Is Mo Farrah the greatest ever British sportsman?

[Herr Tubthumper]

What is the definition of being British?

Being crap at most sports apart from cycling and middle distance running?

 

[Blue3]

Good question possibly

 

[Bakero]

Being crap at most sports apart from cycling and middle distance running?

How does Germany's Olympic medal record stand against Britain's?

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

One of our best athletes ever (and I mean athletics when I say 'athletes'). The best British sportsman ever? I think Wiggins should be considered, because of the range of his victories. Steve Redgrave for the longevity of his career. Farah is up the though.

That is about my line of thinking as well.

 

[nwgull]

Not sure I follow about Botham. How many people do you know have ever joined an athletics club? I dont know anybody. More people play cricket globalyy than ever run the whatever distance Mo runs. (Im not saying that to support Botham as if you ask me, he wasnt that great against good bowling.) But athletics? Are we sure? Running doesnt make a sportsman, skill does.

Millions of people worldwide take part in 5K and 10k runs. In the UK alone you'll find a few hundred thousand turning up at parks around the country every Saturday morning to do their local park run.

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

Athletics? Is that really sport with skill? Its endurance, training and natural ability to run but if running around made a sportsman then CMS would be half decent. Never interested in any of the Olympics sports except the 100 meters to see who is fastest person in the world. For a sport, there needs to be skill as far as I'm concerned and that rules out cycling, running, long jump, shot put and well most things that don't involve a ball. It also rules out most rugby players as well. We all know a sportsman, its people who can be good at anything, from football to table tennis to golf to cricket. Natural hand eye coordination and timing. So no, Mo F is a runner but not a gifted sportsman.

What a load of rubbish. The race yesterday was tactically brilliant, and that has to be a skill. There was one point where Mo, with about 400 metres to go, drew level with the leader, almost as a reminder that he was still there, and then fell back again. His finishing speed, as well, is not just about running. The man is an inspiration in all sorts of ways, and is certainly up there with a shout.

And as for his Britishness, he came here when he was 8 and was shaped by our education system and his skills recognised by that system. It's not exactly a Zola Budd situation. But then she was white, so people might see it differently!!!!!!

 

[Medwayseagull]

Phil THE POWER Taylor judging by all the titles he has won

Which warm weather training camp does he attend ?

 

[Medwayseagull]

The greatest British sportsman of all time is highly subjective. What about the greatest British sportswoman of all time ?However I do think Mo's achievements should make him TV sports personality this year.

 

[Spicy]

Definitely not.

 

[Frutos]

Seb Coe.Nigel Benn.Lennox Lewis.Bobby Charlton.

Def not Steve Redgrave.Not even in my top 10.

Possibly Nigel Benn but definitely not Steve Redgrave?

A bit of an odd choice in my view, but all about opinions!

 

[Frutos]

As subjective as it is, and so basically impossible to answer definitively, I'd probably go for Redgrave.

 

[Mutts Nuts]

This was Brendan Foster's claim today. And if not, then who is and why? (Maybe best not to just nominate your all-time favourite Albion player!)

James Hunt

 

[Mo Gosfield]

Incredibly difficult question to answer, so the best I can do is a top 20.
1) CB Fry
2) Jack Hobbs
3) Stanley Matthews
4) Bobby Charlton
5) Bobby Moore
6) Lester Piggott
7) George Best
8) Seb Coe
9) Daley Thompson
10) Nick Faldo
11) Stephen Hendry
12) Phil Taylor
13) Lennox Lewis
14) Steve Redgrave
15) Chris Hoy
16) Bradley Wiggins
17) AP McCoy
18) David Weir
19) Andy Murray
20 ) Mo Farrah

IMHO the greatest single performance by a British sportsman was on July 10 1951 when 21 year old Randolph Turpin defeated the greatest pound for pound fighter the world has ever seen ( Sugar Ray Robinson ) at Earls Court, to win the world middleweight title. The second was by David Hemery, at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, when he destroyed the world record for the 400m hurdles and opened the eyes of British athletics to different training techniques in different climates. The third, was Andy Murray ( maybe a series of performances ) in winning Wimbledon in 2013 and finally putting an end to 77 years of frustration and disappointment.

 

[KZNSeagull]

Greatest sportsman implies excelling at multiple sports. Farah, Wiggins, Redgrave etc do not therefore qualify in my eyes - great though they are in their respective fields. CB Fry, Compton etc are the ones that do and we have not had anyone like that for a long, long time.

Plus in this day and age, when someone is streaks ahead of the opposition in a certain sport, particularly in explosive and endurance sports rather than skill based sports, one has to ask how that can be. Sad, but true.

 

[Bakero]

Greatest sportsman implies excelling at multiple sports. Farah, Wiggins, Redgrave etc do not therefore qualify in my eyes - great though they are in their respective fields. CB Fry, Compton etc are the ones that do and we have not had anyone like that for a long, long time.

That's not the generally accepted meaning of greatest sportsman though. Unless all the other posters have misinterpreted it. How many sportsmen get the chance to demonstrate their prowess at multiple sports? I'm sure a lot of professionals could turn their hand to other disciplines if they had the time but it's not realistic in this day and age.

 

[KZNSeagull]

That's not the generally accepted meaning of greatest sportsman though. Unless all the other posters have misinterpreted it. How many sportsmen get the chance to demonstrate their prowess at multiple sports? I'm sure a lot of professionals could turn their hand to other disciplines if they had the time but it's not realistic in this day and age.

Quite. It is an argument that will run and run as you cannot compare. Foster should have said athlete, or middle distance athlete, not greatest ever sportsman.

 

[Hillian1]

Well he was born in Somalia and lives and trains in Oregan,so British it could be argued is questionable ?

This.

 

[Hillian1]

Sir Steve Redgrave ?

And that.

 

[Working class pride]

What a load of rubbish. The race yesterday was tactically brilliant, and that has to be a skill. There was one point where Mo, with about 400 metres to go, drew level with the leader, almost as a reminder that he was still there, and then fell back again. His finishing speed, as well, is not just about running. The man is an inspiration in all sorts of ways, and is certainly up there with a shout.

1. You mistake tactics for skill. Two different things
2. Hardly anyone belongs to an athletics club and plays athletics seriously. Athletics is what the BBC promote (like women's football) because it is all they are left with after sky have taken all the sports that anyone actually plays and are interested in . Athletics is something people do as a fun run and raising money for charity.
3. A sportsman ? It needs skill and we all know what they look like. They kick a football and be skilful at football one day, then they pick up a golf club and be naturally good at that as well and the same with a range of sports. Running, cycling and rowing are forms of transport the require endurance, training and the like. They dont require skill. That is not to say that all ball sports require skill, they dont, look at the sort of people who play rugby. That is a ball sport that doesnt need sportsmen, just a body shape.
4. He might be your inspiration (I used to like Steve Ovett) but that is a different thing.

 

[pastafarian]

footballer has to be

Bobby Moore

Yes

Legend is over used far too often with sports people,mostly by clueless crap sports journalists

the word is not used enough when talking about Bobby Moore,if someone asked me who is the greatest British sportsman ever i would counter with everytime " you mean apart from Bobby Moore"