In Germany Michael Schumacher :)

In Indonesia, Allan Budikusuma & Susi Susanti. Both are formers of badminton players, and both won the 1st time gold medals in the Olympics single tournament in Barcelona '92.
Interestingly, they got married together.

I dunno... a swimmer, a cricketer, a rugby player. We're good at swimming and sports noone else plays (unless AFL is an international sport :D)!

Thorpe or Hewitt.

I don't care if he's washed up, Michael Jordan is always king.

Originally posted by Parra Power
I dunno... a swimmer, a cricketer, a rugby player. We're good at swimming and sports noone else plays (unless AFL is an international sport :D)!

Thorpe or Hewitt.
hehe, obviousley ur from south of the murray :p
Sports no one else plays?? The Rugby World Cup is the 4th biggest sport event in the world, behind the soccer world cup, olympics, and le tour de france! Just because no one plays that silly game (which should still be called VFL, or maybe VSAFL :p), doesnt mean no one plays any of the sports we're good at.
Name a sport which is widely played thoughout the world, OTHER than soccer. Really there isnt one.
Anyway thats all ive got to say.
Cheers
sKIp_E

In England there are loads!

Best is probably Johnathon Edwards on a competitions:wins ratio.

In India it is :-
Sachin Tendulkar .......

Originally posted by sKIp_E
hehe, obviousley ur from south of the murray :p
Sports no one else plays?? The Rugby World Cup is the 4th biggest sport event in the world, behind the soccer world cup, olympics, and le tour de france! Just because no one plays that silly game (which should still be called VFL, or maybe VSAFL :p), doesnt mean no one plays any of the sports we're good at.
Name a sport which is widely played thoughout the world, OTHER than soccer. Really there isnt one.
Anyway thats all ive got to say.
Cheers
sKIp_E

See how my location says Sydney, Australia???:cool:

Originally posted by ChelseaFan88
In England there are loads!

Best is probably Johnathon Edwards on a competitions:wins ratio.


England have a wondrous sporting history, especially when battling the Aussies.:D :D :D

Originally posted by Parra Power
I dunno... a swimmer, a cricketer, a rugby player. We're good at swimming and sports noone else plays (unless AFL is an international sport :D)!

Thorpe or Hewitt.

what about Bradman?

Originally posted by Parra Power
Thorpe or Hewitt.

Oooooooh, the Thorpedo, I'm so scared. I'm sorry I just think it's funny that you Aussies care about swimming.

hmmm.....dunno.......there are plenty.....but my favorites - Kordell Stewart , Jerome Bettis , Allen Iverson and Andre Agassi :D

Originally posted by Parra Power
See how my location says Sydney, Australia???:cool:

See how I now look like an idiot?
hehe actually i shoulda guessed that, if u were from melbourne WHY would u be supporting Parramatta Power!
But Im still not impressed with ur comments about Australia not being good at sports that other countries dont play. As i said, nothing but soccer is played world wide (and really its not supported that much in australia, which is partly why we're so bad at it!). But sports like Rugby Union, Cricket, and Cycling (which in track, and sprinting on road-stage races too once Cadel Evans gets old enough :p- we are good at), (for u americans and canadians :p-field) hockey etc are played as world wide as anything else, other than soccer.

Anyway thats all about that, im gonna stop before i say something stupid again...

Originally posted by Nimreitz
Oooooooh, the Thorpedo, I'm so scared. I'm sorry I just think it's funny that you Aussies care about swimming.

Yeah, well really i think that the whole "swimming being huge in australia" thing is over rated. Yes we know all of our swimmers off by heart, but really, no one actually does it as a sport. Its not like we're only good at it, because everyone wants to do it. Its just like swimming anywhere else in the world, except since we are good at it, we know our swimmers. The fact that u know who Thorpe is proves the point, that just because we know who all our swimmers are, doesnt mean that everyone "cares" about swimming. Australians basically care about any sport, especially sport we do well at.
But having said this, I still think that Thorpe (ahead of Hewitt, he's world number one, but Thorpes not just the worlds best, but the best ever swimmer), is our best sportsmen. In a few years time (when Cadel Evans wins the Tour de France ;) ), then i think we have someone that can rival him, but until then, thorpes the number one man. But still being number 1 in the world at only 22, like Hewitt, is quite a feat!

