Greatest athlete of modern times

Russ16 said:
But the octogon isn’t the ultimate test of athleticism. Toughness yes. The greatest fighter in the world would be run off a soccer field or basketball court by a good high school player.
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@Russ16 - I doubt that, Mike Tyson would Knock Out every member of any Soccer Team and then move on to the Referee’s
 
SWS1 said:
George Digweed: world champion over 5 different decades… I doubt anyone else would have the longevity in a sport as he has.
I’ve copied the below but awesome accolades
In a historic feat, George achieved an unprecedented milestone in 2015 by winning three World Titles—The World Sporting, The World FITASC, and the World Compak – this has never been done in the history of Shooting. He also boasts an impressive record, securing 30 world titles (16 Sporting, 12 Fitasc, and 2 Compak), along with 19 European titles (15 Fitasc and 4 Compak), 4 European Compak titles, and 14 world cups.
In July 2023, George secured another World Title at FITASC, adding to his impressive collection of 4 current World Records. With the most World Championship Titles in the history of any sport, George has achieved unparalleled success.
This also makes him the only person to have won world shooting titles in 5 decades: 80’s, 90’s, 00’s, 10’s and 20’s
He achieved another historic milestone as the first man to shoot ‘100 straight’ in a World Championship event. In October 2011, during filming for a Fieldsports Channel TV program, he surpassed his own record set in America, breaking a clay at 130 yards using standard cartridges, surpassing his previous mark of 118 yards.
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@SWS1 While I have the Greatest admiration for Digweed and would pay half my 401K to shoot like him —- his concentration, vision, target reading, and shooting mechanics are exceptional—— I’m a better athlete (barely made JV Wrestler in HS) and in MUCH better shape.
Sporting Clays shooting makes Golf look like an Ironman Competition.
 
Tucketed said:
Kristin Harila
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I would add that the first to achieve the feat faced the more daunting challenge. Before Messner scientists were 100% positive that it was physically impossible to climb above 8000 meters without supplemental O2.

Once someone accomplishes the impossible. Mentally, It’s much easier for the followers.

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Hunt anything said:
I agree with today’s football players. But the old school coaches like. Bryant, Dye and Dooly to name three had their guys in tip top shape , they ran the shit out of those guys .
In today’s game the players get a lot of their conditioning from the pace of the practice.
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@Hunt anything - what do you mean by “conditioning from the pace of practice”?
 
pilar said:
Bo Jackson imo was the goat general athlete
Plus he is almost a Olympic champion class with a bow & arrow and rifle , shotgun and is very much pro hunting advocate
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@pilar - what shotgun competitions di Bo shoot: skeet, trap, Sporting Clays etc..? I was unaware he competed in shotgun sports
 
Let's not leave out Michaela Schiffrin, Lindsey Vonn and Ingemar Stenmark.
 
IMO athletes have to be judged against other athletes in their individual sport. There are too many variances between sports, and at pro level very few guys could cross over from sport to another. I’d say Messi is the goat for soccer. Just like Jon jones is the goat for mixed martial arts….those two have nothing in common athletically but one could not do what the other does. That said Bo Jackson was a generational phenom, who else has ever been able to be one of the best running backs in the nfl, then play mlb on his off season and be a great baseball player. And yes I would guess he would have been a friggin awesome soccer player if he had wanted to be….that said, name a soccer player that could do what he did in the nfl, and hit a home run off a 100 mph fastball?
 
HankBuck said:
@Hunt anything - what do you mean by “conditioning from the pace of practice”?
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With today’s hurry up offenses they run play after play after play, as many as possible and as fast as possible with very few breaks. Get back in formation and do it all over again.
Back in my day we would spend the last 45 minutes to an hour of practice running wind sprints of 30 yds working up to 100 yds. We would run until the coaches got tired !
 
How about the Tarahumara Indian runners? They win the Leadville 200 most of the time--running 200 miles at two miles altitude. Back home they run 50 miles kicking a ball along for fun.
 
