Greatest British Sportsman/woman

[Sweet Square]

Inspired from the Lewis Hamilton thread. Who's the greatest to come out of Britain ?

 

[Ajr]

Phil the Power Taylor

 

[UweBein]

Eddie the Eagle

 

[Bojan11]

Andy Murray.

 

[Interval]

Definitely biased but should be Sir Bobby? Chris Hoy? I'm also not knowledgeable in non mainstream sports.

 

[marktan]

Wayne the Rooney.

 

[Pink Moon]

Andy Murray.

Multiple Grand Slam winner
Multiple Olympic Golds
A high of #1 in the World

All in by far the strongest era of tennis in which Federer, Nadal and Djokovic are 1, 2 and 3 on the all time list.

 

[Moby]

Murray easily.

 

[Zlatan 7]

Andy Murray.

Multiple Grand Slam winner
Multiple Olympic Golds
A high of #1 in the World

All in by far the strongest era of tennis in which Federer, Nadal and Djokovic are 1, 2 and 3 on the all time list.

Good argument for Murray there

Phil Taylor is also a worlds best with a record hard to beat, but in a lesser regarded sport, even a sport being questioned.

I’d find it hard to give it a footballer etc in such a team sport.

 

[2mufc0]

Hamilton takes the crown now.

 

[SalfordRed18]

Good argument for Murray there

Phil Taylor is also a worlds best with a record hard to beat, but in a lesser regarded sport, even a sport being questioned.

I’d find it hard to give it a footballer etc in such a team sport.

I'd happily give it Ronaldo if he were British.

 

[SilentWitness]

Murray is a good shout because you have to go back quite a number of years to find a british male/female grand slam winner. Phil Taylor/Hamilton are shouts due to their respective dominance in their sports but there are multiple british champions within their sports.

 

[Dirty Schwein]

The British Bulldog - what a wrestler!

 

[Stack]

Steve Redgrave

 

[Dante]

George Best or Lewis Hamilton. I'm sure there are a few obvious ones I'm missing.

Britain is a major sporting sporting country which has produced numerous world bests. So for somebody to be the greatest British sports person of all time they have to be two things:

1. In the discussion for the greatest of all time in their particular sport
2. Competed in a major world sport

Andy Murray doesn't fulfil condition 1. Phil Taylor doesn't fulfil condition 2.

Daley Thompson and Steve Redgrave are on the cusp of condition 2 but don't quite make it for me.

 

[Zlatan 7]

I'd happily give it Ronaldo if he were British.

Good point

 

[Ivor Ballokov]

I'm not a fan on or off the table but Ronnie O'Sullivan has to be in the conversation.

 

[harms]

Andy Murray.

Multiple Grand Slam winner
Multiple Olympic Golds
A high of #1 in the World

All in by far the strongest era of tennis in which Federer, Nadal and Djokovic are 1, 2 and 3 on the all time list.

Genuine question here. He was a #1 for about 9 months and I doubt that there is any argument against the fact that at least three of his contemporaries were better than him at tennis. Does Britain not have even 1 sportsman who was clearly the best at what he does for a significant amount of time as well as being a genuine GOAT contender in his sport?

I'm not trying to diminish Murray by the way, fair fecks to him for even challenging the big trio, just found it a bit weird.

 

[Zlatan 7]

Phil Taylor

Genuine question here. He was a #1 for about 9 months and I doubt that there is any argument against the fact that at least three of his contemporaries were better than him at tennis. Does Britain not have even 1 sportsman who was clearly the best at what he does for a significant amount of time as well as being a genuine GOAT contender in his sport?

I'm not trying to diminish Murray by the way, fair fecks to him for even challenging the big trio, just found it a bit weird.

 

[Eendracht maakt macht]

Chris Froome not in the conversation? Mo Farah?

 

[R.N7]

Sir Killalot

 

[Amar__]

It's probably The Queen.

 

[Port Vale Devil]

Lennox Lewis who dominated a great era of heavyweight boxing, he avenged his two defeats and retired as undisputed champion.

 

[Eendracht maakt macht]

Phil Taylor

Ronnie O’ Sullivan and Stephan Hendry. But just as darts they excel in more or less British sports.

 

[Zlatan 7]

Ronnie O’ Sullivan and Stephan Hendry. But just as darts they excel in more or less British sports.

