Comments on: In a list of the 10 greatest athletes, Bradman reigns

By: Dean - Surry Hills

Dean - Surry Hills — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:38:07 +0000

Possibly Shelley Taylor-Smith. Long distance marathon swimer for seven consecutive years with FINA.
Shelley has also won the Manhattan Marathon 5 times – and holds the world record for this swim, defeating all of the men who have attempted the same 28.5 mile marathon swim. Is there any other known female athlete who has bettered the blokes in any other field of sport?

By: Pajovic

Pajovic — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 17:26:31 +0000

Matt, You obviously do not follow cycling if you went for Armstrong over Mercx. The 3 great tours had more of an equal standing in Eddie’s day and it is only more recently that the TourDF has become the main endurance focus. He won the Tour de France five times, won all the classics except Paris-Tours, won the Giro d’Italia five times and the Vuelta a España, won the world championship as an amateur and a professional, and broke the world hour record.
Armstrong never got a punch to the Kidney mid Tour either!

By: sledgeandhammer

sledgeandhammer — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:46:55 +0000

Couple of points in defence of Bradman:

1) Bradman did not have access to modern day equipment. Have you ever seen a picture of Bradman wearing a helmet or thigh pads? How effective were his gloves?
2) Cricket conditions if anything were tougher – uncovered wickets, timeless tests, no restrictions on field placings. How many matches are played on what used to be called a ‘sticky wicket’ these days? When did the boundary rope first get introduced?
3) From expert commentators and footage it would appear that the fast bowlers of his era were pretty fearsome beasts – to me they stack up pretty well against the modern player. Here’s a link to Larwood bowling:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwL1VOBG6Vo (larwood)

By: Francis

Francis — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:45:16 +0000

Don’t forget Denis Compton – played professionally for England in both cricket and football (and knocked Bradman’s touring Aussies for a few centuries in the 1930s). Maybe not the greatest in either sport, but I can’t think of anyone else who has reached such a pinnacle in two very different games. He was also an Arsenal man, which always helps in these ratings…

By: sittingbison

sittingbison — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:45:07 +0000

without necessarily defending Bradman, his average dropped during Bodyline by bowling at his head with all 9 fieldsmen on the legside. So much for genteel. I would suggest that any of the other sportsmen on this list would suffer a comparative decline when face with a similar impediment.

And I cannot agree that the bowling of the time was low grade, the other batsmen of the era had similar stats to all others of any era, Bradmans just happens to be roughly twice as good as everyone else. Doesn’t make him a nice chap though or admirable in any other way.

Didn’t Zatopek give one of his gold medals to Jim Clarke in admiration for his gesture of helping Landy to his feet? Now THAT is admirable.

By: Kurtos

Kurtos — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 03:32:39 +0000

Definitely Owens over Lewis and Al Oerter over Lewis too. Why? There’s not the slightest suspicion of drug abuse by the O men. NY Times writers working on a book about the rightfully disqualified Ben Jonson uncovered some damning information about Lewis’s “nutritional regimen”. They argue that since he was the big crowd attractor at the time he wasn’t under the same degree of scrutiny. Isn’t it odd that with all the discoveries of drug abuse in track and field, accompanied by comments by the sports leading lights, we haven’t heard a word from Carl. Strange silence, I reckon.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 09:01:33 +0000

Mike Rann rates Bradman

After all these years we’re yet to find another Bradman

http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-toast-to-don-bradman/

By: Dean Pantio

Dean Pantio — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 13:54:56 +0000

About as soon as Bolt gets to have medals for running backwards, sideways and skipping.

By: Dean Pantio

Dean Pantio — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 13:51:51 +0000

I agree with you Sheek. There is no doubt Bradman was prodigiously talented, but he played in an era where it was still a gentlemen’s game and the bowlers had to provide an opportunity for the batsmen to score. During the bodyline series his series average was just 57% of his career mean.

