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Most important athlete of all-time?

jedione12's picture
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started by jedione12 on May 10, 2005

There was an interesting read in playboy's june issue where they interviewed Lance Armstrong, mentioning him as possibly being the most important athlete of all-time. I guess I never really thought of him like that before, but after reading through, this guy overcame 12 tumors, goes on to win the Tour de France 6 times in a row, and helped raise close to $40 million for cancer by selling those simple yellow bracelets for $1 each...he has my vote.

Just wondering what everyone else's opinion is?

Chris P.

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MichaelJohn654 posted 3 years ago.

i've read his book " It's Not about the Bike" and read about all that he overcame. He is an amazing athlete and person. I'm about to start to read his other book " Every Second Counts". He definatley has my vote.

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christri25 posted 3 years ago.

he is my HERO ... ive read his book abour 5 times. 2nd book was okay. I was dissapointed he got a divorce but i am sure he is very type A and has OCD !

Chris

``It's not as if I'm going to sit around and be a fat slob,''
Lance Armstrong 2005

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Triguy98 posted 3 years ago.

I love Lance, and he is def. an inspiration to me. But, being a primarily a runner, Prefontaine is the most important athlete in my mind. Lance has done well with the Tour, but Pre held almost every American distance record. And he could have done more... if you havent seen "Prefontaine" watch it the night before your next race.

Life is short. Play hard and get dirty doing it.

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pimm posted 3 years ago.

In Belgium, we have our story about "Mad Max - Marc Herremans".
6th place in Ironman Hawaï in 2001, a new top-triathlete from Belgium after Luc Van Lierde ...
In 2002, he broke his back in training, he's now paralysed from the waist up.
Finished 2003-2004 IM as wheelchair athlete.
Started-up foundation "To Walk Again" , supporting research for disabled people.

After all he's been through, still finds the motivation to get up every morning & train ... A man with a very sound mind, mentally though & most off all : never saw himself as a victim or had any self-pity.

http://www.towalkagain.org/
http://www.marcherremans.be/homepage_uk.htm

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pimm posted 3 years ago.

But again ... have read the 2 books from Lances Tour de France.
Makes you think on how small our own problems are ...

In my opinion :
Never has there been any type of athlete that made such an incredible ressurection AND transition in sport (he changed from a rugged, muscular bike-rider to a lean aerodynamic 'machine') ...
All in all, he's definately 1 of the greates!

Personally I'm a bit dissappointed to hear about his upcoming retirement after the Tour 2005 ...
Hopefully he'll keep on going on another level - in helping people with his PaceLine-Foundation.

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swimbikerun_boy posted 3 years ago.

jedione12 wrote:
There was an interesting read in playboy's june issue where they interviewed Lance Armstrong, mentioning him as possibly being the most important athlete of all-time. I guess I never really thought of him like that before, but after reading through, this guy overcame 12 tumors, goes on to win the Tour de France 6 times in a row, and helped raise close to $40 million for cancer by selling those simple yellow bracelets for $1 each...he has my vote.

Just wondering what everyone else's opinion is?

Chris P.

Playboy's June issue :D Great Source :D

Armstrong is an awesome athlete and i don't think anyone has quite accomplished what he has. Recoverying from cancer, winning the Tour de France 6 consecutive times, and all the money he raised for cancer.

If you were to measure his athleticism (?spelling?) he is not the best athlete or even cyclist of all time. I see him as a specialist. He goes to that one race and totally kicks a$$. but you never really here about him when it comes to other races.
For what he has accomplished with the cancer research and recovering from cancer, he is the most important and influencial athlete, just not the best.

He's got my vote too!

Peace
Tyler

:cool: ~~Cheers~~ :cool:

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tcrunner07 posted 3 years ago.

Triguy98 wrote:
I love Lance, and he is def. an inspiration to me. But, being a primarily a runner, Prefontaine is the most important athlete in my mind. Lance has done well with the Tour, but Pre held almost every American distance record. And he could have done more... if you havent seen "Prefontaine" watch it the night before your next race.

they r a tie in my book

If you get a flat, and don't have a tube, Suck it up and run it in!!!

