Who is (or was) the greatest sportsman of all time?

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I think there have been many worthy contenders thus far.

acad, i assume y. fekkin'a. tittle is included in your pantheon...

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Originally posted by Jim Lawson:

He became a full professional at the age of 17 in the World Hockey Association, leading to a long career in the NHL.

Pretty impressive but Jahangir Khan beat Geoff Hunt (8 times British Open winner and the world's second greatest sportsman)at the ripe old age of 17!

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Originally posted by fidelio:

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I think there have been many worthy contenders thus far.

acad, i assume y. fekkin'a. tittle is included in your pantheon...

Not yet. Who is he/she?

Alf Tupper

or Phidippides...good runner too, but not a welder...

No votes yet for Eddie the Eagle? Shocking.

(BTW, my choice is Jim Thorpe.)

Alf Tupper I like. Jim Thorpe is a good suggestion.

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Originally posted by acad tsunami:
For those struggling to comprehend why Ali should not be considered I would draw your attention to the constant claims of match fixing, his swaggering loud-mouthed rants at the expense of his opponent - both in and out of the ring (hardly very sporting)and the fact that he was a serial adulterer etc. etc. Was he undefeated? Was he free from scandal? Was he a good role model? No and no and no. In fact he is one of the worst examples of a true sportsman it is possible to find imo. He was/is also a racist.

..Jeeez you really mean it don't you? ......and you REALLY think a squash player has a greater claim to being called "The Greatest" than ALI!

....What the hell has his private life have to do with anything? (did it prevent George Best being the footballer he was?)

As for being a racist ??? ...Ali faced unremitting racism all his life and felt drawn to being a Muslim and The Nation Of Islam as one way of dealing with the way he and his peers had been treated by "white folk" ...His swaggering rants were no more than a escalation (and an improvement) of the type of hyperbole long used by many Boxers for years to sell tickets (he was LOVED for his "rants"!) you obviously care to ignore how far Ali's tounge was in his cheek when he made those pronouncements.

Ali was the most widely recognised sportsman on planet earth ....and yes pretty obviously the greatest of all time!

Jim Baxter, of course.

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Originally posted by graham55:
Jim Baxter, of course.

...Slim Jim .....awesome!

Mike 'The Bike' Hailwood

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Originally posted by Jet Johnson:

quote:

Originally posted by acad tsunami:
For those struggling to comprehend why Ali should not be considered I would draw your attention to the constant claims of match fixing, his swaggering loud-mouthed rants at the expense of his opponent - both in and out of the ring (hardly very sporting)and the fact that he was a serial adulterer etc. etc. Was he undefeated? Was he free from scandal? Was he a good role model? No and no and no. In fact he is one of the worst examples of a true sportsman it is possible to find imo. He was/is also a racist.

..Jeeez you really mean it don't you? ......and you REALLY think a squash player has a greater claim to being called "The Greatest" than ALI!

....What the hell has his private life have to do with anything? (did it prevent George Best being the footballer he was?)

As for being a racist ??? ...Ali faced unremitting racism all his life and felt drawn to being a Muslim and The Nation Of Islam as one way of dealing with the way he and his peers had been treated by "white folk" ...His swaggering rants were no more than a escalation (and an improvement) of the type of hyperbole long used by many Boxers for years to sell tickets (he was LOVED for his "rants"!) you obviously care to ignore how far Ali's tounge was in his cheek when he made those pronouncements.

Ali was the most widely recognised sportsman on planet earth ....and yes pretty obviously the greatest of all time!

Jet Johnson is correct. Acad, keep off the drugs cos they is playing funny tricks with your brain.

Ali win this argument by a knockout.

"Float like a butterfly..."

Do we have to limit it to Sportsman ?

How about a sportswoman...MICHELE MOUTON

Audi Team rallying legend Michele Mouton, arguably the best female rally driver of all, and certainly the equal of her illustrious Audi team-mates Hannu Mikkola, Walter Rohrl, and Stig Blomqvist..

Especially as she was competing in a hugely male dominated sport.

Never heard of any of them.

The greatest sportsperson of all time has to be a mountaineer, and probably somebody who has summitted Mt Everest too.

Consider:

1. Success is measured by not dying as well as the fact of having summitted (80% of accidents happen on descent.)

2. Success depends on the ability to make a succession of good decisions - some of them having to be made very quickly.

3. At high altitudes - especially in the death zone above 26,000 feet - the decision maker's faculties are under constant attack from the effects of oxygen starvation and extreme cold.

4. Success also depends on excellent climbing techniques that are consistent in their execution over many days. Often a single misapplication of some of these techniques would result in certain death.

5. Rugged determination is required from the participant to achieve a summit and a safe descent. Usually the participant must make decisions and execute excellent technique in the midst of pain and extraordinary fatigue over the course of many hours.

6. Determination of success in the sport is left to an individual or a team's word on a largely honour-based system. ie: If they said they summitted then the climbing community accepts that they summitted. This evidences a level of fairness and sportsmanship seen in few other sports (if any...)

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Originally posted by Macker:
and certainly the equal of her illustrious Audi team-mates Hannu Mikkola, Walter Rohrl, and Stig Blomqvist

If she was simply their equal, why aren't they also in consideration for GSOAT?

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Originally posted by jayd:

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Originally posted by Macker:
and certainly the equal of her illustrious Audi team-mates Hannu Mikkola, Walter Rohrl, and Stig Blomqvist

If she was simply their equal, why aren't they also in consideration for GSOAT?

I feel you have missed the thrust of my comment....

Perhaps in the spirit of Macker's comments how about Billie Jean King ?
BJK on the Wiki

Certainly an amazing career and it is hard to overstate the positive influence she had in raising the profile of women's tennis.

Ian

Lance Armstrong, to win the TdF once after cancer is going some, but seven times!!

The only "cheating" he did was to have his body poisoned by chemo-therapy which destroyed his body's fat and muscle. This "allowed" him to rebuild himself as a lighter, stronger rider.

Mind you he had already won the world championship road title, so he already knew how to ride to win.

Jono

Sure!

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Originally posted by Jono 13:
Lance Armstrong, to win the TdF once after cancer is going some, but seven times!!

Whatever he did or not, few sportspeople managed to be such an object of hatred. This is also due to the things he said to the journalists. Lance Armstrong had the charisma of a shoebox and never showed much interest in the country which saw him win seven Tours. A little PR wouldn't have been a bad thing to do.

Merckx was hated too in his day but mainly because he won all the time. And he didn't just turn up at the last minute to kinda 'steal' the victory from the other runners who were present throughout the season.

The French hate anyone who wins Le Tour who is not French. Greg Lemond must be hated above anyone for beating Fignon in Paris.

Armstrong was a Tour specialist and made no secret of it.

I don't know about the greatest, but contenders have to be:
Barry Sheene for being a decent bloke, always there to help young kids into the sport, for coming back after the most horrific accident that should have left him dead, twice, and to
(deep breath)...
David Beckham for being also a decent bloke, great player and a good role-model to young kids who want to emulate their football heroes, when, lets face it, most footballers are shockingly bad examples for anyone. Bad taste in women though.

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Originally posted by Nigel Cavendish:
The French hate anyone who wins Le Tour who is not French. Greg Lemond must be hated above anyone for beating Fignon in Paris.

Especially by 8 seconds!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bloody good result.

Jono