I thought the Dutch liked their darts

 

[poleglass red]

difficult question without a real definitive answer. I'd throw Calzaghe into the mix, was never a fan of the man or his boxing style personally, but you can't argue with his record. Superb record.

 

[Bojan11]

Lennox Lewis who dominated a great era of heavyweight boxing, he avenged his two defeats and retired as undisputed champion.

Great shout.

Joe Calzaghe is another who one was best of his class.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

Lennox Lewis who dominated a great era of heavyweight boxing, he avenged his two defeats and retired as undisputed champion.

One of the greatest ever heavyweights.

 

[Sweet Square]

Ronnie O’ Sullivan and Stephan Hendry. But just as darts they excel in more or less British sports.

Hendry possibly but Ronnie is still winning and playing some of his best snooker now when the game is at its highest ever popularity(Its massive in China)

 

[Pink Moon]

Genuine question here. He was a #1 for about 9 months and I doubt that there is any argument against the fact that at least three of his contemporaries were better than him at tennis. Does Britain not have even 1 sportsman who was clearly the best at what he does for a significant amount of time as well as being a genuine GOAT contender in his sport?

I'm not trying to diminish Murray by the way, fair fecks to him for even challenging the big trio, just found it a bit weird.

Phil Taylor and Stephen Hendry were both absolutely dominant for prolonged periods but you can argue against darts and snooker even being sports. Ronnie O'Sullivan would be a shout too. I think it's generally accepted he's the best to ever pick up a snooker cue but he's never been as dominant as he should be or as Hendry was in the 90's largely due to his temperament but if you're simply looking for a British sportsperson who has clearly been the best in the world/best ever at what they do then he's the obvious answer.

We're not that great at sports.

 

[Eendracht maakt macht]

I thought the Dutch liked their darts

‘We’ do, but it’s still predominantly British. Certainly as opposed to Athletics and Tennis for instance.

 

[Eendracht maakt macht]

Hendry possibly but Ronnie is still winning and playing some of his best snooker now when the game is at its highest ever popularity(Its massive in China)

That is true. For me it’s O’ Sullivan as I’m a snooker fan but in general it’s hard to compare snooker to athletics to tennis to autosport of course. O’ Sullivan is the most mesmerizing for me.

 

[Tarrou]

Joe Calzaghe is worth a mention, one of the few boxers to retire undefeated

I’d probably say Hamilton and if/when he wins number eight it will be clear for me

 

[Carolina Red]

Max Woosnam

“Among his achievements were winning an Olympic gold and silver in tennis at the 1920 Summer Olympics,[5] winning the doubles at Wimbledon, compiling a 147 break in Snooker, making a century at Lord's Cricket Ground, captaining the British Davis Cup team, captaining Manchester City F.C.finishing ultimately runners-up for the Football League Championship in 1920–21, and captaining the England national football team.”

 

[Buster15]

Good point

No it's not. It's a stupid point.
The thread is about the Greatest British Sports man/ woman.

 

[Zlatan 7]

No it's not. It's a stupid point.
The thread is about the Greatest British Sports man/ woman.

In the context of the conversation we were having

 

[Classical Mechanic]

Phil Taylor and Stephen Hendry were both absolutely dominant for prolonged periods but you can argue against darts and snooker even being sports. Ronnie O'Sullivan would be a shout too. I think it's generally accepted he's the best to ever pick up a snooker cue but he's never been as dominant as he should be or as Hendry was in the 90's largely due to his temperament but if you're simply looking for a British sportsperson who has clearly been the best in the world/best ever at what they do then he's the obvious answer.

We're not that great at sports.

Loads of British sports stars have clearly been the best in the world for a significant period of time.

Lennox Lewis
Lewis Hamilton
Chris Froome
Seb Coe
Nick Faldo
Mo Farah
Steve Redgrave

Im sure there are many more.

 

[Rudie]

Chris Froome not in the conversation? Mo Farah?

Surprised it took this many posts for Froome to get a mention.

 

[Organic Potatoes]

Of the names getting mentioned that I recognize I’d take Hamilton or Faldo, certainly over Murray at least.

 

[stepic]

Redgrave or Hoy. Definitely not Hamilton, given, as already discussed in the other thread, the importance of engineering in his sport.