So who's the greatest athlete of all time?

[Zopperoni]

Eddie Merckx, the most dominant cyclist of all time

[Shogun Gunner]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
Is Michael Schumaker greater than Pele?

Is Schumaker a jockey? A guy that rides the athlete (the horse)....certainly he wouldn't be considered, would he?

[Richelieu]

When you ride hundreds of horses at once, like he does, you should be.

[Hot Mustard]

Originally posted by Zopperoni
Eddie Merckx, the most dominant cyclist of all time

Eddie certainly gets a nod of recognition, along with many others that dominated their respective sports.

But overall, Thorpe is hard to argue with.

Jordan is out because he selfishly left the game - twice!

[Gangerolf]

Bjørn Dæhlie - most decorated winter sports athlete ever

[Zopperoni]

Originally posted by Shogun Gunner
Is Schumaker a jockey? A guy that rides the athlete (the horse)....certainly he wouldn't be considered, would he?

Almost, Michael Schumacher is the six-time world champion of Formula One.

While I do recognize the fact that F1 requires a great amount of focus, endurance and stamina, it is similar to your jockey argument. A lot does depend on your horse power.

But Schumacher is one of the all-time greats in his sport, definitely.

[PLATO]

Bo Jackson

[Sava]

Impossible to answer. What are we basing this on? Success? Domination in one's sport? Statistical achievement? Pure athletic skill (running, jumping, etc)?

[Boris Godunov]

lightblue, if you listen to him.

[Tuberski]

Originally posted by Lazarus and the Gimp
C B Fry.

Captain of the English cricket team- his first-class batting average was over 50. Played football for England too. Played for Southampton in the 1902 FA Cup Final. Broke the world long jump record in 1892 (it stood for 23 years).

Also a top golfer, swimmer and boxer. In fact, he was so successful at absolutely everything he did, that the Albanians asked him to be their king.

Automatically disqualified. Cricket?!?!?

ACK!

[Drake Tungsten]

Mark me down as another vote for Jim Thorpe.

[cinch]

Gretz.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Is Schumaker a jockey? A guy that rides the athlete (the horse)

Ever competitively do equestrian? Then you can try to come back and say the rider does nothing .

[Jac de Molay]

Originally posted by PLATO
Bo Jackson

Yepper. Absolutely unparalleled in terms of combining speed and power. Should've stuck to one sport, though.

[Drogue]

I'm torn. In terms of athletic performance, I'd proabbly say Carl Lewis, as although Jesse Owens did it first, Carl Lewis, in being later and higher profile, had more competition. Sure he had better training and diet methods, but he's also a lot quicker.

Also, in terms of sheer performance, Miguel Indurain. Anyone with a resting heartrate of 28, who can timetrial fantastically and still sprint up mountains, deserves a mention. By that definition, Lance Armstrong is also a supreme athlete.

Also, being the Brit that I am, I can't help but mention Steve Redgrave. 4 Olympic Golds is no small feat.