Swimmers, sprinters, distance-runners, etc... are specialists.
The decathlon winner is the best athlete at the Olympics (imho).
Jim Thorpe won the Decathlon (10 events) AND the Pentathlon (5 events). You can make a pretty strong argument that Thorpe was the greatest Olympic athlete ever.
Yes, but then again, how many people actually compete for the decathlon? I think sports with very few competitors—skeet, badminton, etc.—are eliminated just on that score.
If we’re talking about best athletes, it may well be that LeBron James is the best all-around athlete in the Olympics (but I wouldn’t credit him with being a best Olympian).
I think you might want to look for a combination of strength/speed/skill, with lots of competitors, that wins his/her competition running away, if you will.
I am a total non-sports person but you would seem to make a great point.
Agree, Thorpe has had no equal, although the Pentathlon has changed
Jim Thorpe won the Decathlon (10 events) AND the Pentathlon (5 events). You can make a pretty strong argument that Thorpe was the greatest Olympic athlete ever.
Agree he’s my favorite
Though I will recognize M Phelps on the basis of medals alone.
This could be settle by simply stating the obvious. M Phelps is now the All Time
Medal Winner in the Olympics.