Favourite athlete

[Woody]

Daley Thompson - I always loved watching the decathlon at the olympics a true test of the all round athlete over 2 days of competition.

 

[Flutterby]

Not to get overly technical, but I've never considered people who don't do athletics athletes

 

[Coxy]

I've never considered team sportspeople athletes. Don't know why, just don't.

What would you call them then ???

Um, sportspeople.

And Flutterby, you're right. People who aren't involved in athletics technically aren't athletes.

But I tend to extend it to any individual Olympic event as being an athlete. So when the question was raised, I immediately thought Olympians.

So, since it's really your favourite non-league Sportsperson...I'll change my selection. Roger Federer (yeah, tennis is an Olympic sport too, but I don't count it as one :P). Absolutely sensational sportsperson, doesn't rely on big noting, publicity, coaching, doesn't have a massive entourage who make as many headlines as him, plays with emotion, but controls it, has a sense of tradition of his sport, plays in good spirit.

I just admire everything about him.

 

[Major JW Hochstetter]

I'd have to say Hicham El Guerrouj. He stayed at the top for almost a decade, breaking any sort of record in his path, and made very talented opponents look completely out of their depth. It took right up to the end of his career to finally grab an Olympic Gold, and it looked like he might have missed out for the 3rd time straight, but the final 50m he ran in the 1500 in Athens to beat Bernard Lagat was nothing short of inspirational.

He was a true gentleman in victory and rare defeat, and despite his unmatched success he was always the type of bloke to hang around at the finish line and be the first to shake the hand of last place. A very honest, humble and friendly competitor who enjoyed great respect from his peers. He is a great ambassador for all sports people.

 

[Bucking Beads]

ok my favorite Olympian is........... Keiran Perkins

 

[Kan Huang]

You wouldn't have been able to say that about him a few years back beads! [icon_lol1.

.

I agree but it just hows what should happen when a boy grows into a man.. Take note HODGO!!

Aye aye! [icon_lol1.

Definitely stepped up to the plate in the last two seasons and has performed exceptionally. I think he may be the one who will kick a 100-goal season instead of Buddy Franklin if consistency is any indication.

 

[Coxy]

Robbie Mustoe: we need a ruling. Is it sportsman, or Olympian? :P I think you implied sportsman by saying "not league"...so...carry on.

 

[Coxy]

Oh, and in the vein (sic, c/- Clintos) of mick!: my favourite athlete is myself.

Why?
Born of little athletic ability, talent or physique. In fact, was obese. Worked hard to lose the fat and gain some semblance of athleticism in my late 20s. Worked hard for my coach, learnt how to do the basics well. Won a State Oztag title, then got picked to play for Queensland.

It's why I admire the nuffies that Stu despises. I am one! And I done good! :P

 

[Flutterby]

Modern Day Athlete - my fave would have to be Craig Mottram. Now he works bloody hard (I've watched him train many times) and a white man succeeding in distance running against the Africans these days is bloody tough. But he has the respect and admiration of all the Africans who dominate distance running and is another one I've had the pleasure of meeting once and I have never ever heard a bad word said about him. Conducts himself in the best manner always and has a lot of time for people. A real nice guy of sport. I remember at the Comm Games when he was run out of a medal and he was really really disappointed so just walked past the media off the track - he got to the change rooms and thought "hey that wasn't right - if I'd had a better result I'd definitely be talking to all the media", so he came back up and talked to the reporters for ages even though he was totally gutted.

 

[Flutterby]

But Coxy you play a team sport, so you can't be an athlete :P

 

[Flutterby]

And whilst I admire MOST of his achievements in the pool, I simply cannot stand Kieran Perkins. I have had several dealings with him through work, none have been positive experiences and I cannot bring myself to speak or think well of him as a person.

That's one of the problems working in sport - when you get to meet people you admire via their on-field achievements you are often let down by how they are as people and it tarnishes your view of them forevermore

 

[Coxy]

Yep, feel the same way about Justin Hodges.

 

[robbie mustoe]

Robbie Mustoe: we need a ruling. Is it sportsman, or Olympian? :P I think you implied sportsman by saying "not league"...so...carry on.

Can be from any sport, with the exception of rugby league. Olympians are fine, as are basketballers, nfl players, etc.

 

[Coxy]

Robbie Mustoe: we need a ruling. Is it sportsman, or Olympian? :P I think you implied sportsman by saying "not league"...so...carry on.

Can be from any sport, with the exception of rugby league. Olympians are fine, as are basketballers, nfl players, etc.

Therefore Flutterby, I could nominate myself! icon_thumbs_u

 

[Flutterby]

I didn't say you couldn't nominate yourself, but you specifically used the word 'athlete' when nominating yourself

 

[Coxy]

Because that's the subject of the thread, and Robbie has since clarified his definition of athlete to mean any sportsperson outside Rugby League!

I WIN!

 

[robbie mustoe]

Ok, pretty bored at work, not much to do so I am going to do my fave. As I said in the topic post mine tends to change a bit but my favourite as of now is Roy Jones Jr.

Some of Roy's most notable achievements include:

- first middleweight champion in 106 years to win a heavyweight title
- voted the outstanding fighter of the 1990s by the Boxing Writers Association
- regarded as pound for pound the number 1 fighter in the sport for a long period of time during the 90s and into the start of the current decade
- won a silver medal at the 1998 Seoul Olympics where he was robbed of the gold medal by what was recently ranked as one of the most controversial decisions in Olympic history
- won 6 world championships across 4 weight classes
- defeated several world champions from a number of weight classes, stopping several opponents that had not been stopped until that point in their career
- became the first fighter in compubox histroy to fight an entire round and have the opponent fail to land a punch (round 4 against former world champion vinny pazienza)

As an interesting side point Roy was also the first professional athlete to compete in two paid sports on the same day, playing in a minor league professional basketball match on the same day that he defended his IBF super middleweight title against Canadian Eric Lucas with an 11th round stoppage.

I have watched every one of Roy's professional fights and he is an amazing athlete. No doubt he could have been great at absolutely any sport he tried. He made former world champions and even guys regarded as one of the best pound for pound look very ordinary. For those who are unfamiliar with Roy and want to witness the work of a phenomenal athlete, the link below provides a decent snapshot of his amazing career:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDWnMXzg ... re=related

 

[Flutterby]

Because that's the subject of the thread, and Robbie has since clarified his definition of athlete to mean any sportsperson outside Rugby League!

I WIN!

Yes but you yourself said that you don't consider team sports people to be athlete, so I find it interesting you still referred to yourself as an athlete. AND you posted it before Robbie clarified his definition so that argument is null and void.

GAME, SET and MATCH