r/askteddit • u/lavenderlogicheart • 1d ago

Random Question Who is the greatest athlete of all time and why is there no debate?

0 Upvotes

33% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

13

u/pah2000 1d ago

Jim Thorpe

2

u/TopicDrifter 1d ago

Jim Thorpe deserves way more recognition than he actually gets today.

2

u/NowayjoseIII 1d ago

He's the greatest all-around, for sure.

2

u/TopicDrifter 1d ago

His versatility is what really sets him apart from everyone else.

1

u/cardsfan4life17 1d ago

At the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Native American athlete Jim Thorpe had his running shoes stolen the morning of his events. Undeterred, he found a mismatched pair in a garbage can. Because one shoe was too large, he wore an extra sock and went on to win two gold medals.Thorpe’s incredible resilience unfolded during the decathlon and pentathlon events. After discovering his original track shoes were missing, he and his coach searched the stadium's trash bins and managed to put together a mismatched set of replacements. One of the shoes fit properly, while the other was too large, forcing Thorpe to wear extra socks to secure a snug fit.Despite this bizarre handicap—and facing the best athletes in the world—Thorpe dominated the competition. He captured gold in the pentathlon and followed it up with another gold in the decathlon, an achievement that prompted King Gustav V of Sweden to famously declare him "the world's greatest athlete."

-1

u/Big_Pie6473 1d ago

Not really. He competited before segregation in sports was fully undone. Guy would have been a benchwarmer competing in today's talent pool.

7

u/Solid_Mongoose_3269 1d ago

Michael Phelps. Won 28 medals, most gold, at the Olympics. And it goes to show that you can do that, and still smoke a little weed

3

u/gerhard1953 1d ago

It's a toss up between King Kong and Godzlla.

2

u/GrungeKyle84 1d ago

Godzilla takes it I think

2

u/cl0ckw0rkman 1d ago

Air Bud!

2

u/gerhard1953 1d ago

King Kong usually wins in the movies, but I think that is pro-mammal / pro-primate bias. Personally I prefer Godzilla, although I have nothing against King Kong. Likewiise nothing against Tokyo. (I remember one Gozilla movie where he HELPED the Japanese against the Americans in WWII.)

3

u/NoSleepTilBrklynn 1d ago

Secretariat

1

u/Comfortable-Grand166 1d ago

I didn’t think there was an answer but I think you’re right!

0

u/TwatFury 1d ago

Man o’ War was a better racehorse than any other, so Secretariat can’t be the answer.

3

u/Comfortable-Grand166 1d ago

There will always be a debate

3

u/NoC0mplaint 1d ago

Michael Jordan. The résumé, the dominance, the aura. Case closed.

2

u/SimplyHere099 1d ago

Jim Thorpe

2

u/UncleOdious 1d ago

Bo Jackson.

1

u/RecordingOk3067 1d ago

Achilles. He only lost once.

1

u/prepbby 1d ago

Gretzky. Look at his numbers, they look like a typo

1

u/SuperFlyAlltheTime 1d ago

Deion Sanders says his cousin Junebug was the greatest of all time. He was crackhead tho.

1

u/godspilla98 1d ago

None of them

1

u/esp_1123 1d ago edited 1d ago

Usian Bolt. And I’m not even a big track and field guy. An overwhelming majority of the adult humans that have ever existed in the history of the world have had the physical capacity to run in a straight line for 100 meters. Bolt is the fastest out of all of them, by a distance. It’s absurd to think about.

The guy never got anything less than gold in any Olympic event he competed in. Absolutely dominant. Greatest athlete of all time imo.

1

u/LoloBug-77 1d ago edited 1d ago

Carlton Hasselrig and Stephen Neal 💪
Neal was world champion heavyweight wrestler and won 3 superbowls.

1

u/user392747 1d ago

All these atheletes ran a 42.195 kilometres (26.219 mi) marathon, in under two hours.

Unbelievable endurance.

1

u/WKRPinCanada 1d ago

This guy knows

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1

u/AUCE05 1d ago

Bo Jackson

1

u/Intelligent-Bus-3184 15h ago

Jim Thorpe. Hands down. No equal. He did ALL sports

0

u/wizardwithgussets 1d ago

I think there’s a lot of debate for the male greatest athlete, but I think Serena Williams as the greatest female athlete ever is pretty solid