By: Wayne Tc

Wayne Tc — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 01:35:45 +0000

Hey Guys, If you wished to include a woman on this list – its hard to go past Margaret Court. She won 64 grand slams in total. 24 single; 19 doubles and 19 mixed. How many has Roger Federer won – 14. Also, I do not see a smimmer as and athlete. The world greatest athlete – needs to do athletics – that is running; jumping etc. Do a seperate list for swimmers. I stick by my blog in July 2008 – when I suggested that Jim Thorpe who played major league baseball; was a premier running back in the original American Football league and won a few Olympic Gold metals as well should be at the top of the list. He could also do a reverse slam dunk. Not bad for a guy straight off the reservation.

By: Rich_daddy

Rich_daddy — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:44:26 +0000

Westy,

You might be right but most of the bloggers I am guessing are male, and they mostly watch sports involving males so it’s hardly a suprise. Please not Dawn Fraser, she is dull and boring. What about Nadia Cominici the gymnast who scored a perfect 10 ?

I think the list may also discriminate against sports not played worldwide. For example Wayne Gretsky the hockey player might have a case to join the list.

Also I think Roger Federer is worthy of a spot and if Mark Spitz is there, perhaps Micheal Phelps should be as well. Also isn’t their rumours Carl Lewis was on drugs during his time as an Olympian? Very hard though, everyone is going to have a different opinion.

By: westy

westy — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:28:26 +0000

I think we are a little sexist. I think at least a few of the greatest athletes should be women. I for one would nominate Dawn Fraser . If not for officialdom she would have won 4 gold medals in a row in a blue ribbon event. There are others.

By: JohnB

JohnB — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:52:57 +0000

Heather Mackay?

By: Boof

Boof — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 13:04:27 +0000

Walter Lindrum & as for Carl Lewis?????? nominate his chemist mabye.

By: Alan

Alan — Fri, 22 May 2009 03:05:00 +0000

I don’t want to seem biased but if you are going to analyse each legend in their respective sport, you will have to reduce the comparison to statistics. Although i agree that Maradona was a superior player to Pele, the statistics show that Pele achieved more in his era (3 world cups medals, 1200 goals, etc).

Comparing the other athletes to each other one must also include the popularity of the sport. The more people playing the sport, the lower the probability for the legend to make his/her mark on the sport. Harry Kewell is the greatest Australian soccer player, however in comparison with other countries and eras, he isn’t the greatest soccer player in the world (comparing him to the millions that have played the sport). Similarly,i am the best person in the world playing ‘Nurfball’ but i am the only person in the world that plays Nurfball. Therefore, this instantly cuts out many athletes from the comparison including Bradman, Spitz, Jordan, Ruth and the like.

Long story short, evaluating Pele’s statistics, impact on the game and adding that soccer is easily the biggest participation game of all time – Pele should be the greatest athlete.

By: Alan Nicolea

Alan Nicolea — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 04:08:50 +0000

Diego Maradona did not get a mention despite being a player for his people. He represents the lowerclass of football and sport in this world and to this day remains a leader of all south Americans kids.

Pele is a politician of the game, You would be interested to find Spiro that many of today’s football superstars would rather have Maradona as their captain and leader than Pele. Even some Brazilian players rate Maradona higher than Pele.

Pele scored a lot of goals and won world cups. But in terms of being the better player, Maradona takes that honour. the reason he is despised in some way or form is because he does not suck up to FIFA. Maradona is the CHE GUEVARA of the 21st century.

Like it or not.

By: Bruce Walkley

Bruce Walkley — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:19:30 +0000

Wayne Tc is right on the button. And when someone else wins two grand slams I’ll believe they’re in the same class as Laver, not before. They’ll have to learn to serve-volley as well as play interminable ground strokes.

By: matty p

matty p — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:00:09 +0000

No mention of Sir Hubert Opperman?

By: Wayne Tc

Wayne Tc — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:47:16 +0000

For all round athletic ability – you cannot go past Jim Thorpe and all his accomplishments that he performed in so many different sports [at their highest levels] over a long period of time. Jordan; Ali; Armstrong; Bradman and Gretzky are all the best of their selected sports, however, for all round athletic ability – Thorpe – is the greatest. Also, as a native American – there was so much more he had to do – in those days – to be successful.

