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Stuartie Cs climber borrowed a shirt from me in 1984, wonder if he'll ever give it back, the little [i]monkey[/i]...
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Both
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I disagree that to be a sporting legend you must extend beyond the fandom of your own sport. Many will do so at the whim of the press, and it rules out minority sports.
Sugar Ray
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and Sugar Ray
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far far too many dicks on the dancefloor
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now we're talking 🙂
Freddy Maertens; twice world champion, 13 stage wins in 1977 Vuelta a España, 8 stage wins in 1976 Tour de France.
His book Fall from Grace is worth a read.
Surfer - nice guy is Holmsey but shurley Billy Bland would rate no.1? Plenty of time for young Mr Jebb though...
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I give you the one and only ...
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... and not forgetting his trusty sidekick Peter ...
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Travis Pastrana - on so many levels is he a legend...
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A most splended tash!
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a better 'tache
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First solo round the world - only a boat full of fags & booze for company
Egg chasing:
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Apart from the countless world titles and nine dart finishes, [url=
this throw.[/url]
Climbing - but were they heroes or fools? They are certainly very famous.
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(It's Irving and Mallory btw, not that I'd have recognised them from this pic)
I like Bannister but always thought breaking the 4 minute mile was an overrated achievement. Who remembers the first person to run under 10secs for the 100m or 20secs for the 200m, or 13 minutes for the 5k etc etc. These types of records are no more important than any world record.
Pembo - it was a big deal because although 4 mins is indeed arbitrary, it was widely claimed to be impossible. So it captured the public imagination when it was done.
I think they are significant. Maybe they shouldnt be but they are symbolic.
I posted a picture of the first man inside 13 mins for 5k on page 1. Said Aouita.
Only 'impossible' because of the mental weakness that made people believe it couldn't be done. Plus there was a major setback to athletics caused by WW2 so the record had been around for a while. Still a good achievement but IMHO not deserving of legend status.
If a non-Brit had broken that record how many people on here would know who they were?
One you have probably never heard of, but possibly our greatest ever runner
[url= http://www.alfieshrubb.ca/index.php/biography/the_runner/ ]Unknown Hero[/url]
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not deserving of legend status
Depends what the definition of 'legend' is doesn't it? You could argue that it just refers to someone very famous, which Bannister is. Or you could argue that legendary status would be conferred by some kind of heroic or unique achievement, in which case many people would qualify despite most people never having heard of them.
Has anybody mentioned Lance yet? Love him or loath him, he's a legend
As is Carl Fogarty....
For me though
JMC
Mike Hailwood
Joey Dunlop
Dave Jeffries
And of course the G.O.A.T. Valentino Rossi
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AC.
Junior Downhill World Champion: 1993, 1994, 1995
Downhill World Champion: 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005
Dual World Champion: 2000, 2001
4X World Champion: 2002, 2003
Olympic Champion: 2008
Good luck finding better stats.
Back to Surfers post of this morning I do not recall being answered they are:
Dave Bedford (once 'beat' him in a fun run when he was almost 40 - I was wrecked)
Brendan Foster
Steve Jones - once saw him at a running show exhibition thing - still national record holder. Is it Nick Rose behind, don't think it is Hugh Jones).
I would add Kenny Stuart or Helen Diamantides or perhaps Yvette Hague as legends in minor sports, I have been in the same race as them but I would not say I raced them.
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Tommy Smith (C) and John Carlos (R) Pictured at the 1968 Olympics transcending sport and jeopardising their careers for a belief.
For Pembo It was also another arbitrary record. The first time 20 seconds was broken for 200 metres.
I read a few weeks ago that Tommy Smith's gold medal was for sale - hope he got a lot for it.
Craig Kelly
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TA
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Rossi, the greatest of all time.
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Jordan, with [i]that[/i] layup.
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DB10 and TH14. Arsenal legends.
Jackie Stewart
I posted a picture of the first man inside 13 mins for 5k on page 1. Said Aouita.
😯 i just checked out the current time, bekele 12.37!! If i was a bit slower he'd be double as fast as me over 5k, that's sub 3min km
Back to Surfers post of this morning I do not recall being answered they are:Dave Bedford (once 'beat' him in a fun run when he was almost 40 - I was wrecked)
Brendan Foster
Steve Jones - once saw him at a running show exhibition thing - still national record holder. Is it Nick Rose behind, don't think it is Hugh Jones).I would add Kenny Stuart or Helen Diamantides or perhaps Yvette Hague as legends in minor sports, I have been in the same race as them but I would not say I raced them.
Charlie Spedding (still English record holder)
Should have recognised the Gateshead vest.....
I can always recall a picture of CS in the '84 Olympic marathon in the stadium with John Treacy. JT was really going for it and CS was looking into the stands or somewhere while on his shoulder. JT got the silver medal behind the 37 year old Carlos Lopez.
[img] http://www.runnerslife.co.uk/uploads/Simon_Jones/SPEDDING_C_1984_GH_L.jp g" target="_blank">http://www.runnerslife.co.uk/uploads/Simon_Jones/SPEDDING_C_1984_GH_L.jp g"/> &t=1[/img]
Big time operator our Charlie. His book is interesting it highlights his ability to rise to the occasion but be very mediocre when there was little at stake.
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The Great One.
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Freddie Spencer is my G.O.A.T. no one will ever do what he achieved. It broke him though.
Ricky Carmichael
Toni Bou
Sean Fitzpatrick
Gareth Edwards
How about a thread on wasted sporting talent?
Surfer - you seem to know fair bit about running back-in-the-day. I have never been able to work out why the times Bedford, Foster, Adcock, Hill, McLeod, Martin, Moorcroft, Spedding and many more managed have rarely been approached despite better facilities, nutrition and equipment. (I know Mo Farah eventually took DM's 5,000m record recently). Its not just that the Africans are quick, but GB has gine backwards in the last 40 years.
I don't think many British men are running 2.15 for a marathon these days and yet a mere girlie has done that!
The advent of low mileage and the plethora of advice to run "easy" from the magazines that have a vested interest in advocating jogging as oppose to training.
The thing all the old school athletes had in common was a willingness to train hard and run "high" mileage. Its not just the big names that existed in the 70's and 80's its the depth. I used to train in Liverpool with a handful of guys all of whom had broken 63 minutes for the half marathon and still got beaten regularly on the regional scene. Now they would be untouchable other than foreign imports!
In the good old days there was only the Athletics Weekly, in A5 format as well!
See... Youve got me started now I'm like TJ on helmet thread!
Could be something in that surfer - not sure how the top guys train these days but there was a lot of good runners back then. I always remember reading a book by Jim Alder and what he did after a days grafting on the building sites. And another by Gordon Pirie.
Even so, with sports science I would have expected better times these days, I guessed it was the 'pool' was a lot smaller. People have computer games and mountain bikes now.... Jumpers for goal-posts eh!
Even my mediocre times of 20 years ago would look a lot better now.
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(done before, but I never tire of pics Senna in a black
and gold lotus
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Gilles. Total Legend.
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OK so Rafa's proved he's fallible, but this guy was a magician at his peak.
Jim Alder and what he did after a days grafting on the building sites. And another by Gordon Pirie.
I've met Jim Alder on a couple of occasions. I was in his company a few years back at the National Road Relays in Birmingham. Somebody was talking about a series of running events that were on the same day (think it was in Scotland) and called them "a festival of running". Alder let rip "this is a festival of bloody running and this is where the good athletes are, not a mickey mouse event in Scotland just because its on the telly"
Top bloke.