GQ's 50 Greatest Living Athletes

[Deleted member 512391]

@Martin J
A young me saw him live in 97. Best javelin thrower to ever grace the discipline, such fantastic technique!

Wow, that must had been a great experience! I had been "following" his career since I was a kid (late 80s) when he was a dominant force, and he had that aura of a champion around him (similar to Bubka). The fact that he's still a world record holder speaks for itself, a true legend.

 

[Bobby Jr]

Two major reasons IMO

1. It's inexpensive to play (not like hockey or football where you need protective gear for example)
2. The big one is just the population of the world and where it's situated. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world because the continents with the greater population (in comparison to NA) decided they liked soccer

Yet you missed the biggest reason of all: it's easy. Easy for a 3 year old kid to kick a ball about, understand what kicking back forth is in some form a bit and ton of fun doing it with virtually anyone (inside or out). Easy for 5 year olds to be organised into some sort of game and have simplified version of the rules explained. Easy for 7 year old kids to understand the idea of the sort of basic team-work needed.

American football and ice hockey are irrelevant sports to kids themselves until much older than soccer - regardless of how many parents dress their kids in ice hockey gear and play around when the location or season suits. You can't walk outside and kick a hockey puck against the wall or practice your football throws/tackles by yourself.

That is why soccer is, by far, the most popular sport globally.

 

[Chanwan]

Wow, that must had been a great experience! I had been "following" his career since I was a kid (late 80s) when he was a dominant force, and he had that aura of a champion around him (similar to Bubka). The fact that he's still a world record holder speaks for itself, a true legend.

I was a kid in the 90's. Lewis, Bubka, Gebrselassie and Zelezny were my track and field heroes. Got to see the latter two at the same event, Haile broke the WR in 10.000 meter and I got Jan's autograf. One happy camper indeed

 

[Deleted member 512391]

Yet you missed the biggest reason of all: it's easy. Easy for a 3 year old kid to kick a ball about, understand what kicking back forth is in some form a bit and ton of fun doing it with virtually anyone (inside or out). Easy for 5 year olds to be organised into some sort of game and have simplified version of the rules explained. Easy for 7 year old kids to understand the idea of the sort of basic team-work needed.

American football and ice hockey are irrelevant sports to kids themselves until much older than soccer - regardless of how many parents dress their kids in ice hockey gear and play around when the location or season suits. You can't walk outside and kick a hockey puck against the wall or practice your football throws/tackles by yourself.

That is why soccer is, by far, the most popular sport globally.

I've never thought of the reasons, but this is, by far, the best explanation of why soccer is so popular. It is extremely easy and (at least here, in Serbia) I can't remember if there was a (male) kid who didn't play soccer at some point of his early life (not as a pro, but with friends outside the house/apartment). We used to play football every day after school, either on a real football field or on some improvised turf. Even if we didn't have a ball, we would use something round or even a smashed can, it really didn't matter. The rules were simple and is by far the easiest sport even for a very young kid.

 

[Backspin1183]

Why not? Hockey is a sport too. It's not my fault you've never heard of Sidney Crosby. I agree that those guys you mentioned should be on the list, but at the same time I doubt Tendulkar in particular is popular in the US and Canada and I've only heard of him because I saw his name mentioned in YouTube comments on a Federer video once. And I wouldn't even know what sport he played if I wasn't told.

For all the flack the Europeans on this site (of which there are a lot) give people from Canada and the U.S. for not giving guys like Zidane or Maradona proper credit because soccer is the most popular sport in the world (I have no idea why as it is supremely boring), they then turn around and tell us they don't even know who Sidney Crosby is. Or Derek Jeter, or Peyton Manning, or Mike Trout and that's only a few examples. I bet most Europeans don't know who Barry Bonds is, or the other guys I mentioned like Dominik Hasek or Patrick Roy. Or an active guy like Connor McDavid or Henrik Lundqvist. Some of those guys are even European if you can't already tell by the name.

I'm not confessing to know any soccer players here. But I do hate it when Europeans on this site hide behind the "soccer is the most popular sport in the world" line. Even if that is true, they have to realize that hockey is the most popular sport in Canada, not soccer. And in the U.S. it's American Football, not soccer. Soccer might not even come 2nd. It might be baseball or basketball. I'd say both of those are above soccer in popularity in the U.S.

I disagree with soccer being the most popular sport in the world too. In New Zealand it's rugby by far. We don't even know what soccer means. I think football is the most popular sport in the world. Not soccer.

