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Greatest athlete from each continent
Posted on 7/11/23 at 9:47 am
Posted on 7/11/23 at 9:47 am
A troll started a “Greatest athlete from each hemisphere” thread on the SEC Rant, but I thought it could be a cool idea as a non-troll thread. Who is the greatest athlete from each continent?
Eta
I mean best athlete, not most successful or winningest athlete
North America - Jim Brown
Other considerations in no particular order (imho):
Michael Jordan, Carl Lewis, Wayne Gretzky, Deon Sanders, Bo Jackson, Jim Thorpe, Jesse Owens
I know I’m missing some, but who from Central America and the Caribbean need mentioning?
South America - what soccer player? Ronaldo, Pele, Messi, or is there some other individual
Europe - Alexander Karelian
I know there have been greats, but I am not versed at all in European athletics
Asia - is Ohtani the answer? Is it recency bias?
Australia/Oceana - Would it be a Fuji rugby player? Australian swimmer?
Africa - Didier Drogba? Francis Ngano? Kipchoge?
Antarctica - Sidney Crosby
Eta
I mean best athlete, not most successful or winningest athlete
North America - Jim Brown
Other considerations in no particular order (imho):
Michael Jordan, Carl Lewis, Wayne Gretzky, Deon Sanders, Bo Jackson, Jim Thorpe, Jesse Owens
I know I’m missing some, but who from Central America and the Caribbean need mentioning?
South America - what soccer player? Ronaldo, Pele, Messi, or is there some other individual
Europe - Alexander Karelian
I know there have been greats, but I am not versed at all in European athletics
Asia - is Ohtani the answer? Is it recency bias?
Australia/Oceana - Would it be a Fuji rugby player? Australian swimmer?
Africa - Didier Drogba? Francis Ngano? Kipchoge?
Antarctica - Sidney Crosby
This post was edited on 7/11/23 at 9:54 am
21
Posted on 7/11/23 at 9:52 am to Oilfieldbiology
Caribbean is Usain Bolt dawg.
Also you should clarify criteria on "most successful" or "best athlete" because those are different conversations.
Also you should clarify criteria on "most successful" or "best athlete" because those are different conversations.
Posted on 7/11/23 at 9:53 am to Oilfieldbiology
I think North America would clearly be Lebron James.
Posted on 7/11/23 at 9:55 am to Colonel Flagg
Bolt and James are definitely oversights on my honorable mention list
Posted on 7/11/23 at 9:58 am to Thundercles
quote:
Caribbean is Usain Bolt dawg.
Carribean is a continent?
Posted on 7/11/23 at 10:04 am to Oilfieldbiology
I know everyone loves to hate on Lebron James; however, he is 6’9 250+lbs unicorn athlete and has been a dominant basketball force in the NBA for 20 years.
The greek freak is probably the beet from Europe.
Basically all the best athletes are from the NBA. They are by far the best combo of bigger, faster, stronger, and agile of athletic groups.
There may be a few freaks in NFL like Megatron and Metcalf.
The greek freak is probably the beet from Europe.
Basically all the best athletes are from the NBA. They are by far the best combo of bigger, faster, stronger, and agile of athletic groups.
There may be a few freaks in NFL like Megatron and Metcalf.
Posted on 7/11/23 at 10:07 am to Colonel Flagg
So would you say the same thing about every continent? That the best athlete is the best NBA player from that continent?
Posted on 7/11/23 at 10:14 am to Oilfieldbiology
In general I would say so.
It depends on the NBA player. I would not call Yao Ming the best athlete ever, but a big wing/guard in the NBA is most likely bigger, faster, stronger, more agile then about every other group of athletes.
Some of the NBA big man are just incredibly massive and I would rank a little lower than other faster and agile athletes. Tweener college basketball players have gone to the NFL and dominated therefore I think we overestimate that group against the NBA players.
It depends on the NBA player. I would not call Yao Ming the best athlete ever, but a big wing/guard in the NBA is most likely bigger, faster, stronger, more agile then about every other group of athletes.
Some of the NBA big man are just incredibly massive and I would rank a little lower than other faster and agile athletes. Tweener college basketball players have gone to the NFL and dominated therefore I think we overestimate that group against the NBA players.
This post was edited on 7/11/23 at 10:19 am
Posted on 7/11/23 at 10:16 am to Oilfieldbiology
Caribbean: Usain Bolt
Australia/Oceania: I don’t know rugby or cricket so I will go with Cathy Freeman (track) and Ian Thorpe (swimming)
Asia: Again, I know nothing about cricket but Sachin Tendulkar of India is considered the best player from India so he has to be up there
South America: it’s going to be very soccer dominant. Messi, Pele, Maradona, the original Ronaldo
Central America: for its size, Mexico really underachieves. No one major in track, swimming, or gymnastics, no one in basketball, no all-time greats in baseball, and their best soccer players wouldn’t crack the top 25 of South America or Europe
Africa: I would say it has to be a track guy, maybe David Rudisha, the greatest 800 meter runner. Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia and Eliud Kipchoge among the road racers who mostly do marathons. Also Haile Gerbersalaise who has the best track record of the guys who also did marathons.
