Greatest Athlete

This topic has 9 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 2 weeks, 2 days ago by joemad.

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August 27, 2024 at 6:13 pm #151898

Zooey
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As a kid, I believed it was Jim Thorpe. I don’t know why. He was good at lots of things, from what I read.

It’s hard to know what counts before the world was colorized, though. The black and white athletes are hard to assess.

It pains me somewhat to say so, but Michael Phelps has to be discussed. There is a log jam tie for second place in the category of Most Gold Medals Won in the Olympics. 5 different athletes have won 9 Gold Medals. 9 Gold Medals is a lot.

Michael Phelps has 23 Gold Medals. I mean….

But then…there is this guy. Across multiple sports.

August 28, 2024 at 10:26 am #151944

nittany ram
Moderator

To be considered the greatest athlete you have to be great at more than one athletic skill in my book. Decathletes, triathletes, etc. That’s why Phelps doesn’t cut it for me. He’s only a swimmer.

Bo Jackson obviously deserves consideration. He was great at track, football and baseball which encompasses a wide range of skills.

August 28, 2024 at 10:50 am #151945

Zooey
Moderator

nittany ram wrote:

To be considered the greatest athlete you have to be great at more than one athletic skill in my book. Decathletes, triathletes, etc. That’s why Phelps doesn’t cut it for me. He’s only a swimmer. Bo Jackson obviously deserves consideration. He was great at track, football and baseball which encompasses a wide range of skills.

I lean that way myself, but in 120+ years of Olympic games, and Phelps has 23 Golds and the second most is 9. That is ridiculous. So maybe Phelps gets the consolation of “most dominant athlete in a single sport.” His domination has to exceed Tiger Woods’ run at the top, although – the thing is – I don’t care about swimming even a tiny bit. I’m not sure I ever saw Phelps race. I must have at some point, but I am not an enthusiast of the Olympics.

Bo, though, was dominant in multiple sports. I can’t think of anybody else, actually.

August 28, 2024 at 12:13 pm #151949

InvaderRam
Moderator

deion sanders.

jim brown. supposedly the greatest lacrosse player ever i think i heard.

jim thorpe? don’t know much about his career though.

August 28, 2024 at 12:18 pm #151952

InvaderRam
Moderator

but also. basketball. requires the most athleticism. meaning football players and baseball players likely could never be successful at basketball at the highest levels but i’m willing to bet basketball players would do much better at football or baseball at the highest level.

August 28, 2024 at 2:49 pm #151960

Zooey
Moderator

I thought of Deion, but he wasn’t as good at baseball as Bo was. Bo played in both the Pro Bowl AND the MLB All-Star game. To say nothing of his decathlete resume.

Thorpe played professional football, baseball, and basketball, although the leagues were not what they are today. He also won gold medals in the Olympics for the Pentathlon AND Decathlon, winning 8 of the 15 events outright. So… make of all that what you will.

August 28, 2024 at 6:28 pm #151969

wv
Participant

Massey.

Duh.

w

v

August 28, 2024 at 7:42 pm #151970

Billy_T
Participant

To me, gymnastics is the pinnacle of sports, when it comes to testing the limits of the human body. I don’t think there’s another sport that requires such complete athleticism: power, speed, strength, flexibility, balance, precision, etc. From the rings, to the vault, to the floor exercises, the very best do things consistently that defy gravity. And perhaps with the exception of the rings, female gymnasts seem to be able to do everything the male gymnasts do.

In short, I think great gymnasts would be able to work there way into most every major sport and excel. The reverse course would be much dicier.

August 28, 2024 at 9:07 pm #151972

Zooey
Moderator

Billy_T wrote:

To me, gymnastics is the pinnacle of sports

This is why we always whisper when you leave the room.

August 30, 2024 at 12:01 pm #151998

joemad
Participant

“You Don’t Know Bo” the ESPN 30 for 30 is excellent and a must see.

it’s a shame that he got his hip ball socket ripped against the Bengals… he was a phenomenal athlete with a high level of skill to play baseball and football.
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