 

[Backspin1183]

Garbage list, pro-American sports and pro-American athletes...
Where is Tendulkar, Maradona, Stenmark, Tomba, Graf, Sampras, Djokovic, Matti Nykanen, Daley Thompson, Robby Naish, Ben Ainsley...

They missed out on Maradona? Really??
Maradona is bigger than Nadal or even Federer in sports imho.

 

[Steve0904]

Steve, you know I'm a fan of yours, but I simply disagree here. A lot.

It ain't a NA vs. Europe question. It's a question, where football (or soccer if you prefer) is the most popular sport in every single continent but NA.
Because of this, football players should get extra points in such a list (if it weren't an American list, that is).
As for baseball, hockey, NFL-style football. Sure - but what about croos country skiing, alpine skiing, handball, badminton, table tennis, Australian football etc., etc., etc., etc.
Fact of the matter is that many of these NA sports are taken seriously by a select no. of countries. Now because one of those countries, for the big NA sports, happens to be the richest country in the world with the biggest cultural industry and ability to spread globally, that levels the playing field a bit.
But I still don't see why you would pick baseball and hockey players over say badminton and handball players if we're looking at how global the sports are.

Edit: Basically this, which I see you agree with ;-)

In a perfect world you would see some people from those sports. Unfortunately with the world extremely far from perfect you see the list consists of superstars almost specifically from the 3 or 4 biggest NA sports leagues. It's a "North American" popularity contest so to speak.

Perhaps soccer players should get "extra" points here, but clearly the article is targeted towards an audience, most of which couldn't name 5 soccer players to put on this list. And I barely know 5. 3 are on the list, then there's Maradona who was "missed", and Zidane (who was mentioned earlier) is best known for headbutting a guy in a WC Final. The now retired Ronaldo that used to play for Brazil, and David Beckham is basically the extent of my soccer knowledge. I know a few more, but it's not like I'd ever brag about my knowledge of soccer.

I know soccer is super popular, but again, Crosby was a glaring omission for me because the list was clearly made by an American who in all likelihood knows who Crosby is. I didn't (and still don't) care how relatively unpopular hockey is worldwide in comparison to soccer. And he should be on a North American centric list of the 50 greatest living athletes IMO. Hence my original post.

 

[Dedans Penthouse]

Typical American-made list really, nobody cares about utter bollocks like Baseball or Ice Hockey.

When will these idiots realise the world doesn't revolve around America.

Only in America can you get clowns

like Tony Hawk, who doesn't even play a proper sport, get in a list of top 50 athletes alive but legends like Tendulkar and Maradona miss out

​

Brown was a great player and argu.......

fyvm​

 

[metsman]

Ice hockey is a very, very minority sport in the big wide world, though.

I've heard of Wayne Gretzky only because of internet sporting debates, and I have no idea who the other ice hockey player on the list is.

The backlash is because of the fact that sports like baseball, ice hockey, and American Football are below irrelevant outside of the insularity of North America. Yet people from this region appear to be oblivious to this reality.

It's not a ''USA (a country) v Europe (a diverse continent with over 50 different countries) issue''.

Can't expect much more from a guy with username TimHenmanATG

 

[metsman]

Typical American-made list really, nobody cares about utter bollocks like Baseball or Ice Hockey. When will these idiots realise the world doesn't revolve around America. Only in America can you get clowns like Tony Hawk, who doesn't even play a proper sport, get in a list of top 50 athletes alive but legends like Tendulkar and Maradona miss out

Ice Hockey isn't really an American sport, read a book.

Obviously the list sucks, but the amount of you people that are ignorant about major sports like baseball and ice hockey is pretty large. I don't give a rat's ass about soccer or cricket but obviously I am not going to deny that pele, messi, maradona are some of the greatest athletes ever and I'm not going to say that no one cares about it just because I didn't grow up following it.

 

[metsman]

Yet you missed the biggest reason of all: it's easy. Easy for a 3 year old kid to kick a ball about, understand what kicking back forth is in some form a bit and ton of fun doing it with virtually anyone (inside or out). Easy for 5 year olds to be organised into some sort of game and have simplified version of the rules explained. Easy for 7 year old kids to understand the idea of the sort of basic team-work needed.

American football and ice hockey are irrelevant sports to kids themselves until much older than soccer - regardless of how many parents dress their kids in ice hockey gear and play around when the location or season suits. You can't walk outside and kick a hockey puck against the wall or practice your football throws/tackles by yourself.

That is why soccer is, by far, the most popular sport globally.

