Greatest sportsman or woman of all time

He's certainly one of.

Always an interesting debate, for me it's impossible to pick one outright winner. Just too many factors at play:

- different eras (rule changes, advancements in sports science/equipment etc)
- standard of opponents at the time
- difference in the challenges of different sports (physical, mental, technique/co-ordination/motor skills required. Team v individual sports)
- attitude/sportsmanship of the different athletes and how much that matters.
- cultural impact (and does that matter?)

Hard enough to pick the greatest in one individual sport never mind the greatest of them all.

But that is of course what makes it such a great debate.

For me it has to be someone who competed in an individual sport, requiring strong athleticism, skill/technique and someone who competed in an era where the competition was very strong.

But even then hard to leave the likes of Michael Jordan, Maradonna, Messi, Tom Brady out of the discussion.
 
Fat_Dragon said:
I'd say Michael Phelps. 23 gold medals won at the Olympics.


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Incredible record really.

I'd personally rule out swimmers because ultimately they're just competing against themselves. I know it's not quite as simple as that, but I think the greatest ever sportsman needs to be in a sport where other athletes have more of a direct impact on your own performance (more adversarial). Where they can try exploit weaknesses more directly, try and put you off and present you with different challenges.

For sports like swimming and running I get there are some tactical elements to it. But ultimately if you're the fastest, you're very likely to win regardless of what your opposition do.

There's more to it with other sports. You can be the best without being strongest/fastest etc.
 
It’s almost impossible to find the greatest sportsman or woman of all time.

I always think someone who transcends their sport. Is so famous that they are well known outside of the fans of their sport is a good indicator though.

that would point to Ali again. How many nine boxing fans are aware of him and his achievements? Many I reckon
 
Got to be the tennis lads. I’d go with Federer. The amount of majors he’s won playing in the hardest era the sport has seen.

you’ve got 3 of the all time major winners all playing each other at the same time
 
GazC_MFC said:
Got to be the tennis lads. I’d go with Federer. The amount of majors he’s won playing in the hardest era the sport has seen.

you’ve got 3 of the all time major winners all playing each other at the same time
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Tennis? a bosh blokes sport?
 
If you are talking about boxing, then Rocky Marciano. Undefeated and won most of them by knock outs.
 
For sheet physical difficulty it has to be either a boxer or a gymnast.

Commaneci is probably the greatest gymnast and my dad says that Marciano its the greatest boxer that ever lived.
 
GazC_MFC said:
Got to be the tennis lads. I’d go with Federer. The amount of majors he’s won playing in the hardest era the sport has seen.

you’ve got 3 of the all time major winners all playing each other at the same time
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The issue I have with that Gaz is he is likely to end up 2nd or 3rd on the Grand Slam table when they are all finished and he won a lot of his before Nadal and Djokovic reached their peak. What is indisputable is that these 3 are the best there have been in the men's game given the number of GSs and other tournaments won over the past 15 years. Aside from Murray generally and Wawrinka at the the slams, nobody else has had a look in.
 
GazC_MFC said:
Got to be the tennis lads. I’d go with Federer. The amount of majors he’s won playing in the hardest era the sport has seen.

you’ve got 3 of the all time major winners all playing each other at the same time
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Fed isn't even the greatest tennis player of all time, so shouldn't even be in the debate for greatest sportsman/woman ever.

Fed won his first 7 slams against average/aging tennis players - compared to the era that followed. He then won 13 (unreal achievement) in that era...however, Rafa & Novak won more.

Whereas Novak & Rafa have won pretty much all their slams in the toughest era going - Rafa has the same amount of slams as Roger and Novak is only 2 off him. I can see both surpassing Roger in the next year or two.
 
Impossible as said by a few already. Skill, strength, agility, balance, mental focus and strength, longevity, even personality to a degree. Ali is certainly up there.

An oft forgotten sportsman is the jump jockey, they have all the above plus horrific injuries to overcome like McCoy for example. It is really impossible but Ali if I have to pick one, certainly not a footballer for me anyway.
 
It's tough to compare people across ages, across sports and across gender.

Some sports are reliant on strength and athleticism - boxing and athletics for example, and then there's a long spectrum to sports where skill and judgement count for much more than strength and athleticism. Maybe snooker and bowls are at this end of the spectrum. To be truly great I think you have to have been responsible for pushing the sport onwards, changing the game for the better, changing the way people think of the sport.
 
For me, it has to be the guy who is the best at something that the most do, or most try to do.

So, the answer to that is Messi, and then Ronaldo. These two play a sport that like 1bn people must try and play, and the standard (in their era) is higher than it has ever been (probably 10 years ago ish being the peak). Take them back in time and they would have just dominated more. You could say bring the others forward in time and they would be the same, but no two players really bossed it like those two. Pele and Maradona would be the obvious shouts, but Pele avoided playing in the hardest leagues and Maradona was more short-lived/ off and on.

For dominating their own sport, or just being capable of a level that nobody else can touch then I would say Federer or Phelps of recent times.
Fed was playing at a time when the standard has been exceptionally high also and came up again a clay court brick wall in Nadal.

Maybe Bradman from the past, as I can't comprehend how someone could average 45% more than anyone else ever, and on worst pitches.
 
Andy_W said:
For me, it has to be the guy who is the best at something that the most do, or most try to do.

So, the answer to that is Messi, and then Ronaldo. These two play a sport that like 1bn people must try and play, and the standard (in their era) is higher than it has ever been (probably 10 years ago ish being the peak). Take them back in time and they would have just dominated more. You could say bring the others forward in time and they would be the same, but no two players really bossed it like those two. Pele and Maradona would be the obvious shouts, but Pele avoided playing in the hardest leagues and Maradona was more short-lived/ off and on.

For dominating their own sport, or just being capable of a level that nobody else can touch then I would say Federer or Phelps of recent times.
Fed was playing at a time when the standard has been exceptionally high also and came up again a clay court brick wall in Nadal.

Maybe Bradman from the past, as I can't comprehend how someone could average 45% more than anyone else ever, and on worst pitches.
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If you ask Ronaldo who the greatest footballer that ever lived is, he will laugh and say : "There is Pele, then everybody else". The argument around the greatest footballer ever isn't one for debate. Pele was head and shoulders above every other footballer, ever. Go look at quotes from players that played against him. Watch the documentary where he was examined by biologists. He was a freak of nature physically.
 
Laughing said:
If you ask Ronaldo who the greatest footballer that ever lived is, he will laugh and say : "There is Pele, then everybody else". The argument around the greatest footballer ever isn't one for debate. Pele was head and shoulders above every other footballer, ever. Go look at quotes from players that played against him. Watch the documentary where he was examined by biologists. He was a freak of nature physically.
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In view of the recent posts between the two of them, I doubt that's true. Pele was good but didn't play in the top leagues and kept "finding" more goals that he claims he scored. Maradona won things with unfancied Naples, and was a huge reason Argentina won the World Cup when he played at his best.
 
Laughing said:
If you ask Ronaldo who the greatest footballer that ever lived is, he will laugh and say : "There is Pele, then everybody else". The argument around the greatest footballer ever isn't one for debate. Pele was head and shoulders above every other footballer, ever. Go look at quotes from players that played against him. Watch the documentary where he was examined by biologists. He was a freak of nature physically.
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however...Pele said that george best was the greatest footballer in the world.

theres loads of sports that i know next to nothing about (and i include football and boxing!) - however post war - Ali and Pele both transcend their sports to become household names across all continents
 
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