By: PommyAussie

PommyAussie — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 02:09:00 +0000

One name that is regulalry missed out on that i think should be in here is Sir Stephen Redgrave. A British rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He also won a bronze medal in 1988.

As the only Briton ever to achieve this feat, Redgrave is considered by some to be Britain’s greatest Olympian. Only four other Olympians achieved the same: Pál Kovács, Aladár Gerevich (the only one to surpass it with 6 consecutive golds), Reiner Klimke, and Birgit Fischer, and only one of those in an “endurance” event. Redgrave has also won nine Rowing World Championship gold medals.

Olympic Games
2000 – Gold, Coxless Four (with Matthew Pinsent, Tim Foster, James Cracknell)
1996 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with Matthew Pinsent)
1992 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with Matthew Pinsent)
1988 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with Andy Holmes)
1988 – Bronze, Coxed Pair (with Andy Holmes and Patrick Sweeney)
1984 – Gold, Coxed Four (with Martin Cross, Adrian Ellison, Andy Holmes, Richard Budgett).

[edit] World Rowing Championships
1999 – Gold, Coxless Four (with James Cracknell, Ed Coode, Matthew Pinsent)
1998 – Gold, Coxless Four (with James Cracknell, Tim Foster, Matthew Pinsent)
1997 – Gold, Coxless Four (with James Cracknell, Tim Foster, Matthew Pinsent)
1995 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with Matthew Pinsent)
1994 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with Matthew Pinsent)
1993 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with Matthew Pinsent)
1991 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with Matthew Pinsent)
1990 – Bronze, Coxless Pair (with Matthew Pinsent)
1989 – Silver, Coxless Pairs (with Simon Berrisford)
1987 – Gold, Coxless Pairs (with Andy Holmes)
1987 – Silver, Coxed Pairs (with Andy Holmes and Patrick Sweeney)
1986 – Gold, Coxed Pairs (with Andy Holmes and Patrick Sweeney)
1985 – 12th, Single Sculls
1983 – Single Sculls
1982 – 6th, Quadruple Scull
1981 – 8th, Quadruple Scull

What a legend!

By: Dublin Dave

Dublin Dave — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:35:22 +0000

A Maradonna what?

I’m afraid I don’t understand your banter, old man.

By: david

david — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:15:41 +0000

Ali is way over rated. There are a heap of better boxers out there. Shows you how much the media can influence the media.

Another is Pele. HE could never even pull off a Maradonna 7! And thats a fact.

By: Earl Sorensen

Earl Sorensen — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:04:32 +0000

Yeah impressive record Dublin Dave, 9yrs, 9mths and 9days before he was beaten again, amazing! Another interesting tidbit, is that in 1990 he also received a bronze medal in a World Cup 2 man bobsleigh event – Cool Running!!!

By: Dublin Dave

Dublin Dave — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:33:55 +0000

Earl

Ed Moses would certainly be a contender. For all the reasons you gave and for the fact that he was poetry in motion to look at. He would very likely have won a third Olympic Gold (although you can never say for certain) if the USA hadn’t boycotted the Moscow Olympics in 1980.

Don’t know about the ultra marathoner, though. It’s all very impressive but just a bit too extreme and nichey to be mainstream. IMHO.

By: Earl Sorensen

Earl Sorensen — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 06:25:52 +0000

I remember reading over Jahangir Khan’s great records in squash, and thinking of this being an incredible feat, bettered in squash by only Margaret Court as has been previously mentioned, however one other that I really believe should be in the list, as someone who completely dominated his sport is Edwin Moses – Between 1977 and 1987, Moses won 107 consecutive finals (122 consecutive races) and set the world record in his event four times(from Wikipedia). Perhaps another worthy of mention is Yiannis Kouros, the greek/aussie ultra-marathoner who holds every men’s world record from 100 to 1,000 miles, from 200 to 1,600 km, and from 24 hours to 10 days(from wikipedia).

Just my 2 bobs worth…

By: ohtani's jacket

ohtani's jacket — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:52:46 +0000

I really hate the Federer Roland Garros argument. Federer could’ve won the French Open three, possibly four, times if not for Nadal. It’s conceivable that he could’ve had a Calendar Slam three straight years. Laver benefitted from Ken Rosewall’s decline to take his only French title in the Open era.

