Greatest Athlete of All Time?



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Sm

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I know this is going to cause some discussion but who do you think is the best cyclist of all time
and where on the list of "Greatest Athletes of All Time" would they be?
 
Originally posted by Sm
I know this is going to cause some discussion but who do you think is the best cyclist of all time
and where on the list of "Greatest Athletes of All Time" would they be?
Click to expand...

If you say that Merckx is the best. Now whether Merckx is the best athelete who was a cyclist is a question, but he was the best cyclist. I think that he is clearly behind Jim Thorpe and Jim Brown (bothe these guys played multipile sports so well it was ridiculous). Honestly, Eric Heiden was so dominant in speed skating (he also won the first us Pro cycling championships. At lillihammer they also had him go out and skate. His time still would have been good enough for 16 (I don't remember what event that was in). If we go to women I think we need to include Babe didrickson Zaharius, she was once again a multisport star. Carl Lewis (he doped), but Merckx might have as well? Mark Spitz? Michael Jordan? Babe Ruth (yeah he was fat, but so dominant for his day and he could pitch too). Pele? That is just a few and not an attempt to through every sport.
 
quang duong, cyclo driver in east haiphong city, has raised 3 generations of family by cycling. his
body is like iron. he has the heart of five lions. does he qualify for "best cyclist" category? jc
 
On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 15:10:54 GMT, "SM" <[email protected]> wrote:

>I know this is going to cause some discussion but who do you think is the best cyclist of all time
>and where on the list of "Greatest Athletes of All Time" would they be?

Babe Didrickson Zaharias, hands down greatest athlete of all time.

Cyclist, Eddie.

Lindsay
----------------------------
"One of the annoying things about believing in free will and individual responsibility is the
difficulty of finding somebody to blame your problems on. And when you do find somebody, it's
remarkable how often his picture turns up on your driver's license."

P.J. O'Rourke
 
Scribe2b wrote:
>
> quang duong, cyclo driver in east haiphong city, has raised 3 generations of family by cycling.
> his body is like iron. he has the heart of five lions. does he qualify for "best cyclist"
> category? jc

No.
 
Ali

Mark VandenBerghe

Don't forget, Edwin Moses and Henry Rono (at one time had every record from 3,000 to 10,000). Theses
are athletes that every time they showed up every one else raced for second. Even Merckx couldn't
say that (although cycling is quite differnet iun that ypou race vevery week sometimes twice).
Perhaps we should add El Guerrouj.

"lazysegall" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Sm wrote:
> > I know this is going to cause some discussion but who do you think is the best cyclist of all
> > time and where on the list of "Greatest
Athletes
> > of All Time" would they be?
>
>
>
> If you say that Merckx is the best. Now whether Merckx is the best athelete who was a cyclist is a
> question, but he was the best cyclist. I think that he is clearly behind Jim Thorpe and Jim Brown
> (bothe these guys played multipile sports so well it was ridiculous). Honestly, Eric Heiden was so
> dominant in speed skating (he also won the first us Pro cycling championships. At lillihammer they
> also had him go out and skate. His time still would have been good enough for 16 (I don't remember
> what event that was in). If we go to women I think we need to include Babe didrickson Zaharius,
> she was once again a multisport star. Carl Lewis (he doped), but Merckx might have as well? Mark
> Spitz? Michael Jordan? Babe Ruth (yeah he was fat, but so dominant for his day and he could pitch
> too). Pele? That is just a few and not an attempt to through every sport.
>
>
>
> --
> >--------------------------<
> Posted via cyclingforums.com http://www.cyclingforums.com
 
Originally posted by Mark Vandenberg
Ali

Mark VandenBerghe

Don't forget, Edwin Moses and Henry Rono (at one time had every record from 3,000 to 10,000). Theses
are athletes that every time they showed up every one else raced for second. Even Merckx couldn't
say that (although cycling is quite differnet iun that ypou race vevery week sometimes twice).
Perhaps we should add El Guerrouj.

B]
Click to expand...


Different Cycling races are also different. The 400 meter hurdles is always the same. A TT, a stage race, a mountain race, a flat race with a bunch sprint all require different abilities. Winning the tour 6 times would be similar to Moses track records. Not too say that if Lance wins 6 he is like Moses...I am just speaking on how cycling is different than a track event. In other words Cycling is to Track as Sprinting (Cipo style) is to the 100 Meter Dash
 
Mulai Ismail (1646-1727), the last Sharifian Emperor of Morocco. Screamin' Jay Hawkins, who put a
spell on enough women to father (at latest count) 57 kids, pales in comparison. And Wilt Chamberlain
claimed 20,000 victories in his career.
 
