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I know he is not universally popular (partly because he is so successful & we Brits love to knock), but after watching Phil Taylor win yet again last night I was reminded of his sheer longevity. At 52, he still rules the world of Darts.  

16 worlld titles (?), NINE televised nine-darters, once had TWO nine darters in the same match. Against the man who has won most matches against him, (Barney), he has a 79% win rate.

I read his Wiki this morning, & it simply blew me away, ram packed with stats which will never be beaten.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Taylor_(darts_player)

We take it for granted, because we see him so often, but that is some career.

I remember regretting not watching more of Piggott after he retired, he was (to me) one in a lifetime, & so is Phil Taylor. In Taylor's case,. nothing to do with like or dislike, just sheer supremacy over two decades.

What other sportsmen (please lets not debate "is it a sport?" here) have endured so long?

I recall many moons ago that David Bryant (he of the pipe) was pre-eminent in Bowls, & won Championships over a 30 year span.

What other sportsmen have endured at the top of their sport for such long periods?

McCoy perhaps?

Piggott, obviously. Gordon Richards.

Beckham did not do so bad, ditto Giggs.

Fred Davis would be one too, I think.

Top Ten British names in this department?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Fogarty  - maybe not for as long, but was so very dominant during his time in Superbikes.

Good shout, but I think I'd put Mike Hailwood above him, & Joey Dunlop was a winning rider for nearly 25 years, as I recall. For me, Joey was much superior to Carl, but both were great.

Mike was a hero to me when I was a youngster, & first started attending motorbike race meetings.

This is Mike at Brands, coming up to Druids.



(http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o541/tikay2/NEW%20ALBUM/MikeH1_zpsa49ad4c1.jpg) (http://s1147.photobucket.com/user/tikay2/media/NEW%20ALBUM/MikeH1_zpsa49ad4c1.jpg.html)

Jonah Barrington

I shall open with a very predictable Garry Kasparov.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Kasparov

World Champion 1985-2000.

World Number One 1985-2004.

Kasparov holds the record for most consecutive professional tournament victories, placing first or equal first in 15 individual tournaments from 1981 to 1990. The streak was broken by Vasily Ivanchuk at Linares 1991, where Kasparov placed 2nd, half a point behind him.

Add to that his iconic nature and being one of only two or three players (Karpov and Fischer) that a fair few people will have heard of.

Born Garry Weinstein.

Desmond Douglas

(http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o541/tikay2/NEW%20ALBUM/MikeH2_zps5eb7153a.jpg) (http://s1147.photobucket.com/user/tikay2/media/NEW%20ALBUM/MikeH2_zps5eb7153a.jpg.html)

Is he British now? ;)

What other sportsmen have endured at the top of their sport for such long periods?

Thought this was all nationalities?

No?

What about Jahangir Khan! Unbeaten for years on end in the squash world, then Janghshir (sp) took over the streak.

Truly a Blondite. Read the bits you want to read..."Top Ten British names in this department?"

Noted. May I counter with Dominic O'Brien?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_O%27Brien

Ooh, think this thread might just become epic.

Jonah, Desmond & Kasparov, all great shouts.

Redgrave, Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton, Terry Paine, Sir Ian.

I think Terry Paine played over 800 hundred times for Southampton. Giggs apart, not too many footballers can boast that for one Club. 


(http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o541/tikay2/NEW%20ALBUM/terry22_zpscb16ac00.jpg) (http://s1147.photobucket.com/user/tikay2/media/NEW%20ALBUM/terry22_zpscb16ac00.jpg.html)

I think we should widen it to all nationalities.

Another great shout.

This fella must win

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Tinsley

Blimey!

How did you know of him, Keith?

Must confess, he slipped under my radar.

Jake got well into draiughts about six months ago and wanted to know who the world champion was.

A tiny bit of googling came up with this remarkable bloke.

If we're going global, then Ed Moses needs an inclusion.