By: Dublin Dave

Dublin Dave — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:06:33 +0000

As somebody who can remember watching the 1970 World Cup, won by Brazil, I am very much in the Pele camp as best soccer player. He was the best. I fully agree that Argentina would not have won the 1986 World Cup without Maradonna whereas Brazil might well have won the 1970 World Cup without Pele. In fact they did win the 1962 World Cup to all intents and purposes without him because he got injured very early on.

But Pele was just a magical combination of grace, speed and breathtaking imagination and daring. Although he won two (three?) World Cups and scored over 1,000 first class goals some of his most memorable moments were misses. Like attempting to lob the Czech keeper from his own half, or the most amazing outrageous dummy in the semi final of 1970 when he went around the Uruguayan keeper one way and let the ball go past the other side. And then he missed an open goal!!! No matter, the last thing he needed was an extra notch on his goal tally.

About boxing, I care little; cricket I know little; American sports I know nothing; tennis is for hot places; swimming is like sex–a participatory rather than a spectator sport; golf is for ould fellas and I’m only 47.

But I am going to nominate one of my all time heroes for the best athlete of all time. Emil Zatopek of Czechoslovakia as was. There was nobody to touch him as a distance runner. He broke numerous world records and won four gold medals at Olympic games, including a uniqe treble in 1952 of 5k, 10k and marathon.

Two things stand out about him for me.
1) his sense of humour. He had an ungainly loping style and his face was often contorted in a grimace as he ran along. When asked why, he once said. “I just wasn’t talented enough to run and smile at the same time.”

2) the fact that he was almost certainly clean. He was from Communist Czechoslovakia. If they had found something to put in his coffee, they would have given it to everybody. The way the East German women did later on. And the Chinese runners more recently. If a star got injured they would just whistle up another medal winner from the gym. It happened several times.

But distance running was the one discipline that the Eastern Europeans never excelled in to the same extent as their steroid enhanced power and weight men or their “women”. Name another good Czech distance runner if you can.

Zatopek was also something of a rebel. He got into trouble for his outspokenness with the authorities and they assigned this supposed national treasure to corpse-washing duty in the city morque as his way to earn a crust.

Guy was a legend.

By: spiro zavos

spiro zavos — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:15:39 +0000

I’ve just being reading about C.B.Fry, who played cricket and soccer/football for England. Would have played rugby for England except that he broke his leg. He also held the world long jump record for a time. He was offered the crown as King of Greece but rejected it. He was a noteworthy sports journalist, too.

By: Sundo

Sundo — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 04:56:23 +0000

Where is Horrie Hastings?

By: Monty String

Monty String — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:20:27 +0000

I think Greatest Athlete is a misnomer. It should be Greatest Sportsperson which opens up a can of worms: what is a sport versus a skill?

I used to play snooker at the same rat-infested establishment Lindrum played at in Pitt Street. At the time, many of my fellow shooters were rail-thin consumptives, but they could bounce the object ball over a color and sink a far off red with no trouble. Were these athletes? No. Just very skillful folk, as Lindrum was. Was Jack the Bear a great athlete with all those Masters titles? No, Just very skillful with a golf club. Perhaps the criterium should be whether or not you can apply the adjective to a person. e.g. would you call the Don athletic? No. He was just okay in the field, not particularly fast between the wickets, and was only used as a change slow bowler. Was Babe Ruth athletic when he was setting his HR record? You kidding? He did it on beer and hot dogs. He was a fat man who played first base and had a hard time reaching for anything thrown high. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be endomorphic and be athletic – two of the great rugby wingers, Cau Cau and Ron Jarden were/are decidedly plump but could/can run like the wind. Gareth Rees was a tub and still played quality rugby as a 5/8. But these are exceptions.

My longwinded point is this: having great eye/hand combination doesn’t make you a great athlete in my book. Although it might make you a great sportsperson. Also, tearing up one Olympic Games, as Spitz did, means only that you were terrific in a relatively short period of time. IMHO you have to have a career to qualify for the pantheon.