I've been planning this thread for a while and thought that it may be time to pose the ultimate question; who is the greatest sportsman of all-time? Also, if you think that I may have missed someone who you think should be on the list, tell me.
Disclaimer: This thread is different to the Most Dominant Athlete thread, Sportsman who changed their sport thread and Fittest Sportsman thread. Also there are going to be many people listed here. Also also, I am not being sexist in not having any women, if you believe there should be a female candidate, tell me. Also also also there were going to be more people but "complications" appeared and it wasn't possible. Also also also also thanks to dreamlander for adding the poll after I left it too late.




D.O.B. December 30, 1975
When the sport of golf is thought of, there is only one player who is instantly associated with it; Tiger Woods. Woods has been a pro since 1996, winning 2 professional tournaments that year, and has continued his victorious ways by winning 65 Official PGA Tournaments, including the 2nd highest number of Majors at 14, and is quickly bridging the gap between himself and Jack Nicklaus. Not surprisingly, Woods is ranked the #1 golfer in the world. Woods is the highest payed athlete in the world, earning an estimated US$122 million in 2007, and is tipped to become the first billionaire athlete by 2010.




D.O.B. January 17 1942
Muhammad Ali(born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.) is the most famous boxer of all-time. He is as well associated with boxing as Tiger Woods is with golf. Ali changed the face of boxing with his famous style, and quote, of "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee". He was most well known for his outstanding footwork and punching speed. Ali's record also stands as one for the ages, with 61 fights and 56 wins, 37 KO's. Ali was named "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and the BBC in 1999. He retired in 1981, and soon discovered he suffered from the disease "Parkinson's Disease".




D.O.B. August 8 1981
Roger Federer was the current World #1, and has just been surpassed, and has been for a record 236 consecutive weeks. Federer is most well known for his powerful and accurate ground strokes, but also his grace and utter domination. Federer has won a total of 55 Professional Tournaments since 1998, when he turned pro, including 12 Grand Slam titles. He has been named World Sportsman of the Year for a record 4 consecutive times, his last last year. He also holds the record for the most consecutive games won on grass at 61. Federer would be considered the greatest tennis player of all-time except for his inability to win the French Open, which also plagued the player who is considered one of the rivals to Federer for the title greatest of all-time, Pete Sampras.




D.O.B. August 27 1908
Statistically, Sir Donald "The Don" Bradman is the greatest sportsman of all-time (don't let this sway your decision), as he holds the record for the highest run average per innings at a stupendous 99.94, 30 clear of his next legitimate rival. Bradman is widely considered the greatest batsmen and player of all-time, also being named in Wisden's 5 Players Of The Century, 100 people voted, 100 voted for Bradman. His amazing ability allowed him to become an idol to Australians during the Depression in the 1930's. In fact, Bradman was so good that a tactic, which has be frowned upon ever since, was devised by the English during the Ashes series of 1932-33 called 'Bodyline', which was designed to handicap Bradman's batting prowess. Bradman played 52 tests for Australia, scoring a total of 6996, top scoring with 334 and taking 2 wickets. Bradman died in 2001 at the age of 92.




D.O.B. May 12 1975
Jonah Lomu is a former New Zealand Rugby Union player who is considered the truly the first global Rugby superstar. Sizing up at 1.96 metres(6 foot 5 inches) and weighing 126 kg(19 stone 12 pounds), Lomu was a truly intimidating and awe-inspiring player as he was able to run 100 metres in 10.89 seconds. He is considered the greatest Rugby Union player of all-time due to his physical prowess, but also due to his try scoring ability as he currently holds the record for the most number of tries in the World Cup at 15. Lomu received 63 caps for New Zealand between 1994 and the current date, as he is still trying to make a comeback. Lomu was the face of Rugby Union during the 90's, changing the game like no other has.




D.O.B. October 23 1940
Along with Diego Maradona, Pelé is widely considered the greatest player of all-time. His name has been synonymous with football World-Wide since he first appeared on the international stage at the age of 16, winning his first World Cup at 17. He also holds the record for the being in the most number of World Cup winning teams. Pelé has, reportedly, contains an incredible record (all matches, competitive and non-competitive), with 1280 goals from 1363 games. One goal scoring record he definitely holds though is the most for the Brazilian National Team at 77. Pelé was most well known for his physical ability, uncanny goal scoring prowess and for revolutionising the playmaker position. He was announced as the Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee in 1999.




D.O.B. October 30 1960
Pelé's main rival for greatest player ever, Diego Maradona has had a tumultuous life, but magnificent career. He gained 91 caps for Argentina and scored 34 times. He played in 4 World Cups, but the most infamous was that of 1986. In the quarter-final of Argentina vs England, Maradona scored handball, which was not called and has been dubbed 'The Hand of God'. The second goal he scored later in the match, which Argentina won 2-1, has been called 'The Goal of the Century', in which he dribbled past 6 English players in a 60 metre wonder goal. This match was basically a metaphor for Maradona's life. In his latter career, he was suspended for 15 months after failing a doping test. After he retired, Maradona famously struggled with weight gain and drug abuse. He was most well known for his fantastic ball control, speedy breaks and compact physical presence. Maradona shared the title of FIFA Player of the Century with Pelé.





