Great list - No.1 has to be Jimmy White though. 6 finals and 6 defeats? No wonder he wears a wig - my hair would have fallen out too!

Bob Blitz, London, UK

What about all those that couldn't even make the list. Where does that leave them?

Jim, Ottawa,

lol, you brits are really one of a kind...even when you lose you think yourself to be the best-the best among losers...that's funny-really funny!!!!!

Jonas bros, Montana,

@Nick, Bath

The thing is that in sport, if you fail to win, then you've lost. No matter how much our school system tries to tell us otherwise.

Henman lost severally, a couple of times when he had real opportunities to succeed. He never had the South hemisphere inner steel to push to victory

M Price, Manchester,

Tim Henman played in an era of two of the finest tennis players of all time (Sampras and Federer), he pushed British tennis back into the media spotlight and helped inspire the likes of Andy and Jamie Murray. He might not have won the Wimbledon title, but he was a very good player. NOT a loser.

Nick, Bath, Somerset

If you'd done a piece on the greatest British sportspeople it might have been slightly more productive. You've put Lewis Hamilton, Nigel Mansell, Tom Simpson, Andy Murray and Paula Radcliffe in this list. This article is Embarrassing. P.S Andy's matched Tim already, 12 ATP, 3 Masters series.

Penfold, Leeds, UK

To the person who thinks that "Britain" only means England and Wales, you are totally incorrect. The name "Britain" is derived from the Roman name for the whole island that consists of the modern nations of Scotland, England and Wales (Britannia). After the Romans built the Antonine Wall, they used

Mr Conroy, Lanark, U.K

It's a while ago but from what I remember of Eddie the Eagle's glasses I'm guessing he was longsighted...

Gn, Dublin, Ireland

#30 Really surprised to see Britain's most successful cyclist to be classed as a loser? Tom Simpson was a unique cyclist who was a superstar on continental europe. His palmares including several classic victories and a world championship in 1965 will not be bettered by any British cyclist.

Alan, Bethnal Green, UK

Where are Newcastle Utd? A bigger bunch of chokers you'll never find. In the last 13 years we've been 12 points clear going into March, been to 2 FA Cup finals, 2 semis, semis of UEFA once, 2-0 up against Sporting in Quarters and lost and had our fate in our own hands this year with 2 games to play.

Simon, Oxford,

No wonder as a nation we don't generally produce great sportspeople because, as a rule, we find valiant (or not as the case may be) failure far more entertaining than success. We love it when it goes wrong, simply because we expect it to and this article is a case in point.

Simon, Oxford,

Mike Catt the 'Human Speedbump' - got run over by Lomu, got hated by everyone in his adopted nation (ie in England circa 1998) as well as his nation of birth (RSA), and still won a World Cup winner's medal, which was one more than Lomu (and one more than aynone who played with Lomu, for that matter). Good lad.

Toby, Hove,

Surely Lewis Hamilton is the greastest Choker in the history of sport????? In the fastest car,leading the championship,he overdrives the first corner is sheer panic ,then panic stricken hits a button on his steering wheel to neutralize his car to blow the world championship.............

Robert, nadi, Fiji

I hope you saw the New York marathon, Paula Radcliffe is certainly no loser!

Becky, Wakefield,

Outraged comments seem to reflect a total misunderstanding of the intention of the article and list, although is was perfectly defined by the scoring method.

I, for one, a Frenchman knowing a bit about Britain, was just happy to be reminded of such admirable and endearing characters as Stirling Moss, Jimmy White and, yes, Eddie Edwards. No country other than yours could have produced Eddie the Eagle, and I say it with the utmost admiration.

Christophe Goux, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia

This is disgraceful, this article has made me so mad. I can't believe you can refer to these people as losers. They are all legendary figures in British sporting history. How on Earth could you put Kelly Holmes on a list of losers? Two gold medals in one Olympic Games. These people have achieved so much in their lives which has brought glory not only to themselves but to Britain, what have you done? A loser is someone who gives up and so in my books none of these people are losers.

