Something no one has discussed is the difference between pure athleticism (speed, jumping), where little to no decision making is required, and sports (or positions) that require an athlete to make many split second decisions. There is some evidence that muscle twitch fiber is race based, but there is also some evidence that reaction/decision time is race based as well*. If you believe these studies, it could explain why there are more white quarterbacks on one end of that spectrum and more black wide receivers on the other end. So before you define who is the greater athlete, you must first agree on what type of athlete you mean.
And before you jump to say that an athlete should be defined as the fast guy who does less thinking over the thinking guy who is a tiny bit slower, can you name the top 5 100m sprinters alive today? Probably not.
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_intelligence_%28test_data%29#Reaction_time