Who is the greatest sportsman ever?

Answer 1

Sir Don Bradman is the greatest sportsman who ever lived

Sir Don Bradman averaged a century every 2.76 innings and averaged 99.94 in one of the most skilled sporting positions in the world - a batsman in cricket.

There are many great sportsman - Muhammud Ali, Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Rod Laver, Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Sachin Tendulkar (cricket - who averages 56 & scores a century every nearly 5.8 innings) and many others who are considered all time great sportsman. However, they would all have to double every stactistic within their own sport in their own era - then those stactisitcs would have to remain almost twice as good as all the competitors in every era that followed to even be mentioned as a contender of the greatest sportsman of all time.

Bradman still holds the following significant records for Test match cricket today!

• Highest career batting average 99.94
• Highest series batting average (5 Test series): 201.50
• Highest ratio of centuries per innings played
• Highest 5th wicket partnership: 405 (with Sid Barnes, 1946--47)
• Highest 6th wicket partnership: 346 (with Jack Fingleton, 1936--37)
• Highest score by a number 5 batsman: 304 (1934)
• Highest score by a number 7 batsman: 270 (1936--37)
• Most runs in one series: 974 (1930)
• Most centuries scored in a single session of play: 6 (1 pre lunch, 2 lunch-tea, 3 tea-stumps)
• Most runs in one day's play: 309
• Most double centuries: 12
• Most double centuries in a series: 3
• Most triple centuries: 2 (equal with Chris Gayle, Brian Lara and Virender Sehwag)
• Most consecutive matches in which he made a century: 6
• Bradman has averaged over 100 in seven different calendar years - No other player has achieved this in more than two calendar years.
• Fastest player to reach 2000 (in 22 innings),3000 (33 innings),4000 (48 innings),5000 (56 innings)and 6000 (68 innings) Test runs.

There are many arguments about the variations of strengths, weaknesses, conditions and depth within each era of all sporting debates - however no sportsman has dominated any sport to the same degree as Bradman.

Not taking into account the forever standing and unbroken records above - just to be on par with Bradman, Michael Jordan would have to average 70 points per Basketball game (Jordan averages 31.5 per game) and the all time great baseballer, Ty Cobb would need to have a batting average of 508! (batting average is 366)

Who is the second best sportsman of all time is a good debate!

Kindly

Clint Packer