Cheers
sKIp_E
PS. I hate double posts

we dont have a lot of good athlets in here but i will try...
1) alex averbukh the european champion in pole-vault
his record is 5:91
2) anna smashnova ranked 19 in wta tour in tennis
3) we have some football players that r not bad...
haim revivo from fener... berkovic from manchester city
4) and the thing that makes me feel proud:
a basket ball team called maccabi tel-aviv
they finishd 3-4 in europe last year
. 2 years ago they won the suproleague (european champions)
and 3 years ago 2nd place in europe :)

how can a good biker (from the tour de france) be considered one of the best sportsmen? every guy and his dog knows how to ride a bike as well as any of them, the only difference being that the professionals are very fit.
anyways, Wayne Gretzky is the most successful athlete from Canada

Originally posted by ringpiece
how can a good biker (from the tour de france) be considered one of the best sportsmen? every guy and his dog knows how to ride a bike as well as any of them, the only difference being that the professionals are very fit.
anyways, Wayne Gretzky is the most successful athlete from Canada

Damn, that was one of the most arrogant things ive ever been heard said.
IMO cycling is the hardest sport in the world to be good at. Not everyone can become a great cyclist, and those who have the natural physical ability, need to have the mental ability aswell, to be able to train as much as they do. Basically it sounds like you dont know an awful lot about the sport, especially since you used the term "biker" rather than cyclist, rider or something like that. The Pro cyclists are the elite of the elite as far as pro sportspeople go, and dont u forget it!

I can promise you, that it is more, much more than just getting fit!

Id also like to point out the fact that it has been a long time (never?) since Canada had a really good cyclist, so I cant see how you could be saying the sport is too easy to get good at... (Or is it just that, u canadians dont care about anysport but ice hockey?)
Cheers
sKIp_E

Originally posted by sKIp_E
See how I now look like an idiot?
hehe actually i shoulda guessed that, if u were from melbourne WHY would u be supporting Parramatta Power!
But Im still not impressed with ur comments about Australia not being good at sports that other countries dont play. As i said, nothing but soccer is played world wide (and really its not supported that much in australia, which is partly why we're so bad at it!). But sports like Rugby Union, Cricket, and Cycling (which in track, and sprinting on road-stage races too once Cadel Evans gets old enough- we are good at), (for u americans and canadians :p-field) hockey etc are played as world wide as anything else, other than soccer.

Anyway thats all about that, im gonna stop before i say something stupid again...

Hey, i was kidding. It was a joke:confused: :jambo: :o :D

Originally posted by Parra Power
Hey, i was kidding. It was a joke:confused: :jambo:

Yeah i wasnt speaking to u, i was speaking to ringpiece..hence the quotation b4 my post ;) :p

Originally posted by yogainferno
must agree, Jordan is king of american sports.

he's the bloody king of the world sports http://216.46.248.210/pixh/heiks8/the_smiley_king_by_heiks.gif





by the way the best sportsman in Estonia is Erki Nool

Jelena Dokic ..... Divac ... Stojakovic .... Grbic Brothers

Originally posted by ringpiece
how can a good biker (from the tour de france) be considered one of the best sportsmen? every guy and his dog knows how to ride a bike as well as any of them, the only difference being that the professionals are very fit.
anyways, Wayne Gretzky is the most successful athlete from Canada

sKIp_E is right, you know? All you needed to change your mind was watching last sunday's stage of the Spanish Tour, the one that finished with the climb to the mythic Angliru mount, with ramp of over 23%! To make things worse, rain was pouring down, the road was narrow, people were jumping all around the riders... It was a living hell. You have to fall in love with the courage showed by those guys.
There aren't many sports out there where you see such a display of human spirit and perseverance.

Talking about that stage, did you know that Millar, the brit star, fell TWICE but still managed to climb the mountain severely injured, to abandon the race in protest, 2 meters away from the finish line?

Originally posted by Savo
Jelena Dokic ..... Divac ... Stojakovic .... Grbic Brothers

Yeah Dokic was an Aussie, until she went all weird and decided that all Australians hated her (which we didnt, just her dad! ;)).
Meanwhile though, she is overrated. Her world ranking is greatly inflated because of the number of tournaments she has competed in.
Cheers
sKIp_E

Originally posted by ringpiece
how can a good biker (from the tour de france) be considered one of the best sportsmen? every guy and his dog knows how to ride a bike as well as any of them, the only difference being that the professionals are very fit.
anyways, Wayne Gretzky is the most successful athlete from Canada

Yeah, and Ill add that the commenta bout everyone being able to ride a bike aswell as them, I can promise you that isnt true either. Just the bike handling these guys are capable of (esp. sprinters, and track riders), is quite unbelievable). You try riding at up to 70km, on a velodrome, swinging up and down the banking, "hooking" the other rider, and trying to keep him on your shoulder...Or jostling for a position in a Keiren. Whilst riding at high speeds (not as high sa above, but still very high!), head butting, and "fighting" for positions close to the derny bike...
Cheers
sKIp_E

Ali Daei. No Doubt on that one.

