Dixie Dean scoring 60 league goals after fracturing his skull and jaw in a motor bike accident.
Greatest sporting achievement?
- Thread starter Sigma
- Start date
Messi's 73 goals in 60 games in 2011-12 has to be up there. I don't think people appreciate how absurd that is. It's tough to put up those numbers on FIFA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France_national_handball_team
I really like Handball and their dominance has been astonishing. Probably not seen as the greatest, still remarkable though.
I really like Handball and their dominance has been astonishing. Probably not seen as the greatest, still remarkable though.
I'm not a cricket fan and I'm not Australian, but in terms of any sport where one person's performance can be statistically measured against others then nothing even begins to compare with the batting of Don Bradman.
SA record run chase of 434 against Australia.
Kaif - Yuvraj innings at Lords.
Kaif - Yuvraj innings at Lords.
Last edited:
Anyone mentioned George Digweed yet 
Clay pigeon shooter with 26 world titles, 19 European titles, 4 European Compak titles, and 12 world cups.
That is some serious consistency.
Clay pigeon shooter with 26 world titles, 19 European titles, 4 European Compak titles, and 12 world cups.
That is some serious consistency.
I never watched this at the time but that is simply staggering. A lot of that bowling wasn't even bad.
Toni Sailer - won the only events down hill , GS and slalom 3 golds in men's skiing in 56 olympics - won 2 gold and a silver in the world champ in 58.
JC Killy won all 3 in 68
al oerter - 4 consecutive olympic golds in discus. 56 , 60 , 64 and 68.
JC Killy won all 3 in 68
al oerter - 4 consecutive olympic golds in discus. 56 , 60 , 64 and 68.
For the pigeon shooters and discus throwers, I appreciate these guys were better than their rivals, but did they beat their scores by over 50%?
Bradman did.
Bradman did.
Flo Jo 100 meter record she set in 1988 still stands today at 10.49, and 2nd fastest at 10.61
Digweed shot 100 out of 100 in the world championship, difficult to better that.
He also set the world record hitting a clay at 118m and then broke it himself hitting one at about 140m.. both of which are near impossible shots.
Still it was the night Phil Taylor took out 2 nine darters and was going for another one v James Wade. Staggering.
On a personal level to see a genius like Alex "Hurricane" Higgins battle his demons and win the World Championship, and to see his fellow country man Dennis Taylor win that final frame in that final v Steve Davis bearing in mind how far he was behind.
On a personal level to see a genius like Alex "Hurricane" Higgins battle his demons and win the World Championship, and to see his fellow country man Dennis Taylor win that final frame in that final v Steve Davis bearing in mind how far he was behind.
If the next best were shooting 65 out of 100 then it would be comparable to Bradman, fair enough.
It does make me wonder why they don't make the target a bit smaller or something though. Like billiards, when people got things perfect they made the rules harder.
Beryl Burton.
It's got to hurt a little when you're in the middle of setting the world time trial record, only to be beaten by a woman who offers you a liquorice allsort as she overtakes.
It's a ridiculous time but one aided by the strong winds the faulty wind gauge didn't record (that and her apparent steroid use of course).
Alexander Karelin. Absolute monster. His medal record speaks for itself.
When I think of great sporting achievements I don't engage in comparisons really because if it's the one thing stats don't do and that is emotion, tension, nervous raw energy. You simply cannot gauge that barometer of human feeling, by the same token sometimes we can overlook the achievement of someone else or the other team because we were supporting the other individual/ side. Each great sporting achievement should be appreciated on it's own individual merits. I suppose personally speaking from my own memories when special sporting achievements take place it's like time stands still, family gather around, kids stay up later than usual, when people who haven't a bulls notion of any sport ask how the individual or team are getting on. Then you know something special is happening or about to happen. Now whether that happens to be Munster beating The All Blacks, United's Treble in 99, The Jamaican Bobsleigh team or Eddie The Eagle is a matter of personal preference.
