Greatest sporting achievement?
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Seriously lads.....Fergie taking United from 7 leagues, breaking the record and overtaken Liverpool, hasn't been mentioned yet? Place is bizarre at times
Apart from that, I always thought Mika Hakkinen challenging and beating Michael Schumacher, was pretty good, as Michael was streets ahead of everyone
Apart from that, I always thought Mika Hakkinen challenging and beating Michael Schumacher, was pretty good, as Michael was streets ahead of everyone
Alot of record ones are insanely debatable by certain changes in their respective sports. For instance, Gretzkys shit, goalies were absolutely gash back then, neither he or Mario would do 150+ in todays generation consistently. Forget 2ppg averages. Also add in the salary cap, Crosby is very much up there with them, but statistically he probably won't get near them or others.
Ditto Baseball, some insane discrepancy from when records were set to the standards of what current players can get even attain despite superior fitness and endless technology advancements.
Ditto Baseball, some insane discrepancy from when records were set to the standards of what current players can get even attain despite superior fitness and endless technology advancements.
Rafael Nadal dethroning Federer at Wimbledon.
South Africa chasing 434 at Johannesburg.
South Africa chasing 434 at Johannesburg.
Ari Vatanen during the Rally of NZ 1977. Crashed on one of the very first stages and was 32 minutes behind. Drove like a maniac for the rest of the rally and finished second by less than 2 minutes.
100 international 100s by the God.
Bjørndalen
Not the greatest achievement but the recent Cowboys's victory over the Broncos in the NRL final was one of the best games of any sport I've watched. Right up there with Barca 99 for last minute drama. I'm not even much of a League fan but it had everything and was played in a great spirit. Thurston is amazing to watch.
Yep.
Can he reach 100 World Cup victories? Would be amazing if he could grind out a few more victories this season aged 41/42.
World Championship in Oslo will be epic. I'm sure there will be a few tears when the greatest winter athlete retires at the end of the season.
Just checked and saw he has 94 individual wins. I'd love it, but that will be extremely hard. Chances are, he wont get a single win. Though, I definitely haven't expected him to win a gold at Olympics, so, Ole, prove me wrong again! 
This was the one that sprung to my mind.
Hardly a single mention of any Tour de France winner. In my mind there's very little that comes close to the physical endurance these guys have to suffer through over a month long period. And I hate cyclists.
Armstrong was mentioned, and the rife doping probably taints it to a lot of people.
A great shame when that's the only mention the sport gets.
Pete Sampras vs Jim Courier at the 1995 Australian Open after Tim Gullikson collapsed in training, and later succumbed to an incurable brain cancer. Defeated Chang in the semis, but fell just short of the perfect tribute when he lost the final to Agassi. One of my earliest sporting memories, and one that sticks to this day. Remarkably touching, and kinda great in its own way, when you include the psycho-emotional angle.
Also, Nicky Lauda winning the 1977 F1 Championship after having a near death experience, and suffering third degree burns/ permanent lung damage at the 1976 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.
Also, Nicky Lauda winning the 1977 F1 Championship after having a near death experience, and suffering third degree burns/ permanent lung damage at the 1976 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.
They've only themselves to blame really.
Tarring them all with one brush. I'm sure there's been many winner over the years who hasn't doped, particularly back in the early days when bikes were heavier, and we didn't have the science in sport that we do today.
I'm not saying every rider has done it (although it wouldn't surprise me) but when it's as rife as it has been you can't blame people for not holding the sport in any great regard. Anyway, we're going way off topic.
I mentioned him, with white text. Hope no one considers him a 'great'.
Eddy Merckx got a mention. Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond definitely deserve to be in this thread, who else?
Find it interesting that most of these things are tangible except for Bolt's. Which is all about perception. You feel the occasion because he timer tells you, not because you can see him run 0.05 seconds faster than Blake or Gay or whomever.
I don't know, think you can pretty clearly see he's ran a lot faster than everyone else in pictures like this and they're all pretty fast so you know he's a bit special.
I don't know, think you can pretty clearly see he's ran a lot faster than everyone else in pictures like this and they're all pretty fast so you know he's a bit special.