Becky, Wakefield,

These people have done so much for UK sport, persued their dreams and taken on some of the best people and teams in the world. In some cases they've won, so how can they be losers? Why do we, especially in England, build up our heroes so highly upon their pedestals and cut them down when they don't come in at Number 1? Take Tim Henman, how many people actually make it as far as the Wimbledon men's semis? That would be four a year. From the whole world. Plus he wasn't just there once. Some loser!

Please let's not do the same to Lewis Hamilton because Kimi won the F1 season this year, nor strike our Rugby heroes down for losing in the world cup final. It would serve us all right if England didn't make it past qualifying for Euro 2008, we chould be grateful for having the chance to compete. Surely the biggest loser are those who wasted their time putting together a list of inspirational high-achievers. Well done for at least attempting some praise, if not from the outset of the article.

Stevie, Fakenham, Norfolk,

I hope it's some consolation to those people who missed the spirit and compliments in this article that the English, Scottish and Irish would never come anywhere near 1st Place for the Sour Grapes Award when the Australians and New Zealanders are around!

Anne, Jozi, RSA

Actualy, Lewis led the championship by 17 points before the last two races.
So, that moves him higher on the list.
What a loser...

Dr C, London, UK

Lewis Hamilton got exactly what was coming to him...nothing!

Oh, and a number 14 spot in the "Top 50 great British Loser."

The Prima Donna should be up a few more spots, in my opinion. I would rate his national expectation extremely high, especially mid-season when he was leading the WDC and almost no one believed Kimi had a chance.

J. Eriksson, Stockholm,

Lewis Hamilton does not deserve to be on that list. Simple as that

Andy Fraser, Doncaster, South Yorkshire

Lewis Hamilton deserved to have the number 1 position but may be he is such a big loser....that he loses again....

ptown, valencia, catalonia

Thanks to everyone who has contributed their thoughts on my list - and apologies to any peeved Irish fans. My father is from Mayo and would never be called British. We'll ignore the fact that eight of the Ireland World Cup squad play for Ulster. As someone pointed out, that's more from the UK than Arsenal have.

Thanks especially to those (Gareth, Henry from Thailand, Harry from Sydney) who got the point of this piece - that it is to celebrate those who work bloody hard and come up just short of ultimate glory. Despite the title of this piece, these are not losers and those at the top (Henman and all) least deserve to be called losers. They are the best of the nearly men and have given us much joy and heartbreak

As for Jon Brown, well done to the two of you who spotted that I'd mis-read a decimal place. It's been changed now.

Patrick Kidd, London,

I must say I'm rather tickled at the posts from my cousins in the Republic who (perhaps understandably) scampered to this article headed "Great British Losers" only to find their schadenfreude as short-lived as British sporting achievement :) Mum from Carlingford, dad from Cork btw, currently living in the Britis/Irish/whatever you care to call them Isles...

philip, cambridge,

Eddie (the eagle) recently plastered my son's kitchen in Gloucestershire. Did a great job, but very expensive

Melaragni, London, uk

<<Im pretty sure Australia has the highest number of nobel prize winners per capita.... >>

I think he might mean highest number of delusional halfwits.

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/peo_nob_pri_lau_percap-nobel-prize-laureates-per-capita

Maria, Sydney,

I thought it was only when we won something that the Brits claimed us. Now ye are claiming us as looser!

The education standards in Britain must be falling if ye can't sort out the Geography at this stage. Maybe ye are still using pre 1921 maps?

Ciaran O'Loughlin, Ennis , Republic of Ireland.....(not Britain!)

If you're from nothern ireland you are British as Northern Ireland is still part of the uk. therefore, you should have a british passport and not an irish one. It is like someone from south korea playing for north korea!!
Peter, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Peter under the Belfast Agreement those who live in Northern Ireland are considered citizens of Ireland and can, as many chose to do, hold an Irish passport by law.

The British Isles comprise "Great Britain and Ireland and adjacent islands in the north Atlantic". If the islands are Britsh, so must be the people who live on them.
Matthew, Ringwood, UK

Matthew the British Isles is a term which was used during the period when all of Ireland was under British rule or as commenwealth country. Since the declaration of a Republic in 1949 the correct term is the British - Irish Isles.

