"Steve Gurney was superbly prepared, a brilliant tactician, and gave the sport a great profile, and Keith Murray still holds the race record of 10h 34m 37s set in 1994.
"But Richard has been world class across skiing, multisport, adventure racing and triathlon, so you'd have to say he's the most talented athlete multisport has seen."
Ussher continues: "Robin is talking about the context of my all-round career and I have done some sports that some of the legends in this event have not done. But it is so hard to compare the greats of the Coast to Coast in different eras.
"I don't think you can do it. It isn't fair as you don't know what that guy was like in his prime."
Last year Ussher came back to the Coast to Coast following a three-year stint with the Ironman triathlon.
Despite having not raced in the world title event since 2008, he won by 15m in 10h 41m 12s to become the second fastest winner in Coast to Coast history.
Though Gurney won the race nine times (1990, 1991, 1997-2003) and Murray still holds the race record many consider Ussher's 2011 effort, on a course more than 15m slower than in 1994, a very impressive performance.
Ussher wasn't totally satisfied with it. "I don't feel like it was my best performance," he said.
"I feel like in 2008 I had a better race and produced a performance that I was more proud of. It all comes down to the conditions the race can be very different every year.
"I am just focused on putting on a good performance and pushing myself so when it's all over I know that I gave my best."
Ussher goes into next week's event as the favourite but there will be plenty of top athletes out to stop him winning a fifth title.
Ussher has kept a close eye on three of them: Dougall Allen, James Kuegler and Jeremy McKenzie.
"I see James Coubrough as potentially the most dangerous athlete of all of them," he said. "I was looking at his times from the two-day event last year and they were all pretty close to mine ... The race is going to be tight and I know if I don't perform there will be others there to take the title."
Ussher's preparation has been different this year as he has bought a business, Flow Kayaks, with Andrew Martin.
"Training time has been at a real premium but I feel like I have done what I need to do to be competitive. Not doing Abu Dhabi in December was a real blessing as it gave me the chance to rest the body a bit and get back to feeling fresh. I guess we'll know how my preparation has been in a few days."
Ussher has huge respect for the 600 athletes who are competing in the Coast to Coast.
"For some people completing the Coast to Coast is potentially the greatest sporting achievement of their life. I have a huge amount of respect for those people. All of them have set themselves a goal and they have achieved it.
"Many have no background in adventure sports so the sense of accomplishment is massive. For people who have fitted their training around their family and work it's an achievement they can always look back on with pride."
Coast to Coast
What: The Speight's Coast to Coast is the world's top multisport event and the benchmark by which all other multisport events are judged, both in New Zealand and overseas
When: The 30th Anniversary race is on February 10 and 11
Where: Traverses the South Island from Kumara Beach on the Tasman Sea to Sumner Beach on the Pacific Ocean. (A distance of 243km)
Event options: Over either two days (individuals or teams of two) or the one-day event (individuals only), competitors cycle 140km (three stages of 55km, 15km and 70km), run 36km (including a 33km mountain stage that crosses the Southern Alps) and kayak 67km of the grade two Waimakariri River through the Waimakariri Gorge.
