G.O.A.T.s in miscellaneous sports
 

Here are a few. some of these are easy some very debatable.
Wrestling (the real kind): Karelin.
Swimming: Phelps.
Women's swimming: Ledecky.
Track and Field: Lewis.
Women's Track and Field: Joyner-Kersee.
Skiing: Bode Miller.
Women's Skiing: Vonn.

Figure Skating: Scott Hamilton
Women's Figure Skating: Yamaguchi
F1: Lewis Hamlton
Nascar: Petty

Peter,

You will need to look for new cards in figure skating. Hamilton and Yamaguchi cannot hold an ice cube to some of the greatest figure skaters of all time:

Males

All time

Gillis Graström of Sweden - 3 gold and one silver in the Olympics, 3 golds World Championships (1920-1932). He is technically the first person to win a gold medal in the Winter and Summer Olympics. Figure skating was held during the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp. The first Winter Olympics were 4 years later in Chamonix, France.

Modern

Yevgeny Plyushchenko - 2 golds and 2 silvers in the Olympics. One of the golds was Team Mixed skating in 2014. At the World Championships - 3 gold 1 silver, one bronze.

Females

Sonja Henie - 3 Olympic gold World Championships - 10 golds 1 silver

Irina Rodnina (pairs skater) - 3 Olympic gold World Championships - 10 gold
She won her first Olympic gold and 4 World golds with Aleksey Ulanov. He became romantically involved with another skater. Rodnina switched partners to Aleksandr Zaytsev, whom she married in 1975. Together they never lost a competition - 2 Olympic golds, 6 World Championships and 7 European Championships.

Grafström is in the Zeenut UV light set and Idrottsbladets Bildgalleri (Swedish set sort of like the Reemstma set). Also on some postage stamps.

Henie is in the 'Greatest Olympians" set, Sportscaster, SI for Kids, 3M Innovators, Reemstma (aka Sammelwerk, aka Olympia) and others.

Plyushchenko (Plushenko) is in the 2020 Euroset year in sport set card #16.

Rodnina is in Sportscaster, Brooke Bond, Soviet World of Sport, Zeenut UV light. I believe she is on one of the Soviet Heroes of Sport postcards issued after the Olympics. She is also on a few postage stamps.

For the greatest female Olympian there are a number of cards of Larisa Latynina - Brooke Bond among others. In tennis there are a number of Margaret Court cards. More grand slam singles titles and total titles than Serena Williams.

Latynina and Court rookie cards.

Sonja Henie has a lot of contemporary cards out there that can be had for a song.

Just like the bigger sports, I like to separate the modern greats from the earlier or pioneer greats and break them up into distinct era's, simply because it's unfair to me to compare athletes from different era's.

2 of my favorites in the tennis world are Helen Wills Moody and Bill Tilden. Both were absolutely dominant for a decent length of time.

Compared to the modern great tennis players, and considering they were the benchmarks of their era, their cards/photos/memorabilia can be had pretty inexpensively.

Eddy Merckx would fit a collection like that, Sportscaster card, plus some European issues.

Most of the greats before him have the occasional card.

Sadly, I don't think the greatest female cyclists have any cards, let alone ones done during their careers.

Art Arfons or Craig Breedlove - both have a few cards.
Malcolm Campbell or Henry Seagrave- Same, but fewer I think.

Steve McKinney(Speed Skiing) - Not sure there are any cards at all. There may be a handful for the entire sport, but I haven't checked all that much.


The lack of cards for some sports makes me wonder if the might not be a market for a set or sets of cards from those sports.

Here is Eddy's first. 1966 Panini.

Just borrowed this photo to save time, but I do have a handful of these.

The greatest female bowler of all time is fairly obscure. However, there's some good memories of Marion for me. She was my great aunt Willis Ryskamp's partner and they held the WIBC doubles title for a time in the 50's.

It was amazing how all those ladies kept in touch for so many years from those early teams.

https://www.tcdb.com/Images/Cards/Mi...15110912Fr.jpg

This is the GOAT of Strongman. I got to see him last year at the Shaw Classic. This year I spent the cash to get floor level seat 1 Row 1 hoping he will be there again. A meet and greet with the strongmen came with the tickets.

