Greatest All-Round Athlete Ever

[andmark]

I used the search button but couldn't find anything about what I'm talking about, so here we go. Who is/was the greatest athlete ever? I'm not talking just athletics nor do I mean the best sportsperson. Rather I'm talking in terms of who had the best physical abilities ever. The obvious ways of judging this would be things like pace, strength and endurance. Obviously, sportspeople have to adapt their bodies to their sports, so that may limit the number of realistic candidates. A 100m runner for example would have to value pace over all else, meaning they're unlikely to have the muscle mass to be exceptionally strong. The reverse would also be true for a weightlifter.

On this thinking, I expect that rugby and American football players could make for strong candidates. My knowledge of rugby is limited, but Jonah Lomu might be a good candidate. He could run with exceptionally high speed whilst having the strength to run through 18 stone rugby players. I can't provide much context on his life or career though, and so the rugby-minded amongst you might strongly disagree with me. But I don't know. Who would you go with?

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Sumo fighters(wrestlers?) are right up there.

Triathletes, a mention as well

 

[andmark]

It came to me shortly after posting that that an amateur wrestler (the type at the Olympics) would be a good fit because of the strength and cardiovascular abilities that sport needs. With that said, a good candidate would be Aleksandr Karelin. Extremely successful at his sport with a win-loss ration of 887:2 with three Olympic golds and a silver. He was also famous for being able to deadlift his 130kg opponents who were obviously resisting, adding to the difficulty of the feat. The man was an utter machine who I think is hard to top.

Edit: Karelin even went through a period where no one scored a point against him for seven years. I'd be amazed if there's ever been a greater athlete. He even has a PhD.

 

[jimmy101]

I think you may have gotten it right first time around andmark, it's really hard to go past someone like Jonah Lomu.

Maybe Michael Jordan comes close?

 

[Prince EWS]

You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.

 

[jimmy101]

I like it very much.

 

[cnerd123]

Bo Jackson

 

[Burgey]

You just know that *****, with no idea about athleticism or sporting prowess in general, has Googled this question and answered with the most cliched, American-based answer which popped up.

Unsurprising, but no less terrible in its banality.

 

[jimmy101]

You're not going to like this *****, but that was the very same athlete Miyagi was banging on about just before he got banned.

Unless of course you're trolling ;-)

 

[cnerd123]

Whoosh

 

[Burgey]

If you wish to talk about Bo Jackson, you should start a separate thread. I may consider posting in there later.

 

[cnerd123]

Too late Burgey. You bit so hard you probably cracked your dentures

 

[cpr]

I reckon boxers need a bit of credit here, the strength and stamina needed is immense, not to mention to endurance of pain. They've also got to be pretty nifty reflexes and co-ordination too, whilst being light enough on their feet to move quick to avoid attack.
Probably don't think of them as runners much, but my step dad uses the same gym that Tyson Fury has been using before going off on his high altitude stuff recently. Fury has a room for his sparring/boxing training, but comes and uses the standard machines for his stamina work. The old man has been running side by side with him on the running machines a few times, and reckons Fury is doing a 10k daily at about 45min depending on how much effort he's putting in (and its never full pelt because its just his warm up). And lets face it, Fury isn't the fittest in his weight class. Imagine Joshua's training speeds.....

 

[andruid]

Certainly ain't Dwayne Leverock

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Rakheem Cornwall is a step above

 

[vcs]

These darts guys have a claim IMO..

https://www.bbc.com/sport/darts/46245993

 

[nightprowler10]

Wilt Chamberlain is a decent candidate.

 

[Burgey]

I reckon boxers need a bit of credit here, the strength and stamina needed is immense, not to mention to endurance of pain. They've also got to be pretty nifty reflexes and co-ordination too, whilst being light enough on their feet to move quick to avoid attack.
Probably don't think of them as runners much, but my step dad uses the same gym that Tyson Fury has been using before going off on his high altitude stuff recently. Fury has a room for his sparring/boxing training, but comes and uses the standard machines for his stamina work. The old man has been running side by side with him on the running machines a few times, and reckons Fury is doing a 10k daily at about 45min depending on how much effort he's putting in (and its never full pelt because its just his warm up). And lets face it, Fury isn't the fittest in his weight class. Imagine Joshua's training speeds.....

Boxers do a crazy amount of running. They say the firs thing which goes as a boxer is your legs. They put miles and miles and miles in before a fight.

Agree they deserve a lot credit for their athleticism. Ali was a freak. So light on his feet, could take a punch, fast and had a lot of ring smarts. He doesn't look it in clips because he always fought heavyweights who for the most part were tall men too, but trust me, he was a massive unit. I met him in 2000 and he was 6'3" or more. To think he could move the way he did is remarkable. He used to train with welterweights and they couldn't catch him.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Wilt Chamberlain is a decent candidate.

Lebron too imo. 6'8" guy with that kind of freakish speed and leaping ability, plus being seemingly indestructible. He's probably the single most durable athlete of all time for having gone 16 years in a physically demanding sport with no real injuries.

 

[Burgey]

Lebron too imo. 6'8" guy with that kind of freakish speed and leaping ability, plus being seemingly indestructible. He's probably the single most durable athlete of all time for having gone 16 years in a physically demanding sport with no real injuries.

Archie Moore ftw on that score.