If we're sticking with UK, Paula Radcliffe, who dominated Women's x-country and road events between 1992-2005 - including her incredible World Record. At one stage she had every world best or world record in road racing from 10 miles to marathon. Britain's greatest ever athlete - although Mo Farah might have something to say about that in a year or so.

A few that spring to mind:

Ed Moses - 122 consecutive wins over 10 years in the 400m hurdles.

Carl Lewis - 65 consecutive wins over 10 years in the long jump.

Sergey Bubka - Broke the world pole vault record 35 times. Has jumped the 13 highest heights of all time. Has cleared 6.00m more times than the rest of the world put together.

I've posted about her before on another thread but - winner.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esther_Vergeer

Good shout.

Have to mention http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martina_Navratilova as well.

Bubka is a must contender for me

BOOM!

That was the guy lurking in the back of my mind.

Genuine contendor.

Guess Lewis & Moses qualify, too.

In a way, all these names put Phil Taylor's achievements into better perspective, but it's good to rejoice in success, or at least I think it is.

Would Sir Alex Ferguson get in the list? Guess he's not a "sportsman" as such, but still, thats some CV he has.

Oh, not Carl Lewis - please no.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2003/apr/24/athletics.duncanmackay

I hope this goes Global, then we can include Phil Hellmuth.

This.

I find him to be one of the most thorougly dislikeable people I have had the experience to listen to.

Irene Szewinska

Another new name to me. Jeez, my ignorance is something special.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irena_Szewi%C5%84ska

The remarkable thing about Taylor is he keeps raising his standard.

At the age of 50+ he keeps pushing it further and further.  I can’t think of any other sportman that has not only maintained his skill level but has increased it as he has got older to the degree Taylor has.  He has dominated so many “next big things” people just take him for granted.  From the old guard of Wilson, Anderson, Bristow and the like, through the Priestly era, and then the influx of BDO champs including Barney and now Wade, MVG and Lewis he always has an answer, always raises his game, no matter the format of that game.

He dominates all formats of the game,  Legs, sets, matchplay, short format, long formats he has no weakness, and they all lend themselves to different “types” of player.
111 Average in a matchplay event over 30+ legs is remarkable, this at a time when everyone expects MVG to come along and take away all of Taylor’s titles.  The current “Next big thing”.
I don’t find him endearing at all but I do appreciate what he has bought to the game.  I can’t believe he does not get the mainstream acclaim he deserves, but one thing for sure Darts will miss him when he has gone.

Aside from Taylor I would add

Sugar Ray Robinson – 128 professional wins in 11 years, the true, greatest boxer of all time, IMO.  He fought over 250 times as amateur and pro and only lost 2 of his first 200 odd bouts before he turned 30.  

Jack Nicklaus – who dominated a sport when it was at its peak, the fields he beat may not have had the depth of tournaments today but he faced off against more of the greats then Tiger or Faldo every week.  Also at a time when technology had little bearing on the game – he strove to drive the ball further, hit more greens and sink more putts then everyone else, and most weeks he did just that.

Alberto Tomba

Great Post Nakor, especially Sugar Ray.

Especially liked this, it was sort of my original point really....


I don’t find him endearing at all but I do appreciate what he has bought to the game.  I can’t believe he does not get the mainstream acclaim he deserves, but one thing for sure Darts will miss him when he has gone.

He is 52 now, at an age when our eyesight, & hand-eye co-ordination skills start to wane, yet he seems better than ever.

Whether we like him or not is irrelevant.

Aleksandr Karelin

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Karelin

13 years without losing a fight and the last six of those without conceding a single point.

What about this bloke?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Alekseyev

Nah, never held enough World Records.