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christri25 posted 3 years ago.

swimbikerun_boy wrote:
Playboy's June issue :D Great Source :D

Armstrong is an awesome athlete and i don't think anyone has quite accomplished what he has. Recoverying from cancer, winning the Tour de France 6 consecutive times, and all the money he raised for cancer.

If you were to measure his athleticism (?spelling?) he is not the best athlete or even cyclist of all time. I see him as a specialist. He goes to that one race and totally kicks a$$. but you never really here about him when it comes to other races.
For what he has accomplished with the cancer research and recovering from cancer, he is the most important and influencial athlete, just not the best.

He's got my vote too!

Peace
Tyler

So who is the Best in your book ? I can say he is the best and not really need to foot note it. Others are the best as well ( no foot notes needed there either ) in my book anyway.
The best is when he waited for his main rival to get back on his bike and then he destroys Jan Ulrich at the end, right before looks at him to gesture " your done " and drops Jan like a sand bag. LOL
AND don't forget the last 5 years the FRENCH have tried to design a Tour that will not advantage Lance. Thats a fact.

Chris

``It's not as if I'm going to sit around and be a fat slob,''
Lance Armstrong 2005

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trithis04 posted 3 years ago.

I know this is an endurance site, but you can't ask this question without mentioning Micheal Jordan. This guy revolutionized the world of athletics. He took professionals to the next threshold (good or bad?). His popularity spawned a greater interest in althletes and athletics of all varieties. Not to mention, his physical abilities!

[FONT=Impact]-Jason
"Fatigue will make cowards of us all!"

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swimbikerun_boy posted 3 years ago.

christri25 wrote:
So who is the Best in your book ? I can say he is the best and not really need to foot note it. Others are the best as well ( no foot notes needed there either ) in my book anyway.
The best is when he waited for his main rival to get back on his bike and then he destroys Jan Ulrich at the end, right before looks at him to gesture " your done " and drops Jan like a sand bag. LOL
AND don't forget the last 5 years the FRENCH have tried to design a Tour that will not advantage Lance. Thats a fact.

Lance is a great cyclist, one of my favs, and probably the best proffesional rider out there today. But he hasn't came any where near scratching the surface on what Eddy Merckx has accomplished

go to http://www.eddymerckx.be/ and check the victories link. Back then there were no: team tactics/team cars/ ear pieces, Eddy went to the front of the pack and road until he dropped everyone in the field.

Lance can be called the most important, but he can't be called the best.

Peace
Tyler

:cool: ~~Cheers~~ :cool:

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Triguy98 posted 3 years ago.

I second Merckx, at least as the "best" cyclist. Even Lance himself puts Eddy ahead of him. Lance is the best Tour rider ever, but "The Cannibal" was something else. He could race several times a week at the top level, and win.

Life is short. Play hard and get dirty doing it.

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inlovewithcerve posted 3 years ago.

I think you cannot say: He is best, he wins the most races. There are more things to concern.
Especially when it is mor about the team than ever.
Best athlete in TdF: Lance, not even Merckx can get close to what Lance does at Le Tour.
Best domestique: Jens Voigt!!!!!!! What he does is awesome, and his aggressive racing style: I love it.
Best Time-Trialist: Lance Armstrong, Jan Ullrich. I can't decide. It depends on the weather I think.
Who can suffer the most and still stay in race: IMO Tyler Hamilton (collarbone), Vinokourov (attacking two consecutive days and riding this hard, that is tough), and Ivan Basso (riding Stelvio with a stomach bug, coming back from dead and winning two stages)

But if I were asked to name only one, the best, that is definitely Lance.

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niallsmart posted 3 years ago.

Don't forget Roger Bannister:

http://faculty.rmwc.edu/tmichalik/4min.htm

Triguy98's picture
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Triguy98 posted 3 years ago.

Another Great! This question is impossible to answer fairly wihtout excluding someone.

Life is short. Play hard and get dirty doing it.

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Anton posted 3 years ago.

What about Babe Didrickson,who blasted the way for women in Professional sports...?
Or K. Switzer who had to lie to be the first woman to run Boston?
Jackie Robinson?
Sure Lance is great, but the most important of all time...Lets's not be Myopic!
(Gee,I'm so much taller here on my soapbox!)

Go hard...or go home!

"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?" - Vincent Van Gogh
My Blog: http://agingsuperhero.blogspot.com