| Imthelegend said: I think that the greatest sportsman ever is Sir Donald(the Don) Bradman. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Bradman He is so far in front of any modern or past player. His batting average of 99.94 runs per wicket is roughly 40 runs ahead of any other player past or present. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cricket_batting_averages List me one player of any sport who is 66% better than the next person in their chosen field. I don't think you will find many. |
I still have to say Jim Thorpe. This man has great skill, at one thing. While it takes great hand eye coordination to do what he did, it's not a great test of overall athleticism.
Jim Thorpe went to the Olympics to impress a girl. When he signed up he didn’t even know what the events were. He won gold medals in half of the events he participated in, and never placed less than 4th.
He is the reason the NFL exists (his statue is in front of the Hall of Fame, and if you watch the NFL commercials where they show all the stars, he is the ugly one in the old uniform :p). He put professional football on the map. He was also a great baseball and basket ball player.
When he was 14, his parents took him off the Indian reservation to go to a white school. They lived 15 miles away. He didn’t want to be there, so once they left, he ran home. He got there before they did. Granted it was during the time of the model T’s, and he probably ran a straight line while they were on winding dirt roads, but to run 15 miles over rough terrain at all, at the age of 14, is amazing.
For overall athleticism, no one beats Jim Thorpe.