I don't deny that it wasn't special. Just an observation.
Blake has run 9.69 in a -0.1 headwind.. as opposed to the Bolt world record 9.58 with a +0.9. Still Bolt is faster, but yea.
What makes Bolt so special is his ability to save his best for the big championship finals (except for that 1 DQ) and I've always felt he could have ran faster over 100m at his peak but yeah. Even now past his peak vs. Gatlin, it was pure theatre at the World Championships.
Botham tearing the Aussies a new one in 1981 after being sacked as captain, Daley Thompson's Olympic golds in 80 and 84 and Robbo continually pulling us out of the mire ,that fantastic game v Barcelona in 1984
Wasn't that in a dead rubber?
Laxmans innings against Aus in 2003 was pretty incredible.
What about that Major tournament when Woods won by around 15 shots? Not bad...
Australia winning the Americas Cup was a pretty big deal here.
The Hawthorn Hawks played seven consecutive Grand Finals in the 80s.
The Hawthorn Hawks played seven consecutive Grand Finals in the 80s.
I was there in the ground when Sachin scored 175 against the aussies.. It might not have been his greatest accomplishment, but that's the greatest sporting spectacle I have seen in my life!!
Wilkinson drop goal in WC 2003.. majestic sporting moment
Yep. On a ground famous for batting records and a pitch deliberately made as flat as possible so Lara could go for the record. Lara did far more impressive things than that innings.
Similar to this, South Africa winning the 95 rugby world cup given everything. That was incredible.
Jahangir Khan
This is true to a large extent, the game today, and since the mid 90's, has been dominated by goaltenders (something I'm not a huge fan of) and it's certainly not as easy to hit 100+. Looking at last season, 84 points winning the Art Ross is incredible, lowest total to ever win it in a full season I believe. I think by the end of their careers Crosby and Ovechkin will be considered in the top 10, top 15 at least. But even with that considered you have to look in awe of how incredibly dominant and talented both Gretzky and Lemiuex were. Gretzky hit 200+ on 4 occasions (only player ever to) and the closest anybody has come to those two was Yzerman with 155. Even in an era where 100+ point seasons were common and many average players had their totals inflated, Gretzky was still on a level of his own, at his peak he would definitely be the league's best in pretty much any era. Even at the end of his career in the late 90's on a poor Rangers team he was still one of the leagues leaders. You also have to account for their playoff performances as well, two Conn Smythes each. They're the two greatest IMO.
Bayern Munich's local dominance.
Do you really think those guys didn't use doping? They competed in a different era and that's why they were never found out. Merckx was accused of doping and had to leave the Giro in '69 because of it - he even admitted he used Pemoline and other amphetamines during his career, it was just so much easier to deceive the tests back then. Armstrong has been exploited as an example by the current authorities, just to make it seem like they've erased the whole bad reputation of cycling and its doping past. They didn't bother to go after his rivals, or they've been caught themselves since then: Ullrich, Klöden, Basso, Mancebo, Beloki, Mayo, Landis, Menchov, Sevilla, you name it. Even when Armstrong retired for the first time or during his comeback, the doping cases didn't exactly decrease: Schumacher, Kohl, Rasmussen, Contador, just to name a few. There was a level playing field when Armstrong won his Tours, they all used the same drugs to more or less the same extent. He was superior than his competitors in every single aspect of the game, his reputation may be tarnished now because of the media exposure he got (unlike others), but he remains one of the greatest of all time for me. That whole era of dope cyclists should be condemned, not only him.
Jesse Owens gold medal haul and the context of it Berlin Olympics.
Carl Lewis Los Angeles 84 sheer magnitude of varied disciplines.
Greg Lugananas going on for gold after hitting his head off the diving board think it was LA 84.
Denmark 92, Greece 04.
Recently the Ryder Cup at Medina.
Carl Lewis Los Angeles 84 sheer magnitude of varied disciplines.
Greg Lugananas going on for gold after hitting his head off the diving board think it was LA 84.
Denmark 92, Greece 04.
Recently the Ryder Cup at Medina.