1/24/1970 Clean & Press 210.5 kg Super Heavyweight Velikie Luki[9]
 1/24/1970 Clean & Jerk 221.5 kg Super Heavyweight Velikie Luki
 1/24/1970 Total (3) 592.5 kg Super Heavyweight Velikie Luki
 1/24/1970 Total (3) 595 kg Super Heavyweight Velikie Luki
 3/18/1970 Clean & Press 213 kg Super Heavyweight Minsk
 3/18/1970 Total (3) 600 kg Super Heavyweight Minsk
 4/26/1970 Clean & Press 216 kg Super Heavyweight Vilnius
 4/26/1970 Clean & Jerk 223.5 kg Super Heavyweight Vilnius
 4/26/1970 Total (3) 602.5 kg Super Heavyweight Vilnius
 4/26/1970 Total (3) 607.5 kg Super Heavyweight Vilnius
 6/28/1970 Clean & Press 219.5 kg Super Heavyweight Szombathely
 6/28/1970 Clean & Jerk 225.5 kg Super Heavyweight Szombathely
 6/28/1970 Total (3) 610 kg Super Heavyweight Szombathely
 6/28/1970 Total (3) 612.5 kg Super Heavyweight Szombathely
 9/20/1970 Clean & Jerk 227.5 kg Super Heavyweight Columbus
 11/17/1970 Clean & Press 220.5 kg Super Heavyweight Volgograd
 11/17/1970 Clean & Jerk 228 kg Super Heavyweight Volgograd
 12/4/1970 Snatch 177 kg Super Heavyweight Shakhty
 12/4/1970 Clean & Press 221 kg Super Heavyweight Shakhty
 12/4/1970 Clean & Jerk 228.5 kg Super Heavyweight Shakhty
 12/4/1970 Total (3) 615 kg Super Heavyweight Shakhty
 12/4/1970 Total (3) 620 kg Super Heavyweight Shakhty
 12/26/1970 Clean & Press 222 kg Super Heavyweight Dnipropetrovsk
 12/26/1970 Clean & Jerk 229.5 kg Super Heavyweight Dnipropetrovsk
 12/26/1970 Total (3) 622.5 kg Super Heavyweight Dnipropetrovsk
 12/26/1970 Total (3) 625 kg Super Heavyweight Dnipropetrovsk
 2/14/1971 Snatch 177.5 kg Super Heavyweight Paris
 2/14/1971 Clean & Press 222.5 kg Super Heavyweight Paris
 2/14/1971 Clean & Jerk 230 kg Super Heavyweight Paris
 3/26/1971 Clean & Press 223 kg Super Heavyweight Wienn
 4/7/1971 Clean & Press 223.5 kg Super Heavyweight Moscow
 4/18/1971 Clean & Jerk 230.5 kg Super Heavyweight Taganrog
 6/27/1971 Clean & Press 225 kg Super Heavyweight Sofia
 6/27/1971 Clean & Jerk 231 kg Super Heavyweight Sofia
 6/27/1971 Clean & Jerk 232.5 kg Super Heavyweight Sofia
 6/27/1971 Total (3) 627.5 kg Super Heavyweight Sofia
 6/27/1971 Total (3) 630 kg Super Heavyweight Sofia
 7/24/1971 Snatch 180 kg Super Heavyweight Moscow
 7/24/1971 Clean & Press 225.5 kg Super Heavyweight Moscow
 7/24/1971 Clean & Jerk 233 kg Super Heavyweight Moscow
 7/24/1971 Clean & Jerk 235 kg Super Heavyweight Moscow
 7/24/1971 Total (3) 632.5 kg Super Heavyweight Moscow
 7/24/1971 Total (3) 637.5 kg Super Heavyweight Moscow
 7/24/1971 Total (3) 640 kg Super Heavyweight Moscow
 9/26/1971 Clean & Press 227 kg Super Heavyweight Lima
 9/26/1971 Clean & Press 230 kg Super Heavyweight Lima
 9/26/1971 Clean & Jerk 235.5 kg Super Heavyweight Lima
 3/19/1972 Clean & Press 231.5 kg Super Heavyweight Bollnas
 3/19/1972 Clean & Press 235.5 kg Super Heavyweight Bollnas
 4/15/1972 Clean & Jerk 236 kg Super Heavyweight Tallinn
 4/15/1972 Clean & Press 236.5 kg Super Heavyweight Tallinn
 4/15/1972 Clean & Jerk 237.5 kg Super Heavyweight Tallinn
 4/15/1972 Total (3) 642.5 kg Super Heavyweight Tallinn
 4/15/1972 Total (3) 645 kg Super Heavyweight Tallinn
 4/29/1972 Clean & Jerk 238 kg Super Heavyweight Donetsk
 6/18/1973 Clean & Jerk 240 kg Super Heavyweight Madrid
 6/18/1973 Total 417.5 kg Super Heavyweight Madrid
 1/3/1974 Clean & Jerk 242 kg Super Heavyweight Glazov
 3/20/1974 Clean & Jerk 240.5 kg Super Heavyweight Erevan
 4/28/1974 Clean & Jerk 241 kg Super Heavyweight Tbilisi
 4/28/1974 Total 420 kg Super Heavyweight Tbilisi
 6/6/1974 Snatch 187.5 kg Super Heavyweight Verona
 6/6/1974 Total 422.5 kg Super Heavyweight Verona
 9/23/1974 Clean & Jerk 245.5 kg Super Heavyweight Moscow
 9/29/1974 Clean & Jerk 241.5 kg Super Heavyweight Manila
 9/29/1974 Total 425 kg Super Heavyweight Manila
 11/27/1974 Clean & Jerk 242.5 kg Super Heavyweight London
 12/14/1974 Clean & Jerk 243 kg Super Heavyweight Zaporizhia
 12/29/1974 Clean & Jerk 243.5 kg Super Heavyweight Lipetsk
 7/11/1975 Clean & Jerk 245 kg Super Heavyweight Vilnius
 9/23/1975 Total 427.5 kg Super Heavyweight Moscow
 11/11/1975 Clean and Jerk 246 kg Super Heavyweight Arkhangelsk
 11/11/1975 Total 430 kg Super Heavyweight Arkhangelsk
 12/7/1975 Clean & Jerk 247.5 kg Super Heavyweight Montreal
 5/15/1976 Total 435 kg Super Heavyweight Karaganda
 7/27/1976 Clean & Jerk 255 kg Super Heavyweight Montreal
 9/1/1977 Clean & Jerk 255.5 kg Super Heavyweight Podolsk
 9/1/1977 Total 445 kg Super Heavyweight Podolsk
 11/1/1977 Clean & Jerk 256 kg Super Heavyweight Moscow