Kicking the puck into the goal is not allowed and kinda hurts so I don't know why anyone would want to kick one against a wall. That's like me asking why young soccer players don't go to a wall and hit the soccer ball with a tennis racket like tennis players do to practice. Just ignorant. Anyways, it's very easy to get a small net and a stick and practice your shot though.

Soccer is obviously much less expensive to play which is why it's more popular, no one will deny that.

 

[Bobby Jr]

Kicking the puck into the goal is not allowed and kinda hurts so I don't know why anyone would want to kick one against a wall. That's like me asking why young soccer players don't go to a wall and hit the soccer ball with a tennis racket like tennis players do to practice. Just ignorant. Anyways, it's very easy to get a small net and a stick and practice your shot though.

Soccer is obviously much less expensive to play which is why it's more popular, no one will deny that.

Jebus... I said that because I was contrasting it with football (soccer). Rain or shine, and virtually anywhere on earth you see kids booting a ball against a wall or in their driveway. There just is no comparison with most other sports in terms of convenience and enjoyment than can be easily had with any number of people and in any location.

 

[Steve0904]

Kicking the puck into the goal is not allowed and kinda hurts so I don't know why anyone would want to kick one against a wall. That's like me asking why young soccer players don't go to a wall and hit the soccer ball with a tennis racket like tennis players do to practice. Just ignorant. Anyways, it's very easy to get a small net and a stick and practice your shot though.

Soccer is obviously much less expensive to play which is why it's more popular, no one will deny that.

I think both yours and Bobby's points are good though. My intuition is that soccer probably appeals more to younger kids before ice hockey (and certainly American football) does. You can start with some kind of ball to practice your shot, but I've seen many kids that can't lift the puck until they're 9 or 10, but they can kick a soccer ball long before that. Plus you need to learn how to skate, whereas running is a much more natural human movement. And there's body contact in hockey.

But you are right that inexpensiveness is still a huge part of why soccer is more popular and the relative disdain for sports like baseball and ice hockey on this forum is pretty mind boggling.

 

[Tennis_Hands]

So, basically everyone here agrees that the list sucks.

Why are we on page 3 already?

 

[Tshooter]

...Maradona definitely does...

Is she still that big ?

 

[Tshooter]

Lol Mia Hamm... I can tell it’s an American list

MAGA !

 

[JMR]

I think both yours and Bobby's points are good though. My intuition is that soccer probably appeals more to younger kids before ice hockey (and certainly American football) does. You can start with some kind of ball to practice your shot, but I've seen many kids that can't lift the puck until they're 9 or 10, but they can kick a soccer ball long before that. Plus you need to learn how to skate, whereas running is a much more natural human movement. And there's body contact in hockey.

But you are right that inexpensiveness is still a huge part of why soccer is more popular and the relative disdain for sports like baseball and ice hockey on this forum is pretty mind boggling.

Ice hockey is actually two sports in one. Skating is a demanding sport all by itself, and then all the game skills have to be layered on top.

Football in the generic sense is the most popular sport worldwide because it is the most basic of all game sports -- the game most akin to primal human conflict. Two opposing groups occupy a piece of land and try to push into each other's territory.

Now, which version of football predominates in a particular country -- which football "code" -- is a separate question. Soccer is generally No. 1 except in countries that have developed their own football codes, i.e., American/Canadian, Aussie Rules, various forms of rugby, Gaelic. It's not that these nations (which tend to be affluent Western countries) don't love or understand football -- they love it so much that they have adapted it to their particular domestic tastes and customs!

 

[money_ball]

GQ is a joke. ESPN already did this, and the world's greatest athlete of all time is Bo Jackson:

If you are unfamiliar with Bo Jackson, I recommend the ESPN 30 for 30 episode "You Don't Know Bo".

 

[BlueClayGOAT]

Anybody who follows cricket knows who the greatest sportsperson of all time is:
The Australian batsman Donald Bradman.

You don't even have to say his full name in cricket circles, he's just called The Don. No clarification needed.

In cricket, a great batsman scores on an average 50 runs per innings. Anything above 35 means you've had a decent career, 40+ is very, very good, 50 and above is GREAT, no questions asked.

Some of the very greatest batsmen of all time averaged in the early 50s. Some managed to touch 60 over a short career. The Don's greatest contemporaries averaged about 55-60. These were guys who were absolute unquestioned legends, immortals of the sport.

Forget changing conditions, changing levels of professionalism and competition, changing rules etc. Let that go for a second- and remember that even the very best in The Don's time averaged, say, 58.


The Don averaged 99.94.

 

[BlueClayGOAT]

Anybody who follows cricket knows who the greatest sportsperson of all time is:
The Australian batsman Donald Bradman.

