Who, in your opinion is the worlds greatest athlete and why?

Question

it is my opinion that kelly slater is the greatest athlete of all time. he has one seven world titles yet is little known outside the surfing comunity. the guy has a spine like a slinky, incredible power and simply dominated his sport during his prime.

Answer 1

Kelly Slater is definitley one of the worlds greatest athletes, i dont think anyone can come close to breaking his record of 7 world titles, thats in the water today. As of right now he is on his way to getting his 8th world title as long as he doesnt get hurt again. Also there is Ricky Charmichael, who is the only motocross racer to get first place in every race in a season, this is one of the hardest things to do in the sport of motocross. so in my opinion it is between Ricky Charmichael, and Kelly Slater

Answer 2

Michael Jordan for so many reasons.

Answer 3

at this point, i'll have to say Lance Armstrong.  guy freaking dominated someone elses's race for 8 years.

Answer 4

I'm not much of a cycling fan, but Lance Armstrong has got to be the greatest athlete of all time.

Answer 5

right know asafa powell  because when he is in a race all the other athletes are running for who finishes 2nd 3rd and so on he is unbeatable at the moment

Answer 6

i think Michael Jordan is. He was the best at basketball ever. (just like Lance) But..... he played golf and baseball at a very high leval.

Answer 7

Pelee. I'm sure that U know he's the best soccer player in last century.

Answer 8

Lance Armstrong-takes a lot to win a multi-thousand mile bike race 7 years in a row after recovering from cancer.

Jesse Owens-He can run

Answer 9

Lance Armstrong CLEARLY is NOT the "world's greatest athlete". That's the answer that someone who doesn't know what the h**l their talking about would say. That would be the 'trendy' answer. First of all, he ONLY rode a bike, and rode that bike in the world's most corrupt, steroid using organized sport on the planet. Second of all, if "Beating testicular cancer and then dumping your wife (who was by your side) AFTER your  whole miserable recovery for trailer-trash s***k Sheryl Crow" is a sport, then yes, Lance Armstrong is the "world's greatest athlete". But it's not, and HE'S not.  

I been surfing for 20 years now, and as a grommet out of H.B. Ca. used to compete against Kelly Slater (along with Rob Machado, Pancho Sullivan, etc.), and your right! He is DEFINETLY in the arguement, but only someone who knows what their talking about (in regards to sports and it's athletes) would give Kelly as his/her answer. People don't understand how good he really is. Considering how difficult it is and how much dedication it takes to surf. Nobody's gonna help you surf,  make you any good, or  better than the rest of the world. It's the total solo activity, not to mention, the most dangerous individual sport. Let's not forget that Kelly's from Cocoa Beach, Florida! Ever surfed in Cocoa Beach? No worse surf spot in the world (if you can ever FIND surf)! That said, it's always baffled me how he has consistantly blown up places like Pipe at 20+ feet in the Masters (the Super Bowl of the A.S.P. or the Association of Surfing Professionals tour).

All that being said though, and not to disagree with the pick of Kelly Slater, my pick is and ALWAYS will be Dion Sanders. That's right!! Neon Dion! How can ANYONE argue with that? The ONLY person to play in a Major League Baseball game AND a N.F.L. game ON THE SAME DAY (Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Falcons)!! Also, played in both a World Series AND a Super Bowl! (Chh....Lance Armstrong....please!!)