Which female athletes could beat a Top 100 male?

Polly P wrote:

Another way to look at it...to illustrate the difference in explosiveness between male and female - Britney Griner is 6'8" and is about only WNBA player to dunk during games. She barely can dunk. Mugsey Bogues is 5'3". Like a foot-and-a-half shorter. He can dunk with flourish. Just no comparison.

Mugsy Bogues could never dunk a basketball. I played against him (yes, I'm that old).

He could dunk a volleyball, but his hands were too small to dunk a basketball.

Surprise! wrote:

RossiCheated wrote:

If you put a #1 ranked woman in a field with the top 100 men and played four rounds over a fairly short and tight course (like Colonial, which Anika picked for a reason), which would mitigate the disadvantage off the tee, you would likely find that the woman does not come in last all the time.

Golf is different. Could a women beat a top 100 male? Of course. I have friends who are scratch golfers that wouldn't get last at every pga tournament because people can have horrific days.

The better question would be, if the #1 women player played on the men's pga tour, would she be ranked in the top 100 at the end of the year. No, not even close.

I agree completely. I was just answering the question as it was asked.

Could a women be ranked in the top 100 in men's golf?

No. We agree on that.

For 2 glorious years in the 1960s cyclist Beryl Burton held the men's world 12-hour time trial record.

In 1967, Beryl Burton was in great form and she entered the Otley CC 12 Hour Time trial. In those days, men and women weren’t allowed to race together. So to separate them, Beryl Burton started two minutes (as opposed to one minute) behind the fastest man – Mike Mcnamara. It was a ridiculous set up – a 1 minute gap between the mens and womens race provided the legal distinction; but, it gave Beryl a real carrot to chase – a realistic chance to overtake the fastest male time triallist For Mike it was hardly a good situation; he had everything to lose and not much to gain. If he lost to a women, it would do him no favours. On the other hand, if Beryl failed to beat Mike, no harm, after all she was a women and who could expect a women to beat a man?

Anyway, the race began and after 156 miles, the 2 minute gap was the same. But on 236 miles, Beryl had finally caught up with Mike, as she passed him she casually asked Mike,

‘would you like a liquorice allsort?

Mike, in gentlemanly, fashion replied ‘Ta, love’ and promptly ate the sweet as the great female cyclist Beryl Burton swept past.

At the end of the 12 hour race Mike Mcnamara had beaten the 9 year old 12 hour record, finishing with 276.52 miles. However, his record beating ride, was completely overshadowed by Beryl’s ride which left her with a total of 277.52 miles, the first time any male road cycling record had been held by a women.

By the way, Beryl was not a full time cyclist, she gained little in the way of sponsorship and had to work full time as well as bringing up a daughter Denise. At one time Beryl worked as a rhubarb picker for a club mate of Morley CC.

Beryl Burton died aged 58 in a cycling accident. There is a memorial garden to her in her home town of Morley, near Leeds

http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/316/cycling/great-moments-of-cycling-beryl-burton/

It sounds like she was a beryl of fun.

Greedy Capitalist wrote:

Polly P wrote:

Another way to look at it...to illustrate the difference in explosiveness between male and female - Britney Griner is 6'8" and is about only WNBA player to dunk during games. She barely can dunk. Mugsey Bogues is 5'3". Like a foot-and-a-half shorter. He can dunk with flourish. Just no comparison.

Mugsy Bogues could never dunk a basketball. I played against him (yes, I'm that old).

He could dunk a volleyball, but his hands were too small to dunk a basketball.

Muggsy Bogues did dunk on December 4th, 1990 in a game between the Hornets and the Washington Bullets in Charlotte. So he is capable of dunking, but he hasnt dunked in a game since except in practice.

A Rod • 7 years

Katie Ledecky also chicked Michael Phelps in the 400 free at a Grand Prix meet earlier in the year. The fitness levels and training plans may have been at different places, but Phelps is a former American record holder in the event and all.

My favorite Ledecky article:

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/katie-ledecky-athlete-best-swimmer/

Really loved the Beryl Burton story. thanks.

In athletics testosterone is so key to performance it makes the OP's question sound naïve, or women hating trolling.

But if we're just talking sports, as many are, and holding golf up as a sport(!) then I've seen women beat top men before in other 'sports'.

Indy Car. Danica Patrick (spelling?) If you consider Indy drivers as among the top 100 drivers in the world. You've obviously got F1, WRC but Indy's up there.

Snooker. Shut up before you even start. The baize is green for a reason. Those old time folks took golf inside and put it on a table.

Alison Fisher vs Neal Folds. (5-3) In - I think- the Matchroom League. 1992. Folds was a top player, not just top 100. Fisher went to play 9-ball in the US. Would be surprised if she didn't also beat some top 100 pool players.

Curling. (winter Olympic sport - boulders, ice, target). I've seen womens teams take down the men. But don't know where or when.