Originally posted by sKIp_E
Damn, that was one of the most arrogant things ive ever been heard said.
IMO cycling is the hardest sport in the world to be good at.

The Pro cyclists are the elite of the elite as far as pro sportspeople go, and dont u forget it!

Are you ****ting me? The hardest sport to be good at?
Maybe you need to think again.
I have respect for any professional athlete, but I think it is a lot more "arrogant" and ignorant to say such a bold comment as that.

Also, Canada has some of the best cyclists in the world, just mountain/trial riders though.

I agree with Skip when your on a bike try and time yourself and compare with the times at the tour de france etc and see what happens, similar to swimming and running you will lose greatly

The greatest Australian sportsman of all time.......... Anthony Mundine.............. NOT. :D

:jambo:

Originally posted by zul-aid
I agree with Skip when your on a bike try and time yourself and compare with the times at the tour de france etc and see what happens, similar to swimming and running you will lose greatly
What's your point?
Try playing in a premiership match. You won't be able to do ****. You can't claim one sport is harder to be good at than another. It's all relative.
Compare your free kick accuracy to beckham's.
Compare your speed to Henry's.
Compare your technique to Bergkamp's.
Compare your vertical leap to Carter's.
You get the idea.

Try riding a bike up a steep hill for three hours without getting off

in sweden it´s probly zlatan ibrahimovic(Ajax) or Freddie Ljungberg(Arsenal)

Originally posted by zul-aid
Try riding a bike up a steep hill for three hours without getting off
Maybe I will.

Originally posted by LaBrujita
Maybe I will.

as we Aussie say: Get on ya bike

Originally posted by zul-aid
as we Aussie say: Get on ya bike
as we canucks say: Get on your bike

Originally posted by Krypton X
The greatest Australian sportsman of all time.......... Anthony Mundine.............. NOT. :D

:jambo:

lol! i bet if Ferrari managed to hitch Mundines big mouth up to the engine they would be dominant for a few more years yet though!

In New Zealand it is hard to pick because like Australia we produce good individuals and good teams, especially in rugby, and we are gerring quite good at golf too :( .
But I think someone like Jeff Wilson would be a challenger, since he has represented NZ at international level in both Rugby and Cricket.

But imo Ali is the greatest sportsman of all time, not just because of what he did in the ring, but also what he stood for and did outside the ring. Too many sportsmen these days just collect their $ and don't do anything useful with it.

Originally posted by rhizome17

But imo Ali is the greatest sportsman of all time, not just because of what he did in the ring, but also what he stood for and did outside the ring. Too many sportsmen these days just collect their $ and don't do anything useful with it.
That last comment is partly true, but i think its really hard to say one single best sportsmen of alltime. Really their are a few that NEED to be mentioned.

Sir Donald Bradman
Wilt Chamberlain (I think ahead of Micahel Jordan, but either/both of these two)
Eddy Merckx (Lance Armstrong wil never compare to Eddy, because Eddy dominated much more than just one race-yes the cancer was a major set back for Lance, but some ask would he ever haev won the tour if he didnt get Cancer. It really did change his life, his mind, and his body)
I think Tiger Woods will also go down as a great
Mohammed Ali (Cassius Clay)
Babe Ruth (??-I know this guy was good, but since baseball isnt my speciality I dont know if he's on the same level as these other guys)
Michael Johnson (again he was good, whether he was on the same level as the others, is debatable)

Im sure that their are others that probably deserve a mention, people like Ian Thorpe are freaks, and may go down as legends, but his sport isnt as main stream as the others.

Originally posted by LaBrujita
What's your point?
Try playing in a premiership match. You won't be able to do ****. You can't claim one sport is harder to be good at than another. It's all relative.
Compare your free kick accuracy to beckham's.
Compare your speed to Henry's.
Compare your technique to Bergkamp's.
Compare your vertical leap to Carter's.
You get the idea.

Yes I understand this, but my brother as a Uni student studying B. Human Movement, has told me again and again, that the 2 sports that are considered to take the most gruelling training, and mental strength to get good at are Cycling and Swimming.
The thing is with sports like Soccer/Football, to get good at free kicks, etc it takes practice of the same thing over and over. This training isnt REALLY that difficult, its just a matter of practicing and learning to do everything properly.
Look im not trying to take anything away from any athletes here. They are all good, and have worked hard to get where they are, but u started this argument by saying that cycling is easy to be good at, and that u cant see how Lance Armstrong can be considered a nations best athlete. Dont try to turn the argument around now.

