I still have to disagree with that. Football had always been much more physical before then. It was legal to charge down a goalkeeper and knock him into the net (McParland v Wood, F.A. Cup Final 1957, for instance). Also “The Battle of Highbury” back in the thirties, when England taught the Italian show ponies the art of good old-fashioned clogging.
Brazil in 1974 were no angels either…
Secretariat absolutely fits the criteria if animals are allowed. Despite advances in technology and training, despite the best efforts of actual selective breeding(!), Secretariat’s records for all three races of the Triple Crown still stand.
In the Kentucky Derby he comes from dead last, running wide to pass the field and still setting the record despite covering more ground than necessary. He ran each quarter mile faster than the one before, accelerating throughout the race.
In the Preakness he again comes from dead last, runs wide on the turns and still sets the record.
Then in the Belmont Secretariat get the inside track and absolutely crushes the competition, which was thin because the winner was a foregone conclusion. The fastest 1.5 miles run on dirt by any horse before or since.
Those videos are well worth watching despite the addition of a soundtrack- the call by the announcer is spectacular as well. The vet who performed his necropsy estimated that his heart weighed 22 pounds, nearly three times the size of an average horse’s heart. A true physical outlier.
Why yes, I do have a bit of a horse-crush on Secretariat. Does it show?
Gary Player won his first major in 1961, he’s 79 years old now and still plays a mean game, her in South Africa and all over the world - but despite having the very best equipment, he doesn’t do today what he used to!
Still beats me to the ground though.
Randy Matson’s 1965 world record in the shot put was 21.52 meters (70’ 7¼" for you metric-phobes). That would be quite competitive today; it would have won a bronze medal at both the 2013 World Championships and 2012 Olympics, and wouldn’t have been terribly far off first place. Mason was up to 21.78m in 1967 and that will win nearly any major competition these days.
However, it’s important to note that performance-enhancing drugs were totally legal until 1972 and they most certainly are not now. I’m not accusing Matson of anything, but use of steroids such as Deca Durabolin was pretty widespread among top throwers by the early 1960s. It’s a powerful drug, but also extremely easy to detect in tests.
I’d also take Ralph Boston or his Soviet rival, Igor Ter-Ovanasyen, over any of today’s long jumpers. The distances they jumped are competitive with today’s jumpers, even with modern equipment and training, and both were tremendously consistent athletes.
Are you saying you have played with Gary Player?!?!?
I have stopped following basketball, but how would Michael Jordan do today? Or perhaps someone like John Stockton?
Obviously there is no way to ever prove anything in this regard but to say the '65 Dodgers would be eaten alive by any team today is preposterous. In a seven game World Series setting I would argue that the Dodgers could beat any current team and it might be 4-0. The '63 Dodgers were better. I would give anything to see Yadier Molina try his “ouch, you hit my hand with that inside pitch, not my bat” against Drysdale. The result would not have been pretty.
Yep, Willie Mosconi in his prime. There has never been a straight pool player of his skill. Before his stroke he was one of the most incredible players that ever lived.
btw this record of 526 straight balls still hasn’t been broken. Todays players wouldn’t stand a chance against Mosconi.
I’m going to argue Poker. The Game Theory that govern’s today’s top play is far more complex than anything the game saw even 10 years ago. Cagey veterans that read peoples’ eyes are simply dead money to today’s players that focus on Game Theory and Combinatorics. The shelf life of cutting edge poker literature is probably <4 years at this point and short handed games are largely solved. Jonny Moss and Amarillo Slim wouldn’t know what to think of Phil Galfond, Jason Mercier, and Anette Obrestad. The game was simply different back then.
Aren’t you arguing the opposite then?
Not far enough back, but I do think Michael Jordan from 1992 or so could easily compete in the NBA today. And he would be one of the top 3 players.
I think you are arguing the opposite of the idea of this thread.
Is Doyle Brunson still going strong?
I don’t know about salsa, but I think Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly could show the people on Dancing with the Stars a thing or two.
What about the high jump? (For horses, not people.) According to what I just looked up, the official Fédération Equestre Internationale record for high jump is 2.47 m (8 ft 1.25 in) by Huaso ex-Faithful, ridden by Capt. Alberto Larraguibel Morales. It was set in 1949. So I think that qualifies for an equine athlete of 50 + years ago.
Yeah, sorry I was unclear. Oakminister and Russian Heel suggested poker. I meant I would argue it’s inclusion in this list.
Alive and kicking, though he’s largely stepped back from the game. He was entering the WSOP Main Event every year until this year, but has said at 81 the hours are simply getting too long for him.
Fencing, the modern olympic sport, did not exist 400 years ago. Modern fencing is so removed from the martial skill of 400 years ago that I would definitely bet on the modern fencer.
Maybe off topic, but I wonder if this may be true of many areas of human achievement beyond sports. For instance, I’d imagine a solid musician in a bar band today would become a rock god if magically transported to the summer of 1965.
Pro-wrestlers from the 1950s-1960s seem healthier (and more likely to live to a ripe old age) than those from after 1980.
Hey, someone who knows Anderson. One of my favorite guys. Spent his life after his Olympic gold medal running a home for boys in legal trouble.
Bobby Jones? Babe Didrikson Zaharias?
I think you have to look at the raw talent and then think about if they grew up exposed to the modern standards of training/nutrition, opportunities, equipment, etc. - a lot of them probably would have attained even higher levels of performance than they did.
Or consider the opposite scenario, how would modern athletes have fared back in the day with more primitive golf clubs, tennis racquets, bulky swimsuits, etc. Maybe a lot of present day NFL players would run home crying after a playing a quarter without pads and helmets against the likes of Jim Thorpe.
Agreed - but it’s notable how fast he was without competition (e.g. his finish at the Belmont Stakes).