Poll Usain Bolt declares himself "the greatest athlete" to have lived

[mjo]

Mjo actually stands for Carl Lewis doesn't it? But I think he would have been caught by now

I mean that drug test results don't usually come out for 3 days, so we can't say he definitively did not take drugs for his 200m final, although I do think Carl Lewis was spouting a load of bull.

 

[Jos the Boss]

He said it in 2008 and they only have been brought up again now

 

[ramilas1]

Bolt has now declared himself a 'living 'legend' ..... and the media are swallowing every bait he throws at them.

He's beginning to have a similar effect on the media as Muhammad Ali did ..... every word reported, analysed and then reported again.

I reckon he deserves all the praise as he gets and, if he overdoes it a bit about himself, there's no publicity like self-publicity.

BTW, just to join in the nonsense, I've voted YES.

 

[soccerman17]

That would be Ashton Eaton- the Decathlon world record holder- not Bolt.

 

[mjo]

I think Michael Johson would be a good candidate - 4x Olympic champion (would have been 5x if his teammates didn't take drugs in the 4x400), eight-time world champion, world record holder for the 400m, one of the fastest times ever for the 200m, during the time where training regimes and technologies weren't as advanced as they are now.

 

[Jos the Boss]

19.32 would have got him tied with Bolt in this years final

 

[teabagyokel]

mjo - Quite frankly I think it is a bit much for Carl Lewis to accuse anyone of being on drugs, given his personal history.

Greatest athlete ever? Assuming you're talking athletics that is one hell of a leap. If you take it on Olympic medals, its Nurmi. If you take it on world records broken, its Bubka (quite deliberately so), and if you take it on hitting a World Record by a margin, its Beamon. And that's to ignore the women, because only the shroud of reasonable suspicion ensures Florence Griffith-Joyner doesn't take it at a canter.

 

[GeoffP]

I think for track I'll go for it being Thersipus - I think that was the guy who gave rise to the whole concept of a marathon;

Football - Pele, Bobby Moore, George Best?

Cricket - W.G.Grace, Donald Bradman, Ian Botham?

The list is endless, I couldn't pick, except.... it wouldn't be Usain Bolt, although he's pretty hot on PR

 

[Johnny Carwash]

Usain Bolt great yes, greatest not so sure. What he has done for the image of track and field has been brilliant, but i don't think he is the greatest athlete of all time yet due to the fact that he hasn't gone up to 400 meters or done the Long jump yet. If he was to break the world record. in either of those two events then i think he would then be classed as the best athlete of all time.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Sodding bollocks I clicked yes and I meant to click no, how can he be I'll bet he's crap at swimming, at the moment he is the fastest but only over a short distance he is just the best at what he does that's all,

 

[F1Yorkshire]

We were talking about a decathalon winner been the greatest all rounder but the Modern Pentathalon has just started, could you have 5 more different disciplines?

Fencing, Swimming, Show jumping with an unknown horse and finishing with a combined running and shooting contest.

Greatest all round athlete? We'll find out later today!

 

[gethinceri]

If he says he is then he is not.

 

[Mephistopheles]

That's right cuz I am...

 

[FB]

Move over Usain Bolt Mo Farah's here!

 

[Galahad]

Impossible to make a judgement really, isn't it? How do you compare him to a female pole-vaulter or a, er, dressagiste? In motorsport terms it's comparing Senna to Loeb and Kristensen.

He's the best sprinter I've ever seen, in terms of his level of dominance over his contemporaries.

 

[Jos the Boss]

It isn't easy to do a single treble, he's done a double treble!

 

[F1Yorkshire]

He was very non committal when asked if he would be back for Rio to do the treble treble. If he does then he might have a decent claim!

 

[mjo]

He might do the long jump.

 

[Viscount]

Just been thinking, for Bolt to really be the greatest athlete ever, he needs to get the rest of the Jamaican 4 x 100m quartet and enter the bobsleigh at the Winter olympics. The PR would amazing!

 

[Dizzi]

I voted no.
Apart from his enourmous ego and arrogance it's a title that should be proclaimed about you not by you.
I liked him at first when he swept onto the world stage with character & exuberance but now he's changed, he's been taken in by his own publicity & one day someone faster, stronger, better will come along.
Yes he's very talented and exteremely good at what he does but running the 100m & 200m (two similar races) is nothing like trying to run the 5k & 10k or a triathlon or row 2500m or numerous other multi-discplined sports.