Tomás, County Kerry, Ireland

Tomás, Kerry, Ireland

Great article. But there IS a serious point here. What is it about the British psyche that prevents us from crossing the finishing line first?

We're even at the point as a nation, that when we do have a true sporting giant like Sir Steve Redgrave, we interpret his dedication and single-minded as 'arrogance'.

We fundamentally prefer a 'good-bloke' loser to a 'git' winner!

And no-one remembers Paula Radcliffe's amazing performances. We're obsessed with her hideous, soul-baring, unravelling failure.

John Kelly, Stamford, UK

Since when have Irish teams counted as British?

Darren Gleeson, Dublin, Ireland

RJA, Nottingham,

I've taken the bait again.. but hey its fun rubbing your nose in it. Here we go:
1/ Winter Olympics: Golds - Alissa Camplin (aerials), Steve Bradbury (1000m short track speed skating), Dale Begg-Smith (freestyle skiing), Bronze - Zali Steggel (slalom), 5000m short track relay team. Except for the relay team all of these medals were won at the last three games. GB and Northern Ireland's totals over the same period = 1G, 1S, 2B.
2/ We have competed in the 4 man, 2 man, 2 women bob, luge and skeleton. Admittedly we are pretty rubbish at all of these events but hey, like you said, so what.
I agree with one of your comments though, it is unlikely that you will ever see an Aussie write a list like this as we generally take the view that it is important that you have a go and it is how well you played the game that counts. Winning or losing does not come into it.

AussieDigger, London,

People in Northern Ireland can now hold an Irish passport if they wish to. All my friends in Derry and Belfast hold Irish passports.

Sinead, Galway, Ireland

The "human speedbump" comment from the Aussie yob will not stand. Catt deserves praise , accolades, kudos and more for coming back from that , playing in at least two other RWCs, as far as I know , and getting a gold and silver for his efforts. If that aint sporting heroism nothing is. Till I started reading the Timesonline I didnt realise how many be*ks call themselves Australian.

As for the men women and animals in your list of "losers" most of them are tremendous role models for participation, commitment and guts. If we are too chicken to play and lose no-one would ever win.

Bokfan , Johannesburg, RSA

I think the article is good. We think we are great but we are not. Yes, we are leaders in many areas but face facts, :D We are Great at Losing. No need to get sad. Lets just keep battling on.

Gareth Trow, Middlesbrough, UK

51 if you include Dave Bedford, he with the red socks.
P. Telling, Barham.

P. Telling, Ipswich, England

Im pretty sure Australia has the highest number of nobel prize winners per capita and you guys cant seem to get enough of Rolf Harris or Barry Humphries haha. Please do us a favour though and keep Germaine Greer please.

Matt, Sydney, Australia

Eddie the Eagle landed in to the bottom percentile of most competitions he entered but he always came back. He is the true incarnation of the spirit of good sportsmanship. Norway loves sports heroes like him.

S Dale, Oslo, Norway

Yes, fair point about the Ireland rugby team. I included them because they feature players from Ulster, but of course most of the biggest underachievers are properly from the south. Still, the way they have repeatedly blown up when on the verge of something big suggests that an air of bottling it must have floated across the Irish Sea.

Still, it makes a change. I thought that Irish normally got annoyed that we only refer to Irish as being British when they win things.

Patrick Kidd, London,

Where's Colin Jackson?

Nigel, Cambridge,

I'm not a Brit but how refreshing is it to see sporting-related issues NOT dredged through the mindless mire of nationalism and myopic xenophobia.
What is wrong with lauding the achievements of the also-rans? It is easy to barrack for the favourites and winners.

Eddie Edwards:
"The man so hapless that the International Olympic Committee passed a special rule to prevent people like him competing again."

