there has to be some old warrier in some tribe that was the best athlete of all time. Strenth to take down a elephant yet ran for days could jump over large puddles of water and impregnat woman from 4 or 5 tribes

How about Jim Thorpe?...

Why aren't there females on the list?...

Babe Didrickson, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and Anika Sorenstam would be top choice...

But I can obviously understand why ya didn't put Cal "Mr. Ironman" Ripken, Jr., on the list...

Bo freaking Jackson

Exactly, nuff said.

Honestly, I did not ..........

MJ couldn't make a pimple on Thorpes ass.........

The only thing MJ could do was play basketball..... He was dominate at his position in his time, just like Wilt was, just like Russell was......

Oh, I forgot, MJ could retire more times and better than any other athlete.

I believe you Roy. And I'm not being sarcastic.

I also was fairly certain of the height before I googled, but I wanted to be sure to be accurate when I did post the heights.

The problem with naming Thorpe, is that many of his accomplishments are in track and field, where the #s are concrete and have been surpassed by the march of progress.
If you want to make a case for him being the althete most dominant over his peers, maybe. Or a case for the most diverse abilities, maybe. But he can't be greatest athlete ever when his #s can be surpassed by HS kids of today.
I mean does anyone think he would dominate today's NFL like he did back then, or MLB, or that he'd outperform a Dan O'Brien in the decathalon?

Jim Thorpe.

Thorpe was dominant in every sport he played, including football. If you learn more about him, you will probably change your mind.

Greatest athlete is very different from most dominant player in a sport. Gretzky would be the answer to that question.

Once must consider that in his time, where the structure of athletes have changed over time.

Athletes 40 - 60 years ago were slower than athletes of today.......

Anyone of our 4 current MLB's ( Pre Maz Injury ) are faster than Dick Butkis, but who was the better player / athlete ?

But how can you be the GREATEST athlete of ALL TIME when you are objectively slower and weaker than other athletes?

I'm 1/2 Cherokee, and Thorpe's profile as a Native American icon is a source of pride, but I don't get saying someone is the greatest at something that has objective measurements that others surpass him in.
It's like saying Weissmueller was the greatest swimmer of all time, when HS girls beat his times nowadays.

Jim Thorpe-1
Jack Johnson-2
Rocky Marciano-3
Jim Brown-4
Carl Lewis-5
Dr.J tied -5

I voted Ali, he must be the greatest!

1. Michael Jordan
2. (tie) Joe Montana / Wayne Gretzky
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NO.
but givin the same advantages of todays athletes,yes.