G.O.A.T.s in miscellaneous sports

[steve B]

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

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by steve B

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.

[Griffins]

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.

[NiceDocter]

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

[Michael B]

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.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

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.

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.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by steve B

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.

...

[darwinbulldog]

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

[Peter_Spaeth]

Wut no bowling?

[Peter_Spaeth]

A few from Glenn's list.

[darwinbulldog]

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.