Just heard a great stat today. The longest winning streaks in Strongman history. Second place(tie) was Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson(Thor) with 9 wins in a row. The GOAT Big Z had a 17 win streak then came in second and then won 9 more in a row. So he won 26 out of 27 events against the best in the world during one stretch of his career.

Numbers 1 and 2 in NASCAR, men's division. Number 1 in the woman's division.

Surfing GOAT? Maybe. Surfing god? Definitely.

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...Kahanamoku.jpg
https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...aphed%20PC.JPG
https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...5%20HI%201.jpg

...

Adam, as per usual you tossed in an amazing item.

Awesome -

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...aphed%20PC.JPG

I picked up this one (with Karl Schafer, also a great champion in the day).

I almost think you'd have to split the figure skating into pre and post compulsory figures.

I believe it wasn't until 1990 they were eliminated from competition, so even skaters you would think of as fairly modern like Witt had to do them.

Kelly Slater is definitely the competitive Surfing GOAT, but I'd submit Tommy Curren is probably the best of all time- he just walked away from competitive surfing while at the top of it

Tony Hawk is the GOAT of skateboarding, but for pure influence I'd say it's actually Jay Adams.

GOATS or NO GOATS
 

I would say most sports have no absolute GOAT although theres a few. Most times its my old GOAT against your new GOAT and its a never ending discussion. But that is the point of most sports arguments as they become more and more heated..... DONT LET THEM GET YOUR GOAT lol

I will put forth two athletes in fencing.

Nedo Nadi - An Italian considered one of the most versatile fencers of all time. Competed in all 3 disciplines (foil, épée and sabre), which is uncommon. Entered 5 events and won 5 gold medals at the 1920 Olympics. One of the rare Olympians accomplish that fete. Some of the others: Paavo Nurmi in 1924 with 5, Mark Spitz in 1972 with 7 and Michael Phelps in 2008 with 8.

He is in the 1967/68 Panini Campioni dello Sport, Zeenut UV light card and in the Panini 2016 Rio Olympics Team Italy set. He is also on a matchbox cover.

My favorite all time fencer who is never brought up in conversation of great Olympians is Hungarian Aladár Gerevich. He won a gold medal in team sabre in 6 consecutive Olympiads 1932-1960. The 1940 and 1944 games were cancelled due to WWII. He also won 4 individual medals (gold, silver, 2 bronze). At the World Championships he won 3 individual and 9 team championships. Prior to the 1960 Olympics he was told he was too old, at 50 years, to compete in the games. He proceeded to defeat every single member of the national team securing a spot on the team.

He is on a Sportscaster card and a Zeenut UV light card.

Had to look that up, it was indeed 1990.

I remember seeing a bit on one of the Olympic broadcasts. Not the most exciting thing to watch, but seeing someone do three nearly perfect circles something like 8 feet across with the judges measuring wobbles with a pretty fine ruler was impressive.

Witt was one of my favorites.

...

Glad to find this thread. I've been putting together my own checklist of greatest ever by sport and have a pretty extensive list at this point. I've tried to include all the popular sports, even if they aren't popular in the U.S. I name just one if I think the choice is clear and everyone I consider a plausible candidate in cases where it just depends on what stats you want to emphasize.

