Despite his reluctance to commit to a full year of competition in the 2011 world surfing championship tour, Kelly Slater’s victory in the Quiksilver Pro at Snapper Rocks on Wednesday has got the rest of the pro’s thinking “here we go again.”
He is heralded as the greatest surfer of all time after a record-breaking career that includes 10 world titles and 46 tour victories. Statistically speaking, his closest rival is retired legend Tom Curren, who clocked up 33 tour victories in his own highly decorated career. Kelly has the record for both youngest and oldest world champion in men’s surfing.
At the age of 39, Slater shows no signs of slowing down, and no fear towards the new crop of youngsters nipping at his heels. Without Slater, one wonders where the sport of surfing would be today.
He is the perennial crowd favourite in every country the tour visits, and has brought the surfing sub-culture into the mainstreams conscience.
The achievements and success Kelly Slater has experienced in surfing raises the question: Is Kelly Slater the greatest male athlete of all time?
Now I know that touting anything as the ‘greatest of all time’ can be riddled with problems, so what I really mean to say is the greatest male athlete of the modern era.
Because, let’s face it, before television was created sport remained in the realm of amateur competition rather than the professional athletes that we have in the modern era, athletes who are 100 per cent devoted to being the best they can be.
In terms of world titles or their sporting equivalent, no one has displayed the dominance over an international field the way Kelly has. Let’s take a look at the competition:
• Lance Armstrong recorded a remarkable seven Tour de France victories.
• Michael Schumacher is a seven-time world champion in Formula One (arguably the pinnacle of competitive motorsport).
• Valentino Rossi has nine Grand Prix world championships to his name (although two of these came through the 125cc and 250cc categories which are not the height of MotoGP. He still has seven world championships in the premier class).
• Michael Jordan achieved greatness in basketball with his six NBA titles, five MVP awards and two Olympic gold medals.
• Roger Federer spent 237 consecutive weeks in the ATP number one position, roughly four and a half years being number one.
• Sir Donald Bradman finished his career with a Test batting average of 99.94, an amazing achievement.
• Muhammad Ali, who is widely considered being the greatest boxer of all time (although boxing experts also argue the case of Sugar Ray Robinson for this accolade), Ali won an Olympic gold medal, and was a three-time World Heavyweight Champion.
• Tiger Woods is the winner of 14 professional golf championships and was the youngest and fastest player to win 50 tournaments on tour.
Of these athletes, can you say without a doubt that any one of them was by far and away the best of all time in their field? Using the same equipment, playing a different era of players, could they still achieve the same greatness?
In my eyes this removes Roger Federer from the list, as his stranglehold over men’s tennis has diminished as Rafael Nadal’s star rises. Tiger Woods gets the scrap here as well, because while no one could beat him when he was winning, after the sex scandal it seems Woods needs some of this tiger blood Charlie Sheen is so fond of to regain some mojo.
Valentino Rossi gets the boot too because many believe that Giacomo Agostini was the greater rider, and Agostini holds the record for 122 race wins whilst Rossi has won 105 thus far in his career.
In terms of greatness an additional critique for these athletes needs to be introduced, their impact on the sport. From the remaining athletes listed, I believe only Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali and Don Bradman can lay claim to having more influence over their respective sports than Kelly Slater.
Jordan repopularised basketball when the NBA was struggling to compete with the other major American sports. Jordan brought basketball to the centre stage in a way no one else could, using his freakish talents and harnessing the power of marketing and advertising that forever changed the way the public interacts with any sport, let alone basketball.
Ali was a cultural icon whose natural ability made him popular the world over. And Bradman was Bradman. He is still talked about by modern players with glowing fondness in awe of his talents.
But Kelly Slater brought surfing to the mainstream. Ask any non-surfer who the best is and they will mention probably the only name they know, Slater. Ask any surfer who their favourite surfer is and chances are that it’s Kelly Slater.
Kelly’s style of surfing is mimicked by surfers the world over. He pushed competitive surfing to a new level, causing the way events are judged to be re-thought.
Watching the Quicksilver Pro you could see the crowds surging towards the water’s edge every time he entered the water.
His domination of the sport is unheralded and most agree it will never be repeated. But is this enough to warrant being called the greatest male athlete of the modern era? Have your say, Is there anyone I left out?
Article link: Kelly Slater greatest athlete of modern era?. Written by Brandon Livesay, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion
