The Greatest Athlete/Sportsman of all time: Poll Added

[Snow]

I think you can cut away Maradona away immediately when discussing great athletes. He was a great footballer but he wasn't much of an athlete. Injuries and doping were a big part of his career. Babe Ruth wasn't even an athlete.

Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson (handballer) is an incredible athlete. Still playing at top level for club and country and he's about to turn 39. Holds the record for most goals at international level.

 

[Ekkie Thump]

Bradman has to be there for cricket.

 

[JPRouve]

I think you can cut away Maradona away immediately when discussing great athletes. He was a great footballer but he wasn't much of an athlete. Injuries and doping were a big part of his career. Babe Ruth wasn't even an athlete.

Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson (handballer) is an incredible athlete. Still playing at top level for club and country and he's about to turn 39. Holds the record for most goals at international level.

In that case, I won't have any problem mentioning Daniel Narcisse, Nikola Karabatic, Thierry Omeyer, Jackson Richardson, Ivano Balic or Mikkel Hansen. But seriously Karabatic is up there with the absolute best.

 

[Ekkie Thump]

Jahangir Kahn for Squash. Dude won 555 matches on the bounce.

Aleksandr Karelin for wrestling. 13 years unbeaten. Overall record 887 - 2

 

[The Cat]

Jessie Owens

 

[altodevil]

I'm intrigued by your omission of Schumacher from the F1 listing.

Very talented driver, dominated, but never truly got to see him pushed by an outstanding teammate. I find him hard to rank for that reason. There's a chance he's better than those I losted, but by the time he had a reasonably competitive teammate he was old and basically semi-retired.

 

[Carolina Red]

Aleksandr Karelin for wrestling. 13 years unbeaten. Overall record 887 - 2

Dude is a legend in the Greco-Roman world.

Artur Taymazov is the greatest Freestyle wrestler ever, imo. He matches Karelin’s Olympic medal tally with 3 golds and a silver.

 

[Art Vandelay]

It has to be Gretzky, he's so far ahead of his peers it's ridiculous. He's set records that will never be caught.

 

[Deleted member 101472]

@Carolina Red can I give you some names to put into a poll?

 

[Dan]

[Glaston]Harry Kane[/Glaston]

 

[Carolina Red]

@Carolina Red can I give you some names to put into a poll?

I think you’d need to give them to @Raoul. I don’t have poll access in Other Sports.

Jim Thorpe needs to be in that poll though. Pro in football, baseball, basketball, and Olympic gold medalist in pentathalon and decathlon.

He was Bo Jackson 80 years before we got to know Bo.

 

[giorno]

athlete


NOUN

• 1A person who is proficient in sports and other forms of physical exercise.
  
  ‘he had the broad-shouldered build of a natural athlete’
  
  1. 1.1British A person who takes part in competitive track and field events (athletics).
     

Origin
Late Middle English: from Latin athleta, from Greek athlētēs, from athlein ‘compete for a prize’, from athlon ‘prize’.


It's Tiger Woods guys

 

[Raoul]

@Carolina Red can I give you some names to put into a poll?

I’ll make it. What are the names ?

 

[Deleted member 101472]

I’ll make it. What are the names ?

Thank you. Decided to make it a rule that they have to be retired (except woods and federer, and mainly to avoid another Messi ronaldo debate)

Bo Jackson
Michael Jordan
Muhammad Ali
Wayne Gretzky
Michael Phelps
Usain Bolt
Michael Schumacher
Pele
Roger Federer
Jim Thorpe
Tiger Woods

 

[Raoul]

Done

 

[Deleted member 101472]

Thank you!!

 

[Moby]

The poll is flawed because team sports and individual sports are incomparable.

 

[Mrs Smoker]

And there's no "none of the above mediocre guys compared to my athlete who isn't in the poll".

 

[Deleted member 101472]

The poll is flawed because team sports and individual sports are incomparable.

You can use enough different metrics to gauge an overall #1. Legacy, peak level, distance from rivals etc etc.

 

[Raoul]

And there's no "none of the above mediocre guys compared to my athlete who isn't in the poll".

Added

 

[amolbhatia50k]

I'm pretty sure the boxing enthusiasts here told me that Ali is not considered the greatest boxer of all time. No idea why he's on that list.

 

[Raoul]

You can use enough different metrics to gauge an overall #1. Legacy, peak level, distance from rivals etc etc.

One thing to consider is that some may not consider the greatest athlete to be the greatest sportsman. For me, Bo Jackson is the greatest athlete but Federer is the greatest sportsman due to his longevity at a very high level. They are quite different in terms of sheer athleticism and excellence in career longevity imo

 

[Deleted member 101472]

I'm pretty sure the boxing enthusiasts here told me that Ali is not considered the greatest boxer of all time. No idea why he's on that list.

With Ali you have to factor in his legacy. Sugar ray Robinson was a better fighter, but Ali is by far the biggest name in the history of the sport.

 

[11101]

Im going for Bolt in that list.

I used to think Schumacher but really unless you're loaded its hard to get into motorsport to test your mettle. Likewise I could be the world's best ice hockey player but I'll never know because I've never played it. American football, baseball and many other sports have the same problem.

Every person on the planet has run as fast as they can at some point in their lives, and Bolt emerged utterly dominant in a way never really seen before.

 

[altodevil]

Schumacher shouldn't be up there over Senna/Prost at the very least, never mind Alonso or Hamilton.

 

[Carolina Red]

One thing to consider is that some may not consider the greatest athlete to be the greatest sportsman. For me, Bo Jackson is the greatest athlete but Federer is the greatest sportsman due to his longevity at a very high level. They are quite different in terms of sheer athleticism and excellence in career longevity imo

Another thing is this is a Euro centric forum.

How many people on here have seen Bo Jackson in his prime or even heard of Jim Thorpe before I brought him up?

Both are multi-sport professional athletes, Thorpe even added Olympic gold medals to his resume... yet they’ve got 1 vote between the two of them.

 

[Raoul]

Another thing is this is a Euro centric forum.

How many people on here have seen Bo Jackson in his prime or even heard of Jim Thorpe before I brought him up?

Both are multi-sport professional athletes, Thorpe even added Olympic gold medals to his resume... yet they’ve got 1 vote between the two of them.

Yeah true. I'm sure some might want a Cricketer or someone representing a more east centric sport in there as well.

(We can still add people, just let me know).

 

[Carolina Red]

Yeah true. I'm sure some might want a Cricketer or someone representing a more east centric sport in there as well.

(We can still add people, just let me know).

The only other person I put on the same level of athlete as Bo Jackson and Jim Thorpe is Deion Sanders.

 

[Samid]

Not enough Americans in that poll.

 

[JPRouve]

No, but seriously guys, Karabatic has won 55 titles being the best player in every team he played for, at least put his name in the damn poll.

 

[Raoul]

No, but seriously guys, Karabatic has won 55 titles being the best player in every team he played for, at least put his name in the damn poll.

Who is he ?

 

[JPRouve]

Who is he ?

Arguably the best Handball player ever.

 

[Deleted member 101472]

Arguably the best Handball player ever.

If he’s only arguably the best player ever in a sport no one really cares about then he doesn’t belong anywhere near this poll.

 

[Deleted member 101472]

Schumacher shouldn't be up there over Senna/Prost at the very least, never mind Alonso or Hamilton.

Each to their own but Schumacher is comfortably better and more well known than Alonso and Hamilton.

 

[JPRouve]

If he’s only arguably the best player ever in a sport no one really cares about then he doesn’t belong anywhere near this poll.

Well, in that case you can scratch almost every name in that list.

 

[Deleted member 101472]

Well, in that case you can scratch almost every name in that list.

Really? Like actually?

 

[giorno]

Usain Bolt is the fastest man in the world. Does that make him a better athlete than the best long-distance runner in the world? People have a very american-centric definition of athlete

And if we're considering legacy than it's Ali, it's not even debatable. He's the most famous athlete by far, his impact is on completely different level to anyone else. He's the guy the best modern athletes grew up idolizing

 

[Deleted member 101472]

Usain Bolt is the fastest man in the world. Does that make him a better athlete than the best long-distance runner in the world? People have a very american-centric definition of athlete

And if we're considering legacy than it's Ali, it's not even debatable. He's the most famous athlete by far, his impact is on completely different level to anyone else. He's the guy the best modern athletes grew up idolizing

No he should probably come off the list for some handball player.

 

[altodevil]

Each to their own but Schumacher is comfortably better and more well known than Alonso and Hamilton.

Well-known yes, but nowhere close to being comfortably better than either of them.

 

[giorno]

I mean, imagine asking this question to the guys on that poll. What do you think they'd answer?

All of them are great, but only was The Greatest