They do in some disciplines, generally though if the target is any smaller there is a real chance you could be on target and still not break the clay as it can pass through the pattern of the shot.
Clays are about 4" in diameter and can be anywhere up to 50-60 yards away travelling at varying speeds between 60-80+ kmph depending on the discipline. No 2 shots are the same and you get to see 1 target before you are 'on'. Mastering one discipline with consistency is incredibly difficult, never mind mastering several different disciplines and maintaining that over 4 decades.
What you are saying is the equivalent to saying breaking the 100m world record isn't anything special because you only beat the guy in 2nd by .001 of a second. The level of competition is one of the things that makes Digweeds achievements so special, he's shooting against Olympic standard competition and has maintained his level for over 40 years. Literally no one else in the sport has come anywhere close to him.
I appreciate the 40 years, that's phenomenal. And unlike quite a few of the names mentioned in this thread, I assume no drugs were involved.
Like you say, I don't suppose he could have done any better.
Trouble is there's only football that's a genuine world sport, which everyone plays, and poor kids can do as well as rich kids, not as an exception but on a regular basis. And no one footballer has proved a quantum leap better than the others, historically.
Like you say, I don't suppose he could have done any better.
Trouble is there's only football that's a genuine world sport, which everyone plays, and poor kids can do as well as rich kids, not as an exception but on a regular basis. And no one footballer has proved a quantum leap better than the others, historically.
Ed Moses: the American former track and field athlete, who won gold medals in the 400 m hurdles at the 1976 and 1984 Olympics. Between 1977 and 1987, Moses won 107 consecutive finals and set the world record in his event four times.
Not too many people were that dominant in one event.
Not too many people were that dominant in one event.
Has Phil Taylor been suggested yet, because why not.....all sorts of stuff is getting thrown in here now.
Anytime AB goes on a rampage!
and Macheda's goal.
and clarke taking four wickets in an over or was it five balls?
Love that match! and ganguly's celebration at the end.
How about Ashley Giles super spinner which despite everything else, was the real key to winning that 2005 ashes?
She was so juiced up, it wasn't funny.
1983 America's Cup when the Royal Perth Yacht club ended the 132 year winning streak of the U.S.
People who weren't rich boat snobs actually got interested in rich boat snobs racing their boats.
People who weren't rich boat snobs actually got interested in rich boat snobs racing their boats.
215 points in a single NHL regular season
50 goals in 39 games
Wayne Gretzky
50 goals in 39 games
Wayne Gretzky
Never heard of this guy before so I've just done a little reading. His achievements within his sport are genuinely incredible. Good, obscure shout.
There's also this picture
Pretty much the most terrifying human being I can think of.
Pretty much the most terrifying human being I can think of.
He's probably been mentioned, but this guy is up there:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jahangir_Khan
555 consecutive wins is just insane, especially in a racket sport.
I'd also nominate Roger Federer's streak of 23 consecutive major semifinals or better. Mindboggling. Just like his overall match record between the beginning of 2004 and the end of 2007. That's probably the highest level I've ever seen an athlete achieve in any sport. 4 Laureus awards in a row during that time, too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jahangir_Khan
555 consecutive wins is just insane, especially in a racket sport.
I'd also nominate Roger Federer's streak of 23 consecutive major semifinals or better. Mindboggling. Just like his overall match record between the beginning of 2004 and the end of 2007. That's probably the highest level I've ever seen an athlete achieve in any sport. 4 Laureus awards in a row during that time, too.
Good shout, best squash player ever.
How about Lara's 153* when he single handedly achieved the near impossible victory against a formidable Aussie bowling line up of Mcgrath, Gillespie, Warne and Macgill. One of my favorite Brian Lara innings.
That was brilliant but for me MVGs 17 consecutive perfect darts a couple of years back tops it. Incredible accuracy at crazy speed, missed the 18th by a wire too
cool runnings - how the Jamaican bobsleigh team qualified for the winter olympics in whilst living in sunshine paradise....
How far he is ahead of everyone else in goals, assists and points is staggering too.