Brilliant . . . and an English Champion

Henry Gaier, Chanthaburi, Thailand

I´m missing Ron Dennis, and his "sportive style" on this list! XD

scuba, Gran Canaria, Sapin

I wonder if you get the idea of this list, Peyton.... it is not a list of losers, but of very good sportsman who didn't quite win the ultimate prize. Its not negative at all.

I wish there was more of this good humoured joy in sport, that isn't all about winning.

Harry, Sydney,

What about the Scotland football team 1872 - 2007?

Owen, London,

Mr Peyton - You're sledging us Aussies and we weren't even on the field. Consoling yourself with the assumption that sport is the only thing we are good at. True, we've only managed 11 Nobel prizewinners in sciences and 1 for literature. Only won the Booker Prize 5 times. Only 6 of our universities are ranked in the world's top 50 by the Times HES (UK has 7); only 4 Australian cities are ranked in the world's top 10 for "llveability" by the Economist; only 3rd on the UN's Human Development Index . Only a handful of Australian actors, producers and directors have won Oscars lately . Can do better and we're trying.
But do consider whether an element of prejudice and sheer lack of interest contributes to ignorance of Australia in non-
sporting spheres. As the man says about our boastful sportsmen who denigrate others - name them. We may not punch above our weight particularly outside the sporting field. But its always endearing how far the Brits punch below theirs.

David Richards, Canberra, Australia

What about Celtic away games in the Champions League - they have gained 1 pt out of 45 pts. That's record breaking.

Mike, Dubai,

I find it bizarre that you call Roger Bannister an "almost" anything. I have absolutely no interest in track and field events but even I have heard of RB, as the first person to run a 4 minute mile. He will remain known for that, even among the many millions who could not name an Olympic medal winner if you paid them

John Duggan, Lisbon, Portugal

What about the 12 drivers Title's and 28 team Title's ? Great Britain are the most successful country in the world at Formula one. Besides which you can't go winning all the time it just would'nt do. Look at the Eurovision song contest, sure we could win it every year but it's only the Americans who do things like that.
Just look at the numbers(money) Great Britain is miles out in front. London is Financial and Cultural capital of the world, bar none.
Bat and Ball, car races it's kids stuff let johnny foreigner win, It's money that makes the world go round, and great Britain is up there with the best of them.

Rule Brittania.
God save the queen.

Will, Hannover,

Yes true but....... Australians are meerly our criminal outcast from years ago.

Will, Hannover,

If it was a kiwi list wouldn't you just list every All Black from the last 20 years? They don't have anything else do they?

Matt, London,

I'm bemused by some of this. The premise is that if you didn't win then you're a loser. Well, to the Aussy gent, England beat you twice in sucessive world cups so if we're losers, what are you? Hamilton came seond in the world championship ahead of everyone else but one - loser? Monty has a brilliant European record and would probably smile more if he wasn't incldued as a 'loser' in lists like this. Do I assume that all journalists who didn't win this the Pulitzer are losers?

Tom, London, UK

I'm so disappointed by this list, from the 'most read' tab you can't tell it's a sports feature, I was expecting something wonderful with perhaps Ernest Shackleton as #1. Now that would have been worth reading.

Diane, Sutton,

If you're from nothern ireland you are British as Northern Ireland is still part of the uk. therefore, you should have a british passport and not an irish one. It is like someone from south korea playing for north korea!!

Peter, Belfast, Northern Ireland

The British Isles comprise "Great Britain and Ireland and adjacent islands in the north Atlantic". If the islands are Britsh, so must be the people who live on them.

Matthew, Ringwood, UK

how can you say people are losers? at least they try unlike you. You just sit there for hours thinking of people who in your eyes tried and failed. at least they tried. a loser isnt someone who tries and doesnt suceed a loser is someone who doesnt try.

S.K., cardiff, Wales

How could a list of English sporting loosers ever be complete without Mike Catt's attempt to tackle Jonah Lomu in the South African hosted Rugby World cup of 1995. He will forever be remembered as the human speed hump.
Adrian Nolan

Adrian Nolan, Penant Hills, NSW

I find it odd that you characterise many of these as 'losers'. It is surely in the nature of sport that sometimes achievements are made and goals reached. And sometimes they are not. But to place athletes that have reached, for example, the status of World Champion in their respective sports in a list of failures I find misguided.

