Britain's best sports person

[MattSantos]

With Murray losing and now retired, there's the odd mention of him being Britain's best ever sports man.

With 3 majors and 2 Olympics, i just can't have him in the conversation. Am i wrong?

Who is Britain's best sports person?

[Gerrumonside ref]

Lennox Lewis is a personal favourite 

[Futtocks]

9 minutes ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

Lennox Lewis is a personal favourite 

He retired ages ago. And, almost uniquely for a heavyweight boxer, stayed retired.

All the other living champs think he's a bit odd.

[Gerrumonside ref]

1 minute ago, Futtocks said:

He retired ages ago. And, almost uniquely for a heavyweight boxer, stayed retired.

All the other living champs think he's a bit odd.

Ah misread the thread.

[MattSantos]

Lewis > Murray in my book.

All eras.. 

[StandOffHalf]

Daley Thompson

[Sidi Fidi Gold]

Who's the greatest British person ? I'm not sure but Andy Murray should be seriously involved in any discussion.

[Bedford Roughyed]

 

[Futtocks]

 

[Jeff Stein]

Joe Calzaghe

[MattSantos]

17 minutes ago, Sidi Fidi Gold said:

Who's the greatest British person ? I'm not sure but Andy Murray should be seriously involved in any discussion.

Why?

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Lewis Hamilton. Joint most F1 World Championships, most wins, most pole positions, most podium finishes and dozens and dozens more records.

[Maximus Decimus]

1 hour ago, MattSantos said:

With Murray losing and now retired, there's the odd mention of him being Britain's best ever sports man.

With 3 majors and 2 Olympics, i just can't have him in the conversation. Am i wrong?

Who is Britain's best sports person?

Whilst this doesn't seem that impressive when compared to the likes of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, for a Brit it is.

I suppose a good indicator is whether he'll be in the conversation in say 10 years time. I somehow doubt it.

Answering the question of who is is genuinely tricky. You have the problem of individual vs team sports, the worldwide nature of the sport, the level of competition etc.

The reality is that there aren't many who can be in the conversation. You think of the likes of Steve Redgrave but rowing is a very niche sport. 

Sadly, I can't think of any British person in a very popular widespread sport who has been dominant.

[johnmatrix]

Great tennis player, but not a top 10

I'd have Jonathan Edwards, Sir Chris hoy,  ian Botham, Wayne Rooney, Bobby charlton, nigel mansell, lewis Hamilton Chris froome , Laura Kenny, not really thought too hard but all better than him 

[17 stone giant]

Jonny Wilkinson

Edited August 1 by 17 stone giant
I spelt the name wrong of Britain's greatest ever sports person

[Derwent]

Joe Calzaghe

Jimmy Anderson

A P McCoy

[johnmatrix]

9 hours ago, Maximus Decimus said:

Sadly, I can't think of any British person in a very popular widespread sport who has been dominant.

Which sports do you consider as a very popular widespread sport? 

[Moose]

My top three in no particular order

Ian Botham, Lewis Hamilton, Ronnie O’Sullivan 

 

 

[gingerjon]

11 hours ago, MattSantos said:

With Murray losing and now retired, there's the odd mention of him being Britain's best ever sports man.

With 3 majors and 2 Olympics, i just can't have him in the conversation. Am i wrong?

Who is Britain's best sports person?

He dragged Britain to a Davis Cup title as well. In American terms, you'd definitely have him in the Hall of Fame but you're unlikely to retire the number.

No one has suggested any rugby league players yet?

[JonM]

9 hours ago, Derwent said:

Joe Calzaghe

Jimmy Anderson

A P McCoy

Suspect all three could walk down the average high street and not be recognised by 95%+ of people. 

[gingerjon]

5 minutes ago, JonM said:

Suspect all three could walk down the average high street and not be recognised by 95%+ of people. 

There's a video going round of Steph Curry walking round Paris and literally no one knowing who he is.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

6 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

There's a video going round of Steph Curry walking round Paris and literally no one knowing who he is.

Who?

[gingerjon]

Just now, The Hallucinating Goose said:

Who?

That's rather my point.

[Sidi Fidi Gold]

13 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

He dragged Britain to a Davis Cup title as well. In American terms, you'd definitely have him in the Hall of Fame but you're unlikely to retire the number.

No one has suggested any rugby league players yet?

Actually, if it wasn't for James Ward coming from 2 sets down to beat big serving John Isner, then GB would have lost in the Q/F to the USA. Then again, you can also add to Murrays achievements, World tour finals champion, world number 1, year end number 1 and 14 times Masters champion.

[JonM]

3 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

That's rather my point.

I guess there is no NFL or NBA player who would be recognised by more than a small minority of people in Britain. 

Calzaghe & McCoy (as examples) won BBC sports personality of the year, and have clearly had a pretty high profile in the past, but equally I'm 100% certain that my wife and both of my twenty-something kids would have no clue who they were, what sport they were involved with, or what they had done. People like Ian Botham, Lewis Hamilton, Mo Farah, Paula Radcliffe would be recognised by almost everyone, I reckon. 

Of course, that doesn't necessarily correlate with 'best sports person' - I'd pick Jimmy Anderson over Ian Botham without needing a second's thought when it comes to Cricket, for example.