The undisputed greatest sportsperson of all time...

[Overproof]

Pat Cash ahaha...For real though, Jordan=GOAT

He ticks all your boxes.

[Hubba]

Tough call..... for me, probably a tie.....

Ken Gargett...."I'll shoot anything"....Hilarious!!

[polarbear]

Jordan

Ali

Or

Sir Don Bradman

[Skyfall]

1) Bo Jackson

2) Michael Jordan

3) Wayne Gretzky

[khomeinist]

OJ Simpson. Barry Bonds. Lance Armstrong.

Ok. I'm gonna say Mike Phelps.

[vitruvius]

It's Jim Thorpe. No one else comes close.

got to agree after reading his bio on Wikipedia. An athlete in a category of his own.

[lancerv43]

Jordan no questions asked. He easily fills every bit of criteria listed

[Diamondog]

The Great One Gretzky

[khomeinist]

Actually....

I will say Roberto Clemente. True hero (as overused as the term is these days).

[Ken Gargett]

KG, Bradman was certainly the greatest in his sport - but he didn't fill the criteria of "They must have went to considerable lengths to popularise their respective sport and promote it across the world"

there is no way we'll ever get close to agreement and i understand americans not being fussed to see it go to bradman - though the popularity of cricket via the sub-continent gives it a massive world wide audience.

but i would argue that bradman could hardly have done more re promotion of the game. remember this was pre-war times, he was a bloke who was haunted by illness, yet still played in games across north america to promote cricket. and came out of retirement to play after the war. even after he retired, he then played in exhibition and charity games. he was then integral to the worldwide administration of the game for decades. and this was at a time when he got nada for playing, effectively. today, he'd be a squillionaire. then, he also had to have a day-job.

messner? nice choice. as a fascinated but dismal climber, he was a bit of a hero of mine. but sport? not so sure. i remember going to a lecture by doug scott in the late 70's/early 80's at uni. he was one of the two that made the summit in the 'everest the hard way' climb led by chris bonnington (i was a bit obsessed by all that). his biceps were bigger than my legs (and i have large legs from wicketkeeping). massive, strong man.

messi - that i would dispute. sure, a great talent but until he has a couple of world cups under the belt, forget it.

[Ken Gargett]

for those that do say gretszky or jordan (actually got to see gretszky play in the one ice hockey game i went to), those that "do" statistics have had bradman come in way ahead of both. all depends on criteria. and i will always be in awe of joprdan. watched a lot of him on tv. extraordinary athlete.

i assume those mentioning lance armstrong are taking the piss? those blokes in those dodgy photos are more deserving. he is the idi amin of sport.

[khomeinist]

Idi Amin... Classic.

Jordan way too much of an egotistical jerk to get this award. Ask those that know him. He isn't a statesman for the 'greater part of our nature.'

Cricket is banned as more of a historical curiosity than a sport.

[canadianbeaver]

Recently saw a doc on Bo Jackson. Incredible how he excelled at two sports yet as a man was so humble.

But for a man for his time, have to go with Mohammed Ali.

[Jeremy Festa]

there is no way we'll ever get close to agreement and i understand americans not being fussed to see it go to bradman - though the popularity of cricket via the sub-continent gives it a massive world wide audience.

messi - that i would dispute. sure, a great talent but until he has a couple of world cups under the belt, forget it.

This is true. Bradman would have it, if it wasn't for football (aka soccer).

Messi will have it.

Messner should have it. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountaineering

Climbing is defo a sport!

[khomeinist]

Messi has zero World Cups. pass

4-0 Bayern

[MountMandolin]

I'm saying Jordan as well.

As far as him being a jerk, I will have to disagree. I have had the privilege of speaking with him at length on several different occasions, and I found him to be a very likable, personable guy. What you can say about him is that he was extremely, extremely competitive, and I think that's where a lot of the talk about him being a jerk comes from. Still, I beg to differ.

My vote goes to Jordan no doubt.

In the tennis world, Pete Sampras was always a hero of mine. Never have cared for golf or soccer/football/what-you-may-call-it. Hockey it would have to be Gretzky. Baseball is a bit of a toss-up. When you get right down to it, I just don't know that there was ever a sportsman who dominated his sport as completely and irrefutably as Michael Jordan. Greatest of all time.

[LLC]

MJ would get my vote without even counting the bonus points for being a BOTL.

[khomeinist]

My Jordan comment was based on conversations I have had with some people in sports journalism. I do respect his competitive fire but outside sports he is a flawed human. Being flawed is fine of course, but I believe this award is going to a truly stellar human being.

[CaptainQuintero]

The mentioned worldwide appeal/fame has to eliminate NBA/NFL/hockey/baseball/etc surely? Granted there are huge individuals in those sports but outside of North america they are essentially niche markets

The world number one tiddly winks player is probably an amazing tiddly winkns player but outside that community they are going to be unknown

Purely on Worldwide fame it has to be Muhammed Ali, Pele, Beckham, Tiger, Bolt

[Lant63]

Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Karelin greatest wrestler and athlete of all time. He went undefeated for 13 years 3 gold medals and didn't get a point scored on him in six years. He only had one international loss and it was in the 2000 olympics against an american named Rulon as he was on the doorstep of his fourth olympic gold. Undefeated for 13 years is absolutely ridiculous though.

[CaptainQuintero]

I agree about NFL and hockey, but not so much baseball (Babe Ruth) or basketball (Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'neal)

I couldn't pick any of them out of a line up :S one of them was in space jam right? I've never seen it though but that would have been my chance to see one of them in action!

[Dimmers]

MJ is without a doubt the GOAT! To quote the great Ron Burgundy, if you don't agree that MJ is the GOAT then "I will fight you!"

My 2 cents is that the GOAT argument should be divorced from any assessment of role model status, endorsements, charitable contributions, being nice etc. The vast majority of the world's best athletes got to where they are due to having psychopathic alpha dog personalities. Would I want these people to be role models for my kids (if/ when I have kids), heck no! Judge them on on-field performance/ domination/ lasting legacy alone.

I have had the privilege of speaking with him at length on several different occasions.

Oh. WOW. I am extremely envious!

[Lant63]

Yes, just as impressive was Cael Sanderson (sp?)...doesn't fit any of the criteria other than one though.

true lol cael wasnt this good though.

[CaptainQuintero]

I know he is black and is bald, beyond that no idea, even less on shaquille and the first time I eve heard of babe ruth was on Carnivale (the tv show in 1930s america)

[dangolf18]

I'll say Woods. At age 3, he shot a 48 for nine holes. At 6, he made his first hole-in-one. And at age 12, he broke 70 on an 18-hole golf course. He turned pro in 1996 and in 1997 won the Masters by a dozen strokes. He's gone on to become the first athlete to earn more than a billion dollars.