Second greatest sportsman?

But he hasnt done anything outside play football?
Not won a world cup.

i didnt realise activism made you a better sportsman

5 time balon dor winner. Won everything there is to win apart from the world cup.

He used his position to transcend sport. Its an all round view.
5 balon dor's doesnt do it for me

ballon d'or

#justsayin'

ballon d'or

#justsayin'

you're right, everything ive said about this can now be ignored. thanks fam

Greatest sportsman ever is probably Usain Bolt as mentioned above. Also, look up Jim Thorpe.



You are essentially asking who are the greatest sportsmen ever for reasons other than the actual sport.

Ali may have been the biggest single icon but it doesn't make him the best sportsman ever.

We are going to see a similar outpouring of delusion when Pele carks it (I don't even think Pele is a top 10 footballer ftr).
.

Not really I was asking as per the thread title who people would nominate for second greatest sportsperson. Its perfectly fine to use sporting criteria, but its also ok to use criteria as to their impact in a broader context.

Don't think Pele comes close.

I'm not a fan of Pele, the point I'm making is that Pele is the single biggest icon in football and that is the reason why when he dies he will be hailed as the greatest footballer ever (even though he isn't).

The only thing we should be taking into consideration when asked 'who is the greatest/second greatest sportsman' is accomplishment in competitive sport. Nothing else is relevant. Unless you're talking about their iconography which is a different discussion entirely.

Sachin Tendulkar!

He's about half as good as the best sportsman in his own sport...
Which brings me onto the statistically correct answer of Donald Bradman, his dominance over his sport is unmatched by any other sportsman (average of 99.94 compared to second highest of ~60.0, once you exclude those who played ridiculously short careers). He is literally 50% better than anyone else who played his sport

I think he will be hailed, but there will be many who disagree he was the greatest.
Im using a wider definition though, because he transcended sport in a way that I cant think anyone else has. Its contextual.

Anyway who do you think the greatest sportsperson has using either definition?

The more relevant point with Bradman is where he was relative to his peers of the time.

There has been batting average inflation in recent years with better pitches and a decline in the number of real elite bowlers, so if you are comparing players from now to players of the 1980s/1990s, 50 has become the new 40.

But Bradman was a statistical anomaly even in his own time, he was so far ahead of his peers its incredible, if he played now he might have been averaging 110 or something.

I think Bolt is probably the greatest sportsman ever. The thing I like about a lot of the Olympics is that it's sport in it's purest form - who can run the fastest, jump the highest etc, and Bolt is the greatest sprinter ever.

The more relevant point with Bradman is where he was relative to his peers of the time.

There has been batting average inflation in recent years with better pitches and a decline in the number of real elite bowlers, so if you are comparing players from now to players of the 1980s/1990s, 50 has become the new 40.

But Bradman was a statistical anomaly even in his own time, he was so far ahead of his peers its incredible, if he played now he might have been averaging 110 or something.

Agreed and then you considered that he was so good England had to develop a completely new style of bowling, I.e bodyline and even that did not last too long before he was a able to master it.