Then the North Africans from Algeria and Morocco though they get dismissed by some for the blatant EPO usage, guys like Hicham el Guerroj and Nourdine Morcelli.
For soccer, you can add Didier Drogba and maybe Samuel Eto’o.
Australia/Oceania: I don’t know rugby or cricket so I will go with Cathy Freeman (track) and Ian Thorpe (swimming)
Asia: Again, I know nothing about cricket but Sachin Tendulkar of India is considered the best player from India so he has to be up there
South America: it’s going to be very soccer dominant. Messi, Pele, Maradona, the original Ronaldo
Central America: for its size, Mexico really underachieves. No one major in track, swimming, or gymnastics, no one in basketball, no all-time greats in baseball, and their best soccer players wouldn’t crack the top 25 of South America or Europe
Africa: I would say it has to be a track guy, maybe David Rudisha, the greatest 800 meter runner. Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia and Eliud Kipchoge among the road racers who mostly do marathons. Also Haile Gerbersalaise who has the best track record of the guys who also did marathons.
Then the North Africans from Algeria and Morocco though they get dismissed by some for the blatant EPO usage, guys like Hicham el Guerroj and Nourdine Morcelli.
For soccer, you can add Didier Drogba and maybe Samuel Eto’o.
This post was edited on 7/11/23 at 10:21 am
Posted on 7/11/23 at 10:19 am to Oilfieldbiology
Joey Chestnut should be thrown in there somewhere.
16 world titles
16 world titles
Posted on 7/11/23 at 10:21 am to Oilfieldbiology
quote:
non-troll thread
Ok
quote:
North America - Jim Brown
Are you trolling?
quote:
South America - what soccer player? Ronaldo,
Portugal is not in South America
quote:
Antarctica - Sidney Crosby
Ok you are trolling
Posted on 7/11/23 at 10:24 am to JimTiger72
Brazilian Ronaldo isn’t a troll reply. He’s probably a top 5 all time South American player.
For Antarctica, I’m sure there is a very athletic penguin. Or maybe a research scientist who ran triathlons in his 20s
For Antarctica, I’m sure there is a very athletic penguin. Or maybe a research scientist who ran triathlons in his 20s
Posted on 7/11/23 at 10:26 am to Oilfieldbiology
quote:
Africa - Didier Drogba? Francis Ngano? Kipchoge?
George Weah
Posted on 7/11/23 at 10:26 am to Oilfieldbiology
quote:
Bo Jackson, Jim Thorpe,
I think these are my top 2 from North America. The rest of the list is more "specialized" athleticism. Gretzky is the GOAT of a GOATs for a single sport, but I don't think he could play another professional sport at a high level.
Bo and Thorpe are different.
Shoutout to Secretariat too.
ETA:
Yes there are NBA guys like Lebron and Westbrook that are absolutely genetic freaks of speed/height/athleticism, but I don't think either is hitting a 94 mph MLB slider.
This post was edited on 7/11/23 at 10:29 am
Posted on 7/11/23 at 10:27 am to Keys Open Doors
quote:
Brazilian Ronaldo isn’t a troll reply. He’s probably a top 5 all time South American player.
That would be ronaldinho, correct?
Posted on 7/11/23 at 10:27 am to Oilfieldbiology
Asia - Trevor Bauer
Posted on 7/11/23 at 10:29 am to Oilfieldbiology
quote:
There are seven continents in the world: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.
Posted on 7/11/23 at 10:31 am to Colonel Flagg
quote:I would highly disagree
Basically all the best athletes are from the NBA.
Now my definition of athletic is having a skillset that translates itself to more than one sport. Can he throw a baseball, swing a bat, kick a soccer ball, shoot a basketball, swing a golf club...I'd say if you take your average NFL player, and NBA player and ask them to perform all these task...NBA is coming out looking the most awkward
quote:I would highly disagree even more, and would say that more likely than not goes to an NFL player
hey are by far the best combo of bigger, faster, stronger, and agile of athletic groups.
quote:You are severely underplaying this, there are a dozen or more genetic freaks on any one NFL team at any time
There may be a few freaks in NFL like Megatron and Metcalf.
Posted on 7/11/23 at 10:33 am to Thundercles
quote:
Caribbean is Usain Bolt dawg.
More like the world.
Did we really just watch a man move from point A to point B faster than any other human for a full f'cking decade? I would bet some filthy money that no one alive today will ever witness another triple double in their lifetime.
We are still about 50 or so more years coming to terms with the fact that Bolt's come along about as often as Leonardo da Vinci's
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