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Who has dominated their sport to the greatest extent?
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Posted 6 months ago #
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Steve Webster 10x sidecar world champ
Posted 6 months ago # -
The correct answer is of course Don Bradman.
His results show the largest deviation from the next best of any sportsman in any major sport.
Lots of other sportsmen can lay claim to long periods of dominance but if you look at the results they were just consistently a bit better than everyone around them. Bradman was miles better than everyone around him.
Usain Bolt for example is currently totally dominating sprinting he is between 3 and 5% faster than the guys around him which is a huge margin in sprinting. Bradman's batting average is 30% better than anyone who ever played cricket
Posted 6 months ago # -
How about Joey Dunlop?
26 TT victories,
24 Ulster GP victories,
13 NW200 victories.I think it's fair to say that he pretty much dominated road racing!
Posted 6 months ago # -
In one of the nineties winter olympics I remember hearing about a speed skater who won everything from the sprint to the marathon. Can't remember who he was though, anyone here know?
Posted 6 months ago # -
MB - Eric Heiden, became a cyclist after that.
Posted 6 months ago # -
I still think its ACC FTW. All those victories and world champs in downhill. Then total domination of the mega and other marathon DH events. AND if she made a comeback to downhill she would still probably kick ass after all those years of retirement. She was/is on a totally different level to the competition.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Ingemar Stenmark
Posted 6 months ago # -
Red Rum?
Pele
Ali
MerckxThey were my faves when i were a lad
Posted 6 months ago # -
Sergey Bubka - Pole Vaulter
had an olympic curse but dominated the sport for 16 years as world champion setting 35 world records and still holds the world record set 17 years ago...Never smashed the world record by any margin more than 1cm which I always though strange until I realised he got paid quite a princely sum every time he broke the W. So 35 big pay days rather than 1!!!
Posted 6 months ago # -
You can't say that one person is better than all the others as it's impossible to compare objectively by I'll restate that Redgrave definitely up there.
He won 5 Olypmic golds - that covers 17 years. During that time he also won 9 World Championships. Rowing World Champs don't cover events that are at the Olympics in Olympic years so that means that Redgrave won the top event of the year 14 times out of 17. In the years he didn't win the WC, he got two silvers and a bronze. For a couple of those seasons he didn't win, he was also competing in Bobsleigh.
He was also unbeaten from 1993 to 1996 inclusive.
And other than the first couple of WC wins (Coxed pairs - more prestigeous than it would be now but maybe not a top event), he always raced in the competitive categories. Pairs and Coxless fours. In fact, during some periods, he was so dominant that some other countries stopped putting their best people in those categories as they knew that they couldn't win.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Ron Jeremy !!!
Posted 6 months ago # -
Joss Naylor?
Those who know the name know I'm right!*cough* Billy Bland *cough*
My actual vote would go to Haile Gebrselassie though.
Joss was a great athlete but only really excelled at the longer fell races. Over shorter distances he was not a patch on the likes of Kenny Stuart who IMO was possibly the best fell runner of all time. More dominant still would be Ian Holmes but how many have heard of him?
Billy Bland very good but dominant in his day?Haille maybe but again he was up against some fantastic runners such as Tergat who on occasion beat him.
Not this time though!
Posted 6 months ago # -
In fact, during some periods, he was so dominant that some other countries stopped putting their best people in those categories as they knew that they couldn't win.
Of course the GB rowing team wouldn't have ever done that with Redgrave when the competition was too good...Which does really point out one of the issues with suggesting dominance in a sport like rowing - the best people quite often don't compete against each other at all.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Lots of people mentioning those who were "virtually unbeatable" but for 9 years 9 months and 9 days Ed Moses was totally unbeatable. 122 consecutive wins, 107 in finals and even after finally being defeated he replied with a further 10 consecutive wins.
If you want to beat Ed in this thread you need to find someone who remained undefeated for at least 9 years 9 months and 10 days.
Posted 6 months ago # -
there is only one 'athlete' that has dominated so much.....
Posted 6 months ago # -
I can only think of Dale Holmes on his bmx. Havent really followed any other sports.
Posted 6 months ago # -
This thread is also naturally rather insular - I'd suggest that Birgit Fischer has a rather better record than SSR. Gold medals at 6 consecutive games she competed in (would almost certainly have been 7 but for the boycott of LA84). Gold medals at all but one non-Olympic year WC for 20 years (excluding the 3 years for which she was "retired").
