The most gifted sportsperson youve seen?

Phil Taylor , over the years, even though I don't like the chap.

Federer at his peak, never seen such grace, finesse and movement. Shame about his 'walk on' jacket but you can't have it all I suppose.

eddie the eagle

Is that your Dad? ^

Johnny at when was fed at his peak iyo? I kinda really only started getting into tennis big when i started on here, but the final between fed n rafa 08 was just incredible

i saw ed moses run 400m hurdles, he was brilliant

so far ahead of his rivals it was staggering




i saw west indies pace attack in action v england

tough to watch them demolish us but as a group, again quite staggeringly brilliant

Bhoys - yes, it was around that time. Unbelievable player.

unfortunately not


Zidane for me. he wasn't the most physically gifted player , but those skills and the way he played...

We used to have a player at Arsenal called Gus Caesar.....I'd have him reasonably high on my list.

yesterday saw his son in madrids youth team and he looked very very promising

so johhny ur saying nadal beat fed on his best surfae at the peak of his carrer?

For me Bhoys, definitely.

ELDRICK WOODS..END OF THREAD

Dopers dont count mate

Amir khan.

Paul mcgrath, hardly trained, dodgy knees, played pissed up and was still miles ahead of anyone else on the pitch.

kauto star

I was a Spurs season ticket holder in 1990-91 and that year Paul Gascoigne was definitely operating on a different level to any other player around him.

The 'man against boys' cliche is commonplace but he was the nearest thing I've seen to it during that season, until his injury in the Cup Final.

^^^^ I would have to agree, and I'm an Arsenal fan. A young Mike Tyson was in a class of his own, pity he didn't look after himself because he could have been a world champion for years and gone down in history as one of the best there's ever been, if not the best.

Federer would take some beating but Dennis Berrgkamp, Fernando Alonso and Pul scholes are right up there, soon to be joined by Wilshere.

A few good shouts, tyson tho wasnt really talented, just a beast

Usain Bolt must be noted surely as one of the greatest athletes of all time. So far ahead of the rest.

Henry Shefflin.

Cantona made it look easy and had a certian grace as well.

Ronnie and Federer very similar, sadly ive never seen them from the stands.

I saw the Spurs of Gazza 90/91. That and the Liverpool match generated more interest than the supposed big game of the season vs Manchester. People in Leeds even wore Spurs replica kits in those days.

The guys chasing bolt were doped, you do the math

snooker is a lot easier since they made the pockets very big

If that were the case the likes of higgins, davis n some of the older players would be cleaning up, thats not the case

Well some of them do seem to miss some easy shots, maybe it is nerves

You have forgotten the very best of them all - Muhammad Ali - made boxing an art form

Frankel
and his trainer is the greatest human sports person of all time....sadly missed.

Tiger Woods in the early days,was perfection.George Best....Colm Cooper....Glenn Hoddle....Sugar Ray Leonard...Floyd Mayweather....so many to mention.

The people with natural ability,who don't put in the work really pi ss me off.Gazza for all his flaws trained hard,as did most of the top sports people.

Daley Thompson deserves a mention imo , 10 diff disciplines , mustard at the 1500m ,never had to break sweat to win his medals

Daley Thompson deserves a mention imo , 10 diff disciplines , mustard at the 1500m ,never had to break sweat to win his medals

Maradona and James Male. Male was Rackets world champion about ten years ago. It's a bit of a public schools game etc but watching him play was quite incredible. It's probably the fastest racquet/bat and ball game, played in a court a little bigger than a squash court and using a ball similar to a golf ball. Male is ambidextrous and would would come up with the most outrageous shots

what about that crazy AMERICAN POOL PLAYER,WHO USED TO SMASH CUES AND FIGHT WITH THE AUDIENCE,can't think of his name

earl the pearl>?

that's him bhoys thanks couldn't recall his name,what a legend he was

carl lewis,great Olympian.

100m,200m,400m,relay,long jump.Class

Bo Jackson, finished the 161 game baseball season and then said he would play NFL as a "hobby" smashed a few records but unfortuneatley had an artery severed in a tackle. Once did a backflip while standing waist deep in water, could break baseball bats over his knee. Known by many as the worlds greatest athlete

terry hurlock.

Gary Sobers.

Dion Dublin, apparently he was very 'gifted' according to Fergie

Frankel for me,

carl lewis,great Olympian. I don't think you can count drug users in this.

Brian Lara at his peak. Was playing a different game to the others on the field.

He was well before my time but Alex Higgins is surely a shocking omission, I've seen some stuff on youtube and he's up there with O'Sullivan.

Already been mentioned a couple of times but for me it's Tiger. End of. We won't see anyone to match his early years for quite some time.

51 posts and nobody mention MICHAEL JORDAN... OMG!!!!!!

Not sure many people will have seen Jordan tbh.

Saw him in Space Jam.

watched severiano ballersteros at woburn one year...a genius...he had to be to get out of the trouble he was always in

Surly a genius wudnt have got into the trouble to have to get out of it?

Don Bradman's test record is far far beyond what anyone else can offer in any sport - 66% better than anyone else who ever picked a bat up - we will likely never see his record broken which was an of 99.94% average throughout his test career - quite frankly no other sportsman comes anyway near

Can't believe no-one has mentioned Messi on the footy forum, Maradona pushes him close, but Messi has been sensational for almost a decade now

Arkle.

No mentions of Cycling allowed, cycling is a not a sport, there is no skill involved whatsoever. Haven't got time for Cricket as it bores me into a coma but at least you need a skill set to make it as a top level as a bowler or batsman.

