24-Hour Quiz

Re: 24-Hour Quiz

Totally agree!
Personally, before finding out who 'the' T&F athlete was in the poll results, I would have said Carl Lewis or Marion Jones. (Michael Johnson is always saying how much more famous he is in Europe, compared to US). Although I would have liked JJK to be "most favourite", I wouldn't have guessed that she'd be more favoured than Marion (in things like this, I wouldn't see Carl Lewis is the most likable T&F american athlete).

Great for Jackie - highest ranked woman and highest ranked T&F athlete. And, above all, AMAZING athlete!

Re: 24-Hour Quiz

Do you think the poll results are ... honest? I've worked in TV, and you would not believe how often the results from polls are altered for a particular result.

Re: 24-Hour Quiz

she totally deserves to be #1 person in t&f.

[Bob H]

Re: 24-Hour Quiz

The sum of the guesses by responders to the Board was as follows:

Carl Lewis - 4
Jesse Owens - 2
Michael Johnson - 2
Flo-Jo - 1
Ben Johnson - 1
Marion Jones - 1
Bob Beamon - 1
Pre - 1
Bruce Jenner - 1
OJ - 1
Edwin Moses - 1

And the right answer was none of the above.

It was Jackie Joyner-Kersee!

The guy who wrote the story described this as the "most surprising result" of the survey. And the President of the company that conducted the survey said "That's one I really can't figure out."

To be perfectly honest, I would have guessed wrong on this quiz myself. But I was delighted by the fact that there was such a high level of public awareness of someone in our sport.

Re: 24-Hour Quiz

The OJ reference belongs in the prison thread - oh no, wait, he didn't go to prison for killing his wife!

Re: 24-Hour Quiz

Edwin Moses

Re: 24-Hour Quiz

A trick answer would be that feller who ran the 3rd leg on the USC 440 relay WR team in 1967. He's famous, and nobody can catch him.

Re: 24-Hour Quiz

I'm changing my answer to Bruce Jenner, for three reasons. First, he fits the demographics of those who made the list (washed-up white men). Second, he has remained visible, if only in his cheesy infomercials and commercials. Third, he did his country proud in the LA Olympics, and I recall images of him with the flag. That counts in this time of high patriotism.
Lewis is the most famous, but like I said he isn't a "favorite." Also, he'd be too obvious an answer for this to be a good quiz.
That's it, I'm going with Jenner.

Re: 24-Hour Quiz

Steve Prefontaine.

[bubba]

Re: 24-Hour Quiz

Beamon, Bob 29' 2 1/2"

Re: 24-Hour Quiz

Lewis is famous, but I don't see people voting him as "one of my favorites." Same for Big Ben.
Owens is legendary, of course, but all the others in the top 12 are alive; maybe the biz journal included only those capable of live testimonials.
Flojo is a favorite of the general public (who are naive about drugs), but like Owens she is dead. Also, I doubt the only track athlete to make the list would be female. So that eliminates Marion Jones too.
So, by process of elimination, I guess Michael Johnson. People really got into the whole "golden shoes" gimmick, and Nike did a good job pushing him while the Olympics were in the U.S. He comes off as a nice guy, so I can see people voting him "one of my favorites." But it's hard to imagine any of these folks beating Ali.
Of course, if we were to go by t&fn coverage, it'd be Webb. Please tell me it's not him (or Jennings).

Re: 24-Hour Quiz

Duh, Carl Lewis.

Re: 24-Hour Quiz

Aw heck, I'll go with Carl Lewis also. He seems to be the only name my non-fan friends know.

[tafnut]

Re: 24-Hour Quiz

You get famous by doing TV ads - not the sport itself.

[tafnut]

Re: 24-Hour Quiz

not a MJ?: Michael Johnson or Marion Jones?