To achieve they have had to give everything they have. They have to be as prepared to fail as to succeed, and publicly! This is not a list of losers. It is a list of some very capable, corageous and ambitious people. They are deserveing of respect.

Sally, Bristol,

Ian, Sydney.

Oh I'm sure we can come up with a lot more. That's because we compete in lots of things. Whereas you seem to settle for cricket, swimming, Aussie rules, and league. All of which you're good at admitedly, but it is a somewhat limited field isn't it ? I don't think I've ever seen an Australian competing in the winter Olympics, and certainly not on the ski-jump, or the bobsleigh, crickey ! Even the Jamaicans have tried that, to their credit.

So you bask in the glories of Ian Thorpe (the slightly dodgy Ian Thorpe) and stuffing the poms at cricket. And we'll turn our hands at all sorts of things. most of which we'll lose at. But so what.

I wonder if an Aussie could have written an article like this. Doubt it. Your biggest cultural exports are Dame Edna, Kylies bum, and that crocodile bloke.

RJA, Nottingham, England, UK.

You need a bigger list!

David Allen, Woy Woy, Australia

No. 1 - 50: (tied): English football and cricket teams. Apart from two years: 1966 and 2005, English football and cricket has been pathetic.

Amrit Kolluru, Cambridge, New Zealand

Jon Brown, fourth in the Olympic Games 'by seven and 15 hundredths of a second respectively.' Really? Well, when I watched the races, he was certainly further behind the bronze medallists than that. Get your facts right.

I think your list is totally pointless. The real losers in sport are people like Dwain Chambers and Paul Gascoigne. Why aren't they on your list?

Steven Mills, Plymouth,

David Bedford?

Heather, Croydon,

And you have the cheek to call the All Blacks chokers - you appear to have a country full of them !.

You actually missed out the pathetic English Americas Cup perfomances. You lost it over 160 years ago and have spent millions trying to win it back - with no result!

kiwikidd, Auckland, New Zealand

Invite the laughing Aussie to produce a list: his countryman's heroic sporting flops.
They are even more dramatic that ours: include an Americas Cup boat that sank mid-race; an Olympic rowing eight that stopped rowing with the line and a medal in sight; a group of fairies that pretended to be a rugby team in France in 2007; a football side that has only made the World Cup when it is held in Germany; Shane Warne; not a single male gold medal track and field winner in nearly 50 years (staggering that); Greg Norman - the epitome of a choker; the Olympic walker who was entering the stadium for her gold and was disqualified for running; Cadel Evans; did I mention not a single male gold medal track and field winner in nearly 50 years; apart form their overseas imports, barely a boxer of merit for 50 years, and their best heavyweight, "Aussie" Joe Bugner; Craig Mottram; Kostya Tzsu doing his impersonation of drunk against Ricky Hatton.

Go on make a list for a bloody good laugh!!

BIG Ted, Brisbane, Essex

As an Australian I love reading list of British failures! Is the editor Australian? It would be considered treason here. And why is there no mention of every British Olympic team since 1936?

Damian, Brisbane, Australia

How about the Leeds United team of 1969-1970. Supposed to be the best but failed to get any!!

Arzmi Yaacob, Subang Jaya, Malaysia

Choking has a home in England

Hawkesy, Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia

I wouldn't describe Kelly Holmes as a "loser" - she's a double Olympic gold medallist! Colin Jackson would, however, make the list in my opinion, because he always fell at the last hurdle (pun intended) at the Olympics.

Joanne (a Brit abroad), Wellington, NZ

My heart bleeds for the British punters who faithfully supported their local hero only to be undone time after time after time.

Tom, Perth, Oz,

The biggest English / British loser of all time has to be what you call "football", as in soccer. What a dull, one-dimensional unphysical sport! No wonder spectators vandalise the stadiums and belt the daylights out of each other! No wonder they have time and attention to devout to such nice singing! Soccer is the last sick joke of the British Empire on an ungrateful world.

