One Off Greats in Sport

[WBA1955]

Princess Anne. She won the Sports personality of the year in the early seventies.

[phild]

Some great calls on the greats. Shane Warne (Q) was without doubt the greatest spinner that I ever did see. McEnroe for me in tennis. Its that maverick streak they have that makes them compelling.

Good calls Mick on Cousins and Coe. Never interested in skating but I remember getting up late at night just so I could see him win the gold medal in 1980. Same with Coe he was truly majestic and unmissable would also made sure I was up late at night to watch him overcome Ovett.

Sugar Ray Leonard for me was by far the finest Middleweight in an era of fabulous middleweights. All generations have their greats but I think our generation have been truly blessed

[WOODLANDSWOLF]

Showing my age...Emile Zatopec.

[kettering_baggie]

Amongst those previously mentioned is Ayrton Senna but there was a Grands Prix driver that was a class above; actually there were a few of them. Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss were drivers of immense ability but the best driver that I ever saw was Jim Clark, possibly the greatest ever. Yes, Senna was good but Clark was way better, he could and did win in anything. He was also a clean driver, unlike several more recent drivers. Senna wasn’t averse to using ‘dodgy’ tactics to thwart rivals and that in itself, puts Clark well ahead in the ‘greatness’ stakes.

[kettering_baggie]

Two more sporting greats deserve a mention, Eddy Merckx, probably the greatest racing cyclist ever, with 34 Tour de France stage wins. Also there is Mark Cavendish, the most successful sprinter in cycling history, with 30 Tour de France stage wins. Cavendish is nearing the end of his career and there is the question whether he can equal, or even surpass, Merckx’s record 34 TdF stage wins; unlikely but one never knows!

[9goals2hattricks3pen]

Seve

[BaggieSingh]

For me it’s if a sportsman dominates and force all of the competitors to really improve and be far more consistent in order to catch them two examples I can think off our Phil Taylor and Tiger Woods in recent times who both took their sports to new heights

I think Stephen Hendry or Ronnie O Sullivan also did this at snooker as the quality of snooker is far superior to before although I preferred the 80s as the personalities being a White and Alex Higgins fan

But the greatest sportsman of recent times has to be Muhammad Ali not only for his achievements in the ring but his sacrifice for others and for what he did to improve the lives of others