Neither Kauto, Frankel or Arkle are 'sportspeople'.

HTH.

Also, I'd assumed the bhoys meant sportsperson seen in the flesh.

No mate just watched, i havnt seen ronnie in the flesh, im from ireland so barring celtic players i havnt really seen much lol

Max Woosnam in my book.

Just take a moment to look at the variety of his sporting participation.

A wee snippet..

He once defeated actor and film director Charlie Chaplin at table tennis, playing with a butter knife instead of a bat.

Since the title says sportsperson (not athlete)
Lester Piggott

He had the skill in the saddle, but also the ability to see he got the best rides.
And he reputedly drove himself to the races with the car windows closed, the heat turned on, while wearing a one-piece plastic suit to keep his weight in check!

btw some poster above knows nil about cycling.

"And he reputedly drove himself to the races with the car windows closed, the heat turned on, while wearing a one-piece plastic suit to keep his weight in check!"

I'll that with Mrs Mustang on the way to Ikea tomorrow, she's been letting herself go lately.

I'll try that ^

pick an ikea a couple of hours drive away for full effect

I'm in London. Is there one in Newcastle? She really has been letting things slip.

dick fosbury must be a candidate hear

so good at high jump that everyone changed style to copy his technique




fat ronaldo for a while looked like a perfect centre forward,


jonah lomu changed the shape of rugby

chuck norris

Federer probably
But someone like andy murray who's also a scratch golfer good footballer and plenty of other things would be high in my list

Easy one for me.George Best.Used to watch Leeds in the 70s..saw many so called "greats" Cruyff etc.George was different class.What a waste on the wing crossing balls for Kidd and Law.Ive never seen a better finisher He used to scare ya to death when he came in field and took players on around the box.

Kim Jong-IL

Kim shoots a 38 under par, complete with 11 holes-in-one, his first time golfing. You may not know this, but, according to the state-run North Korean media, Kim Jong-Il is the best golfer in history.

Back in 1994, North Korea's first golf course was opened in Pyongyang, and Kim decided to play it. He'd never golfed before, but wow, was he a natural.

In his first-ever round of golf, he shot a world-record 38 under par... including another world record 11 holes-in-one! And even though all 17 of his bodyguards were eyewitnesses and swear they saw that go down, for some reason, the round-eye devils at "Guinness" fail to recognize either record.

After that round, the media tells us, Kim decided to retire from golf forever, lest he ruin it for us mortals.

If it's in the flesh then Viv Richards at Old Trafford circa 86 when he smashed England almost single handedly despite Botham being on fire.

mcenroe

Feb 27, 2014 -- 6:36PM, G Hall wrote:

that's him bhoys thanks couldn't recall his name,what a legend he was

In terms of ability I'd have Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante above him. Top for entertainment maybe.

Michael Van Gerwen is a freaky sort. Had immense talent as a youngster then went off the radar for 6 years but since his Grand Prix win in 2012 he's been utterly unstoppable.

Ronnie O'Sullivan is an absolute genius on a snooker table. Now he's sorted his head out he's just too good.

It probably is Ronnie tbf.

I think its ronnie by a distance imo

Have top agree with Knavesmire and George Best.  Look at Messi and look at Best and ask yourself who is better.  Difficult question but then watch the goals Best scored and how he scored them.  Then, watch how the most renowned hard-men of their day simply had no answer to the man.  Ron "Chopper" Harris and all.  Best could have played anywhere on a football pitch - he was that good.

My da loved best and was his fave player but hes says messi is better

Nadal or the King of Kings Henrik Larsson

2000 US Open

1. TIGER WOODS -12
T2 Ernie Els +3
T2 Miguel Angel Jimenez +3
4. John Huston +4
T5 Lee Westwood +5
T5 Padraig Harrington +5

2014 Us Open

   
1
4
Justin Rose
1    F    E    71    69    71    70    281   


T32
-
Tiger Woods
13    F    4    73    70    76    74    293

If we talk about footballers only then Pele shines above them all - he was the most outstanding footballer out of 10 of them in 1970 (I'll exclude the goalie) any one of them was outstanding in their own right but he was the BEST - that was football how it should be played, so forget the rest and simply remember the best - as daft as it might seem now the only team that could have beaten Brazil was England - we lost the group game to them - but certainly could - should have drawn) - if we had go to the final as we should the only team Brazil would have changed their style for was England as they thought no-one but US could beat them - yes we lost to West Germany but it was a travesty in the sense we had the game won but a change of tactics by Sir Alf allowed them back into the game (by the way when Bobby Charlton was re placed the score was 2-1 & not 2-0 as many think)- unfortunately it is now history

The Romford Pele

^^Nailed it. End of thread.

Ronnie wins the Welsh Open with a 147. Played tricky shots, and the last black, left-handed

Snooker and darts can't count as neither a sport. 
Pele cos I saw him on tv and Best cos I saw him live.

Adebeyors goal last week was as good as anything I've seen pele do same sort of thing as well.
As for best  just a drunk playing against drunks on ploughed fieds with a medicine ball.
Neither would make the prem nowadays

Gerd Muller showed Best how its done when they were team mates.

LeBron just scored a record 61 points against the bobcats.

Stanley Matthews.

martina hingis.

end of fred.

Ronnie Osullivan

never seen ronnie smiling whilst straightening his knickers, but i cant see him being as hot at it as martina

You've probably not heard of him but Bo Jackson is by far and away the most gifted athlete I've ever seen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQQQ161c4S4 - this is the espn 30 for 30 documentary on him - fascinating.