Who was the best athlete, considering all sports, of the 20th century?

[BRUCE]

Lance Armstrong.

[TheEgoCrusher]

Carl Lewis and it's not even close.

[BRUCE]

Carl Lewis and it's not even close.

Not that I know anything you guys don't; but I suspect Carl - like every other sprinter in that era worth his salt - was on drugs.  Therefore, Ben Johnson was faster and in my opinion better.  The difference being he got caught.

240, back me up on this conspiracy against Canadian sprinters!

[Mr. Intenseone]

Lance Armstrong.

Yes, of course, Lance, how could I have forgotten him..........Armstrong by a landslide!

[Leadog]

Anyone who is Australian or in a commonwealth country would say,


SIR DONALD BRADMAN.

There is no other athlete who has dominated a sport. Try to prove me wrong.

[Mr. Intenseone]

Try to prove me wrong.

Ok, I'll give it a shot..............who the hell is he?

[beatmaster]

mohamed ali:

He has been named Sports Illustrated's "Athlete of the Century," the BBC's "Sports Personality of the Century," the World Sports Award's "World Sportsman of the Century," and the State of Kentucky's "Kentuckian of the Century." In 2005, he received the United States of America's highest civil award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

[BRUCE]

Anyone who is Australian or in a commonwealth country would say,
SIR DONALD BRADMAN.
There is no other athlete who has dominated a sport. Try to prove me wrong.

I'm an Australian and I don't think Bradman at all - cricket is not anywhere near as competitive as cycling or sprinting, for example.

[BRUCE]

Yes, of course, Lance, how could I have forgotten him..........Armstrong by a landslide!

This might sound weird, but I had a dream about Lance last night - he's a hero to me and I don't even like cycling - that's when you know someone is so good they transcend their sport.  What a champion.

[Mr. Intenseone]

This might sound weird, but I had a dream about Lance last night - he's a hero to me and I don't even like cycling - that's when you know someone is so good they transcend their sport.  What a champion.

Man, I agree with that 100%, I've been working with one of Lances teammates  on the Discovery Cycle Team, Tony Cruz, and he says the man is just an incredible inspiration to him and the rest of his teammates, were suppose to take a trip to the Velodrome at the Olympic Center In Colorado Springs sometime this year, I'm really hoping to meet Lance and his trainer Chris Carmichael!

[legbreaker]

a few contenders, muhammad ali, jack nicklaus, tiger woods, arnold, then all round athletes like carl lewis, daley thompson etc

Athletes, NOT golfers.

[onlyme]

My friend was named Best Weightlifter of the Century by Sports Illustrated.  Can anyone name him?

[Theoak*]

A toss up between Michael Jordan and Michael Schumacher. I remember Schumacher in his prime was untouchable, tremendous amount of skill, he dominated season after season. It got to the point where the F1 had to change the rules because he was destroying the competition and was getting boring.

Even when Schumacher started from the back of the grid the cameras would be on the ferrari regardless, like jordan people came to watch schumacher.

[The Heckler]

My friend was named Best Weightlifter of the Century by Sports Illustrated.

of course he was your "friend"

[Theoak*]

I'm an Australian and I don't think Bradman at all - cricket is not anywhere near as competitive as cycling or sprinting, for example.

Its the 3rd most popular sport in the world. Given that no one has even come close to Don Bradmans batting average certainly gives the man recognition of the of the best athletes in the 20th century.

[ozman]

Walter Lindrum

[tu_holmes]

Lance Armstrong.

Yeah, I already said Lance, Bruce.

[Bigger Business]

gretzky


and this thread sucks balls

[mesomorph]

23 michael jordan

[suckmymuscle]

  Most people here mentioned athletes in sports that only interest Americans. No one cares about American football and baseball outside the U.S, and basketball is far less popular outside America than it is at home.

  If you're going to have to name the greatest athtlete in the 20th Century, you'd either have to pic the greatest athlete in the World's most popular sport or the greatest winner of Olympic gold medals. In the first case, there'e a short answer to who's the World's greatest athlete in the 20th Century: Pele. As for Olympic gold medals, I think that the record is seven, and there are more than one athlete who's won that amount.

  In any case, even when it comes to Olympic multi-medalists, it still doesen't tell as much, because they won several medals in only one sport, and they are usually sports like running, throwing and swimming that most people don't care about. In my opinion, the greatest athlete I can think of would be the guy who won the pentathlon the most times. There's a modality that combines five sports in one. I don't know who that was, but I do know for sure that Dolph Lundgren has won an Olympic gold medal in pentathlon.

SUCKMYMUSCLE

[Hedgehog]

Bo Jackson!

Bo Jackson wasn't even the best in either of his two sports.

One of the best oval ball players of the late 80's/early 90's, yes. But Jim Thorpe won the Olympic decathlon and pentathlon, then went on to dominate in ovalball and was a great baseball player.

There's no comparison.

Even Bo knows that.

-Hedge

[ribonucleic]

If you're going to have to name the greatest athtlete in the 20th Century, you'd either have to pic the greatest athlete in the World's most popular sport or the greatest winner of Olympic gold medals.

I'm inclined to agree. And I've already nominated Spitz previously for this very reason.

However, hardly anyone talks about Spitz any more. And even in his prime, his fame didn't extend all the way into the world's slums the way Pele's did.

But Maradona was not only a technically greater player, and in an era of tougher competition, he's already been chosen over Pele in a global FIFA poll as player of the century. In his native Argentina, he's literally a legend - like the Lone Ranger, or John Henry the Steel-Driving Man.

So there you go. The greatest athlete of the 20th century was that crazy fat fuck Diego Maradona.

For those of you who have no idea who the hell we're talking about, here's the man in his "Willie Mays making the over-the-shoulder catch at the centerfield fence" moment - the Goal of the Century against England in the 1986 World Cup. [the good stuff starts at 0:28]

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I anticipate UKGold's response. 

[Cleanest Natural]

WITHOUT A SHADOW OF A DOUBT , THE ABSOLUTELY MOST DOMINANT ATHLETE OF THE PAST CENTURY HAS BEEN JAHANGIR KHAN . hOWEVER, THE SPORT LACKED TRUE DEPTH..SO THAT BEING SAID, I'LL HAVE TO SAY IT'S BETWEEN MICHAEL JORDAN AND PETE SAMPRAS WHO BOTH DOMINATED THEIR SPORTS OVER A 6 YEAR SPAN WITH AUTHORITY.

[Hedgehog]

WITHOUT A SHADOW OF A DOUBT , THE ABSOLUTELY MOST DOMINANT ATHLETE OF THE PAST CENTURY HAS BEEN JAHANGIR KHAN . hOWEVER, THE SPORT LACKED TRUE DEPTH..SO THAT BEING SAID, I'LL HAVE TO SAY IT'S BETWEEN MICHAEL JORDAN AND PETE SAMPRAS WHO BOTH DOMINATED THEIR SPORTS OVER A 6 YEAR SPAN WITH AUTHORITY.

Roger Federer is IMO more dominant than Pete Sampras.

Sampras was vulnerable on clay, Federer has a good shot at winning the Roland Garros this year.

Björn Borg won the Roland Garros 6 times and the Wimbledon 5 times, he should also be considered.

Alexander Karelin suffers the same fate as Khan, in that greco-roman wrestling didn't have the depth, he remained undefeated for over 12 years however, if I remember correctly.

Eddy Merckxx makes a good case as well. Greatest cyclist ever. Won everywhere, and was complete.

You can't compare Armstrong to Merckxx.

-Hedge

[a-train]

Brian Olfield, Bo Jackson, or Jim Thorpe.