Love this - as a non USA sports watcher, some other sports contenders that I would consider...

1. Reinhold Messner - mentioned previously - first person to climb all 14 8000m and doing it without oxygen as well, first to solo climb everest - first to cross greenland and Antartica on foot.

2. Donald Bradman - Ausie cricketer - has a batting average of 99.99% - put that into perspective - it would be like a modern baseball batter, average 0,9999 - and not for a once off, he had 80 innings

3. Tiger Woods

4. Usain Bolt

5. Armand Du Plantis - has broken the pole vault world record 16 times.

6. Micheal Phelps

7. Khabib Nurgamedov - UFC fighter - no losses

8. Gary Gasparov (Magnus Carlsen may surpass him) - Chess player, most dominant for decades

9. My favourite these days - Devon Larrett - Canadian Armwrestler
 
I've been thinking about this. Considering athleticism absent of the chosen sport is hard. I think I've come up with some categories to try to organize around. These are in no order but I think all need to be considered.

Speed -- straight line sprinting speed
Quickness -- the ability to accellerate
Suddenness -- the ability to change direction quickly
Agility -- body control and balance
Strength -- pure ability to move or lift weight
Power -- the ability to translate strength into sports movements
Eye Hand or Foot Coordination -- self-explanatory
Endurance -- ability to maintain high levels of output for extended periods

Certain sports emphasize each of these more than others and it is difficult to know if someone who specializes in a single sport could have developed other traits if they had focused on them. So obviously the multi-sport athletes are the easiest to see the widest variety of traits. I do think basketball uses a wide variety of them, as do certain positions in football (RB, WR, DB, LB), lacrosse does as well but is less visible because we don't have a popular professional league.

Thinking through this list it is hard to argue against the likes of Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders, Michael Jordan is worthy of consideration. One that I don't think has been mentioned is Jim Brown, remember he was an All-American in lacrosse. Herschel Walker was a one sport guy primarily but participated in ballet which shows a level of body control rarely seen in someone of his size and build.

Any other categories to be considered?
 
Best athlete I’d say Bo Jackson. Best competitor in their chosen sports, Joe Montana, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Derek Jeter, Greg Madux. These are some to come to mind. Obviously I am biased based on my age and who I watched regularly growing up.
 
Russ16 said:
I've been thinking about this. Considering athleticism absent of the chosen sport is hard. I think I've come up with some categories to try to organize around. These are in no order but I think all need to be considered.

Speed -- straight line sprinting speed
Quickness -- the ability to accellerate
Suddenness -- the ability to change direction quickly
Agility -- body control and balance
Strength -- pure ability to move or lift weight
Power -- the ability to translate strength into sports movements
Eye Hand or Foot Coordination -- self-explanatory
Endurance -- ability to maintain high levels of output for extended periods

Certain sports emphasize each of these more than others and it is difficult to know if someone who specializes in a single sport could have developed other traits if they had focused on them. So obviously the multi-sport athletes are the easiest to see the widest variety of traits. I do think basketball uses a wide variety of them, as do certain positions in football (RB, WR, DB, LB), lacrosse does as well but is less visible because we don't have a popular professional league.

Thinking through this list it is hard to argue against the likes of Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders, Michael Jordan is worthy of consideration. One that I don't think has been mentioned is Jim Brown, remember he was an All-American in lacrosse. Herschel Walker was a one sport guy primarily but participated in ballet which shows a level of body control rarely seen in someone of his size and build.

Any other categories to be considered?
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Herschel did run track.
I do like your breakdown of the skills.
 
James Sutherland, not only boxed, but walked the bloody miles of Africa after elephant carrying a true big bore all the while.
 
Hunt anything said:
Herschel did run track.
I do like your breakdown of the skills.
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Yeah and he competed in the Olympics as a pusher in the bobsled but I don't think either was ever his primary focus.
 
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Chico Esquela, who certainly deserves to be included in this conversation.

IYKYK..................:cool:
 
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