In fact I don't know why I didn't remember her before - arguably with her 20 year reign at the top of a very physically tough Olympic sport she trumps everybody else.
Posted 6 months ago # -
The correct answer is of course Don Bradman.
I seem to recall a statistical comparison a few years back, and it's actually Gretzky.
Anyhoo, it's those two, by miles ...
Posted 6 months ago # -
If you want to beat Ed in this thread you need to find someone who remained undefeated for at least 9 years 9 months and 10 days.
I dont agree. Coe and Ovett remained unbeaten for long periods because they avoided each other!
In addition some sports have high barriers to entry for example show jumping (pardon the pun) its not open to kids off council estates so it quite possible that the best show jumper has never ridden a horse! If you invest millions in show jumping and somehow become the "best" is that the same as Moses who fought off challenges from every track runner who fancied their chances?
Your example of Moses is a good one though, great athlete and poetry in motion!Posted 6 months ago # -
Another nod for Bjorn Dunkerbeck E11.
For the best part of 20 years if he turned up he won. He was technically miles ahead of his peers as well as being a top athlete and having a professional approach. He was untouchable.
Overall World Champion (1988–1999)
Race World Champion (1988–1999) and 2011
Wave World Champion (1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2001)
Freestyle World Champion (1998)
Speed World Champion (1994)Robby Naish was a big part of the evolution of the sport but he was in his prime when BD turned up.
Laird Hamilton in widely regarded as a nob.
Posted 6 months ago # -
quite possible that the best show jumper has never ridden a horse
It's sad, I'll never know if I could ave excelled at synchronised swimming.
My old French teacher and his partner won the Kinnaird Cup every year from '81 to '90 in Eton Fives. Bit niche I suppose....
http://www.etonfives.co.uk/tournaments/past.champions/kinnaird.html
Posted 6 months ago # -
I dont agree. Coe and Ovett remained unbeaten for long periods because they avoided each other!
In addition some sports have high barriers to entry for example show jumping (pardon the pun) its not open to kids off council estates so it quite possible that the best show jumper has never ridden a horse! If you invest millions in show jumping and somehow become the "best" is that the same as Moses who fought off challenges from every track runner who fancied their chances?
Your example of Moses is a good one though, great athlete and poetry in motion!*ahem*
Posted 6 months ago # -
Stefan Everts won a fair few world motocross titles.Jeremy McGrath won a shitload of AMA Supercross titles.
And Ricky Carmichael won just about, well, everything he ever entered on 2 wheels.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Yes BB. She's your typical council estate kid alright. Funny though I dont recall her being a showjumper until she became a millionaire. Funny that.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Yes BB. She's your typical council estate kid alright. Funny though I dont recall her being a showjumper until she became a millionaire. Funny that.
She claims she's been around horses all her life and knows far more about them than any posh horsey type.
She also looks like a horse these days
Posted 6 months ago # -
I like threads like this, someone who dominates a sport whether its running, chess or windsurfing is awesome regardless in my opinion.
Gwin - ok, only one title but no one came close to challenging him this year. To walk in, destroy Gee and Greg like he has and walk away with the title in his second year is class.
Rossi - nothing need be said
Stoner - on that Honda will be untouchable for ages.
Andy Priux in DTM
MirraPosted 6 months ago # -
Either Nick Skelton or Tim Stockdale came off a council estate. Can't recall which one of them, but being interviewed at the last Olympics, at least I think it was one of them two in a "it's not just for toffs" interview, def was a male show jumper or maybe Trials.
Posted 6 months ago # -
joolsburger - Member
Sugar Ray Robinson, many better known and remembered but none better or more dominant imho.One of the best fighters for sure.
Certainly wasn `t dominant though. Plenty of guys about who could give him a good fight .. some of whom beat him also.
Just check out how many times he lost the world title ..
And he wouldn `t risk a fight against Charley Burley either ..Carlos Monzon could be said to have dominated his weight class though .. as could Ricardo Lopez.
Posted 6 months ago # -
I don't know why all you people have a go at Jordan, she's now an international diplomat ffs! I've seen it on the BBC website *Jordan calls for Syria's Assad to resign".
Posted 6 months ago # -
American Motox always seems to be dominated by one rider Bob Hannah, David Bailey, Jeff Stanton, McGrath, Carmichael I thought Bubba Stewart would but he is almost to fast for his own good. Fingers crossed Villapoto gets sorted by the likes of Barcia.
I always feel sorry for riders like Chad Reed who is so quick but will forever be second best to Carmichael.
Posted 6 months ago #
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