Latest Site News

[PeteFromLeeds]

Welcome to the World Cup of Sportspeople! With the Women's Football World Cup in full swing just finished and the Men's World Cup being a resounding success last year, we'll be following on with a tournament, not of countries, but of the sports-men and women themselves. This contest is designed to select the greatest sportspeople from each continent through a number of rounds, selecting the best of the best, and pitting them together to show who we really think is the best sportsperson of them all!

30 of our Finalists have been decided - that means there's 20 more sports up for grabs. The remaining 40 sportspeople will contest for these by going head-to-head in the Playoffs. Here are the details.

- You must choose one sportsperson from each pair listed. You can do this however you want but please make your choice clear
- Each sportsperson has been given a short description of their major achievements to make it easier for you to make up your mind. There is also a list of the pairs in the first post without the descriptions/flags
- The winners of each head-to-head will advance through to the Final, whilst the losers will be eliminated.

Part 1

Garrincha (Brazil - Football - Led Brazil to 1962 World Cup victory, first player to win the Golden Boot, Golden Ball and World Cup in the same tournament)
vs.
Jack Brabham (Australia - Formula One - Won three Championships and 14 Grand Prix races)


Sachin Tendulkar (India - Cricket - Ranked as second greatest Test batsman of all time, won 2011 World Cup with India)
vs.
Ryan Giggs (Wales - Football - Won Premier League 13 times and Champions' League twice, won PFA Young Player of the Year twice)


Bobby Moore (England - Football - Won Footballer of the Year in 1964, captained England to World Cup victory in 1966)
vs.
Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya - Athletics - Won the London Marathon a record four times, won gold in the 2016 Olympic Marathon)


Sebastian Coe (England - Athletics - Won two Olympic golds and one European gold)
vs.
Frankie Dettori (Italy - Horse Racing - Rode more than 500 winners, rode all 7 winners on Ascot British Champions' Day 1996)


Laura Kenny (Trott) (England - Track Cycling - 4 Olympic Golds, 7 World Championship Golds, 12 European Championship golds)
vs.
Shane Warne (Australia - Cricket - Captained Australia national team, only player to have scored more than 3,000 Test runs without a career century)


Diego Maradona (Argentina - Football - Led Argentina to 1986 World Cup victory and won Golden Ball)
vs.
Garfield Sobers (Barbados - Cricket - Captained the West Indies from 1965 to 1972, considered to be cricket's greatest all-rounder)


Bradley Wiggins (England - Cycling - Won Tour de France in 2012, won 5 Olympic golds)
vs.
Kapil Dev (India - Cricket - Led India to win the 1983 Cricket World Cup, held record for the greatest number of wickets taken in Test Cricket)


Thierry Henry (France - Football - Arsenal's all-time leading scorer, won two League Cups and one Premier League title with Arsenal and 1998 World Cup with France)
vs.
Nelson Piquet (Brazil - Motor Racing - Won three championships, 23 Grand Prix wins)


Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia - Athletics - World Record holder for 5000m and 10,000m, most successful runner in World Cross Country Championships with a total of 10 titles)
vs.
Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco - Athletics - Outdoor 1500m, 200m and mile World Record holder, two Olympic Golds and 4 World Championship golds)


Jonah Lomu (New Zealand - Rugby - Scored 37 international tries, 63 caps)
vs.
Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka - Cricket - Highest wicket-taker in Test cricket, held the number 1 player ranking for a record 1,711 days)