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Greatest Athlete of all time?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Ilmago, Aug 23, 2010.

  1. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    Using the logic of the thread (modern beats ancient; men beat women; more events better than fewer), it has to be this guy:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Šebrle

    But the answer is Zaharias.
     
  2. Drip

    Drip Active Member

    In high school, yes. In college and pro, no.
     
  3. Stoney

    Stoney Well-Known Member

    AI certainly makes a strong case as the greatest 17 year old athlete ever. He had the greatest high school junior year I've ever heard of--was named both Virginia's Mr. Fooball AND Mr. Basketball, led his football team to a state title, one of the nation's highest rated prospects in both sports--and then he got arrested in that bowling alley brawl and never gets to compete in either sport his senior year. If he'd had a senior year, AI would quite likely be remembered as the greatest high school athlete ever.
     
  4. Captain_Kirk

    Captain_Kirk Well-Known Member

    Zaharias and Bo Jackson were the first that came to mind for me. I tend to judge this in terms of athletic versality rather than overall dominance in a particular sport.

    Another to mention is Dave Winfield: baseball HOFer, collegiate basketball player, drafted by the pros in 3 sports.

    Love the Secretariat reference as well.
     
  5. HandsomeHarley

    HandsomeHarley Well-Known Member

    From a results standpoint, I don't think anyone comes close to Jim Thorpe.

    From a purely athletic standpoint, I'm not sure Bo Jackson couldn't have starred in basketball, and track and field, as well as baseball and football.

    They would be my two picks.
     
  6. Sam Mills 51

    Sam Mills 51 Well-Known Member

    Depends. Are we talking about practice?
     
  7. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    By that logic, though, you'd have to throw Tom Glavine and Larry Walker into the conversation. Both probably could have had a future in hockey but went to baseball. Neither was as good in baseball as Gretzky was in hockey, of course, but Glavine is a likely hall of famer. And I would say neither Glavine nor Walker enters this discussion in a thousand years.
     
  8. Ilmago

    Ilmago Guest

    Babe Ruth was also good in Football, Golf and Boxing.
     
  9. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    Probably could've whipped Kobayashi's ass in a hot dog eating contest, too.
     
  10. NoOneLikesUs

    NoOneLikesUs Active Member

    International division:

    Abebe Bikila - First two-time winner of the Olympic marathon (record holder for a spell as well). He ran barefoot. Later had a nasty car accident which left him a paraplegic. Went on to become Paralympic medal winner in archery before dying in 1973.
     
  11. Stoney

    Stoney Well-Known Member

    Well, if we're now just throwing out great multi-sport athletes, Danny Ainge deserves a mention.

    I believe Ainge still stands as the only athlete to be first team HS All American in all three--football, basketball and baseball. He played some major league baseball and then switched to basketball, where he went on to a stellar 15 year NBA career that included several championships and five finals appearances.
     
  12. cyclingwriter

    cyclingwriter Active Member

    Ainge is one of the most underated atheletes of the past 50 years. He played two pro sports, but was almost never talked about.

    More on Gretzky, I also saw him jump out of a plane fight crime along side Bo Jackson and Michael Jordan on a cartoon in the late 1980s. That has to count for something. :)
     
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