutal competitor from such a young age against some of the best ever.

*Evander Holyfield, Tyson was petrified of him.

[TheFamilyCat]

Shane Warne has to be worth a mention for perfecting a relatively rare skill within his sport.

[Silkyskills1]

Muhammad Ali.

[yTib]

Mike Tyson. The most brutal of sports and the most brutal competitor from such a young age against some of the best ever.

tyson never won against a great fighter unless you count larry holmes who was about 40 at the time.

[ISpeds00]

Absolutely none of the above

[yTib]

at the moment: ronnie o'sullivan.

of all time: ali, maradona and bolt all worth a shout.

[Claretmisterg]

Ali or Pele

[Bosscat]

Nobody mentioned Sir Steven Redgrave 5 golds at 5 consecutive Olympic games...

Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave CBE DL (born 23 March 1962) is a British retired rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He has also won three Commonwealth Games gold medals and nine World Rowing Championships golds. He is the most successful male rower in Olympic history, and the only man to have won gold medals at five Olympic Games in an endurance sport.

[ElectroClaret]

Muhammad Ali.

This.
End of discussion.

[Burnley1989]

Kipchoge, shame Kiptum died because he was destined for greatness

Bolt definitely up there.

Messi

but in the main, I prefer Olympians

[bobinho]

Same answer I gave for Britains greatest.

Dame Sarah Storey.

Check out her achievements. She’s a force of nature.

[boatshed bill]

Geoff Capes?

[roperclaret]

No, it was Brian Jacks. He dominated Superstars

[Rick_Muller]

Michael Phelps

23 Olympic Gold Medals

That is all

[Burnley1989]

Michael Phelps

23 Olympic Gold Medals

That is all

Great shout

[roperclaret]

Michael Phelps

23 Olympic Gold Medals

That is all

pants at anything other than swimming though

[Rick_Muller]

pants at anything other than swimming though

Why would he need to do anything different though - absolute beast in the pool and won everything.

With his physique and mindset he would have achieved at many sports

[yTib]

pants at anything other than swimming though

silly point and who the hell says 'pants'?

[GetIntoEm]

Bret "The Hitman" Hart

[Spijed]

Michael Phelps

23 Olympic Gold Medals

That is all

Michael Johnson made a valid point about swimming that in athletics there isn't the option to compete in so many events, thus the likes of Usain Bolt didn't have the chance to win as many golds as Phelps.

[Claret Toni]

Jim Thorpe - great careers in American Football and Baseball, also won Olympic Golds in Athletics.

..but if the post was about Greatest Sportsperson, Serena Williams may have been worth a shout.

[Rick_Muller]

Michael Johnson made a valid point about swimming that in athletics there isn't the option to compete in so many events, thus the likes of Usain Bolt didn't have the chance to win as many golds as Phelps.

I disagree, both athletics and swimming have various distances and events but usually they can only sprint or do distance never both. Generally swimmers are limited to just one stroke specialism and can’t usually compete at the highest level in more than one stroke, a possible exception is fly and crawl swimmers.

Of course there are relays, but again those exist in athletics too.

[yTib]

..but if the post was about Greatest Sportsperson, Serena Williams may have been worth a shout.

to be great you need to have great rivals. serena did not.

navratilova, evert and graf did.

[Claret Toni]

to be great you need to have great rivals. serena did not.

navratilova, evert and graf did.

As they say, you can only beat what's in front of you . The mere absence of what are perceived to be great rivals does not, in itself, deny greatness on an individual, in my view.

I do believe having great rivals can drive individuals to greater heights, but Serena Williams physical attributes were so much more than her rivals.

She could have been the best in any era, but the advances in sports science and the improvements in equipment that weren't available to the excellent players you mention do, of course, make comparison's across generations very difficult.

[Tribesmen]

I am going for Ali as well , he was some dude .

[claretabroad]

Bo Jackson.

If you don't know who he is, then you are in for an amazing youtube rabbit hole. He played both NFL and MLB and was usually the best player on the field for both. His NFL career was cut short by a freak injury that led to having a hip replacement. He managed to continue playing baseball after it though.

Still holds the (unofficial) record for the fastest 40 yd sprint at the NFL combine. No-one that big should ever have been able to run as fast as him.

[Cheshireclaret]

In my living memory there are many that I define as 'Greatest Sportsmen', many have already been mentioned, but there are others that transformed and transcended their respective sports, such as Tiger Woods, Shane Warne, Jonah Lomu, Tom Brady to name a few.

For me, it's an impossible question to answer.

[Rick_Muller]

Michael Phelps

23 Olympic Gold Medals

That is all

FULL STORY- https://www.sportbible.com/other/greate ... 5-20240719

[AlargeClaret]

Mike Tyson. The most brutal of sports and the most brutal competitor from such a young age against some of the best ever.

