Matt
Years ago

Best sportswoman since 1970

Who do you reckon is the best female athlete since 1970?
A few who come to mind, Tennis especially, Margaret Court, Serena Williams,Steffi Graff,Martina Navratalova, Chris Evert etc. And then in track and field, Jackie Joyner Kersie, or basketball,Lisa Leslie, Cheryl Miller, maybe even Lauren Jackson.. Plenty of winter Olympic athletes to some may not know about.. Gayle Devers was good as was Mary Jose Perec etc... Dara Torress and Amy Van Dyken and a few other swimmers etc and Divers and Gymnasts and winter olympians eg Linsday Vonn and figure skaters like Yuna Kim.. Golf as well some good players over the years and soccer eg Marta from Brazil.. Soccer is such a popular sport and such high participation numbers which is why it should always be given high status when assessing greatness. Surfing has had some good athletes to...

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Anonymous
Years ago

Bruce Jenner?

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Yinka Dare
Years ago

I think Serena takes this

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Melbourne Boy
Years ago

Heather McKay, undefeated in all major competitions for 15 years is hard to argue against.

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Anonymous
Years ago

One of these

Serena Williams
Steffi Graff
Lauren Jackson
Kari Webb

There'd be one or two runners or swimmers but can't recall and some were probably on the juice.

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Isaac
Years ago

Had to look up Heather McKay:

Heather Blundell was born in Queanbeyan, New South Wales. As Heather McKay, she completely dominated the sport of women's squash in the 1960s and '70s. She lost only two matches in her entire career (in 1960 and 1962), and was unbeaten in competitive squash matches from 1962 through to 1981, when she retired from active open squash.

The British Open was effectively the world champs. She won it every year for 15 or so years. Wow.

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Camel 31
Years ago

From 1970 onward , Serena Williams .. Samantha Kerr...

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Brendan J Boyce
Years ago

As great as Tessa Lavey is, I'd have to go with Nat Burton.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Kournikova.

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AshT
Years ago

Womens golf hit the news rarely and that was only when Kari Webb won. I believe the topic title stated something about 'the best?'!

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SIXERS VOICE
Years ago

Isaac,
Would have to agree with Heather McKay. No woman has ever dominated a sport like her. Also the topic was since 1970 and she dominated up until retiring in 1981. No one IMO has dominated any sport like that since 1970.

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Hobbs
Years ago

tiana mangakahia based on what I read on these forums.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Ellyse Perry should get a mention. While probably not the best ever, representing Aus in world cups for soccer and cricket is pretty special.

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PeterJohn
Years ago

Melbourne Boy +1

Isaac - look up Geoff Hunt for her male (almost) equivalent

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Manu Fieldel
Years ago

Why 1970 specifically?

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Anonymous
Years ago

Geoff Hunt is Michael Hunt's brother. Great WCW referee. ;)

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Matt
Years ago

Coz 1970 is considered modern times, how far back do you want to go Manu, the ancient Olympics or 1950's where do you draw the line of how far back you go?

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koberulz
Years ago

1970 is modern?

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Anonomouse
Years ago

It is for me, unfortunately KR.

Heather wins this I reckon, although I'm not convinced the opposition was all that strong.

Shane Gould was going ok also until she quit.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Speaking of sportswomen that's a funky name for one.

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koberulz
Years ago

It is for me, unfortunately KR.

I don't think of 'modern' as 'within my lifetime', or even 'within my adult life' or anything like that. To me, modernity is about the qualities of the sport itself: rule changes, professionalism, new technologies allowing for better equipment, TV coverage, etc.

To me, the modern NBA cannot possibly have started prior to 1980, but the line is probably better drawn even more recently. The 1980s had minimal TV coverage, often delayed. Hand-checking and illegal defense were in. You could draw the line of the modern NBA as recently as the mid-00s.

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Hoops

Best sportswoman since 1970

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