[dhwilkin]

As the title says, which sport do you think produces the greatest athletes, and why? My vote goes to amateur wrestling, for the incredible balance of strength, agility, and endurance (for both upper and lower body) displayed by its athletes, all while meeting a very tight weight limit.

 

[gaineso]

Motorized racing, in most of its forms, at the top levels, requires the greatest combination of coordination, reflexes, endurance, strength, agility, and general physical conditioning of any sport.

NASCAR Winston Cup, Formula 1, CART, World of Outlaws, Thunderboats (Unlimited Hydros), Offshore Powerboat, (watch sometime on ESPN or SPEED and see what they go through). Even NHRA Winston Cup Drag Racing in Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro-Stock. Yeah, the drag racers are only going for 5 or 6 seconds, but how'd you like 3+ G's at 300+ MPH.

Don't forget the major motorcycle racing series either. Racers are the best ALL AROUND athletes ANYWHERE.

 

[pigmode]

I voted other, for womens figure skating. You know, Oksana Baiul etc., etc., etc.

 

[daycart1]

Easy: road cycling. A stage race like the Tour de France involves riding almost every day for 3 weeks, usually well over 100 miles/day, and sometimes climbing 30,000 feet (!) per day in thin air.

 

[Nezer]

Please....

Curling is the clear winner here!

 

[CRESCENDOPOWER]

I have been involved with amateur wrestling, football, and basketball. Of the 3, I feel that the wrestlers get my vote. In high school wrestling, I think it is more about conditioning, and aggresiveness. Now, the college guys actually have to be intelligent, and on top of their game. Those guys I have a real respect for.
I know I might be a little bias on this one, but any type of conditioning that requires: almost a week to recuperate from, extreme knowledge of how your body reacts to stress, and lots of discipline also should be recognized. Anyone who has done 3 sets of 3 with 90% of their max in the squat, deadlift, or bench press definitely knows what I'm talking about.

 

[john_jcb]

There is no doubt it is Hockey. Put your wrestlers and bike riders on skates and see how they do. Skating, speed, strength hockey players have it all. I saw a competition once where stars from each Chicago pro team competed against each other. The events were adjusted to compensate for weight. The Blackhawk players ran away with it.

 

[Tuberoller]

I voted basketball.But I think auto and motorcycle racing is a close second.The reason I think basketball players are the best atheletes is that the level of competition is so high only the absolute very best make it and then often not for long.the jumping, running,articulation of their bodies is just amazing.Also a lot of basketball players are very good at other sports.Tom Hammonds and Larry Nance are professional drag racers and are both considered to have some of the fastest reaction times.I think racers have to be atheletic not only for conditioning but for coordination required to race any vehicle.A lot of racers are also very good at other sports as well.Motorcycle drag racer Antron Brown was an outstanding track star and is considered to be the best motorcycle drag racer ever by many of his competitors.I know him personally and his reflexes are utterly amazing.

When I played football in high school I thought I was in great shape.When I bought a new dirt bike and started riding regularly with some more experienced buddies I found that I was not.that year and a half that I rode almost every weekend put me in the best shape I have ever been in.When I enlisted in the MARINES I was already in outstanding condition and Parris Island seemed like a breeze to me.I think the guys who find creative ways to condition in any sport are the best atheletes.The great ones are easy to spot.

 

[kerelybonto]

Sports don't produce athletes; each sport selects out certain types of athletes that perform best in that sport, but you're not going to become a better athlete by playing a certain sport.

In the US, I think it's pretty clear that professional basketball and football players, as well as pure-athletes like sprinters, are the best raw athletes around. They have natural abilities that cannot be gained by training or practice. Basketball and football demand a much higher degree of athelicism than sports like baseball, which are much more skill-based, or training-intensive sports.

It all depends on what you consider athleticism, though -- really, there's no reason why hand-eye coordination is less of an athletic trait than being fast, but I tend to define the word in terms of its derivation from the old Olympic events.

kerelybonto

 

[gaineso]

As far as weight lifting, Mark Martin, who won the Charlotte World 600 Cup Race, regularly bench presses 350 lbs.

He's in his forties and weighs 138 lbs soakin' wet with a rock in his pocket. He's the best of the racers at conditioning, but Michael Waltrip also runs marathons. Full marathons. Finishes well enough to not be embarrased.

 

[daycart1]

Quote:

Originally posted by Nezer Please.... Curling is the clear winner here!

=======

I might have said curling in the old days before the pathetic wusses went to synthetic broom bristles.

 

[stuartr]

I would say tri-athletes and decathletes and so forth. True athleticism is virsatility, the ability to dominate at every sport you try (assuming an equal amount of experience). Running, biking and swimming all use different muscles, and if you do all three, about the only thing else you can do is Kegel exercises....
As for motorized sports....people underestimate the effort, by thinking: "Well, I can drive a car...all they do is sit there and drive around a circle, it can't be that hard...." As gaines has pointed out, there is obviously a lot more too it than that. They are just as much a sport as golf, horseback riding, tiddly-winks or football. They all have rules and they are all a physical activity. The rest is just semantics. That said, I don't find any of the above sports too interesting to watch, but that is just my preference.
Another sport that is highly physical that was not mentioned was climbing, especially free-climbing. The ability to scale a sheer rock surface with no rope and being able to support your own body weight with one hand holding onto a little bump requires incredible amounts of physical and psychological strength -- especially when you know that if you make one mistake, you will fall a couple hundred feet to your death.
But anyway, what this thread shows is that there are quite different opinions for everyone. It is all a matter of preference -- there are amazing athletes in every sport.

 

[Satori]

So far people have voted basketball has the best athletes?

Come on when the players can go sit on a bench, rest and then come back in to play 12 min. quarters. How bout soccer? Don't they say during a game a player can run between 5 and 10 miles? In 2 45 minute halves, where if you come out, you can't go back in.

 

[pigmode]

Quote:

Originally posted by daycart1 Easy: road cycling. A stage race like the Tour de France involves riding almost every day for 3 weeks, usually well over 100 miles/day, and sometimes climbing 30,000 feet (!) per day in thin air.

Right. But it's actually close to four weeks, and you forgot to mention that even after crossing two major mountain ranges, they still average close to 25 mph over the 2400+ miles of the race.

 

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

I voted basketball because of one man... Micheal Jordan