Leonard 7248, Launceston, Australia

I am an Australian but agree with A. Peyton. Australians can dish out out but cant take it so well. Look at the near punch ups when teams like India sledge the Aussies!

That said, the UK drastically under performs given the population size & amount of money spent on sport in the country.

Julio, Vancouver,

I wouldn't count Arsenal in the CL final last year as being British either.

Steve, London,

Scottish football team 78 surely?

Grant Ogilvie, London,

The island of Ireland is still part of that geographical entity, the British Isles, so in geographical terms Irish people can still be described as British, just as a Ghanaian can be described as an African or a Swede as a Scandinavian. However more recenrtly the term British has come to be used specifically to describe the people of Great Britain, which is a political entity, so this may be where all this heat under the collars is coming from. To solve the confusion the Eire Irish could always remove their portion of the island from the European continental shelf and put it somewhere more to their own liking; the Caribbean perhaps. Do you know the worst thing, in recent geological history Ireland was joined to Britain, and (Ohmygod) Britain was joined Europe. Get a grip you people! You must be even more bored at work than I am! My excuse is that I've quit am working out my notice; what's yours?

Nick, York, UK

Re No. 18. The Ireland Rugby team are IRISH, not British. Ye've enough losers of your own without trying to claim ours.

Sinead, Galway, Ireland

As a Kiwi I have to both agree and disagree!

They say we are "more British than the British themselves" so to call us predictable and dull - while somewhat accurate you only have yourselves to blame!

As for scientists/writers/musicians etc - we may not have them in droves, but for a country with the population of a suburb or two of London, New York, Tokyo or even Sydney we probably punch above our weight. Ernest Rutherford ring any bells? Splitting the atom? Probably only the most important scientific discovery ever made....

Luckily for us all, sport is one of the great levellers - where all the population and so-called depth (viz All Blacks and/or English football team) in the world counts for nothing.

I'm unsure whether to ridicule or admire the British sporting public but its the perpetual belief your sports teams (particularly football and cricket) even have a chance of winning anything that makes you special!

Ben, Wellington, NEW ZEALAND

What about Jenson Button ?

Colin , Melbourne, Australia

44) England rugby team 2007 4-1-1-3-3 = 48%

Let's get it right - you can win if you don't cheat.

1. Tackled, held the ball, penalty.
2. Deliberately trip an opponent, penalty.
3. etc (couldn't watch more after those stupidities)

We didn't lose it, we gave it away.

Ian, Solihull,

Even as a supporter, I'm quite surprised Newcastle United (1995-1996) didn't make it in there! Blowing a 10 point January league with some of the best players ever to play at the club - shocking!!

David, Gateshead,

Grantley Goulding is obviously revered - there isn't even a pic of him!

Sean, Nagoya,

Tim from Seoul - the rugby players that were listed do not have British passports.

Anyway, why isn't King Kev on the list, the most-loved failure as a football manager as they come!

Sean, Nagoya,

What about Colin Jackson, ok, World Champion and World Record holder, but never won Olympic Gold despite several attempts.

Captain, Brighton, UK

As an Aussie living here, this list is great and tops off a perfect week....thanks for the laughs

Sean, London,

As above how on earth can the Ireland rugby team be in such a list, they should be in the list of Great Irish Loosers, clearly!

mike65, waterford,

Northern Ireland is in the UK (the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland). So a list of British Sportsmen should not even include any from Northern Ireland.

Shaun, Macclesfield,

I live in Finland and the only sportsperson they know of, excluding F1 (is that sport?), is Eddie the Eagle!!
Surely he should be No.2?
Well done Tim...

Matt, Espoo, Finland

How can you leave out the Great Britain Rugby League team!!!

League Freak, Sydney, Australia

Hardly fair to call the 2007 England rugby side losers. To reach the world cup final, having beaten Australia and the hosts convincingly, and then be pipped at the post by a strong South African side was a magnificent achievement.

andrew b, london, UK

Dear losers,
RE no 18 - you lost Ireland in 1921. Please stop trying to take it back.

