re: List of most fit athletes, by sport

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Yes if you have a 60+ Vo2 max you are elite amongst the general population but when we are talking professional athlete you aren’t elite until you get into the mid to low 80s.

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He's an idiot that doesn't understand what elite means. It's mean the best of the best, like an "elite quarterback" there are a handful in the world.

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There is a big difference between a constant 3-15 minute combat sport vs 90-120 minutes playing tennis, soccer, or cycling

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A supremely conditioned fighter, however, would likely still be able to handle just about any prolonged activity due to all their roadwork and cardio they do. Mayweather's conditioning was always a huge factor in his training.

Motocross should be near the top. Seriously, it’s low key one of the most physically demanding sports.

Water polo players have to fight while treading water.

I had a backyard boxing match with a friend once. We did 5 3-minute rounds. By the end I thought I was going to die of exhaustion

The whole "punching, moving around, and trying not to get your face smashed in" was quite tiring.

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So for cardio the fittest athletes are soccer players and then probably MMA fighters

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Grand tour cyclists are fittest humans on the planet purely based on cardiac output

The best athletes on the planet are big wall free climbers. No question.

Are we including mental toughness, as in pain tolerance and the ability the perform technically difficult things while potentially fatigued?

Distance runners are in great shape but no one is knocking the shite out of them and there’s nothing technically difficult they have to perform while being physically taxed.

I’m going water polo # 1