[UNCbasketballbumParticipant]

Who is the greatest athlete in the world regardless of sport?   I’m going to have to say Usain Bolt.  Wolrd record holder in the 100 and 200 meter sprints.  Who else?

[ProudGrandpaParticipant]

MJ or Aran Smith

[BasterdInABasketParticipant]

Size, Strength, Speed, Quickness, Hops

I dont know what Bolt can do aside from speed and some ok dunks.

[aamir543Participant]

I know these are off and based purely on basketball guys, but Russ Westbrook is inhumanly explosive, and Gerald Green can get so high, it’s crazy.

[ProudGrandpaParticipant]

Troy Polamalu?

[ProudGrandpaParticipant]

And Ichiro, in his prime

[HaleParticipant]

TP? Really?

James White, LeBron James, Usain Bolt, young Shaq, and young Randy Moss are the first ones that come to mind for people who could be argued.

[UNCbasketballbumParticipant]

Ed Reed in his prime…

[The Scare Crow RisesParticipant]

Megatron…

Calvin Johnson and Lebron are 2 of the most freakish athletes on the planet

MMA guys are insane too…Brock is a freak of Nature, GSP and Spider Silva amaze me too… 

[HaleParticipant]

Wait are we talking about best athletes as in players, or in terms of athletic ability? 

[GlenTaylorSucksParticipant]

Gotta say Usain Bolt. He makes running look so easy, it’s not even funny. Somebody that tall should NOT be that insanely fast. Also, I’d argue the top marathon runners- the guys that can do it in like just over 2 hrs- should be mentioned.

[Wahoo757Participant]

A guy that hasn’t been mentioned yet but is a true all around athletic freak is Vernon Davis. His combine numbers are absolutely ridiculous for a guy that’s 6-3 250: he ran a 4.38 40, had a 42 inch vert, and benched pressed 225 pounds 32 times. That’s a ridiculous combination of size, speed, ans strength.

[Raef LaFrentzParticipant]

Young Shaq was unbelievable. People forget.. I can honestly say that I do not think there will be another human being like that ever again.

[Wahoo757Participant]

Bo Jackson. And it’s not even all that close. Played two sports at the professional level, had great size, strength, and world class speed (rumored to have run a 4.12 40 yard dash at one point).

[Raef LaFrentzParticipant]

Rumors are just that. Rumors. Shaq is as much of a rumor as any 7’2, 330lb human freak can be. He was often the fastest, most athletic, strongest, and smartest player on the court at all times. Shaq was not a rumor. He was real, even though it really seems impossible that he was such a freak of nature.

[UNCbasketballbumParticipant]

I completely forgot about "Bo Knows."  Athletic freak in his prime, size, strength, speed.  He had it all.

[Wahoo757Participant]

What the hell kind of a rebuttal was that? Yes, I know Shaq is a real person and Bo isn’t just a figment of my imaginaion, he’s a real person too. He might not have run a 4.12, but there were runs he had (MNF against the Seahawks) where he just torched people and made it look like a sub 4.2 40. There’s no denying that they were arguably the greatest athletes in their respective sports, but I just feel like Bo is the better all around athlete.

[rhofernParticipant]

 James white. Insane hops dunked from free throw line thru the legs!!!!

[dede21]

Dwight Howard

[JMIKE is a Grizz fanParticipant]

 I’m telling you look at Trent richardsons bench squat etc. guy is a beast. 600 squat is ridiculous. Also look up Robert knedimche don’t know if I speelled it right he benches over 400 and squats over 500 and runs a 4.72 at 6"5 270! In high school!

[druneave3Participant]

Think I go with Lebron with his combination of size speed  power strength agility etc. Also go with Bolt, Trent Richardson, Calvin Johnson, Dwight Howard, Julius Peppers. Sean Taylor, if he was still with us, -physical freak. Maybe Adrian Peterson pre-injury.

[r377Participant]

As soon as i saw the topic I thought of Bo Jackson in his prime…..

[raybeasParticipant]

in the Olympics that determines this. It’s called the decathlon. Running, jumping, strength, endurance, it’s all in there. Whoever is the best at this is the best athlete in the world. No swimming I guess, thats also pretty athletic. Maybe the top tri-athlete? No, I’m going with the old standard of decathlon.

[invalidParticipant]

 super saiyan

[scbe2223Participant]

 I wonder what Lebron’s 40 time would be right now. Everyone always talks about the guy being able to play football, so I wonder what kind of numbers he would put up in combine style tests.

[mookieParticipant]

greatest athlete means you incorporate, speed strength, quickness, mobility, flexibility..so while everyone here mentioned is a great athlete, even though I’m not a fan imma have to say lebron.  He can play football, jump high run fast, is strong…maybe not the best at anyone of them but factor all them and he’s gotta be the 1.  Plus basketball requires coordination

[BleedingBlueParticipant]

http://www.muscleprodigy.com/the-10-biggest-athletic-freaks-of-all-time-arcl-1124.html

This article should be a good read.

[dede21]

 David Robinson might of been a better athlete than Shaq he could walk like 200 feet on his hands

[TRC1991Participant]

Robert Griffin III

Taylor Mays

Cam Newton

all 3 of those individuals are silly athletic

[4thewinParticipant]

Muhammad Ali has to be up there with them

[Bill Walton’s KneesParticipant]

 All I know is that Bama’s coaches had to tell Trent Richardson to stop lifting cause he was getting so big.

 

It’s Bo Jackson.  Dion Sanders was a freak too, but nobody will ever have the size, speed, power and just sheer athleticism that Bo had.

[chocboywndrParticipant]

 Bo Jackson, before his hip injury he was athletic marvel

Herschel Walker, even today at 50 he runs a 4.35 40 yard dash and is more ripped than 95% of the guys half his age.

[Meditated StatesParticipant]

Best alive. Insane athelete. Never seen before. Hershel is a good call too. Walker says he never lifts weights just push ups and crunches.

[JoeWolf1]

Some that come to mind, but my vote goes to Carl Lewis

Mario Williams’ combine results –

6’7” 295 lbs.

4.7 – 40

40.5” vertical leap

35 reps of 225 lbs

Carl Lewis – 6’3” 180 lbs

9 time Olympic Gold winner – (won long jump gold in 1996 at age 35)

19.75 sec 200, 9.82 sec 100, 29’2” – long jump

drafted by the NFL and NBA in late rounds, despite not playing the sports in college, on athletic ability alone

[stepback3Participant]

Not the best but most of you Americans wouldn’t of heard of Jonah Lomu. 6’5 276lbs and ran 100m in 10.8 seconds as well as being absolutely dominant in Rugby Union. His Career was cut short by kidney failure which he needed a transplant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex18PXRcj-s

Because of his illness he never had a true career, every thing he accomplished was while he was dealing with severe health problems .

[ItsVictorOladipoParticipant]

Not the best but most of you Americans wouldn’t of heard of Jonah Lomu. 6’5 276lbs and ran 100m in 10.8 seconds as well as being absolutely dominant in Rugby Union. His Career was cut short by kidney failure which he needed a transplant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex18PXRcj-s

Because of his illness he never had a true career, every thing he accomplished was while he was dealing with severe health problems .

—————————————————————————————————————————————-

In terms of size/speed/physical ability he was an absolute monster, almost the Wilt Chamberlain/Jim Brown/Mario Lemieux of his sport. But when it came to certain components of his game; hands, skillset, technique I feel there were better all-around players. Still as a pure athlete he definitly deserves consideration; the first super star of the modern proffesional era.

[r377Participant]

Jonah Lomu was an absolute beast…

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