Iconic Sportspeople of the last c.25 years
Transdimension… 15 Sep 22 18:15
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Been a bit spoiled really, going to be hard for future generations to top this lot in one go:
 

Tennis = Venus/Serena & Fed/Nadal/Djoko

Golf = Tiger

Football = Messi/Ronaldo

Athletics = Usain Bolt

Swimming = Phelps

Snooker = Ronnie

Darts = Phil Taylor

F1 = Hamilton

NFL = Brady

NBA = Kobe/Lebron

 

May be missing some obvious ones. Not bad though.

 

Heh @ Djokovic being iconic. 

Heh@ snooker and darts players being iconic.

 

Can't realistically have a tennis conversation about the greats without him in it. He's a bit of a tit though.

See above for snooker & Ronnie.

Taylor was slightly tongue-in-cheek, admittedly, but has won more world championships in his sport than anyone, so what else could he be reasonably described as? He's won 200+ professional tournaments, including a record 85 major titles and a record 16 World Championships. 

Whether you like them or their sport is immaterial.

Have a feeling Haaland may eclipse Messi and Ronaldo.

 

Short of some awful injuries, I can see that. He's already approaching 30 CL goals whereas CR7 hadn't scored one at the same age. Frightening.

Great to watch though, club loyalties aside, hope he smashes in 50 this season. 

On the basis that darts is a sport (tedes, it is so just leave it) Taylor will go down as the greatest sportsman in terms of dominance, success and longevity.

Fair. I only really consider Federer an icon of those 3, tbh. Just an absolute artist and a gent to boot.

Nadal is dull as ditchwater, much as I admire his grit and determination, and Djoko is, well, Djoko.

Loads of people say that. Can't see it personally, though. I think old Ronaldo is overly romanticised.

CR7 scored more goals than games played for Real Madrid, that is just insane. Smashed Raul's record in about half the games. Before you even get to Ballon D'ors and CLs, etc.

Plus CR7's professionalism puts R9's to shame.  

Love R9, don't get me wrong, at his peak probably the greatest striker ever. One of my favourite memories was watching him score that brace in the 2002 final on the Sunday, on the big screen at Glastonbury, bringing in a £500 win that paid for most of the weekend.

CR7 is just an absolute machine though, his peak has lasted about 15 years. That alone puts him a cut above, for me. Not sure we'll ever see the like again. 

True story

A chap on a pro am golf day topped his drive, and said ‘that was a bit of a Sally Gunnell!’

(In case you don’t know, that’s’ugly but running well’.)

The guy he was playing with then introduced himself as her Dad