Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Easy: Shaolin Masters.
Spetznaz, although that may only be part of some kind of blood sport.
Surfing is a good one. If they could combine surfing and soccer that would be awesome. Maybe Kung fu and other sports kinda like kung fu soccer.

Roman-Greco and free-style wrestlers. Strength, stamina, push, pull, throw there own body weight around all the time.

Definitely triathletes. There's no other sport that requires someone to balance three extremely demanding disciplines. Also, it requires you to use nearly every muscle in your body. On top of that, they are the most mentally tough athletes in the world to have to endure that much pain for such an extended period of time.

Alexander Karelin.

I agree with veganmomma with wrestling, but I would to extend this to MMA/Contact Martial Arts. Although I think every athlete has their own goal on what they want to accomplish, and use different training techniques, MMA fighters have to make sure their whole body is trained to meet the rigors of the sport.

Weight lifting for strength, running/biking for endurance, wrestling for power and endurance. The train their whole bodies as a single weapon. If they are top tier fighters they train every muscle in everyway possible for the task of winning, unlike other sports where they only need to train specific muscle groups to advance.

And if we are going to take mental toughness, doing a triatholon, though it demands respect from the athletes doing it, most fighters would try to do it without much fear, untrained.

But if a triathalete enters a ring untrained, I think he would be scared.

I wouldn't say that. Most people doing anything they aren't familiar with will be intimidated. The MMA fighter wouldn't be afraid of the race but he'd probably be afraid of failure and would feel pathetic not finishing a race. As for other athletes trying MMA there's a lot of morons out there that aren't affraid of anything...some of them are couch potatoes...thing is they'd expect to do bad.

I guess thats true. Id expect to do horrible in a triathalon but not afraid to attempt one untrained. But even though I train in martial arts Im quite frightened by getting in a ring with an Anderson Silva

I still think that each athlete can be the best at what they do. I still think that a great athlete is strong in all the other ways his sport isnt intended for.

I actually think Shaolin Soccer Athletes are the best.

Rock Climbers are the Best Athletes Ever.

You name the skill, we use it. Pure strength in every muscle in our body. Aerobic endurance. Flexibility. Balance. Body position awareness. Mental toughness. Determination. Control of fear (but not elimination, because healthy fear keeps you alive). Rock climbing demands all these skills and more.

Many other sports demand all of these skills as well. What sets rock climbing apart is that we face ultimate consequence if our athleticism falls short. Gymnasts should possess all these skills, but if they don't, they go home without a medal. A rock climber who doesn't possess the athleticism to make it to the top of the climb is stuck on a cold, dark ledge facing weather, starvation, and eventually death. We are very careful in our preparation: knowing our route, bringing enough food and equipment, and training obsessively before we tackle big climbs.

We don't get paid anything, because our sport is not photogenic. I showed some non-climber friends a video of some of the hardest climbs ever ascended, and they asked if we could watch a soap opera instead. Literally (well, that's their problem). Rock climbing has thus developed a "dirtbag" culture, where people sell all their possessions, camp in Yosemite for years on end, eating leftover food from the cafeteria, just so they can do groundbreaking climbs. We climb just for pure love of the experience, one so sublime that words fail.

Dean Karnazes!

Swimmers and Soccer players got more votes that wrestlers? Yeah right! Wrestlers have stamina, muscle endurance and mad strength.

I voted CYCLISTS. It's a hard decision. I was surprised there's no votes for runners... to be able to run a 42k marathon you need to get in shape! But Triathlon athletes, even more fit, in the general aspect of it, because it's 3 different disciplines, more full body workout. Also wrestlers (all martial artists) because there's virtually no limit to how fit you need to be for thoses kind of sports when you want to push yourself to the maximum... but it's like that for all sports... so technically ALL athletes can virtually be the greatest athletes in the world because to push yourself to the maximum and be the champion you need to give all you have. But I voted cyclists because to make the Tour de France, each day is comparable to a 42k ruuning marathon, but Tour de France athletes need to perform this exploit everyday for weeks! Is there such kind of competitions in other sports?

Imagine not just doing that with the Tour de France, but also the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España in one year.

Imagine not just doing that with the Tour de France, but also the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España in one year.

Imagine not just doing that with the Tour de France, but also the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España in one year.