Lanod, Ireland,

Well technically Frank Gordon by your definition i.e. the academic one of what georgraphy the word British entails we shouldn't include the Scots. Britiain is only England and Wales with Great Britain also including Scotland. The United Kingdom of course includes N. Ireland but in general language use British is deemed to include the whole UK. Oh and one more thing, the British Isles includes island of Ireland and mainland UK so we could incorrectly argue that British simply means the geographical bounds of the British Isles but no son of Eire would accept that. Just why do folks get upset but miniscule issues and miss the big picture which is a fun celebration of the plucky British tradition of giving it a go.

Matt S, Connecticut, USA (Brit ex-pat)

I have fun memoried of Eddie the Eagle :)

Quick nose around shows that Great Britain includes Northern Ireland.

A Tysoe, Sacramento, California

Agree with Mark,New York.
As they say ' it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of
a needle than for an Ulsterman to play for Ireland'.
As Ulstermen dont want to be associated with 'losers, suggest
Northern Ireland get their own rugby team.

David, Stockholm

David Nelson, Stockholm, Sweden

A. Peyton, Fukuoka, Japan
I can't believe I'm going to be sucked in by your comments.. but you did ask about our intellectuals and creative types. Here is a short list (in no particular order, and having spent only 5mins to put it together off the top of my head):
1/ Phillip Noyce, Peter Weir, Bazz Luhrman - Directors
2/ Collette Dinnigen, Sass and Bide- Fashion Designers
3/ Germaine Greer - Author
4/ Clive James - Author / Comedien
5/ Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Heath Ledger, Cate Blanchett, Mel Gibson, Geoffrey Rush, Toni Collette, Rachel Griffiths etc. etc.
6/ Patrick White - Nobel Prize winning author
7/ Lawrence Bragg & William Bragg, Howard Florey, Macfarlane Burnett, John Eccles, Bernard Katz, John Cornforth, Pete Doherty, Barry Marshall - All Nobel prize winning scientists (in fact, I think you will find that Australia is the country to have been awarded the highest number of Nobel prizes per head of population);
8/ John Harsanyi - Nobel prize winning economist

AussieDigger, London,

What about 50 British winners? What about Britain's Andy Priaulx bringing back, for the forth time, a world championship in Touring Cars. Why is it that the Brits always focus on the Negative......................?

rick gome, guernsey,

Pretty pointless list, in my opinion. If you are going to define a loser as someone that never won the highest accolade in their particular sport, or area, then you are effectively saying that the vast majority of sportsmen and women are losers. Tim Henman should never be considered a loser. As your article pointed out, he spent years in the top 10. That is not a loser - that is the stuff of a quality sportsman.

This obsession with calling someone a loser for not being utterly victorious is rather pathetic and another indication of the lengths to which the British press will go to put someone down. Any excuse.

SFC, Oakham,

Don't kid yourselves- you don't have enough "winners" to rank a great like Sir Roger Bannister among your losers!

Paul, Shawano, USA/ Wisconsin

Just to clarify matters!
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was created by the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act of 1927. That part of the island of Ireland which seceded from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1922 today constitutes the Republic of Ireland.

Linda, Luton, UK of GB&I

Can I take the bait, be a dull NZer and just ask which of "writer/scientists/musicians/innovators" you would like me to mention? I'll start with one from each category:
Writers: Katherine Mansfield
Scientists: Lord Rutherford.
Musicians: Kiri te Kanawa.
Innovator: I'll go with Kate Shephard, whose campainging led to NZ being the first country to give women equal voting rights some 30 years before the UK...... That was fairly innovative

If Kelly Holmes is one of your greatest losers I'd like to see a list of your greatest winners......

Bruce Campbell, Derby,

The Ireland Rugby Union side recruits from both Northern Ireland and Eire. One of the great Irish players Mike Gibson was a lawyer from Northern Ireland

richard jones, Athens, Greece

I'm not sure that the Irish rugby team would be too chuffed to hear that they're all now British...

