Who is the greatest sportsman of the 20th century?

[Alexander's Horse]

We could do that, maybe have play offs

On the villains, that ice skating chick Tonia Harding would also have to be up there

[Winston]

1) Like AH suggested in his first post, I was wondering now that we've had some nominations and a bit of back and forth discussion here in this thread, should we have a poll to see who people think is the greatest sportsman of the 20th century?

2) Should the poll be a regular one or a multiple choice one?

3) From the replies to this thread so far, I've picked the 23 athletes listed below for the poll (list is not exhaustive; I've been a bit selective ). Do you have any additional candidates to add to the poll? We can have a total of 24, but if we can get some kind of consensus, we can replace some of the ones I've included. Another possibility is to have one poll for male athletes and another one for females.

Muhammad Ali (boxing)
Roger Bannister (running)
Björn Borg (tennis)
Sergej Bubka (pole vault)
Nadia Comanechi (gymnastics)
Wayne Gretzky (ice hockey)
Eric Heiden (speed skating)
Miguel Indurain (cycling)
Michael Jordan (basketball)
Carl Lewis (sprint, long jump)
Joe Louis (boxing)
Eddy Merckx (cycling)
Edwin Moses (hurdles)
Martina Navratilova (tennis)
Jack Nicklaus (golf)
Paavo Nurmi (long distance running)
Jesse Owens (sprint, long jump)
Pele (football)
Sir Steven Redgrave (rowing)
Pete Sampras (tennis)
Mark Spitz (swimming)
Ingemar Stenmark (alpine skiing)
Jan Zelesny (javelin)

[Ned]

Babe Ruth

And if butchery is a sport

Hitler followed closely by Stalin

[reds4ever]

lets be honest, the sportman whos impacted the most on the 20th century is........by a long way............the one and only.................Muhammad Ali!!!

the rest are just jostling for second place.

[The Emperor Fabulous]

Rob Van Dam

[reds4ever]

jean claudes brother?

[Guynemer]

As much as it hurts me, I have to be honest and name an Ohio State Buckeye as the greatest sportsman of the 20th Century.

Jesse Owens. Ali & Gretzky might be close, but that's it. I can never remember if it were four or five world records Jesse Owens set in a single track meet, here in Ann Arbor... I think it was four, plus he tied a fifth. Nothing else compares--nothing.

And the next person who mentions a race car driver gets kicked straight in the nuts. This also applies to anyone who nominates a golfer, gymnast, diver, or a jockey.

You have been warned.

[Winston]

I'll probably start the poll tomorrow around noon GMT.

Keep those candidates and suggestions for the poll setup coming. We'll get it sorted out somehow.

[JohnIII]

Ditch Zelezny, he always beats Steve Backley .

No Michael Johnson (unbeatable), Nadia Comaneci (first perfect 10 in gymnastics--well, seven of them), Jim Thorpe (multi-disciplined)?

Fanny Blankers-Koen also matched Owens's feat of getting 4 gold medals in an Olympics, although slightly less politically charged ones.

[War4ever]

MJ, Gretzky, Koufax, Ali, Navaratilova, Montana, Mario Andretti, Pele, Nicklaus, Laver, Orr, Ryan,

so many greats.....so many more not listed...

its best to do this by era/decade and take the best from each one of those and pit them against each other

[reds4ever]

Originally posted by Guynemer
As much as it hurts me, I have to be honest and name an Ohio State Buckeye as the greatest sportsman of the 20th Century.

Jesse Owens. Ali & Gretzky might be close, but that's it. I can never remember if it were four or five world records Jesse Owens set in a single track meet, here in Ann Arbor... I think it was four, plus he tied a fifth. Nothing else compares--nothing.

And the next person who mentions a race car driver gets kicked straight in the nuts. This also applies to anyone who nominates a golfer, gymnast, diver, or a jockey.

You have been warned.

Owens was a great athlete, but Ali beat the best over 20 years, he saw off the best that 3 generations had to offer (Liston,Frazier and then Foreman) and still had enough left to hold onto the title until '78.

[Dr Strangelove]

Wasn't this settled back in 2000. I thought that Mohammed Ali was chosen then?

[Winston]

Posted the poll - now go vote for the Greatest Sportsman!