Re: The Greatest Athlete of All-time
For Tennis, please add arguably the # 1 woman's player of all time, Steffi Graf.
For wrestling, please add
Cael Sanderson, # 2 on Sports Illustrated greatest collegiate athletic feats (second only to Jesse Owens setting four world records on the same day!).
For soccer, please add Mia Hamm and Michelle Akers and Eric Cantona (the Wikipedia entry doesn't do him justice, I'll see if I can find a youtube link to some of his most amazing goals).
For basketball, no list is comlete without Diana Taurasi, the 2nd-best college basketball player I have ever seen of either gender who also has a distinguished Olympic and professional career as well.
For track and field, please add Edwin Moses, Rafer Johnson,
Al Oerter (four Olympic gold medals in discus),
Roman Šebrle (decathlon world record holder),
Bob Mathias (two gold medals in decathlon!), Florence Griffith-Joyner, Jackie Joyner Kersey, Marian Jones (although tainted with suspicion of PED use might disqualify her inclusion?). Hmm... I am being too US-centric here perhaps...?
For swimming would you exclude some of the East German women who were unknowingly treated with steroids, like
Kornelia Ender? (I still remember the shoulders on that woman!). Amazing athletic feats, absolutely astonishing, albeit possibly tainted by the "bionic woman" approach of East German doctors.
also, rather than listing everyone by individual sports, might it make sense to list some people (e.g., Jim Thorpe, Wilt Chamberlain) as multi-sport athletes? Based on the list so far I'd have Thorpe # 1 and Wilt # 2 for all-around versatility plus longevity plus achievement.
and I concur with Lynah Fan; no animals please...any nameless large feline carnivore could probably rip the best human athlete to shreds in seconds, but what would that prove? any full-grown male gorilla, properly trained, would outcompete any human being for strength and agility.
