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MyFitnessPal Community

Worlds Greatest Athelte ever?????

BrotherBill913

Who was the Worlds Greatest Athlete ever??? Bo Jackson of course....... Nike credits him with launching their brand into the mainstream. When he played in the Mid Summer Classic he made great players look ordinary.........

Replies

Timshel_

Rafael Nadal.

What???? Chaz, I know were Pals and all but are you even serious?? early day drinking Brother?? lol.. Ok, make your case........

Essentially when you talk about greatest of all time, they must dominate their sport and opponents. They must also be of the finest physical specimen to do this (body type and look will vary greatly, but dedication and training is all there).

Tennis athletes are under rated for their endurance and stamina, precisions, control, and mental game. With that in mind, in my mind Rafa is the greatest of all time in the sport, and in general Amazing. He has dominated all his opponents, with a winning record against ever peer, and is top in too many categories to list. Then there is his humility and humanity.

Illini_Jim

Jan-Michael Vincent

d_Mode

Pelé...

ModernNerd

Tim Tebow

Thanks for the laugh

*bows* I'll be here all week folks

Hornsby

Tim Tebow

Thanks for the laugh

GiddyupTim

Rafael Nadal.

What???? Chaz, I know were Pals and all but are you even serious?? early day drinking Brother?? lol.. Ok, make your case........

Essentially when you talk about greatest of all time, they must dominate their sport and opponents. They must also be of the finest physical specimen to do this (body type and look will vary greatly, but dedication and training is all there).

Tennis athletes are under rated for their endurance and stamina, precisions, control, and mental game. With that in mind, in my mind Rafa is the greatest of all time in the sport, and in general Amazing. He has dominated all his opponents, with a winning record against ever peer, and is top in too many categories to list. Then there is his humility and humanity.

Actually, he has not dominated the sport to nearly the degree that Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall did, back in the day.
With all due respect . . .

wolverine66

Michael Phelps has to be part of the discussion, with the most Olympic medals and most gold medals.

What has always been my problem with the "accumulation of medals = ___" argument is that there are plenty of Olympic sports where an athlete has one or two chances at a medal, and that's it. If you are a swimmer, you can be in a disproportional amount of events and have multiple chances of winning. so while Michael Phelps is a great athlete, a fantastic swimmer and the most decorated, the accumulation of awards doesn't automatically make him even the best Olympian in my eyes.

BrainyBurro

Tim Tebow

Thanks for the laugh

you're just jealous!

horndave

Jim Thorpe by far!!! I am a huge Bo Jackson fan, but lets face it Jim Thorpe, Pro Basell, Pro Football, Pro Basketball, Gold Medals in both the Decathalon and Pentathalon.

^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^

fbmandy55

If you were a 90's kid in the Chicagoland area.... then it was Michael Jordan and the dream team.

GymTennis

Rafael Nadal.

What???? Chaz, I know were Pals and all but are you even serious?? early day drinking Brother?? lol.. Ok, make your case........

Tennis athletes are under rated for their endurance and stamina, precisions, control, and mental game. With that in mind, in my mind Rafa is the greatest of all time in the sport, and in general Amazing. He has dominated all his opponents, with a winning record against ever peer, and is top in too many categories to list. Then there is his humility and humanity.

Couldn't agree more on the first point.. However, I have to say as an athlete all together, I find Pete Sampras better

Hornsby

Tim Tebow

Thanks for the laugh

you're just jealous!

Um no. I just don't like him.

But what about Mark Allen? He could be up in the ranks if you ask me.

Sarauk2sf

Michael Phelps has to be part of the discussion, with the most Olympic medals and most gold medals.

What has always been my problem with the "accumulation of medals = ___" argument is that there are plenty of Olympic sports where an athlete has one or two chances at a medal, and that's it. If you are a swimmer, you can be in a disproportional amount of events and have multiple chances of winning. so while Michael Phelps is a great athlete, a fantastic swimmer and the most decorated, the accumulation of awards doesn't automatically make him even the best Olympian in my eyes.

Agreed.

IMO, Steve Redgrave ranks up there. 5 gold medals in 5 consecutive Olympics in a grueling endurance sport (and a diabetic).