And I'm surprised that the Battle of Ideas people didn't take the entire 2007 season into consideration prior to placing the England Rugby Team in 44th place - their dismal showing in the Six Nations would surely have pushed them up the list a fair bit?

Zippy, Dublin, Ireland

i do not think any of the rugby lads from northern ireland would consider themselves to be british and darren clarke certainly does not.

robert donaldson, ballymena, ireland

Where DID you get 'seven fifteenths of a second' from in reference to Jon Brown? I watched the finish in Athens and he was a good 200 metres behind the bronze medallist.
Sincerely,
Christopher Kelk

Chris Kelk, Toronto, CANADA

Dear Nick from HK

David Campese

Chris, London, UK

Hey Tim- what percentage of the Irish rugby team has been from Northern ireland in the last 5 years??Damn all!Let us in Ireland keep our own losers- you have so many more to choose from in Britain anyway! Plus everyone in Northern Ireland is entitled to both passports.

Mark, New York,

This whole concept that only if your first, your a "winner" ; while if you place or show your a loser, is a stupid, narrow minded and destructive idea.
Second place is winning "second place" not losing. Likewise with winning third place. Simply to be competitive (and in the money) is winning in life. To have your hat in the ring and be a player sets most well above the crowd. Think of biological success - - - what if only one life form existed?
What a Pyrrhic victory that would be.

James Newport, Blue Springs, MO USA

60 million, and you can only find 50?
You're not trying hard enough!

Jack Doyle, Beijing,

I don't understand the relevance of Aussies and Kiwis "A. Peyton, Fukuoka, Japan". I see the first comment. It is funny. How much of a chip do you have on your shoulder?

Winston, London, UK

Does the columnist not know that the Irish Rugby team is not British?????

Angela Whelan, Cambridge, England

So what kind of Passport does a Northern Irish person have? and what do they right on application forms that ask for nationality? (ok..some will put Irish, what will the others write?)

Tim, Seoul, Korea

Dear Mr. Peyton of JAPAN. That was a terribly robust opinion. I would direct you to the Order of Australia listings for a decent smattering of Scientists / writers etc.
More importantly, I would like you to list all the Australian sports people who " are good at singing their own praises and denigrating others." Name one. They can sledge on the field and play as hard as anyone, but they do not meet the press and commence to moan about ref decisions, tell the press how fantastic they are, nor do they take away any credit from the victor. For the record, I don't think UK sports people do this either. As for your comments on the Kiwis - I wholeheartedly agree!

Nick, Hong Kong, China

I hate lists like this. It perpetuates the negativity in the U.K. I doubt other countries would do this, and then allow predictable and dull Kiwis and Aussies give predictable and dull comments. What is wrong in the U.K.?

To Australia and New Zealand - you forget that the U.K. produces a lot of talented writer/scientists/musicians/innovators AND sports people. This is the fundamental difference between our cultures. We know all about your sports people - they are good at singing their own praises and denigrating others. But where are your intellectuals and creative types? Please do tell.

One last thing. Don't get offended if I give a robust opinion. You like to dish it out, but can you take it?

A. Peyton, Fukuoka, Japan

I would have thought that The Times would know that Ireland is not part of Britain! Come to think of it, Darren Clarke isn't British either. He's a UK citizen.

Robert, Niagara on the Lake,

The best bit of this article is the photos

There's something so stoically British about the faces of these almost-champions. It's clearly something to do with culture rather than genetic make-up, as even the Afro-Caribbean Brits seem to have that look!

And, I agree, it's cheating to include lads from the Republic. I'm sure the UK can furnish 50 of its own finest.

Ian Morrison, auckland, new zealand

"The greatest generation of Ireland rugby players, with names that should resonate through the generations (O’Driscoll, O’Gara, Murphy, Hickie, Stringer…). "

Which of those players are British? The Irish Rugby team is not British - is that too difficult to understand?

It incorporates players from The Republic and Northern Ireland which is part of the UK, but not part of Britain.

frank gordon, dublin, ireland

You can only come up with 50

Ian, Sydney,