Thetownend.com

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=i7o30NHF4pk&feature=related

I wonder if anyone ever told him he couldnt sing!...he wasnt that bad a singer actually.
A man who wasnt afraid to say his piece at a time when Black people wern meant to be heard,didnt he actually refuse to join the forces because he didnt like conflict,and end up in prison?
Probably the greatest ever sports person in my opinion.

To be honest Ali was the first name that popped into my head. They've obviously marketed him well since retirement and illness, keeping his reputation alive.

Shane Warne.

Amir Khan

Usain Bolt :)

Shaun Close.

JPC82 if only his knee hadn't let him down :)

can i ask why?

its just hes a jumped up prick imo

Seriously i would go for Ali, or Michael Jordan

on a serious note would have to be Ali or Pele

I can't stand Pele. Obviously an amazing footballer... But I've grown up watching his money grabbing, egotisical ways.

He'd wear a sanitry towel on his head while singing a Rick Astley B-Side cover of a B-Side by Milli Vanilli if he was paid enough.

most of the suggestions so far have been brothers,so ill go for Darnell from big brother, altho hes not a sportsman hes as white as u can get

haha

So would i Rich...as long as said towell wasnt used!

Seb coe

I hate Sebastian Coe :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G07sWzYObnk

Linfords lunchbox or Graham Rix

Mohammed Ali was the greatest showman i've seen,but in terms of sportsman i'd go

for Jessie Owens.You have to remember the time in which Owens rose to the top of

athletics and the impact that he must have had within the sporting,political and social

arenas.He was also very humble of his achievements.I know that Ali also faced huge

obstacles from the US Establishment,but in a different era.

Although his achievements were impressive and did breakdown alot of walls he faced in Germany but a lot of Berlin '36 was myth and media spin.

For example, Owens only got his 4th gold in the relay because Avery Brundage (Chairman of the US Olympic Commitee) withdrew Marty Glickman & Sam Stoller from the final because they were Jewish. Both Brundage and coach Dean Cromwell belonged to America First who were essentially filled by folks who were into the whole Nazi thang.

Avery Brundage was still around in the 70's,i think he became IOC Chairman.

He was pretty active right until his death, he was the one that told U.S. athletes to compete after the BSO murdered the Israeli athletes.

He was a pretty interesting character that's for sure - he opposed the Black Power salutes in Mexico and didn't want those pesky ladies competing either. Basically anything that we, well most of us, considered wrong - he felt the opposite!

Alas, he was an old head struggling to come to terms with changing times.

For Britain - Daly Thompson

For The World - Michael Johnson

Good shout with Daley Thompson.

Overall though I'd go with Ali. Not just the best heavyweight (Imho) the World's ever seen, but also the most influential sportsman ever.

He shook up the World!!!

Steve redgrave

No.

Why? He's definatley the best ever athlete ever imho. To compete at the top of the most physically demanding sport for over 20 years, with diabetes is a hell of an acheivment. Of course it wasn't just him in the boat, but i doubt he was being carried along all the time.

Dave. He's not even the greatest ever Olympian! A great sportsman? Yes. The Greatest? No.

Whose better then?

He was definately jew a win.

Huzzah.

For decades, Brundage resented and envied the greatest American athlete of his sporting career, Jim Thorpe, who used to destory Brundage in the pentathlon. When Thorpe was stripped of accolades due to playing pro-baseball (I think), Brundage refused to reverse the decision decades later when he was calling the shots, as there was a big movement to end the punishment. THE SWINE.

Have to go with Don Bradman, no one will ever get within a mile of his acheivements.

It's a fair question, who was?

Please, not Phelps. Clearly he can't be the greatest - any sport that permits you to be competitive at 7 disciplines has to be considered dubious.

Phil "The Power" Taylor

Daly Thompson without a doubt

Paul Parker

Interesting thread.

Im suprised nobody has mentioned Lance Armstriong. Got to be worth a top 10 place.

Carl Lewis.

Tim Henman.

Andre Agassi.

Yep, an unlikely one i know, but i was reading about him the other day on Wikipedia and thought fuck me, that's a sportsman. Amongst his many achievements he is the only player to ever rank in the top 3 in 3 different decades. And all this from a player that was short, not massively fast and couldn't serve that well.

Justin Fashanu

Winning Wimbledon from the baseline while the rest of the world were serve volleying was no mean feat.

But he was eclipsed at least in achievement by Sampras and Federer,  So not for me.

Sugar Ray Robinson was a better pound for pound boxer than Ali.

Isn't Marciano the only heavywight champ to go undefeated throughout his career? Mind you I think he fought a few boxers which were past it.

 

Suprisingly, his total career victories is higher than Sampras.

Jack Nicklaus

Eric Bristow.

Eric "The Eel" Moussambani

Jamaican bobsled team.

Cricketers, Darts players, Snooker etc  shouldn't be classified as sportsmen. To me a sport is where skill & physical effort is involved.
On that basis, you have to go for someone who excelled in a proper sport like boxing, athletics, football etc.
Decathletes, should feature highly in any list as they do many sports, but there again aren't the best in any particular one. Redgrave, should definitely be up there, as he ruled the waves for so long. Owens case is a good one, as is Carl Lewis, & Ali. Not sure about Pele, yes he was good, but he played in a good team. How would he have fared if he'd been born in N Ireland for example (Like George Best).

I can see the point re darts, snooker, but I think you're being a touch harsh on cricket which IIRC involved both skill and physical effort. Certainly far more of both than I was ever able to muster hence why it was one of a long list of sports I was rubbish at.

I include cricket cos I once played for the school team (to make up the numbers) & ended up top scorer).
First ball hit my bat & went out for a 4. Next ball I was out.
If I can do that, it ain't much of a demanding sport.

If they did that they wouldn't be top of their sport. Concentrating all day when someone's flinging a hard object at you at 90mph is not undemanding.

I played cricket a few times for my village team this summer and it is fucing knackering!

I'm not a lover of it as a spectator sport, but actually playing it made me realise it's not as easy as it looks.

Sabin.......

Neither is propelling said object.

Only in cricket could the best players get away with getting totally rat arsed / off their heads during a tour without it having any effect on their performance.
When did a cricketer ever win Super Stars ?

Your fishing surely?

There are things that only a couple of cricketers can do that no other can. The likes of Warne are worthy nominees.

Emil Zátopek...the greatest Olympian...

another GEOFF CAPES 8)

Eddie the eagle edwards by a clear margin.