[sumo] GOAT in sumo?

[Magnus Berg]

For those interested, here is the entire list.
Sorry that the sports names are in Swedish, but I think you get it...
BTW, my vote for GOAT top 5 in sumo would probably be in the order of 
Taiho, Chiyonofuji, Futabayama, Takanohana, Kitanoumi, with Asashoryu 
closing in from behind.
/Maguroyama

1 Pelé (fotboll)

2 Carl Lewis (friidrott)

3 Michael Jordan (basket)

4 Jesse Owens (friidrott)

5 Nadia Comaneci (gymnastik)

6 Diego Maradona (fotboll)

7 Muhammad Ali (boxning)

8 Tiger Woods (golf) NY

9 Paavo Nurmi (friidrott)

10 Jim Thorpe (friidrott, baseboll)

11 Wayne Gretzky (ishockey)

12 Michael Phelps (simning) NY

13 Sergej Bubka (friidrott)

14 Eddy Merckx (cykel)

15 Alexander Karelin (brottning)

16 Johnny Weissmuller (simning)

17 Bob Beamon (friidrott)

18 Johan Cruyff (fotboll)

19 Wilma Rudolph (friidrott)

20 Steffi Graf (tennis)

21 Haile Gebrselassie (friidrott)

22 Pete Sampras (tennis)

23 Björn Borg (tennis)

24 Babe Didriksen (friidrott, golf)

25 Ayrton Senna (bilsport)

26 Florence Griffith-Joyner (friidrott)

27 Larisa Latynina (gymnastik)

28 Eric Heiden (skridsko)

29 Greg Louganis (simhopp)

30 Babe Ruth (baseboll)

31 Vitalij Sjtjerbo (gymnastik)

32 Franz Beckenbauer (fotboll)

33 Naim Suleymanoglu (tyngdlyftning)

34 Fanny Blankers-Koen (friidrott)

35 Jahangir Khan (squash)

36 Al Oerter (friidrott)

37 Jim Brown (amerikansk fotboll)

38 Ferenc Puskas (fotboll)

39 Matt Biondi (simning)

40 Alfredo di Stefano (fotboll)

41 Jean-Claude Killy (alpint)

42 Gordie Howe (ishockey)

43 Vera Caslavska (gymnastik)

44 Sugar Ray Robinson (boxning)

45 Dawn Fraser (simning)

46 Björn Dählie (skidor)

47 Ingemar Stenmark (alpint)

48 Hicham el Guerrouj (friidrott) NY

49 Paul Elvström (segling)

50 Wilt Chamberlain (basket)

51 Michael Schumacher (bilsport) NY

52 Abebe Bikila (friidrott)

53 Yasuhiro Yamashita (judo)

54 Zinedine Zidane (fotboll) NY

55 Michael Johnson (friidrott)

56 Lester Piggott (galopp)

57 Lance Armstrong (cykel) NY

58 Vasilij Alexejev (tyngdlyftning)

59 Rudy Hartono (badminton)

60 Jackie Joyner-Kersee (friidrott)

61 Gordon Banks (fotboll)

62 Laszlo Papp (boxning)

63 Jack Nicklaus (golf)

64 Aladar Gerevich (fäktning)

65 Jan-Ove Waldner (bordtennis)

66 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (basket)

67 Annika Sörenstam (golf) NY

68 Martina Navratilova (tennis)

69 Valerij Charlamov (ishockey)

70 Steve Redgrave (rodd)

71 Fausto Coppi (cykel)

72 Rod Laver (tennis)

73 Dhyan Chand (landhockey)

74 Joe DiMaggio (baseboll)

75 Janet Evans (simning)

76 Michael Doohan (motorcykel)

77 Takanohana (sumobrottning)

78 Jelena Välbe (skidor)

79 José Leandro Andrade (fotboll)

80 Mireya Luis (volleyboll)

81 Colin Meads (rugby)

82 Roger Federer (tennis) NY

83 Franz Klammer (alpint)

84 Edwin Moses (friidrott)

85 Ronaldo (fotboll) NY

86 Anja Andersen (handboll)

87 Chuang Tse-tung (bordtennis)

88 Olga Korbut (gymnastik)

89 Emil Zatopek (friidrott)

90 Mark Spitz (simning)

91 Sir Donald Bradman (cricket)

92 Gheorghe Gruia (handboll)

93 Janica Kostelic (alpint) NY

94 Lasse Viren (friidrott)

95 Giuseppe Meazza (fotboll)

96 Sonja Henie (konståkning)

97 Joe Louis (boxning)

98 Dominik Hasek (ishockey)

99 Matti Nykänen (backhoppning)

100 Jelena Izenbajeva (friidrott) NY


2008-08-17 kl. 21.46 skrev Jim Bitgood:

> Without looking at the whole list, I would guess that the 
> journalist(s) who made the list are under 40 years old, possibly under 
> 30 years old. They probably are not students of sports history (or 
> much other history either). And Taiho and Chiyonofuji are sumo 
> historical figures now. Even though Jesse Owens' successes are over 60 
> years ago, they are famous around the world because of historical 
> niche they occupy. Are there any other athletes from 50-60 years ago 
> on the list? (I'm busy trying to organize all my pictures from our 
> trip to Moscow and St. Pete from 5 different picture chips.)
>
> At 18:57 8/16/2008, you wrote:
>> The other day, as Michael Phelps became the most olympic gold medal 
>> winner ever, Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter published their list of 
>> the greatest athletes of all time (hence the goat in the subject 
>> line). While such a list is near impossible, it is always fun and a 
>> good topic for discussion. The top of the list (1. Pelé, 2. Carl 
>> Lewis, 3. Michael Jordan, 4. Jesse Owens, 5. Nadia Comaneci. Phelps? 
>> #12) could be debated elsewhere, but what I thought was interesting 
>> was the only sumo rikishi on the list, #77, Takanohana. Good that 
>> they acknowledge sumo, but shouldn't it have been Taiho, Futabayama 
>> or Chiyonofuji? Or can anyone find a good argument why Takanohana 
>> should be regarded as the GOAT in sumo? If media interest is put into 
>> the mix, he might be, but I don't really see how that makes him a 
>> greater athlete. Sure, it could possibly be argued that he had a 
>> stronger rival in Akebono than either Taiho or Chiyo had, bu he is 
>> still 10 yusho behind Taiho and 9 behind Chiyo. Futabayama would 
>> likely have won over 30 had he competed in the 6 basho-a-year-era. Of 
>> course, there's also Asashoryu... at least in a few years?
>>
>> So, are Dagens Nyheter just semi-ignorant of things sumoan or are 
>> there any objective arguments for placing Taka as the sole sumo on 
>> the list? What do you think?
>
>         Jim
>         "Chitose-Taikai"
>
>
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