it's one of those very general questions with no real definite answer....so therefore a good forum topic

who's your nominee ??

Football: Pele/Maradona/Best ??
Boxing: Ali / Louis / Robinson ??
Cricket: Don Bradman ?
Basketball: Jordan ?
Tennis : Suzanne Lenglen / Sampras ??
Golf: Tiger ?
Cycling: Lance Armstrong ?
Athletics: Carl Lewis / Jesse Owens ?
Darts : Phil the Power ??
Snooker : Hendry / Davis ?

or..one of your own..



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Thats one hell of a sports bra needed.... but do you know I think part of me would like to watch

are we talking sportsman? athlete? or personality?
i'd have difficulty choosing 1 person in each of the 3 catagories..

Sportsman - Don Bradman, head and shoulders above anybody else in his time or Jahangir Khan 555 consecutive matches unbeaten.
Athlete - torn between Lance Armstrong and Eddy Merckx, physical endurance of the hghest
Personality - Ali or Pele

Or just one person connected with sport..then thats a lot different... taking it all into account I guess one name comes up time after time...

Eddie the Eagle!

















Just Joking its .....Muhammed Ali !!!

Anyone remember Ed Moses?

Steve W

Certainly do... he could rate in my sportsman group.. his winning record of 107 consecutive finals (122 consecutive races)and not loosing over nine years, nine months and nine days is a top top effort!

Roy Race of the mighty Melchester Rovers was a legend for me when I was a youngster.Incredible achievements
Seriously Ed Moses is a good shout for his remarkable winning streak.However I will choose these two endurance athletes for their remarkable achievements.Lance Armstrong for winning 7 Tours de France is astonishing given that he overcame cancer and only has one lung.Some think he was on drugs but he never tested positive in all that timeas well.His books are an inspiration as well if anyone gets a chance to read his story and his charity work for the Lance Armstrong Foundation deserves a mention.Haile Gebrselassie's achievements in distance running from 1500metres to the marathon are unparalleled.He has won numerous world and olympic championships and set 24 world records!Even in defeat which happens more regularly now he is gracious in defeat and always has that lovely smile.He has remained in Ethiopia despite being a millionaire and has set up all sorts of training schools in his homeland.A fantastic human being.Respect is due to him.Last year he broke the world marathon record and he still hopes to bring this down.Here are some of his achievements which will be difficult for anyone to surpass.
Honors
1993 World Championships in Athletics
10,000 metre gold medal
5,000 metre silver medal
1993 African Championships in Athletics
5,000 metre silver medal
10,000 metre bronze medal
1994 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – bronze medal
1996 Summer Olympics
10,000 m gold medal
1997 World Championships in Athletics
10,000 m gold medal
1997 IAAF World Indoor Championships
3,000 m gold medal
1999 World Championships in Athletics
10,000 m gold medal
1999 IAAF World Indoor Championships
1,500 m gold medal
2000 Summer Olympics
10,000 m gold medal
2001 World Championships in Athletics
10,000 m bronze medal
2001 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships winner
2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships
3,000 m gold medal
2003 World Championships in Athletics
10,000 m silver medal

[edit] World Record and 'World Best' performances
Distance Mark Date Location Notes
5000 metres 12:56.96 1994-06-04 Hengelo, Netherlands
Two miles 8:07.46 1995-05-27 Kerkrade, Netherlands world best
10,000 metres 26:43.53 1995-06-05 Hengelo, Netherlands
5,000 metres 12:44.39 1995-08-16 Zurich, Switzerland
5,000 metres 13:10.98 1996-01-27 Sindelfingen, Germany, indoors
3,000 metres 7:30.72 1996-02-04 Stuttgart, Germany, indoors
5,000 metres 12:59.04 1997-02-20 Stockholm, Sweden indoors
Two miles 8:01.08 1997-05-31 Hengelo, Netherlands
10,000 metres 26:31.32 1997-07-04 Oslo, Norway
5,000 metres 12:41.86 1997-08-13 Zurich, Switzerland
3,000 metres 7:26.15 1998-01-25 Karlsruhe, Germany indoors
2,000 metres 4:52.86 1998-02-15 Birmingham, UK indoors
10,000 metres 26:22.75 1998-06-01 Hengelo, Netherlands
5,000 metres 12:39.36 1998-06-13 Helsinki, Finland
5,000 metres 12:50.38 1999-02-14 Birmingham, UK indoors
10 kilometres 27:02 2002-12-11 Doha, Qatar road race
Two miles 8:04.69 2003-02-21 Birmingham, UK, indoors
15 kilometres 41:22 2005-09-04 Tilburg, Netherlands road race, not IAAF-ratified
10 miles 44:24 2005-09-04 Tilburg, Netherlands road race, world best
20 kilometres 55:48 2006-01-15 Tempe, Arizona, USA en route to half-marathon
Half marathon 58:55 2006-01-15 Tempe, Arizona, USA
25 kilometres 1:11:37 2006-03-12 Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands road race, not IAAF-ratified – no post-race EPO test
20,000 metres 56:25.98 2007-06-27 Ostrava, Czech Republic, en route to one hour record
One hour run 21,285 m 2007-06-27 Ostrava, Czech Republic
Marathon 2:04:26 2007-09-30 Berlin, Germany
Marathon 2:03:59 2008-09-28 Berlin, Germany current world record