Tyson’s a decent shout and is certainly one of the greatest heavyweights in history . However he cleaned up a pretty weak era of heavies and lost to the greats of that era (an ageing Lewis and a peak Holy) Though the young Tyson was a thing of beauty and a sheer force of nature .

[LincsWoldsClaret]

Whoever wins the Olympic Decathlon decides the greatest sportsperson - that’s the purpose of the event.
That makes Kevin Mayer the (current) best.

[Dyched]

Novak Djokovic

First Grand Slam in 2008 after 14 out of the previous 16 went to Nadal/Federer.

3 years went by without another whilst Nadal/Federer won 10 out of 11 between them.

2011 Novak then won 3 out of the 4 in the season. He then goes on to win 24 grand slams.

After Novak won his 2nd grand slam, Nadal won 13, Murray 3, Federer 4, Wawrinka 3 and Alcaraz 2 up to the time when Novak won his 24th.

He won so much in an era where we talk about the greatest 2 (Nadal/Federer), the greatest British player and now even competing against the new guys.

Rarely greats turn up when greats are competing. Not in an individual sport anyway where you have to compete head to head so regularly for the biggest prizes.

[AlargeClaret]

This.
End of discussion.

While he lays a top claim to being the greatest Heavy, his losses and controversies take him out of the running .Though pre draft dodge Ali would have beaten young Tyson (imo)
It’s Ali’s beatings by Holmes, Berbick , Frasier , Norton ,etc and let’s face it Norton beat Ali in all 3 fights . Ali did fight in an incredible era though and did avenge his “peak” defeats . For me , to be in the running the sportsman must continue at the absolute elite heights of his sport until retirement.

[yTib]

It’s Ali’s beatings by Holmes, Berbick , Frasier , Norton ,etc and let’s face it Norton beat Ali in all 3 fights . Ali did fight in an incredible era though and did avenge his “peak” defeats . For me , to be in the running the sportsman must continue at the absolute elite heights of his sport until retirement.

nonsense. ali should have retired years before he did and the ali who fought holmes was basically an invalid.

as for mike tyson, ring magazine has him way down at no. 55 of the greatest boxers of all time. sounds about right.

[Rowls]

Nobody's mentioned Willie Thorne yet who must be in with a shout.

[ClaretsPadiham]

How have we got this far and not one person has mentioned Michael Jordan ?! Iconic.

Tiger Woods.

I’d go Ronnie O Sullivan but a lot won’t agree as snooker isn’t as popular as other sports and some people still say snooker isn’t a ‘proper’ sport.

Max Verstappen has to be up there currently.

[Spindles]

Daley Thompson - end of chat. Undefeated between 1979 and 1987 in competition (almost nine years). 4 world records, just an injury away from making it 3 Olympic gold in the most complete solosport ever. It's all on you

[dsr]

For me , to be in the running the sportsman must continue at the absolute elite heights of his sport until retirement.

I don't agree that. W.G.Grace was "The Great Cricketer" for at least 30 consecutive years. For those 30 years his combined batting average, taking good years and bad, was better than the combined averages of the 30 players who came top or second to Grace.

Does it make him less of a cricketer, because he didn't make a century at any level after he turned 60? He played virtually up to his death aged 67.

[AlargeClaret]

nonsense. ali should have retired years before he did and the ali who fought holmes was basically an invalid.

as for mike tyson, ring magazine has him way down at no. 55 of the greatest boxers of all time. sounds about right.

Which bit did you find “ nonsense “? That Ali chose to fight on was his choice and ending his career in a shambles ( not unlike Tyson , who I did say a young Ali would have beat) That in itself precludes any “ greatest ever sportsman “ accolades . Perhaps if Ali had retired before the Spinks fight he’d have had a very good claim ,and if he hadn’t dodged the draft he’d be a shoo in . However those things didn’t happen .

Oh, if you you’re gonna quote “ facts” at least quote from a Heavyweight list.

[yTib]

Which bit did you find “ nonsense “? That Ali chose to fight on was his choice and ending his career in a shambles ( not unlike Tyson , who I did say a young Ali would have beat) That in itself precludes any “ greatest ever sportsman “ accolades . Perhaps if Ali had retired before the Spinks fight he’d have had a very good claim ,and if he hadn’t dodged the draft he’d be a shoo in . However those things didn’t happen .

Oh, if you you’re gonna quote “ facts” at least quote from a Heavyweight list.

no facts, just opinions. no need to get upset.

i think dsr puts it well regarding w.g. grace.

mike tyson fought on well beyond his peak yet you still cited him as a possible greatest. was he great when he got knocked out by danny williams?

you contradict yourself.

[Lip]

Not many guys outside Cumbria/lancs /Yorkshire will have heard of Joss Naylor .He was the ultimate fell runner and belongs in this category.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/ ... %20Gillian

Please read his obituary guys.

[jdrobbo]

Another vote for Michael Jordan here