As for Canada having some good cyclists, they didnt seem to show this at the Commonwealth games. Australia 123, in the road race, and the Time Trial. And Australia cleaned up on the track too.
U say that canada's good riders are good time trialers and climbers?? Well why arent they going well in the big tours in europe, that is exactly the type of rider these tours have winning them.

Cheers
sKIp_E

Originally posted by sKIp_E
That last comment is partly true, but i think its really hard to say one single best sportsmen of alltime. Really their are a few that NEED to be mentioned.

Sir Donald Bradman
Wilt Chamberlain (I think ahead of Micahel Jordan, but either/both of these two)
Eddy Merckx (Lance Armstrong wil never compare to Eddy, because Eddy dominated much more than just one race-yes the cancer was a major set back for Lance, but some ask would he ever haev won the tour if he didnt get Cancer. It really did change his life, his mind, and his body)
I think Tiger Woods will also go down as a great
Mohammed Ali (Cassius Clay)
Babe Ruth (??-I know this guy was good, but since baseball isnt my speciality I dont know if he's on the same level as these other guys)
Michael Johnson (again he was good, whether he was on the same level as the others, is debatable)

Im sure that their are others that probably deserve a mention, people like Ian Thorpe are freaks, and may go down as legends, but his sport isnt as main stream as the others.

I know what you mean but I guess I was thinking Ali in terms of what he did outside the ring as well eg. his stance regarding the Vietnam war. But i relaise this doesn't make him the best sportsman of all time in terms of 'sport'. but bradman, yeah he is a great. it is going to take someone amazing in cricket to overtake him, Bradman = cricket as far as I am concerned. better than that Chappell :f***: who bowled the underarm ...hmmmm...:f***:

Originally posted by sKIp_E
Yes I understand this, but my brother as a Uni student studying B. Human Movement, has told me again and again, that the 2 sports that are considered to take the most gruelling training, and mental strength to get good at are Cycling and Swimming.


just lokking at the sports I would agree with this. swimming especially, as it requires total synchronisation of the body, arms legs and everything. cycling i hear is also the one of the hardest sports on the heart. both are also good to watch so its all good.

Originally posted by rhizome17
I know what you mean but I guess I was thinking Ali in terms of what he did outside the ring as well eg. his stance regarding the Vietnam war. But i relaise this doesn't make him the best sportsman of all time in terms of 'sport'. but bradman, yeah he is a great. it is going to take someone amazing in cricket to overtake him, Bradman = cricket as far as I am concerned. better than that Chappell :f***: who bowled the underarm ...hmmmm...:f***:

Well of course he is better than the Chappell who bowled underarm. That was Trevor Chappell, the least talented of the Chappell Brothers, and the only one of the three not to captain australia! But he was under order from captain Greg Chappell at the time.


Seriously though, Bradman is miles above any current cricketer statistically, and if he had played any where near as man tests as current cricketers, than he would have probably scored atleast 20000 test runs...and would maybe still hold the World Test Record for highest score in one innings too. He scored 334, and a few men have scored higher, but Im sure if he played more tests he would have broken this sometime.

Cheers
sKIp_E

Originally posted by sKIp_E
He scored 334, and a few men have scored higher, but Im sure if he played more tests he would have broken this sometime.

Cheers
sKIp_E

lol! i went to a pub quiz tonight (i go every tuesday, for the quiz, you know ;) :p ) and that was one of the questions: who scored a record 334 runs in a test match in 1930 (i think) ?
of course we knew, Bradman was the answer, even if we didn't know the exact date we knew there couldn't be anyone else. yeah he is the best batsman. i reckon tendulkar is pretty good too though. :D

Originally posted by sKIp_E
Yes I understand this, but my brother as a Uni student studying B. Human Movement, has told me again and again, that the 2 sports that are considered to take the most gruelling training, and mental strength to get good at are Cycling and Swimming.
The thing is with sports like Soccer/Football, to get good at free kicks, etc it takes practice of the same thing over and over. This training isnt REALLY that difficult, its just a matter of practicing and learning to do everything properly.
Look im not trying to take anything away from any athletes here. They are all good, and have worked hard to get where they are, but u started this argument by saying that cycling is easy to be good at, and that u cant see how Lance Armstrong can be considered a nations best athlete. Dont try to turn the argument around now.

As for Canada having some good cyclists, they didnt seem to show this at the Commonwealth games. Australia 123, in the road race, and the Time Trial. And Australia cleaned up on the track too.
U say that canada's good riders are good time trialers and climbers?? Well why arent they going well in the big tours in europe, that is exactly the type of rider these tours have winning them.

Cheers
sKIp_E
Ever heard of Alison Sydor?