Baseball: Ruth
Basketball (men's): Chamberlain/Abdul-Jabbar/Jordan/James
Basketball (women's): Catchings/Taurasi
American Football: Brady
Ice Hockey: Orr/Gretzky/Lemieux
Soccer (men's): Messi
Soccer (women's): Hamm/Marta
Boxing (men's): Robinson/Louis/Marciano/Ali/Tyson/Mayweather
Boxing (women's): Taylor
Tennis (men's): Emerson/Djokovic
Tennis (women's): Court/Navratilova/Graf/Williams
Golf (men's): Nicklaus/Woods
Golf (women's): Didrikson/Sorenstam
Softball: Fernandez/Richardson
Volleyball (men's): Kiraly
Volleyball (women's): Walsh
Cricket: Bradman/Tendulkar
Rugby: McCaw
Cycling: Merckx
Swimming (men's): Phelps
Swimming (women's): Ledecky
Gymnastics (women's): Latynina/Biles
Gymnastics (men's): Andrianov/Uchimura
Sprinting (men's): Bolt
Sprinting (women's): Fraser-Price
Middle distance (men's): Nurmi/Gebrselassie/Bekele/Farah
Middle distance (women's): Dibaba
Marathon (men's): Kipchoge
Marathon (women's): Radcliffe
Athletics, general (men's): Thorpe/Owens/Morris/Lewis/Mayer
Athletics, general (women's): Didrikson/Joyner-Kersee
Figure skating (women's): Henie
Figure skating (men's): Hanyu
Alpine skiing (men's): Stenmark
Alpine skiing (women's): Shiffrin
Nordic skiing (men's): Daehlie
Nordic skiing (women's): Bjorgen
Diving (men's): Louganis
Diving (women's): Minxia
Table tennis (men's): Long
Table tennis (women's): Yue
MMA (men's): Johnson/St. Pierre
MMA (women's): Nunes
Field hockey (men's): Chand
Field hockey (women's): Aymar
Wrestling: Karelin
Badminton (men's): Dan/Wei
Badminton (women's): Ling/Ning
Judo (men's): Nomura/Riner
Judo (women's): Tani
Weightlifting (men's): Süleymanoğlu/Alekseyev
Weightlifting (women's): Lian/Slivenko
Lacrosse (men's): Gait/Rabil/Powell
Lacrosse (women's): Cummings
Squash (men's): Khan
Squash (women's): McKay
Stock car racing: Petty
F1 racing: Hamilton
Skateboarding (men's): Hawk
Skateboarding (women's): Bufoni
Snowboarding (men's): White
Snowboarding (women's): Jacobellis
Surfing (men's): Slater
Surfing (women's): Beachley/Gilmore
Taekwondo (men's): Lopez
Taekwondo (women's): Kyung-Seon
Water polo (men's): Gyarmati
Water polo (women's): Steffens
Speed skating, short track (men's): Hyun-Soo
Speed skating, short track (women's): Fontana/Meng
Speed skating, long track (men's): Kramer
Speed skating, long track (women's): Karlijn Wuust
Sumo: Hakuho
Pool (men's): Reyes
Pool (women's): Balukas/Fisher
Horse racing, jockey: Shoemaker
Horse racing, horse: Man o' War/Secretariat

Wut no bowling?:D

A few from Glenn's list.

...

Haha, no. One of my grandfather's cousins was a bowling pro, so he'd probably be miffed at the oversight, but I haven't gotten to that one yet. I think I have rookie cards for about half of the people on my list, but I've never taken a picture of the group.

I'd love to see pics, as you might have guessed I have similar interests.

I'd be happy to post some pictures, but it probably won't be before next week.

Here's a bunch of them.

And more

Nice selection. What is the Roy Emerson?

Yeah, very little info on the internet about those. Bajonett Serien Samlarbild Sportens Stora translates from the Swedish as Bayonet Series Trading Cards [of] Sports Greats.

There was a Cassius Clay from the same set that sold on eBay a few months ago. As far as I can tell, they were produced as some sort of cross-promotion with a series of Swedish comic books on military history. Why sports cards with military history? I guess it's just the same target demographic (Swedish boys of the 1960s; I like to think Bjorn Borg once collected them). The comic book series seems to have run from 1967-1973, but the few times I have seen the sports cards come up for sale they were always listed as 1965 Bajonett Serien. If that is correct then I guess it is his rookie card; if it's actually from 1967 or later, as seems likely, then I believe he has at least one earlier card (from 1966).

Do you have any duplicates you might be open to trading or selling? I already have, in addition to the ones I posted, Greg Louganis, Willie Shoemaker, Jack Nicklaus, Stephanie Gilmore, and Leticia Bufoni, but I'd be interested in anyone else from my checklist above.

Emerson is in 1966 Ruiz Romero, along with Ashe. I have never seen one for sale, unlike Ashe which I own. Your Emerson is great.