"SM" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> I know this is going to cause some discussion but who do you think is the best cyclist of all time
> and where on the list of "Greatest Athletes of
All
> Time" would they be?
>
I'll list four each gender...

Women- Babe Didrikson Jackie Joyner-Kersee Florence Griffith-Joyner Chris Everett

Men- Muhammad Ali Jim Thorpe Michael Jordan Carl lewis

B-
 
"SM" <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:

> I know this is going to cause some discussion but who do you think is the best cyclist of all time
> and where on the list of "Greatest Athletes of All Time" would they be?

Though this is a *really* subjective (not to mention off topic) discussion, I'll give it my $0.02.

I think its ridiculous to say that someone besides a world class decathalete is the best athlete
ever. That's what the compitition is designed to do... find the best all around athlete... period.

Amongst the decathaletes, well, that's up for discussion. There isn't really an objective way to
compare one from one generation to the next. I guess you could look at all of their times,
distances, etc. But then some folks are better at some things than others and vica versa. Kind of
like in cycling is impossible to compare riders from different eras.

- Boyd S.
 
"Lindsay" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 15:10:54 GMT, "SM" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >I know this is going to cause some discussion but who do you think is the best cyclist of all
> >time and where on the list of "Greatest Athletes of
All
> >Time" would they be?
>
> Babe Didrickson Zaharias, hands down greatest athlete of all time.
>
Goran Kroop

Glenn D.
 
Robert Chung wrote:

> Mulai Ismail (1646-1727), the last Sharifian Emperor of Morocco. Screamin' Jay Hawkins, who put a
> spell on enough women to father (at latest count) 57 kids, pales in comparison. And Wilt
> Chamberlain claimed 20,000 victories in his career.

Sri Chinmoy can do one-arm military presses with 500 kg at age 80.

Steve

--
Mark & Steven Bornfeld DDS Brooklyn, NY 718-258-5001 http://www.dentaltwins.com
 
Scribe2b wrote:
> quang duong, cyclo driver in east haiphong city, has raised 3 generations of family by cycling.
> his body is like iron. he has the heart of five lions. does he qualify for "best cyclist"
> category? jc
>
If he does, you also have to consider Puong Bhang from lower Ho Chi Minh district. He raised 4
generations of family _and_ neighbours by cycling. his body is like petrified mahogany. he has the
transplanted hearts of 6 water buffaloes.
 
"Boyd Speerschneider" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "SM" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
>
> > I know this is going to cause some discussion but who do you think is the best cyclist of all
> > time and where on the list of "Greatest Athletes of
All
> > Time" would they be?
>
> Though this is a *really* subjective (not to mention off topic) discussion,
I'll give it my $0.02.
>
> I think its ridiculous to say that someone besides a world class
decathalete is the best athlete ever.
> That's what the compitition is designed to do... find the best all around
athlete... period.

The best athlete may not have participated in the decathlon, or have ever even thought about it if
they didn't participate in track and field.
 
"Bruce Johnston" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>
> "SM" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> > I know this is going to cause some discussion but who do you think is the best cyclist of all
> > time and where on the list of "Greatest Athletes of
> All
> > Time" would they be?
> >
> I'll list four each gender...
>
> Women- Babe Didrikson Jackie Joyner-Kersee Florence Griffith-Joyner Chris Everett

Chris Everett wasn't even as good as Martina Navritilova or Stephie Graf.

If you're going to consider someone, they should at least be the best in their own sport.
 
Mark & Steven Bornfeld DDS wrote:

> Robert Chung wrote:
>
> > Mulai Ismail (1646-1727), the last Sharifian Emperor of Morocco. Screamin' Jay Hawkins, who put
> > a spell on enough women to father (at latest count) 57 kids, pales in comparison. And Wilt
> > Chamberlain claimed 20,000 victories in his career.
>
> Sri Chinmoy can do one-arm military presses with 500 kg at age 80.
>
> Steve

Oh, and Jack LaLanne can still pull tugboats around the harbor with a rope clenched in his
teeth. And his teeth appear to be real.

Steve

>
>
> --
> Mark & Steven Bornfeld DDS Brooklyn, NY 718-258-5001 http://www.dentaltwins.com

--
Mark & Steven Bornfeld DDS Brooklyn, NY 718-258-5001 http://www.dentaltwins.com
 
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