No, I was talking to Hugo and thinking about it. It is probably one of the most grueling and physically enduring sports. I guess because of the lack of exposure here I don't have the same appreciation. Just as you may not have for other sports.

I do still think some sports are more difficult to be "good" at. I guess it depends on our defintions of "good" though.

My previous posts (I just read) seemed more anti-cyclist that intended. It was more anti-claiming one sport is the be all and end all of sports.
I think most Canadians would argue hockey, then again most Canadians don't give a **** about cycling--and vice versa for Australians....

EDIT:
Alison Sydor:
She is now a three-time mountain bike world champion and last season notched her third career World Cup title with two victories, two silver and three bronze medals in eight races.

Her road racing career hit a high point in 1991 when she won the prestigious Tour de l'Aude and was third in the women's road race the world championships.

In Argentina it would have to be between Juan Manuel Fangio or Maradona...but I would choose Fangio because he was a complete athlete...even though Maradona played soccer and Fangio was a formula 1 race car driver...but Maradona was a very good player but failed as a person...he was involved in drugs and has many problems..:kader: on the other hand Fangio was a good sportsman and a good person..(H)

Originally posted by LaBrujita
My previous posts (I just read) seemed more anti-cyclist that intended. It was more anti-claiming one sport is the be all and end all of sports.
I think most Canadians would argue hockey, then again most Canadians don't give a **** about cycling--and vice versa for Australians....

EDIT:
Alison Sydor:
She is now a three-time mountain bike world champion and last season notched her third career World Cup title with two victories, two silver and three bronze medals in eight races.

Her road racing career hit a high point in 1991 when she won the prestigious Tour de l'Aude and was third in the women's road race the world championships.

yeah Canadians are really good MTBers, Australia had possibly the worlds best Cross Country MTBer but he switched to road cycling.

As for the Aussies care abotu cycling...im afraid most of our population dont really care...:(
Im just a big fan.

I have to agree, that its really hard to compare sport to sport, but i can promise u, that more effort training would be put in by cyclists than just about any other athlete.
As for what is "good", i think good is being competitve with the best in the world.
NHL is the biggest Ice Hockey Compeitition I THINK (??not sure of course ;)??), so any regular starting player in that, would be in the elite. Any Division 1, team leader, sprinter or climber, i think would be classed as elite of cycling.
But u look at the number of guys who dont make it to this level in cycling (or any other sport), and the training these guys still do, just to get a small prom contract...

Actually going off topic a tad here, I read the other day, that behind Soccer, cycling is infact the 2nd most popular sport (to watch, and support, not just do) in the world, thanks mainly to big support from Europe and South America :)

Cheers
sKIp_E

in Poland - Adam Malysz (ski jumping, first in 99/00 and 00/01 seasons but I doubt he'll keep it this season)

Originally posted by sKIp_E

As for what is "good", i think good is being competitve with the best in the world.
NHL is the biggest Ice Hockey Compeitition I THINK (??not sure of course ;)??), so any regular starting player in that, would be in the elite. Any Division 1, team leader, sprinter or climber, i think would be classed as elite of cycling.
But u look at the number of guys who dont make it to this level in cycling (or any other sport), and the training these guys still do, just to get a small prom contract...

As with most things in life, I believe, "It's all relative".
To become the best (or "good") at anything (that is popular) is probably equally difficult.

in OZ either Ian thorpe (dont cut him down Tall poppy style)
or Shane Warne :D :D :D

Originally posted by maddog1983
in OZ either Ian thorpe (dont cut him down Tall poppy style)
or Shane Warne :D :D :D

Yeah, Thorpie, is right up there.
Also i think its hard to go past Brad McGee, anyone that knows anything about cycling knows how good he is (winning the Commonwealth games Individual Pursuit, straight after the tour de france is freaky, and than later winning the World Championships Ind. Pursuit quicker than anyone else in the history of the sport, exluding those who used the now banned "superman" style).
Also Warnie i spose deserves a mention, but really he comes and goes, and he has changed australian cricket heaps, but if we're speaking about right now, i dont think he is australias best athlete (although hes coming really good again :D). And if we're looking at the past, than there are millions of others u could mention. And its hard to mention Warnie and not mention McGrath if u look at statistics (but Warnie has changed the game much more).
Than of course u have to mention Lleyton Hewitt I think. Love him or hate him, he's won the US Open, Wimbeldon, and has been World Number 1 for a while now, and is still very young!!

Cheers
sKIp_E

In my country the best sportsman is MARADONA:f***:

I would say Fangio;)

Fangio too:)

I'd aggree with fangio.


But the greatest sportsman of ALL time would definately have to be me.:p