Lawn bowls/Crown bowls. Again, don't know when and where, but women have upset men in competition.

Horse riding. I've seen women beating top men on the flat, over fences, 3 day eventing, show jumping......but I don't know the names because I don't give. C'mon the horses!

I'm sure there are many other examples of women beating men down like Beryl Burton.

Not sure about the relevancy of all the Nobel stuff. Men voting for men in a male dominated society.

When I think of the Nobel Prize, I think of Peace. So using the Nobel prize as a barometer in this crude battle of the sexes seems perverse.

Because how many women would make the top 100 list for, say, Serial Killer / Warmonger / [insert heinous crime here]............cos we all know women jes lurve to start up those wars and march into battle. Killllllllllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tssssssssk. Seriously. Fix up yaself. We all know women are better.

Gaberdine Suit wrote:Any track athletes?

Tennis?

Golf?

Fighting?

it's ~ 10% for speed events = lower body

it's ~ 20 - 30% for upper body events

Do you think there are a hundred 135-140 lb. men on this entire earth who could beat Rousey? Easily

i have never seen here wrestle

she judo's

the 135 - 140lb judo(akas) are the toughest category that ever drew breathe

the top 10000+++ men woud rip her elbow out of her socket before she barely walked away from the touch-glove...

funny how she never took on karina :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karina_Bryant

Other people have said ultras, but didn't name names. Rory Bosio was 7th overall at UTMB in 2013, and probably beat several top 100 males. I'm sure she would beat many top 100 males in that race if you lined them all up with her.

Has Max King been chicked in an ultra? He's likely top 100 in ultrarunning.

Ledecky's WR time in the 1500m is the 81st best time this year. I wonder how many of the 80 ahead of her were set by the same man. So I would say Ledecky has a great shot.

zzzz wrote:

Other people have said ultras, but didn't name names. Rory Bosio was 7th overall at UTMB in 2013, and probably beat several top 100 males. I'm sure she would beat many top 100 males in that race if you lined them all up with her.

Has Max King been chicked in an ultra? He's likely top 100 in ultrarunning.

Considering he won the IAU 100k champs not too long ago, yeah, I'd say top 100. It seems though, people on this board only think of American runners when they say so and so could beat a top 100 ultra guy. Don't forget all the fine Asian, European, South American and South African runners out there. And if any significant money made it tempting enough, all the EA runners that would do well.

Re: female Nobel prizes in the sciences. Nobel prizes are usually given decades after the first discoveries were made. Women have generally been discouraged from entering the sciences until recently, so it will take a while for them to catch up.

2 of the 3 people who developed CRISPR gene editing technology are women. If you don't know, this is probably the most significant discovery in biology for at least the past 2 decades and will revolutionize just about anything related to the medical sciences.

RossiCheated wrote:

Milethon wrote:

Top women golfers could beat top 100 male golfers, granted they would need to be having a pretty bad off day.

Top female golfers could beat top 100 men in certain circumstances.

First, consider that Anika Sorenstam played well at the Colonial, shooting eight strokes better than Las Vegas had predicted. She did miss the cut but she was under tremendous pressure and had massive galleries following her. The hype made it a rather unpleasant experience for her and she had no interest in repeating it.

Through the first round, out of 111 players, Sorenstam was 1st in driving accuracy, top 20 in GIR, and 84th in driving distance. What killed her was atrocious putting, an area where physiological differences make no difference.

Had she played regularly on the men's tour, I am confident that Sorenstam in her prime could have been a solid top 100 player, but probably not top 50.

I know many won't think of this as a sport but don't forget Shirley "Cha Cha" Muldowney.

computer.com wrote:

Re: female Nobel prizes in the sciences. Nobel prizes are usually given decades after the first discoveries were made. Women have generally been discouraged from entering the sciences until recently, so it will take a while for them to catch up.

2 of the 3 people who developed CRISPR gene editing technology are women. If you don't know, this is probably the most significant discovery in biology for at least the past 2 decades and will revolutionize just about anything related to the medical sciences.

What a crock. Nobel Prizes are NOT awarded decades after their significant work. Were Watson and Crick awarded theirs in the '70s? Look at the recent winners. They are awarded for their relatively recent findings. You liberals driving me crazy with your lies!!! Sheessh.

Hong Liu (women) 1:24:38 for the 20k race walk ranks #133 in the men's world list this year.

Greedy Capitalist wrote:

Polly P wrote:

Another way to look at it...to illustrate the difference in explosiveness between male and female - Britney Griner is 6'8" and is about only WNBA player to dunk during games. She barely can dunk. Mugsey Bogues is 5'3". Like a foot-and-a-half shorter. He can dunk with flourish. Just no comparison.

Mugsy Bogues could never dunk a basketball. I played against him (yes, I'm that old).

He could dunk a volleyball, but his hands were too small to dunk a basketball.

I think Polly is thinking of Spud Webb.

About 5'6" and he won the NBA dunk contest