[edit] Personal bests

[edit] Outdoors
Distance Mark Date Location
1,500 m 3:33.73 1999-06-06 Stuttgart
Mile 3:52.39 1999-06-27 Gateshead
3,000 m 7:25.09 1998-08-28 Brussels
Two miles 8:01.08 1997-05-31 Hengelo
5,000 m 12:39.36 1998-06-13 Helsinki
10,000 m 26:22.75 1998-06-01 Hengelo
10 km (road) 27:02 2002-12-11 Ad-Dawhah
15 km (road) 41:38 2001-11-11 Nijmegen
Ten miles (road) 44:24 2005-09-04 Tilburg
20,000 m (track) 56:26.0 2007-06-27 Ostrava, Czech Republic
One hour (track) 21,285 m 2007-06-27 Ostrava, Czech Republic
20 km (road)* 55:48 2006-01-15 Phoenix
Half marathon 58:55 2006-01-15 Phoenix
25 km (road) 1:11:37 2006-03-12 Alphen aan den Rijn (not recognised by IAAF)
Marathon 2:03:59 2008-09-28 Berlin

[citation needed]

*en route to half-marathon


[edit] Indoors
Distance Mark Date Location
1,500 m 3:31.76 1998-02-01 Stuttgart
2,000 m 4:52.86 1998-02-15 Birmingham
3,000 m 7:26.15 1998-01-25 Karlsruhe
Two miles 8:04.69 2003-02-21 Birmingham
5,000 m 12:50.38 1999-02-14 Birmingham

Two miles 8:01.08 1997-05-31 Hengelo, Netherlands

jesus ^^...just over 2 x 4 minute miles back to back.

Haile is one tremendous athlete. What a good reminder Jamie that was of his sporting excellence. Ed Moses was just amazing to watch as well.

These kinds of questions though are always hard to answer because there have been so many in different fields. Ask 10 people the question and you are likely to get 10 different answers.

Here's a few of my favourites

Athletics: Sir John Walker - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Walker_(athlete)

Football: George Best

NFL: Joe Montanna, QB (49ers & Chiefs)

Tennis: Sampras (all those titles speak so loud in his favor)

Darts (well it is a sport!): Eric Bristow!

Boxing: Ali all the way!

I've drawn up a short list:

Sir Geoff Boycott
Brian Close
Darren Gough
Matthew Hoggard
Sir Len Hutton
Ray Illingworth
Herbert Sutcliffe
'Fiery' Fred Trueman
Michael Vaughan

Any of those, really.

Steve W

by chance are they all from Yorkshire?

Hold on, let me check...



I'll tell you who /I saw on the telly the other day - JJ Williams. He was a fantastic winger, and a bit of a rugby hero as I was growing up, as I played on the wing, too.

He gets overshadowed by his brother and all the other greats of the time, but he was bloody brilliant.

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Steve W

great list steve...but you forgot john boy walton...surely one of yorkshires finest exports ??



remember that epic encounter with ted hankey when he won the world title ??




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Good call on Montana Doug for the other Football, but I'd have to Jerry Rice over him. What he did was amazing. And he did it coming from a nobody school.

Baseball - Detroit's own Ty Cobb. A lifetime 400+ avg.

Hockey - The Great One, Wayne Greatzky

Basketball - anyone but Michael fookin Jordan. I could score 35 a game if I took 70 shots too. I'd say Magic Johnson since he played all 5 positions.

Golf - Jack Nicholas until Tiger takes it away.

Boxing - Again partial to Detroit's own Joe Louis.