Who is the greatest FIELD athlete ever?

[Guest]

Who is the greatest FIELD athlete in Track & Field history? Remember, when considering Carl Lewis & Jesse Owens (long jump) remove their sprinting achievements. Here are my top 10:
1. Carl Lewis (long jump)
2. Al Oerter (discus)
3. Sergey Bubka (pole vault)
4. Valery Brumel (high jump)
5. Javier Sotomayor (high jump)
6. Viktor Saneyev (triple jump)
7. Jan Zelezny (javelin)
8. Parry O'Brien (shot put)
9. Jesse Owens (long jump)
10. Yuriy Syedikh (hammer)

Any thoughts??

[Guest]

Re: Who is the greatest FIELD athlete ever?

Are these supposed to be in order? Carl Lewis' four gold medals in the OLYs notwithstanding, I cannot see him as numero uno in all field events. Saneyev down in number six? He held world records and had tougher competition (beating amongst others, two other WR holders - Perez and Oliviera). Should be ranked higher. Syedikh in number 10 position? Have you checked the all-time list to see his dominance? (As I recall Litvinov and he monopolize the 50 or so all-time top performances). Missed 84 Olys, or his "record" would look better.

Since many field events (and I am not pointing fingers at any athlete in particular), have been strongly influenced by drugs (steroids), this sort of compilation will lead to lots of hot discussion.

[michael lewis]

Re: Who is the greatest FIELD athlete ever?

How about some multi-eventers?

[Guest]

Who are the greatest FIELD athletes ever?

IMHO:

In no particular order

Al Oerter,Carl Lewis,Viktor Saneyev,Javier Sotomayor,Willie Banks, Sergei Bubka,Jesse Owens, Ralph Boston,Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and Tamara Press.

Hard to leave out Joa de Oliveira,Randy Matson, Parry O'Brien,Hal Connolly,Valery Brumel, Bob Seagren,Ray Ewry and Igor Ter-Oyvanesen.

[Guest]

Re: Who are the greatest FIELD athletes ever?

MAC WILKINS!

DT - 232'10" (Oly Champ, Multiple WR holder)
SP - 69' 1+" (natural spinner)
JT - 257' 4" (Oregon Frosh before before shoulder injury)
HT - 210' ? (somewhere in that range)

Most of the top notch throwers can also long jump 6.50-7.00m and high jump 1.85-2.00m.

Hands down, though, I think it is "Multiple Mac"

Kurt Francis

[Guest]

Re: Who is the greatest FIELD athlete ever?

As bright a star as Brumel was, he didn't last long enough to break into your 10 (which I largely agree with). I still say that Jackie Joyner-Kersee was the greatest athlete, male or female, ever. Babe Zaharias was a close second.

[satch400]

Re: Who is the greatest FIELD athlete ever?

asmuch as I respect Oerter, my vote goes to Carl. His won loss record in the LJ must be fantastic although he never held WR outdoors he will probably have it for a long time indoors

[Pego]

Re: Who is the greatest FIELD athlete ever?

I think Mike Conley, being the greatest combined horizontal jumper ever should be considered for this august company.

[BisonHurdler]

Re: Who is the greatest FIELD athlete ever?

I don't see how it could not be Bubka.


Maybe because of Olympic failures.


Those not withstanding, Bubka hands down.

[stevehj197]

Re: Who is the greatest FIELD athlete ever?

I'll vote for Saneyev. 3 OG golds then a silver, plus WR's, plus excellence in off-OG years as well.

Oerter, despite his 4 OG golds, was NOT dominant in many of the years he competed, including the OG years.

And Bubka has to be downgrades for only one OG gold.

Saneyev meets all criteria.

[Guest]

Re: Who is the greatest FIELD athlete ever?

Not to downgrade Saneyev at all but triple jumping is an event that alot of jumpers that don't qualify as excellent long jumpers try. Also, it's easier to repeat at this event than pole vault or high jump for instance.

[stevehj197]

Re: Who is the greatest FIELD athlete ever?

>Not to downgrade Saneyev at all but triple jumping is an event that alot of
>jumpers that don't qualify as excellent long jumpers try. Also, it's easier to
>repeat at this event than pole vault or high jump for instance.

why is it "easier to repeat " ?

[Guest]

Re: Who is the greatest FIELD athlete ever?

Ray Ewry.

[Per Andersen]

Re: Who is the greatest FIELD athlete ever?

My no 1 pick would be O'Brien followed by Lewis and then Saneyev. O'Brien is 1st because in addition to being a technique innovator in th S.P and "owning" that event for so many years he was also ranked in the world top 10 for about 5 or 6 seasons in the Discus. In 1957 he was ranked no 1 in the Disc ahead of Oerter.
I always felt that Oerter was overrated compared to O'Brien as an all time great athlete.

[Guest]

Re: Who is the greatest FIELD athlete ever?

Serguei BUBKA is for sure among the 3 greatest
field athletes ever.