The greatest professional athlete in history?

[Samus Aran]

TheRealMafoo said:

Samus Aran said:
Eddy Merckx did his last pro race in 1978, so that isn't too modern. I've looked some of these guys up people mentioned and there victories just pale in comparison to what Eddy Merckx has achieved imo.

You need to train daily if you want to be a professional cyclist. These guys ride 150km 5 times a week. It's just not possible to chose another sport. The problem with Jim Thorpe is, his records aren't amazing compared to today's standards(at least in athletics)
However, it's truly amazing that he can jump over 1.963 meters without training. I can jump over 1.70 meters with just knowing the basic technique, so I know how impressive it is what he has done. But if you take a look at the world records today...

Yes, but he did not know what we know today. He did not have the nutritional information, or the understanding of training.

When he signed up for the Decathlon, he didn't even know what half the events were. He won them all, and held the record for 2 decades. That shows the kind of pure athlete he was.

I mean as good as I am sure Eddy Merckx was, if you put him in the cycling world today, how well would he do? Same rules apply to Jim Thorp (or any athlete).

As technology improves, the rules change. It's not fair to hold everyone to the same standard, as time passes.

He had the worldhour record for 12 years. They ride the worldhour record on a copy of the bike that Eddy Merckx broke the record with. 1 person broke the record so far with only a little.

But you're right though... Eddy Merckx even said that you can't compare riders of different generations with each other.

 

I've read up on the story of Jim Thorpe yesterday and I don't really respect him tbh. He was addicted to alcohol.

Having a lot of talent alone doesn't make you the best athlete in history. I have more respect for someone if they have almost no talent, but they get a better result then Jim Thorp with a lot of training.

 

Marco Pantani was also a freak of nature(You could say his body was made for cycling) and he's regarded as one of the best climbers in cycling today, but he still failed to defeat Lance Armstrong on the Mont Ventoux and in the tour de France. He also killed him self because he was depressed in 2003 and he was addicted to cocaine. Do I need to respect Marco Pantani more then Lance Armstrong because he had more talent? Or do I need to respect Lance Armstrong more because that guy's picture is next to determination in the dictionary.