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Your Take Who should have made the top eight?
Posted: Saturday July 24, 1999 03:22 PM
CNN/SI asked to tell us who should made our list of Olympians. Read on for some of the most interesting responses:
Out of all your Century's Best lists this has to be the worst! I have been an Olympics Fan all my life. Where is Sergei Bubka on your list? Where are all the female greats? Others that should have been included are Daley Thompson (decathlon), Sebastian Coe, Alberto Tomba (skiing). I agree with just two on your list -- Owens and Lewis. Also, how could you possibly mix the Summer and Winter Olympics together -- it's absolutely ridiculous. And to finish off my little rant -- How come there is a heavy emphasis on Americans on all your lists? How about the Europeans, Africans etc. Get a grip CNN/SI, open your eyes to the rest of the world! There are some outstanding athletes from Europe in particular that should have made it in other lists. To say I'm disappointed in you all is putting it mildly!
-- Riaz Shaikh , Atlanta, GA
I think Emil Zatopek should be included in this list. Entering the Olympics late in his life due to the war (26) he still had a 20-year running career that included a victory in the 10,000 meters in 1948. He is the only person to win the 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters and the marathon in one Olympics in Helsinki in 1952.
This is SO difficult a category -- it is absolutely brimming with the "Apples vs. Oranges" arguments. How can you do a fair comparison between the winter and summer athletes? or even between such a diversity of events? However, I would feel a strong case to consider such men as Teofilo Stevenson, Daley Thompson, and MOST ESPECIALLY, Bob Mathias. Mathias excelled in the most broad-based of events, the decathlon, and won it twice -- the first to ever do so. Stevenson has to stand right there with Al Oerter, with his longevity in a demanding event, as well.
Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia. With the present dominance of the African runners in every known long distance running event, it is well worth noting that this humble Ethiopian runner, who carried his modesty in the manner by which he competed, shattered barriers for African runners, and opened the eyes of the world to recognize the abilities of the African runner. Every African runner, or, for that matter, every runner from a Third World country, owes a debt of gratitude to Abebe for showing that poverty is not a hindrance to fame, success and glory. In addition, he showed great sportsmanship in his humility in victory, and pride in attempting to defend his Olympic marathon title in spite of debilitating injury.
Michael Johnson should have made it for no other reason than he gave us the greatest Olympic moment ever. His 19.28-second 200-meter clocking in Atlanta was the single greatest athletic achievement ever. He may not have a ton of medals, but his run is something no sports fan will ever forget.
Where is Greg Louganis on your list? Superior athleticism, superior performance and superior class. It is hard to find another athlete who dominated his event as thoroughly, and with as much class and style, during his Olympic career as did Greg Louganis. His exclusion from this list couldn't possibly be because he has HIV, could it?
Where Tarzan? Johnny Weissmuller never lost a swim race -- ever. That alone should qualify him as the greatest swimmer, if not athlete, of the twentieth century. By any common basis of comparison, Weissmuller was better than Spitz. Spitz won seven golds in '72. However, there were 15 events held that year. In '24, when Weissmuller won three golds, there were only six races held. Consequently, while Spitz won an impressive 46.7% of all available gold medals, Weissmuller won 50%. While in his entire Olympic career, Spitz won nine gold medals; five of these or 55.5% were on relays. Of Weissmuller's five Olympic golds, only two or 40% were on relays. Spitz' greatest swim was the 100 Butterfly at the 1972 Olympics. This was the longest lived of his world records and stood until 1978. By contrast, Weissmuller's 100 freestyle world record stood for a full decade. To argue that Spitz was faster than Weissmuller is also unfair. Modern swimmers are faster than either man is. In any case, the conditions in Weissmuller's day were wretched. Freestyle competitors were forced to use the less efficient head-up front-crawl in order to navigate. Even if they had had goggles, there no lines on the bottom of the pool. Wave control didn't exist. Flip-turn? What's that? Throw on a full-body wool suit and Weissmuller's 57.4 second 100m Freestyle starts looking like a Beamon-esque miracle. Besides, when did Spitz ever have to give a Tarzan yell to keep from being executed by Cuban revolutionaries?
Let me be sarcastic. Why didn't you put Michael Jordan on your list? You undeservedly put him on your college basketball list, why not undeservedly put him on your Olympics list. After all, he did win two gold medals.
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