BrainyBurro

chuck connors > michael jordan

both played in the NBA
both have shoes named after them
both made movies
chuck conners played in MLB. michael jordan didn't.

therefore, chuck connors > michael jordan

ryry_

LBJ

Let the flaming begin. I'm ready

Jersey_Devil

Tim Tebow

Thanks for the laugh

*bows* I'll be here all week folks

I see what you did there.

BillyC96

Here you go Amerocentrics....

Lionel Pretoria Conacher, MP (/ˈkɒnəkər/; May 24, 1900 – May 26, 1954), nicknamed "The Big Train", was a Canadian athlete and politician. Voted the country's top athlete of the first half of the 20th century, he won championships in numerous sports. His first passion was football; he was a member of the 1921 Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts. He was a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team that won the International League championship in 1926. In hockey, he won a Memorial Cup in 1920, and the Stanley Cup twice: with the Chicago Black Hawks in 1934 and the Montreal Maroons in 1935. Additionally, he won wrestling, boxing and lacrosse championships during his playing career. He and Carl Voss are the only players to have their names engraved on both the Grey Cup and Stanley Cup.

Football, baseball, hockey, boxing, wrestling, lacrosse, and politics for the win.

mank32

bruce lee

fishnbrah

By technical definition, Aston Eaton is currently "The World's Greatest Athlete."

See here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_Greatest_Athlete

No one else can properly receive the title.

theres no technical definition of greatest athlete.

RN514

Tim Tebow

Thanks for the laugh

Roll tide

Illini_Jim

Here you go Amerocentrics....

Lionel Pretoria Conacher, MP (/ˈkɒnəkər/; May 24, 1900 – May 26, 1954), nicknamed "The Big Train", was a Canadian athlete and politician. Voted the country's top athlete of the first half of the 20th century, he won championships in numerous sports. His first passion was football; he was a member of the 1921 Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts. He was a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team that won the International League championship in 1926. In hockey, he won a Memorial Cup in 1920, and the Stanley Cup twice: with the Chicago Black Hawks in 1934 and the Montreal Maroons in 1935. Additionally, he won wrestling, boxing and lacrosse championships during his playing career. He and Carl Voss are the only players to have their names engraved on both the Grey Cup and Stanley Cup.

Football, baseball, hockey, boxing, wrestling, lacrosse, and politics for the win.

Obvious juicer.

SkinnyBubbaGaar

Floats like a butterfly. Stings like a bee.

SkinnyBubbaGaar

Double post.

MelsAuntie

SECRETARIAT. No question. Watch video of his 1973 Belmont... no human athlete comes even close to what he could do.

qtgonewild

+1 for BO JACKSON.

JBnyc99

No contest,...Willie Mays Hayes.

After retiring from a stellar baseball career, he bulked up and started killing vampires for a living. Too bad he ended up in jail for tax evasion. Even so, Badass x 10!

BrotherBill913

Tim Tebow

Thanks for the laugh

Roll tide

Awesome..... lol.....

ilfaith

Babe Didrikson Zaharias

All-American basketball player, Olympic Gold (javelin and 80-meter hurdles) and Silver medalist (in high jump)...she actually qualified to compete in five events but was only allowed to compete in three. She then turned to golf and went on to be the LPGA's leading player throughout the 1940s and 50s.

GiddyupTim

Babe Didrikson Zaharias

All-American basketball player, Olympic Gold (javelin and 80-meter hurdles) and Silver medalist (in high jump)...she actually qualified to compete in five events but was only allowed to compete in three. She then turned to golf and went on to be the LPGA's leading player throughout the 1940s and 50s.

She's got a convincing collection of facts here . . .

SrJoben

By technical definition, Aston Eaton is currently "The World's Greatest Athlete."

See here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_Greatest_Athlete

No one else can properly receive the title.

theres no technical definition of greatest athlete.

Perhaps.

But on the other hand if being the best in the world at something like the decathlon doesn't get you considered for the top spot I'm not sure what does. An olympic decathalon champ is the best overall in ten different disciplines, displaying various types of strength, speed and coordination and general athletic ability.

This may be more impressive than being really great at say, hitting a baseball.