D.O.B. September 18 1971
When you win 'Le Tour De France' 7 consecutive times, you attract some attention. This is exactly the case with cycling megastar Lance Armstrong. Armstrong won 'Le Tour De France' 7 times between 1999 and 2005, it is amazing considering the race is widely believed to be the hardest cycling race in the world. Add to this the numerous obstacles thrown in his way. A germ cell tumour, doping allegations, but the most famous of which is his fight with testicular cancer. His physical attributes are believed to be the key reason to his success. He obviously has incredible endurance but he also has a 30% larger heart and an incredible ability to reduce his lactate levels, which is more commonly known as lactic acid. Considering the number of awards he has won, you can find for yourself what they are.





D.O.B. February 17 1963
'Air Jordan'.The name fitted him like a glove. Michael Jordan was the greatest basketballer of all-time. His phantasmagorical physical ability left most opponents in disarray, but his defensive work and scoring abilities were his best attributes. Jordan still holds the record for the highest average score per game at 30.12, and an incredible record of highest average score per playoff at 33.4. His defensive work also won him 13 awards, including the 1988 NBA Defensive Player of the Year. He was also named the North American athlete of the 20th century by ESPN in 1999. Jordan has also been one of the most marketable people in history, having been the key promoter for the ‘Air Jordan’ shoe, and also starring in the movie ‘Space Jam’.



D.O.B. January 3 1969
“Statistically the greatest driver the sport has ever seen”, Michael Schumacher has been the face of F1 Racing for the past decade and a half. His numerous records and sheer domination of the sport has been the stuff of legends, as he amassed 7 drivers’ titles including 5 straight from 2000-2004. Schumacher started his F1 career in 1991 and it took him 3 years to win his first championship in 1994. He won the championship the following year, and due to this success, moved to the biggest car company in the world, Ferrari, in 1996. That was where his legend truly started to unfold. Despite not winning a championship for 4 years, Schumacher made up for lost time by winning the next five, showing the world just how good he was.

Remember, you can add your own analysis of a sportsman if you want. I can then add it to the poll.

From that list I would have to say Roger Federer.

Wow, that's a very tough choice and some great analysis there. Out of the female party, perhaps Martina Navratilova deserves a shout, or Katerina Witt (I think that's her name), or Yelena Isinbaeva of more recent times. Out of those, I'd go for one of Woods, Armstrong or Jordan. I'm leaning towards Woods the most, as he's just a one of a kind golfer and even though I don't really follow golf but winning 65 tournaments, and 2 in his debut year is something special IMO.

So, Tiger Woods gets my vote.

Great piece Bob.

I'd vote Lance Amstrong, for two reasons. First of all, for what that man has overcome. He almost died of cancer, but fought back to become one of the greatest cyclists of all time. Note: Armstrong, in my opinion, isn't the best cyclist ever, that honour would go to the Belgian Merckx.
But the real reason why I would pick Lance out of this list, is because of the sport he exercised. This might be controversial, but cycling for me is the heaviest and toughest sport there is. Winning le Tour de France is the toughest challenge there is. There isn't a sport like cycling, where you have to devote your life to the sport, in no other sport are determination and stamina so important. Well, in the marathon maybe.

But, Eddy Merckx > Lance Armstrong

i agree, Merckx was better than Armstrong was. Armstrong is the greatest tour de france rider ever, but not the greatest cyclist ever. Also maybe consider putting michael phelps on the list now considering all hes achieved? most gold medals ever, holds the world record in every event he's competing in except the 100 m fly i believe, i mean what hes doing now is just unreal, hes not just winning but crushing the best swimmers in the world in his events . of course this is probably just all my u.s. bias talking but still...

Forgetting Wayne Gretzky is unforgiven.

Eldrick gets my vote, because he's so outstanding. The fact that he won a major with a broken knee, well, tells how good he's, IMO.

I've voted for Muhammad Ali.

Bolt!

I don't think Johah Lomu should be in there. He isn't even featured any top 10 list of greatest rugby players I think.

Although he was one mean player and a try scoring machine, his career was relatively short. I said was, because nobody really believes in his comeback. Which he's been trying to do in vain since 2003 I believe. Also, Lomu never won the World Cup Rugby, and I believe true sporting greats have both personal accolades and major team prizes.

I was going to make a list of about 30 people but some shit happened and they were the Top 8 people. Also Lomu is by far the greatest rugby player of all-time, no-one even comes close.

Thing is though, I know a lot of Kiwi's, and they're standard response to greatest all-black is by far not always Jonah Lomu. The likes of Grant Fox, Colin Meads, Sean Fitzpatrick, John Kirwin are also mentioned. And here we're just talking of NZ players.

I think you saying Lomu is the greatest rugby player of all-time is merely your opinion, nothing more. Lomu was however, the first rugby player to become the equivalent of what David Beckham is to soccer. Lomu's popularity was enormous. But nobody would agree Beckham is the greatest soccer player of all-time.

I would vote for Ali, but he isn't the greatest boxer of all time imo.



The reason why boxing is called "the sweet science."

Maybe Michael Phelps could be added to the list but i voted for Tiger Woods.

Pele gets my vote

I would have added him but, as I've already said, I screwed up and that's why there are only 8 and why Jonah Lomu is there. Sorry for the inconvenience to everyone about the dodgy list. Although if people add their own little biography things, I can get the poll updated and their choices can be added.

Muhammed Ali or Michael Jordan