Can think of a good reason why we shouldn't count Soviet weightlifters from the 1970s.

The thought did cross my mind.

Now now......blame Camel.

Going back many, many years here, but W.G. Grace should be in this list.

Dermot Weld at the Galway festival

Dare you to call him a cheat to his face

(https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ6ea3pz2CxEVXM8nx7Tly19oHuKzW23p8b-dWP3gJzkmysLz7GWg)

Give me warning when you're going to do it, so I can run the other way.

Is he on an EMC?

I must have told you that I went to school for a year or so with Joe Ehrlich's lad.

Is that the prototype for the Mankini?

Using anyone for cricket but Bradman is a reach IMO, slightly different criteria but Bradman is arguably statistically the most dominant sportsman to ever exist.

http://michaelnielsen.org/blog/the-most-remarkable-graph-in-the-history-of-sport/

Can argue a case for Bradman but it wasn't just about stats, it was longevity and Grace played first-class cricket for 45ish years!

If it's Brits you want then Dorian Yates dominated body building winning Mr Olympia from 1991 to 1997.

Others have won it more times such as Ronnie Coleman who won it 8 years in succession after Dorian.

You could argue that Dorian was the more impressive as he was never beaten once he made it to the top. It was retirement that lead him to relinquish his throne.

When I was manager at Segaworld Dorian Yates used to come in on a regular basis to play Mortal Kombat. He used to wear these baggy clown pants and waddle like a duck due to the immense friction between his thighs (thought he looked a bit ridic tbh...but kept those thoughts to myself).