My only dupe in this category is my 1985 Poulain Carl Lewis. I saw somewhere he may have a 1984 issue though if so I have never seen one.

Boxing P4P GOAT is Sugar Ray Robinson and it isn't really close. Mayweather is not even part of the conversation. He fought far too few times and far too few quality opponents at the peak of their games. Harry Greb (298 fights; the #2 pound-for-pound fighter of all-time by the International Boxing Research Organization) or 'Homicide Hank' Henry Armstrong (held the featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight titles at the same time when there were eight divisions) would be far better choices for the conversation.

He turned professional in 1940 (retired in 1965) at the age of 19 and by 1951 had a professional record of 129–1–2 with 85 knockouts. From 1943 to 1951 Robinson went on a 91-fight unbeaten streak. Historian Bert Sugar ranked Robinson as the greatest fighter of all time and in 2002, Robinson was also ranked number one on The Ring magazine's list of "80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years". As of May 2023, BoxRec (the official record keeper of the Association of Boxing Commissions) ranks Robinson as the greatest boxer, pound-for-pound, of all time. He was named the best boxer of all time, pound for pound, by the International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO) in both of its all-time ratings, in 2006 and 2019. He would be better known to the non-hardcore boxing historians if there was more surviving footage of him in action.

The pride and joy of my Robinson boxing materials:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...948%20Leaf.jpg

As for heavyweights, toss a coin between Ali and Louis

1935 Detroit Free Press (M129) issued July 21, 1935

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...ebsize/024.jpg

1965 signed training camp card

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...0Card%201.jpeg

Sugar Ray also is credited with being the first fighter to have an entourage. Amazing career fought until he was ancient all the way through the mid 1960s. One of the more interesting stories about him was that he once wanted to opt out of a fight because he had a premonition he would kill his opponent. And indeed after being convinced to go ahead, just that happened. He then donated his next four purses to the man's mother to help her buy a house.

BTW, that one loss in his prime Adam mentions was to none other than Jake LaMotta who he later defeated several times..

Some footage here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uVXFb8BZoQ

Speaking of the Bronx Bull, H815 Adam Hats premium, only known example:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...%20LaMotta.jpg

Not rookie cards.

Bowling: I'll go with Earl Anthony if only because this card is IMO so cool and ahead of its time.

Obviously his records have all been crushed, but you could argue Zatopek is among the greatest distance runners ever. This is to my knowledge his first card, the only one I have ever seen.

Super Swede

Darwin Bulldog had him listed in one of his posts, but no cards have been posted. Probably the greatest (field) hockey player of all time Dhyan Chand. These are two 1936 Pet Cremer cards.

Attachment 579059

Attachment 579060

You may already know, but Dhyan Chand is the little guy 2nd from the left in the back row of the team card. The guy on the other card I believe is his brother.

New addition.

Julie Krone
 

Perhaps not the greatest single jockey of all time but certainly the GOAT female jockey.

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/1OIAA...Sq/s-l1600.jpg

Picked this Larissa Latynina up and looks to pre-date the rookie cards featured in this thread.
1964 Nestle Los Juegos Olimpicos Larissa Latynina La sovietca gana final #160

Cycling (Women) - Marianne Vos

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marianne_Vos

On the NASCAR/Stock Car front, an argument can be made for Dale "The Intimidator" Earnhardt as the GOAT. Richard "The King" Petty raced in 1,184 Cup series races run over 35 years, with 200 wins and seven championships. Earnhardt had 676 races run over 27 years with 100 wins and 7 championships as well. His career was cut short by a fatal accident at Daytona. Anyhow, both were on postcards years before their 'rookie' cards. Here are Petty's first card from 1962 (his third season; with his father Lee) and Earnhardt's 1979 team issued postcard from his rookie season:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...62%20Petty.jpg
https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...nhardt%201.jpg

Here are a 1969 PC of Petty and a signed 1972 PC:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...9%20Petty.jpeg
https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...%20signed.jpeg

Not the GOAT perhaps, but a key figure in track and field history. 1952 Swedish card of Roger Bannister, earliest I have seen.