You don't even have to say his full name in cricket circles, he's just called The Don. No clarification needed.

In cricket, a great batsman scores on an average 50 runs per innings. Anything above 35 means you've had a decent career, 40+ is very, very good, 50 and above is GREAT, no questions asked.

Some of the very greatest batsmen of all time averaged in the early 50s. Some managed to touch 60 over a short career. The Don's greatest contemporaries averaged about 55-60. These were guys who were absolute unquestioned legends, immortals of the sport.

Forget changing conditions, changing levels of professionalism and competition, changing rules etc. Let that go for a second- and remember that even the very best in The Don's time averaged, say, 58.


The Don averaged 99.94.

To put that in perspective, it's like Federer winning ~30 major titles, or Usain Bolt running the 100m dash in ~7 seconds. It's like if Michael Jordan averaged 45 points a game over his entire career. It's like Messi scoring 110 goals a season playing for Barcelona, every year for all of his career.

It's beyond ridiculous is what it is. It's absurd, unapproachable. Nobody in over 125 years of cricket has come close to matching it.

 

[Bobby Jr]

Anybody who follows cricket knows who the greatest sportsperson of all time is:
The Australian batsman Donald Bradman....

The Don averaged 99.94.

It was a weak era tho when Bradman played.

Actually, you're probably an Aussie so we'll forgive your exaggeration but Bradman is only considered the greatest batsman, not cricketer per se, by many knowledgeable cricketers. Many consider Tendulkar to have overtaken him in that regard when other factors are taken into account (weighting, number of matches played, value to a team and relative to the rest of the team's performance etc).

 

[JMR]

Anybody who follows cricket knows who the greatest sportsperson of all time is

The GQ list is a not an "all-time" list. If it were, there would be plenty of other deceased athletes fighting for spots.

 

[-NN-]

Wow, that must had been a great experience! I had been "following" his career since I was a kid (late 80s) when he was a dominant force, and he had that aura of a champion around him (similar to Bubka). The fact that he's still a world record holder speaks for itself, a true legend.

He was simply ferocious just like Mike Tyson. I also loved watching the fluid and seemingly effortless technique of Lars Riedel in the discus and that huge elastic band lag in the kinetic chain toward the end of Adam Nelson's rotation technique in the shot put.

Pure beauty and power

Such violent technique

 

[toby55555]

I looked at the list and it’s great. The one’s who “claim” they haven’t heard of half of these athletes need to get out more. The athletes that are on this list American or not, transcend their sport both on and off.

Maybe Americans need to get out more.

 

[-NN-]

Jonty Rhodes isn't remotely a top-50 living athlete but he sure was a fun cricketer.

 

[BlueClayGOAT]

The GQ list is a not an "all-time" list. If it were, there would be plenty of other deceased athletes fighting for spots.

Yeah of course, I'm aware of that, but post #118 said something about the greatest athlete ever, so I went a bit off-topic.

 

[BlueClayGOAT]

It was a weak era tho when Bradman played.

Actually, you're probably an Aussie so we'll forgive your exaggeration but Bradman is only considered the greatest batsman, not cricketer per se, by many knowledgeable cricketers. Many consider Tendulkar to have overtaken him in that regard when other factors are taken into account (weighting, number of matches played, value to a team and relative to the rest of the team's performance etc).

I'm not an Aussie, no.

And it is no exaggeration. Bradman is the greatest cricketer that ever was. Sobers was an allrounder, probably the greatest all rounder, but other all rounders like Kallis, Imran Khan, Keith Miller approach him in terms of stats and achievements.

Nobody comes remotely close to what Bradman did. I already addressed the 'weak era' argument in my earlier post (i realise you were being tongue-in-cheek)- if Bradman played in a weak era, how come other legends who played at the same time average only half of what he did?

Tendulkar is the greatest of his generation, but he isn't greater than Bradman. Lara, Ponting, Kallis- all Tendulkar's contemporaries- come close to or match his achievements.
I assume you are Indian, I'll forgive your exaggeration.

 

[aman92]

Ice Hockey isn't really an American sport, read a book.

Obviously the list sucks, but the amount of you people that are ignorant about major sports like baseball and ice hockey is pretty large. I don't give a rat's ass about soccer or cricket but obviously I am not going to deny that pele, messi, maradona are some of the greatest athletes ever and I'm not going to say that no one cares about it just because I didn't grow up following it.

Baseball and Ice hockey major sports? Grow up.... both are niche sports only followed in a few countries outside US. I literally can't make one Ice Hockey player outside of Wayne Gretzky