Think Giggs is a good recent one

Babe Didrikson Zaharias - the greatest female athlete ever.

Athletics
Won six events at the AAU Championships and won the team event even though she was the only person on her team.

Four World Records the same day - 80m Hurdles, High Jump, Javelin & Baseball Throw.

Olympics:  Javelin - Gold. 80m Hurdles - Gold. High Jump - Silver.

Basketball
All-American Basketball player, winning the AAU Championship.

Golf
Pro Golfer, winning 10 Majors and over 80 tournaments in total. Grand Slam of all 3 Women's Majors in 1950.

First woman to play PGA. It was sixty years before some other women qualified for PGA events, but she is still the only one ever to make the cut, which she did numerous times. Apart from her first year as a Pro, she made the cut in every PGA she played.

Previously, she won 17 straight amateur golf tournaments (including the US and British titles), which no-one has ever achieved since.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_Didrikson_Zaharias

known for having the best back in bodybuilding..

(http://www.muscle-munch.com/wp-content/gallery/dorian-yates/dorianyates.jpg)

(http://www.learn-bodybuilding.com/pro_bodybuilders/dorian_yates/dorian_yates12.jpg)

(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hVG2VLhMmn8/TZl-iekTehI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/UjfvMxXbgx0/s320/dorian+yates.jpg)

Incred.

Think she has to be in the list.

I bet she couldn't put a Rowntree's Fruit Pastille in her mouth without chewing it :)

Mr Olympia? What?

I had to go googling. It does exist, look.....



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Olympia

So it must be true.

....and from that, I found Ronnie Coleman.....


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronnie_Coleman

....and so must he be real.


But then I found this photo of him. Deffo can't be real, can it? Two Weetabix, or three?




(http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o541/tikay2/NEW%20ALBUM/ronniec1_zps8c82baa3.jpg) (http://s1147.photobucket.com/user/tikay2/media/NEW%20ALBUM/ronniec1_zps8c82baa3.jpg.html)

Haha, that's a fake pic for sure... He is most definitely real though :D

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJRMldSmy-M

Bodybuilder pictures inevitably raise the question " WHY?"

With some of them, the answer to 'how' is a lot of training and a lot of steroids I'd guess!  Not sure on the 'why' though :dontask:

Definitely a fake? Bugger!

You sure, there are dozens of similar photos of him.

I sort of wanted it to be real.



(http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o541/tikay2/NEW%20ALBUM/ronniec2_zpsaa7ba353.png) (http://s1147.photobucket.com/user/tikay2/media/NEW%20ALBUM/ronniec2_zpsaa7ba353.png.html)

Again, "WHY?"

To make the point!

It is no different to poker, where so many take the game too seriously. (As I see it, anyway). Outsiders LAUGH at poker players (95% of whom lose money), and we laugh at those (to us) grotesquesly muscled bodies.

Each to their own.....

Anyway, lets not derail the thread too much (my bad), but happy to discuss it on a new thread, or my Diary.

Phil Taylor used to do a bit of bodybuilding.

(In before the inevitable)

Funny how these threads end up back where they started.

Paolo Maldini.
Bernard Hopkins.

Two absolute freaks (in the best sense) in sports where longevity is nearly impossible.

Why does Mo Farah run long distances? Why does Usain Bolt sprint? Why did Lance Armstrong ride a bike?

Answer any of those 3 and you'll get an answer to your question as well.

Stanley Matthews played first division football until he was over the age of 50.

The first Arsenal game that I attended was Blackpool away c1958/59 in the old first division which was replaced by the premier league, and Stanley Matthews played.

Arsenal won 2-1 and after travelling with the team on the coach to Blackburn the following week where we won by the same score I was dubbed the "team mascot" by one of the players who in hindsight probably fancied my mum who accompanied me.

I hope you're not suggesting that any of those has taken steroids.

To be fair a couple of the birds from that era could probably have him in a fight.....

Jarmilla?

(http://rapidas23.webcindario.com/jarmila_kratochvilova.jpg)