Aren’t we lucky

Roger’s World
Monday August 24, 2009

After watching the IAAF Track and Field Championships the thought rolled into my head, “Aren’t we lucky that we are all alive to see the greatest achievements in sport?”

Are we witnessing the best ever? While it would be unreasonable to think that no one else will come around to surpass what these athletes are doing (and I’d sure like to see whomever does) but you’ve got to marvel at what is happening right now.

If you are in your early 20’s or less, I make no apologies for including some of those 80’s or 70’s legends. Do some investigating, some of their accomplishments have not been surpassed, and maybe never.

Let me break this down to a list of the greatest athletes I’ve ever seen. They are in no particular order, some were grouped together because it was too tough to leave them out, and yes, largely endurance sport based.

1. Usain Bolt’s 9.58 in the 100m, 19.19 in the 200m at the recent World Championships.

2. Triathletes – Paula Newby-Fraser, Chrissie Wellington, Natasha Badmann, Dave Scott, Mark Allen, Luc Van Lierde, Vanessa Fernandes, Simon Lessing, Simon Whitfield, Melanie McQuaid and Jamie Whitmore. Accomplishments are way too many to mention and Wellington seems to be unbeatable at the Ironman distance.

3. Roger Federer. The greatest? He just turned 28, and has15 Grand Slam titles and counting. Then there’s Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, the Williams sisters, Pete Sampras, Bjorn Borg, Andre Agassi, and John McEnroe. Can you tell I am a tennis fan?

4. Wayne Gretzky & Mario Lemieux. Need I say more? We wait to see what Syd the kid accomplishes by the end of his career.

5. Kenenisa Bekele, Haile Gebrselassie, and Paula Radcliffe. Scary fast long distance runners.

6. Lance Armstrong. Cancer survivor, 7 TDF’s in a row, comeback at age 38, and more to come in 2010.

7. Michael Phelps. 14 Olympic gold medals, countless world records, and he is far from over.

8. Bjorn Dahlie. The greatest cross-country skier ever? I think so. 8 Olympic golds, and tons of World Championship and World Cup titles.

9. Michael Jordan. 3 NBA titles in a row, retired, then came back to win 3 more. He also rejuvenated the NBA and took Nike brand to a whole new level.

10. Tiger Woods on his way to being the best golfer ever.

I am sure you can come with more. I know I can. But maybe I’ve given you something to think about. Have a great week. Hope to see you all at Cobourg for a great weekend of racing.