Who is the greatest athlete of all time?

[Danno]

I don't think excelling in a sport that could easily kill you should get you bonus points. The best athlete is the best athlete, not the athlete willing to take the most risk.

Agree, except the mental fortitude necessary to do what he did is part of the equation, IMO.

As I already stated, I don't think Honnold is "the best", but I do think what he does and what it takes to do what he does is worth considering.

[The AD]

I agree Honnold is a freak who probably could have excelled in just about any sport that doesn't require pure size.

[Mofro261]

I agree Honnold is a freak who probably could have excelled in just about any sport that doesn't require pure size.

Watching him ski w/ Cody in that episode of the 50 was cringe worthy tho.

[Dantheman]

I think you could fill out accidents with Derek Hersey and on if you wanted because free climbing is like Himalayan mountaineering was not the safest of things.

Obviously, more people have died soloing than just those featured in the montage of dead soloists in Free Solo (though the list is still surprisingly short, and if you include Marc-André Leclerc it's not any longer than the list of dead prominent free soloists who died doing other things: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_s...ner_fatalities). The point is that Honnold's personality is a lot closer to Peter Croft's than Potter or Osman, and Croft is very much still alive and in his late 60's now.

Watching him ski w/ Cody in that episode of the 50 was cringe worthy tho.

Hadn't he learned to ski very recently?

[dunfree]

Obviously, more people have died soloing than just those featured in the montage of dead soloists in Free Solo (though the list is still surprisingly short, and if you include Marc-André Leclerc it's not any longer than the list of dead prominent free soloists who died doing other things: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_s...ner_fatalities). The point is that Honnold's personality is a lot closer to Peter Croft's than Potter or Osman, and Croft is very much still alive and in his late 60's now.



Hadn't he learned to ski very recently?

Peter Croft wrote an article for gripped about the value of sitting on the couch watching TV for the whole day. Which may or may not be Honnold

Im not sure how to compare mindset but many of the greats get lauded from people in very different domains

[ex-powderbroker]

i’m catching up on the steven seagull episode of the dollop and it’s pretty clear that with his background he’s in the conversation, you’d just have to ask him.

[Powder Ho]

[img]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dqs9VsEWwAEgKin.jpg[/

Love Togo. I was huge into sled dog lore and all that Jack London kind of stuff growing up. My son is just getting into it now and those tales of survival and endurance are still so damned impressive.

Togo knows he's the shit.

[XXX-er]

https://runningmagazine.ca/the-scene...eid=dde1a91a66

gretsky demolishing some other top athletes

[BmillsSkier]

I feel like I owe it to the NFL thread to at least ask that Brock Purdy be brought into the conversation.

[Supermoon]

I feel like I owe it to the NFL thread to at least ask that Brock Purdy be brought into the conversation.

I’m sorry. I think you mean TB12 v2

[BmillsSkier]

I’m sorry. I think you mean TB12 v2

You are correct, my mistake.

[Hood26]

Vonn sending it on The Streif as the first women to do so and at night to boot is a solid reason to consider her in the GOAT talk.

Fucking unbelievable. I wish FIS had let her do it in her prime against the men.

[ötzi]

Whoa.


But I mean, what kind of time did she run?

[riser4]

Tonya Harding

Would have been happy to get to "know" 1994 Tonya Harding. Not so much now. She did bear a strong resemblance to an ex, so it was a grudge thing.

[TBS]

^^^Heh, she used to live in my little town. Would sing karaoke at the wannabe biker bar here.

[californiagrown]

Larry Allen should get some love in this thread.

[The AD]

Vonn sending it on The Streif as the first women to do so and at night to boot is a solid reason to consider her in the GOAT talk.

Fucking unbelievable. I wish FIS had let her do it in her prime against the men.

On a slight tangent, I hate it when women's sports are dumbed down compared to men's. Why do women play best of three sets in pro tennis and men play best of five? Why is the women's downhill shorter than the men's? Obviously the top women can't compete with the best men, but they are certainly capable of competing on an equal footing.

[Hood26]

On a slight tangent, I hate it when women's sports are dumbed down compared to men's. Why do women play best of three sets in pro tennis and men play best of five? Why is the women's downhill shorter than the men's? Obviously the top women can't compete with the best men, but they are certainly capable of competing on an equal footing.

Absolutely agree. The roots of these are deep with the patriarchy. All kinds of shit like they “can’t compete in x because they might lose their ability to have children” or it’s “unseemly” or “unladylike”

I was curious about the time too. I didn’t see a timing gate though so they probably didn’t even measure it.

[ötzi]

Bo: https://fanbuzz.com/nfl/bo-jackson-40-time/

[Buster Highmen]

Tonya Harding (I have her mugshot; a friend used to book people into the Multonomah County jail).
Boxing, wrestling, figure skating, kneecapping, she does it all. She'd take out Bo in seconds.

ibid

[Angle Parking]

On a slight tangent, I hate it when women's sports are dumbed down compared to men's. Why do women play best of three sets in pro tennis and men play best of five? Why is the women's downhill shorter than the men's? Obviously the top women can't compete with the best men, but they are certainly capable of competing on an equal footing.

It's kind of shocking that that sh*t still exists.

I remember asking my female gym teaching why girls couldn't do the triple jump. This was back in the 80's and she told me that it was bad for the female reporductive system.

[Buster Highmen]

On a slight tangent, I hate it when women's sports are dumbed down compared to men's. Why do women play best of three sets in pro tennis and men play best of five? Why is the women's downhill shorter than the men's? Obviously the top women can't compete with the best men, but they are certainly capable of competing on an equal footing.

There was a time when women raced the #hahnenkamm. Between 1932 and the early 1960s there were 23 editions of international women’s races held at #kitzbühel - before the Austrian stop was moved to #badgastein.

Downhill and #slalom races were run with scores from both events determining the Combined title.

American #skilegend Andrea Mead was the champion in 1951. Astrid Sandvik of #norway - shown in photos 1 & 2 racing at Kitz - was the first woman to earn the title multiple times. Traudl Hecher of #austria was another repeat winner, part of a brash new generation along with Penny Pitou of the #usa - who ushered in a new breed of racing. Hecher is shown here in photo 3 riding high post-ski.

On a related note - hope everyone has watched @lindseyvonn finally run the Streif. At night! It’s a beautiful moment for this legend. ��
https://www.instagram.com/p/CnsydTTOiCb/

[Supermoon]

Yeah even luge and bobsled start lower for women which just seems ridiculous

[zion zig zag]

I don't know if it's been mentioned, but....

Bo knows this
and Bo knows that
but Bo don't know jack
cause Bo can't rap.

[kmkmkmk]

I think the greatest single athletic performance was Eric Heiden at the 1980 Olympics. He won five gold medals, set 4 Olympic records and one world record. At distances from 500 meters to 10,00 meters, or times of 38 seconds to 14 minutes.