Great idea for a thread.

I thought that been a massive sports fan, that I would struggle to narrow my list down to 5, and I did. So after giving it a bit of thought over the last couple of hours, here goes.

Michael Jordan = Just unbelieveable to watch and an outstanding athelete.

Lance Armstrong = Although there is a constant drugs cloud hanging over cycling generally and many question wheather Lance is/was clean. I cannot help but feel nothing but admeration for what he has achieved. Even though it was a decent Tour de France this year, it wasn't nearly as exciting for me not having Lance in contention.

Phil Taylor = Simply dominating for so long.

Ayerton Senna = A total magician who would do anything, and often did, to win.

Wayne Gretzky = See Michael Jordan.

I decided on these 5, not just because they were so good at what they did, but because their individual brilliance and skill no doubt attracted many new fans to their sports.

Giacomo Agostini - the greatest motorcyclist who has ever lived.
Diego Maradona - a bloody genius
Phil Taylor - the greatest darts player there ever will be
Wayne Gretzky - a one in a lifetime player on the ice
Ayrton Senna - another genius.

Diego Maradona
Tiger Woods
Steve Redgrave
John McEnroe
Steve Davis

1. Muhammed Ali
2. Sir Gordon Richards
3. Sir Don Bradman
4. Pele
5. Eddy Merckx

1. Muhammed Ali
2. Ian Botham
3. Elleray Hanley - Its was watching his Wigan side that got me into RL in the first place
4. Gareth Edwards - just watch his try for the barbarians against New Zealand on a well known video sharing site to see why
5. Roger Osbourne - Purely for scoring the winning Goal in the '78 FA cup final

With a 48th Test century under his belt, Sachin Tendulkar must be up there

1. Muhammad Ali, Great fighter, great showman.

2. Wayne "The Great One" Gretzky, who was so good the NHL retired his number 99 shirt number from the entire league.

3. Eddy "The Cannibal" Merckx, 11 grand tour victories, 19 one day classics. Won all 3 jerseys in the same race at the Tour de France and Giro D'Italia.

4. Phil "The Power" Taylor, won everything there is to win in Darts at least 10 times over, taken the standard and professionalism of the sport to new levels.

5. Sir Donald Bradman, test match batting average of very nearly 100.

Phil Taylor dominates His sport
Usain Bolt dominates His sport
Wayne Gretski Dominated His sport
Steve Redgrave Dominated His sport
Mark Spitz Dominated his sport.

There are a few more but I will stick with these 5.

One person that no one mentions is Haile Gabrasalassie (sp). To me, he has got to be one of the top five. He was/is the king of Ethiopia. Growing up, if you didn't know distance running, you'd have heared of him. He dominated the the track for so many years and then goes on and smashes world records at Marathons. On top of that, no room for sentiment, but all the things he has done for charity etc. But as a sportsman, I remember as a little kid all the tussles he had with the Kenyans, and all the world record attempts he did (it seemed like one every few weeks at one point)

I'm going to do this from around 1990 onwards. In no particular order:

Freddie Flintoff- Purely for the way he lifted the country with those mammoth displays in the 2005 ashes. How good could he have been if injuries hadn't ruined his career.

Shane Warne - Superb bowler and a hell of a character! His performances in 2005 added to what is the greatest test series I have ever seen.

Roy Keane - A players player. Led the most succesful team of the 90 and noughties to success with battling displays. His performance against Juve in 1999 was all the more incredible that he knew he wouldn't take part in the final.

Tom Brady - Top class NFL performer for the last 10 years. Will walk into the hall of fame with ease having broke numerous records.

Cristiano Ronaldo - Love him or hate him he is, in my opinion, the best footballer we have seen on these shores. Will go on to become one of the greatest of all time.

Honourable mentions to Murali, Beckham, Maradona, Messi and Tyson. O'Sullivan and Taylor would be up there but if you can play it it in a pub it doesn't really feel like a sport to me.

Will have missed out a ton of people and will probably change all of these at a later date!

Eric Cantona
Phil Taylor
Sir Chris Hoy
Sir Steve Redgrave
Sachin Tendulkar

Usain Bolt
Muhammad Ali
Aryton Senna
Pele
Lance Armstrong
All of the above dominated/dominates in Bolt's case, their sport throughout their career.

Lance Armstrong - not a cycling fan but read his book in 2 days when I had a broken leg. Nothing but admiration for him. (the fact he used to date Sheryl crow gives me more admiration)

Ricky Hatton - Not going to go down as the best ever but certainly an exciting boxer to watch. Real bloke out of the ring too.

Ayrton Senna - completely ruthless will to win and be the best.

Bryan Robson - I know he had booze problems off the field but a great leader and someone who would play through the pain barrier. (and I'm a City fan)

Mike Gregory - great player, great captain, loyal bloke and somebody who carried himself with great dignity right to the end.

1. Ali - The Greatest
2. Maradona - Forget the misdemeanours, hasn't been a player to touch him
3. Woods - Took golf to a different plateau
4. Lance - A man, a pushbike and them fooking mountains
5 Hagler - Complete fighter, he beat Sugar Ray, even though he didn't

The five men I look at who simply have extra levels than their competitors.

1 - Phil Taylor
2 - Lance Armstrong
3 - Roger Federer
4 - Tiger Woods
5 - Usain Bolt

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