The Greatest Of All Time (GOAT) debate - all sports

Strength… Yurik Vardanyan. Soviet superstar lifter in the 80’s who broke world record after world record. Total of 41 world records. 180 pound man lifting in excess 400 kilos. He held the olympic snatch record at the time of 402 pounds. To put that into context. America’s super heavyweight lifter at the time was a 320 pound man who’s record lift was 386 pounds. Ridiculous, other worldly strength really that will probably never be matched again. Even with the advancements in training etc lifters almost double his size still fail to match his feats 35 years on.

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Sure he wasn’t on drugs? :thinking:

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Ofcourse he was. We could probably make that same case for all the people listed here though :man_shrugging:

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You are pretty damn sexist. Someone with high morals like me would have limited the categories to 2 sports. Why don’t you take a second and think what Simone feels like with all those goats surrounding her.

Phil Taylor,85 major titles,16 World Championships,not bad for a sport where you can have a fag n a beer at the same time.

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For Baseball you’d have to consider Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams and Hank Aaron.

Golf I can’t stand Woods but he is the best, O Sullivan is the best in Snooker and hopefully he surpasses Hendry, I think the quality is better now that it was when Hendry was around.

Not a bad shout but for me they need to do their sport under their own power.

What do others think? Should motorsports count in a greatest sportsperson debate? Maybe there’s a distinction here between greatest athlete and greatest sportsperson so motorsports don’t count for a greatest athlete discussion but they do for greatest sportsperson?

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Ty Cobb? Pete Rose?

Solid argument to be made for Ty Cobb, IMO. Even Babe Ruth deserves a shout. His records stood for decades. Lot of people forget he started as a pitcher and had a lifetime ERA of 2.28.

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Bradman is the Goat - just so far ahead of anyone else.

Then Phelps.

Yes @SBYM Smith has it over big Mal. So does Joey and the King.

Don’t forget Kelly Slater in this mix.

Ali not even the greatest boxer. Greatest person and showman influences opinion. Tyson would have pulverised him.

Margaret Court and Martina and Serena have genuine claims over Fed.

Sorry in a hurry will add more later…and couldn’t have told you who Brady was playing for a couple of weeks ago. Can’t add to that one.

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Seriously? Tyson was a streetfighter who wouldn’t have laid a glove on Ali. He would have rushed about for two rounds and been battered from the third or fourth…
Tyson in his prime would be in the same tier as Wilder today, two down from Fury (hate saying that) and Joshua…

Geoff Capes, I’ve already put him in the thread, strongest man in the universe and beyond! :angry:

Wow yes!!!

A bit in the same light as Geoff Capes another ‘competitive gentleman’ who lost his title to ‘rule’ changes.
Daley Thompson.

These are not my nominations for GOAT, just some of my favorites.

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Curtly Ambrose (top) and Brian Lara (above)

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Teófilo Stevenson (top) and Muhammad Ali (above)

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Nadia Comăneci. I actually wanted to name a Russian gymnast who won 5-6 golds in a recent Olympics. It’s significant because Russian gymnastics was clearly on wane then.

Bubka
Sergey Bubka

Sotomayor
Javier Sotomayor


Kristin Otto


Martina Navratilova

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Rinat Dasayev (top) and Diego Maradona (above)

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Very unfair to put Wilder in the same bracket as Tyson.

Is he there as ‘god of handballs’? :wink:

I’d like to wade in on the rugby one and think there have been better players than McCaw. He’s a good shout though. If we’re choosing open side flankers I always thought Josh Kronfeld was better. Overall, I’d probably say Sean Fitzpatrick was better than McCaw and there’s a good shout for Dan Carter as well. or even Zinzan Brooke or Michael Jones.

Looking wider though I’d have to include Gareth Edwards or possibly Barry John on the list of possibles. There are others as well to be fair. Serge Blanco etc. I think it’s near impossible to choose but if I had to I’d stump for Gareth Edwards. My reasoning is I’m pretty sure you could play him in any position and he’d have exceled at it, even hooker.

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I was thinking of that last night.
I had the prevelege of watching the likes of Bakkies Botha, Matfield, Wilkinson, Umaga, Habana … in the space of a few seasons. Jonny could change a game at a wink but my favorite was Matfield he transmitted everything he had and knew to his team mates and more a real intelligent collussal. Which of course brings us to second rows and Martin Johnson this man was difference of England going backwards or forwards being on that front foot is so important and he made at least a 15 meter advatage. Just got to be in there somewhere.
JP Rives, Serge Blanco, Neil Back …
Then I would always plumb for a prop Gareth Chilcott most likely but then that ugly cunt Jason Leonard wasn’t bad then there’ that wily customer Adam Jones.
Sorry waffling there’s too many in Rugby for me but you get my drift, Gareth Edwards!!! :wink: :crazy_face:

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Nah- that would be Thierry Henry.

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Unfair on whom?
I think in contemporary boxing that Tyson would be outsmarted by boxers, his style wouldnt cut it now.
I think he would be a level below Joshua, Fury…I think Wilder is below them as well. I wasnt really using any other comparison.
I think Ali transcended times. His movement and ability would have him at the top at any time.