How many british 'greats' since 1980 ?

in the last 3 decades , the uk have had a lot of 'very good' athletes and many 'excellent' ones.

How many however can be regarded as even better - ie as one of the 'greats' ?

As to what singles them out for such as so esteemed among their peers and rivals is obviously subjective , but I would suggest that being a world leader or there abouts for a reasonable period of longevity should be the best fit , obviously winning titles, preferrably global ones with maybe at least one world record thrown in should be the norm .

therefore i come with the following list and i include those who crossed over from the end of the seventies like ovett and coe .

Daley thompson - world number one and unbeaten for several years, 2 olympic and the first world champion, several wrs. maybe our best athlete of any event ever

Sebastian Coe - 4 olympic gold or silver, world record machine

Steve Ovett - world record and olympic champion

Steve Cram - world records and 1st world champion, supreme in the mid -80s , despite injuries before 2 olympics

Linford Christie - multiple medals, including grand slam of olympic, world, euro and comms. amongst best for a decade

Colin Jackson - 2 world titles first in a world record , 4 euro titles, almost 2 unbelievable decades in world s elite

Steve Backley - 4 euro titles, not quite a global title despite many medlas , wrs

Jonathon Edwards - won everything including the current world record

Pauala Radcliffe- world titles at avery terrain , astonsihing marathon wrs and 2002 season when she stopped getting out-sprinted

Sally Gunnell- won everything including a world title in wr

Fatima Whitbread - 2 olympic medals , world title after setting the wr in qualifying

kelly holmes - double olympic gold seals a decade of brilliance with near misses and injury woes

denise lewis - olympic champ and 2 world silvers

near misses include- would come under excellent

allan wells
tony jarrett
roger black
jon ridgeon
liz mccolgan
yvonne murray
zola budd
wendy sly
kelly sotherton
christine ohorugo
kathy cook
peter elliott
darren campbell
kriss akabusi
dwain chambers
steve jones
tessa sanderson
dean macey
john regis
steve smith
lisa dobrisky
jenny meadows
keith conner
jason gardener - for indoors

maybe there soon
philips idowu
jessica ennis
mo farah
dai greene

very good -the 3rd tier and maybe 4th tier includes (some injury prone had short careers. others long servants)

dalton grant
curtis robb
derek redmond
iwan thomas
judy simpson
cameron sharp
duane ladejo
mark lewis -francis
mick hill
andy turner
dave moorcroft
jack buckner
tim hutchings
mark rowland
david grindley
judy oakes
vanessa head
charlie spedding
mark rowland
tom mckean
mark richardson
jamie baulch
chris rawlinson
nick rose
mick mcleod
eammon martin
hugh jones
kirsty wade
mara yamuchi
macus adam
ade mafe
marlon devonish
christian malcolm
todd bennett
phil brown
nicola sanders
donna fraser
lee mccconnell
sonnia lannamann
paula thomas
phyliis smith
brian whittle
danny caines
martyn rooney
michael bingham
holly bleasdale
steve lewis
nick buckfield
ian hamer
rob denmark
richard nerkurar
goldie sayers
geoff capes
bev kinch
christine boxer
greg rutherford
chris tomlinson
chris thompson
becky lyne
mike winch
hayley tullett
germaine mason
shirley strong
david ottley
johnnny herbert
katehrine merry
jon brown
tasha danvers

4th tier
tim benjamin
fred solle
ian mccombie
chris maddocks
les morton
brendan reilly
geoff parsons
ade oyeptian
leon baptiste
julian golding
doug walker
jo jackson
lisa kellher
meg ritchie
bev callender
emily freeman
colin reitz
roger hackney
jenny stoute
elih child
peri shakes -drayton
helen clitherhoe
john maycock
andy baddeley
rhys williams
will sharman
david sharpe
michael rimmer
paul gray
gary staines
jade johnson
paula fudge
joyce smith
matt elias
jon solly
steve binns
phil beattie
max robertson
donna fraser
katherine merry
kay morley-0brown
tifany ofili
marilyn okoro
jessica simpson
charlene thomas
steve barry
gary cook
heather oakes
lorraine shaw
linda keough
kevin mckay
matthew yates
brian whittle
jon graham
myrttle augee
michael east
steve heard
ikem billy
paul evans
anthony whiteman
gary staines
licoln asquith
mick mcfarlane
julain golding
donovan reid
hugh teape
nigel walker
rob newton
steph twell
sheila holyroyd
sahron gibson
simon wiliams
jon gladwin
rob harrison
joan baptiste
mick makin
nathan douglas
kim hagger
louise hazell
debbie marti
jo jennings
alsion wyeth
linda keough
marot
priscilla welch
nathan woodward
mike winch
paul edwards
mikle edwards
ben challenger
martyn bernhard
bob weir
mick jones
michael rosswess
jo jennings
debbie marti
james dasslou
simeon williamson
tifany bporter
jodie willimas
tyrone edgar
steve crabb
gary lough
darren braithwaite
nat muir
ian mavkie
geoff smith
peris wilikins

WooHoo - Westy's back

My definition of "Great" is different to yours Westy.

I would only put Edwards, Coe and Radcliffe on the list. I think they were people who took their event to a new level (more than just a WR) The others were excellent athletes, but Greats for me are household names in other countries years after they retire and I think those above fulfil this now or will in the future. The others all had outstanding achievements, but great means a little more to me.

Say what you like about him and his discrepancies, but Linford is still one of the all time great sprinters

Some on that third list are still young athletes.

Isn't jodie williams still a teenager?

bigjonatkinson wrote:Say what you like about him and his discrepancies, but Linford is still one of the all time great sprinters

I debated this and I was inclined to agree but I ruled him out as he did not break a world record or really put himself in a class above the others. Paula, Daley and Seb at times looked unbeatable and I never felt the same with Linford

true true, but I was going more for the aspect that he won every thing and beat all his contemporaries when it mattered at some point or other. Do agree that particularly Radcliffes and Coe's WRs are/were truly landmark performances.

I'd have Colin Jackson knocking on the door too. Longstanding world record, only better by a few hundredths in 20 years. All he's missing is an olympic title.

I was actually wondering whether we're approaching the max performance for the high hurdles seeing as the record is only slowly edging downwards. Although thought the same with 100m record in the 90's and look what happened there! A topic for another thread perhaps but thought I'd put it out there!

John Regis 200m 19.86s.

Little questions: British Greats? or Great Britons? Or just Greats?

In what event did Jessica Simpson win her medals in?

She must count as a plastic Brit anyway.

Dave Moorcroft in the same group as Becky Lyne and Brian Whittle. Interesting stuff.

bigjon

his 'discrepancies'? That's one way of putting it I suppose

say what i like about him? he was banned for two years for using nandrolone in 1999.
He was covicted of using psuedoephedrine at seoul but kept his medal

Can also agree on Colin Jackson, but the lack of Olympic gold must irk him (as he was the best for many years) and people ask about WR´s and OG´s and he is lacking one of them. I think I would put him up there though

I guess Linford is in the same bracket having beaten everyone when it mattered, but his "discrepancies" do put me off


Brian Whittle.... The commentary on "one shoe Whittle" is just great, I must have a look on youtube and listen again