Best Athlete of All Time

[bad hammy]

Pre-injury Bo Jackson. Discuss . . .

[tandfman]

I don't have time to go looking, but I think we've done this before, probably more than once. IIRC, Jim Thorpe's name is always mentioned, as is Jackie Robinson's.

[mrbowie]

Jackie Robinson Babe Didriksen.

[TrackDaddy]

If athlete means the ability to run and jump.

Carl Lewis.

Bar none.

Jackie Robinson wasnt even the best of the Negro League players from what I understand.

He was just the one with the temperament to make the transition.

[Marlow]

Bo, Thorpe, JJK, Babe - yes. I'll throw Neon Deion in there too. Jordan, Jim Brown, Say Hey, Pele . . .

[tupeke]

Zhu Jianhua. Seeing the incredible speed and spring of this skinny beanpole always amazes me.

[AS]

Don Bradman

Walter Lindrum

Jahangir Khan

(all picked to demonstrate that sometimes sports exist outside US)

[Jnathletics]

My answer is 9026. As isn't the best athlete the one who can run, jump and throw the best? I've always considered hurdlers and PV'ers as some of the best rather then a pure sprinter and jumper, not much coordination in those events, comparatively.

[jhc68]

I liked the way Bo could break bats just with a wrist snap. He must be the best!

[Dave]

My answer is 9026. As isn't the best athlete the one who can run, jump and throw the best? I've always considered hurdlers and PV'ers as some of the best rather then a pure sprinter and jumper, not much coordination in those events, comparatively.

Bubka has legendary "other marks" to go with his legendary PV marks.

Does Isi have anything comparable?

[imaginative]

My first reaction to similar questions is always: By what criteria? Ability at
height of career? Longevity? Superiority over contemporaries? In a historical
perspective? Ability to win when it counts? Ability to score big marks? Etc.

Almost all these discussions lead to disagreement because the criteria are too
unspecific: The discussion ends up being about criteria, not athletes. (Not
always explicitly; often the proponents of different athletes, or more
generally, hypothesis consider each other idiots without noticing that they are
talking about different things.)

Now, so that no-one considers me a spoil-sport: CL among the men. Probably JJK
among the women, but with much closer competition. I do, however, not agree
with e.g. Babe or Fanny: The competition was much too low at the time for a
fair comparison with modern athletes.

[Mighty Favog]

OK, let me both specify and narrow the criteria to spark meaningful discussion...

Who dominated a single event to the greatest extent?

Names that leap to mind are Bubka, Zatopek, Moses, Balas and JJK.

[gh]

My answer is 9026. As isn't the best athlete the one who can run, jump and throw the best? I've always considered hurdlers and PV'ers as some of the best rather then a pure sprinter and jumper, not much coordination in those events, comparatively.

Bubka has legendary "other marks" to go with his legendary PV marks.

Does Isi have anything comparable?

Bubka has zero "other marks"; just speculation that he could run fast and jump far. The only difference between his legendary marks and Wilt's are that Sergey himself was never--that I can recall--responsible for any of the legend-marking that grew up around him.

[Dave]

My answer is 9026. As isn't the best athlete the one who can run, jump and throw the best? I've always considered hurdlers and PV'ers as some of the best rather then a pure sprinter and jumper, not much coordination in those events, comparatively.

Bubka has legendary "other marks" to go with his legendary PV marks.

Does Isi have anything comparable?

Bubka has zero "other marks"; just speculation that he could run fast and jump far. The only difference between his legendary marks and Wilt's are that Sergey himself was never--that I can recall--responsible for any of the legend-marking that grew up around him.

That is what I get for repeating some of the stuff I learn on these here internets sites.....

Thanks for explaining that they probably myths.

[gh]

That's why this Board carries the tagline "Facts Not Fiction"; we certainly don't hit 100% in that category, but we try.