Are we simply talking about pure God-given ability, or does achievement have to be considered, too?

From everything I've read, every person who saw Mickey Mantle before he tore up his knee on that storm drain said he was the most amazing athlete they'd seen (even better than Mays).

It's still subjective. Put Thorpe in a pair of Nike spikes, on a modern track, having trained with modern training techniques and he'd still be dominant. I'm not sure people are being bred faster, I just think our capabilities are better given the big business that athletic facilities/gear is now....

Pele anyone?

yeah i thought about that after id made my list.

Gotta give the nod to Lance, when I think of "athlete" I think of endurance. Being a cancer survivor myself I cannot understand how he recovered so quickly and regained his strength, other than focus and endurance. Winning that tour 7 times, constant cycling over that much ground is too much to not be considered top Athlete. I could go on and on but he gets my vote.

Bo Jackson
He is one of very few, if any, that actually excelled and was at the top of 2 different sports

The best athlete is the one that would place best if we threw them all together and had them all compete against each other in all sports.

In that instance, someone like Lance Armstrong would get broken in two. We already know that Jordan can't play baseball, and I have a lot of trouble envisioning Montana playing under the basket.

The best athlete is therefore someone who has shown that they can compete at a high level in many sports, which would be Jim Thorpe. He was a one-man track team, he played pro baseball, he played pro football, and he owns (owned) Olympic medals.

Well put. ya old fart

(Thorpe was a superior athlete though - you are right about that)

And what the heck, you want them to have a royal rumble?

I'll stick with Edson Arantes. ;)

nice to see im the only one that voted for montana

Agreed but I wonder how his track numbers compared to Bo Jackson's, that would be a good measuring stick.

He shouldnt even be on the list.

John Elway

I could even beat John Elway in a 40 yd dash.
:rolleyes:

Found these numbers just for comparison:

Bo Jackson-ran a 10.39 second time in the 100 meters dash.

Jim Thorpe-ran 11 second time in the 100 meter dash(Olympics)