The greatest athlete you never heard of (probably)

[180mmCrank]

Andy Holmes died on Sunday at 51. The original strong silent type. He was proably one of the greatest athletes that most people will never have heard of. He happened to be a rower but to honest he could have done just about anything - he was raw talent. If anybody is interested in finding out more...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/oct/25/andy-holmes-obituary

 

[ergmonkey]

Thanks for the post, and sorry to see that Holmes has passed. In fairness, though, Sir Steven Redgrave is probably also among the greatest athletes many cycling forum users won't have heard of.

 

[forty four]

jure robic an ultra endurance hard man should be mentioned he was recently killed i look up to him he is a bad ***. harder in total than any pro tour rider.

 

[180mmCrank]

Thanks for the post, and sorry to see that Holmes has passed. In fairness, though, Sir Steven Redgrave is probably also among the greatest athletes many cyclng forum users won't have heard of.

Both great athletes. You are right people haven't heard of either but there is slightly more chance they've heard of Steven - "He's that canoe guy - isn't he?"

They redfined the sport of rowing at a time when it was all about even paced endurance racing - they would blast out of the blocks get so far ahead they could practically paddle for 200m and then row it in as hard as they needed to win. It was pretty amazing to be around. I knew Andy for over 20 years and never heard him say more than half a dozen words - a real man of mystery.

T

 

[sublimit]

Everybody in Britain would of heard of Redgrave because he is a legend here. With Andy Holmes its a bit different because his big race successes were in 1984, 1988. Other Redgrave race partners like Pinsent, Cracknell, Foster are probably better known.

Rowers are better known than cyclists to the general public in the UK by and large- anyway its sad to hear of Holmes sudden death.