The Greatest British Sportspeople 200-191

200. Eric Bristow (Darts, 1980s-90s)

The late, great darts commentator Sid Waddell came up with one of the greatest ever sports quotes:

"When Alexander of Macedonia was 33, he cried salt tears because there were no more worlds to conquer..... Eric Bristow's only 27."

It's beautiful, but we know better than that. Darts is a fun sport, but it's not a great, worldwide, glory and thunder sport. It's almost exclusively for unfit Northern Europeans. But I come not to disrespect its great players. Lots of people play darts, and lots of people love it, and Eric Bristow is largely responsible for that. He was a household name in the 1980s and a five-time World Champion. Bristow, as the second greatest dartist ever, just about earns his place on this list.

199. Sarah Stevenson (Taekwondo, 2000s)

Though she won one solitary Olympic bronze, in 2008, still Sarah Stevenson deserves a place as a pioneer, someone who achieved in a sport where Britain had never had any success before and paved the way for others' greater success. She was twice World Champion, most notably in 2011 shortly after the death of both her parents.

198. Amy Williams (Skeleton bob, 2000s)

It is always notable when a Brit wins a gold at the Winter Olympics. There have been very few of them. The skeleton bob is also mentally scary and must require uncommon bravery. She basically only did it for a couple of years, having been a decent 400m runner, got her gold medal, and then went on to a media career. Sporting fame, but perhaps not sporting greatness.

197. Ian Woosnam (Golf, 1980s-1990s)

I perhaps haven't had as much respect for Ian Woosnam as I should have had. He won a Major. He actually got to World Number 1. His Ryder Cup captaincy was an outstanding success. He may not have been at the very top for very long, he may not have looked like a great sportsman, but he pretty much was.

196. Kriss Akabusi (Athletics 1980s-1990s)
Akabusi's website - the video is one of the greatest things ...

Not just a comic figure (albeit a great comic figure), the most excitable man in the world also won three Olympic medals, and couldn't have given anything more to his career. His personal best (a European record) would have won gold medals in years to come, and his 1991 World Championship gold medal-winning anchor leg in the relay was one of the most enjoyable and splendid moments in British athletics.

195. Lloyd Honeyghan (Boxing, 1980s-1990s)

This guy shows that sport is all about seizing your defining moment. Lloyd Honeyghan was a very good boxer, but people thought there were plenty better. But he had one chance to be great, truly great, when he travelled to America to fight the then-Pound 4 Pound World Number 1 boxer, Donald Curry. And he destroyed him. And beating the best makes you, just for that short space of time, the best yourself.

194. Steve Cram (Athletics, 1980s)

Steve Cram was a beautiful runner, and when I first got into Athletics, in 1985, he was the best runner in the world, unrivalled in both 800m and 1500m. He broke three World Records in a month that year. But there's another British middle distance runner with the same initials who's going to rank an awful lot higher, and that's because he won two Olympic gold medals, whereas, when Steve Cram really should have been Olympic 1500m winner, in 1988, he came fourth. I simply could not understand it, and have thought of him as rather a bottler since. But not at all really. He was the 1983 World Champion and 1984 Olympic silver medallist and the number of times he was in the Sports Personality of the Year Top 3 shows he was highly thought of. Anyway, fine lines between sporting immortality and mere excellence.

193. David Broome (Show jumping, 1950s - 1990s)

It may not involve much sweating or explosive speed, but as far as horsemanship goes, I often find it easier to admire the nerve and control of show jumpers to national hunt jockeys. Winner of three Olympic medals, multiple world champion and with a career spanning over 30 years, Broome may have been Britain's greatest show jumper.

192. David Gower (Cricket, 1970s-1990s)

To some people, the reason Gower makes it on to the list is just here in the photo - his matchless style and ease as a batsman. Gower himself appears to think like that, not putting much stock by stats. But stats, particularly in cricket, really do matter. For a man who didn't care about stats, and who was disparaged for underachieving and not living up to his talent, his stats are just fine.
Just so we're clear, David Gower was my true and total childhood hero, but I don't think I'm being generous here. Over 8000 test runs, an average over 44 in the 80s when bowling really was bowling and boundaries were further away, bats worse, and wickets dodgier (the equivalent now would be about 5 runs higher, I think), many many brave and match-winning innings, and my favourite, captaining England to the 1985 Ashes with a massive 732 runs in the series. The stats may not matter to Gower, but they matter to me.

191. Jonah Barrington (Squash, 1960s-1970s)

It might be rubbish for TV and not in the Olympics, but squash is a proper hardcore sport played by lots of people in lots of countries, and Jonah Barrington, I'm led to believe, was one of its greatest ever players, third only to the Khans, Jahangir and Jansher, of Pakistan.

So there we go, those are my first 10. A long way to go!