T&FN Favourite Athletes THE RESULTS No1 Haile Gebrselassie

[mojo]

12 women ,8 men. 1 Canadian.

11 are still active.

My list...20 women...all Canadian
none are still active.

cman

I better be in the top ten cman.

Zero Canadian women on my list.

[Pego]

12 women ,8 men. 1 Canadian.

11 are still active.

My list...20 women...all Canadian
none are still active.

cman

I better be in the top ten cman.

Zero Canadian women on my list.

Sheesh, I left mojo off my list. How embarrassing .

[mojo]

I believe you can change your list pego.

Come on guys M-O-J-O....I definitely not active, I am Canadian (and a woman). You will look very PC if you add me.

[Pego]

I believe you can change your list pego.

Come on guys M-O-J-O....I definitely not active, I am Canadian (and a woman). You will look very PC if you add me.

The way I understand the spirit of this exercise is to make the list of athletes whom you got to like during their careers. Unfortunately, the pleasure of becoming enamored by your charm came some weeks after your career concluded .

[mump boy]

Thanks for all the entries but please keeep them coming, as with all surveys it works better the more people who take part

[gh]

OK, finally have my 20. Unlike most people I had a problem in finding that many, in that the no-cheering-in-the-pressbox code has long kept me from leaping in with emotion. But those who moved me really moved me.

Now to try to get them in order, which will be even harder!

[EastBayprepoftheweek67]

… here is my list.
…
Bob Deines
…

What an inspired choice.

If I had not interpreted mump's use of the adjective "greatest" as a modifier of "favourites" in his opening post, Bob would truly have been near the top of my list, followed by:

Tom Derderian
Dick Drake
and, further down,
Jack Scott
Harry Edwards.

You had to be there. ☮

[Daisy]

OK, finally have my 20.

I almost went the long route too, but thankfully Conor persuaded me to 'just pick them' (took a couple of minutes). You're right about it taking longer to order them though. That took about four minutes.

[Gumbo Gold]

I'll bite (my first nibble). Good subject.

Glad you limited it to track and field athletes, otherwise you'd have people including the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, Jackie Robinson, and Herschel Walker. Gosh, what about Wayne Gretzky and Pele? And the "Greatest of all!" Some performed well in T&F, but I'll limit it to just T&F.

It will be tough, but I think I can come up with a good Top 20 T&F. Plenty to choose from. Plenty to be just-so-close.

[gh]

Welcome to the club. And please feel free to start an all-sport faves thread on the Things Not Track forum. That's why it's there!

[26mi235]

Jackie Robinson can be included in the T&F club without apology.

And welcome to the board!

[Conor Dary]

… here is my list.
…
Bob Deines
…

What an inspired choice.

If I had not interpreted mump's use of the adjective "greatest" as a modifier of "favourites" in his opening post, Bob would truly have been near the top of my list, followed by:

Tom Derderian
Dick Drake
and, further down,
Jack Scott
Harry Edwards.

You had to be there. ☮

Thanks. I remember Deines from the Distance Running News days. He always seemed like a cool runner. I use to do intervals back in the 80's with Tom on Harvard's indoor track.

[mump boy]

Keep the lists coming, i need more for the whole poll to work properly

[gh]

hey, nobody will know if you count yours twice, which makes sense cuz it's the right one, yeah?

[Flumpy]

I'm having real trouble.

I keep remembering people that need to be on the list but don't know who to kick off.

I mean how do you choose between Regina Jacobs and Randy Barnes???

I could be a while yet.

[mump boy]

hey, nobody will know if you count yours twice, which makes sense cuz it's the right one, yeah?

Good plan Gaz

[Gumbo Gold]

It took a while, but I finally came up with 20, then finally ordered them. Ranking the final 20 was difficult. In some ways, I could reverse the order and be totally satisfied.

My breakdown:
By sex: 15 men, 5 women.
By age: 1 current, 19 retired. Most in the ‘70s-‘80s-‘90s. There were 4 earlier, and 1 (the lone current) was later.
By event: 5.5 sprint, 5 mid-distance, 3.5 jump, 1.5 hurdle, 1.5 multi, 1 long distance, 1 throw (I split the tweeners, of which there were several).
By country: 13 USA, 2 Jam, 2 NZ, 2 GB, 1 Ken.

This was a list of my favorites, not who I thought was the best. All of my final 20 were very accomplished, and my ranking was somewhat based on accomplishments. But not entirely. Some I met, some not. Some were personable, some not. But each was a favorite of mine for a reason I can’t explain. Maybe it’s best said that I enjoyed watching them perform. It’s just that “something.”

This was a fun exercise and a good idea.

[26mi235]

… here is my list.
…
Bob Deines
…

What an inspired choice.

You had to be there. ☮

Thanks. I remember Deines from the Distance Running News days. He always seemed like a cool runner. I use to do intervals back in the 80's with Tom on Harvard's indoor track.

In my second marathon and about fifth race I was running with another guy (together from about mile 6) slowly working through the field. Everyone else that we caught we soon left behind until this guy who stuck with us, giving us three running right together from about mile 20 to 24. We kept trading the lead whenever any of us upped things just a tad, and it was quite fun -- competitive and cooperative at the same time. I started to worry when the new guy would take the lead and push me into slightly uncomfortable territory with thoughts of letting him go. Then we hit the last aid station (24+) and I did not pause (too late for any help from aid stations) and suddenly the two were not with me - I pressed the advantage and then looked for them at the finish. The guy I had run with for 30km finished just a bit later but the new guy -- Deines, it turn out -- must have pushed himself over the edge trying to stay with us and finished 4 or 5 minutes later. I was glad I did not know it was him until after the race because I might have just thought 'heck, I cannot stay with a guy like this'. We had a nice chat afterwards; he had really just started training again. It was Mission Bay, probably 1976 and I ran 2:40. It did teach me a lesson about competition and mental assumptions, and what an appropriate person to learn it from.

[gh]

OK, mine's finally entered. And despite my being one of the loudest pro-women voices on the Board I make no apologies for including only 4 women among my 20.

Several reasons for that, not the least of which is that if you look at the history of the sport (and my list goes back 90 years) and look at the events available and numbers participating, there are a quantum number more candidates on the men's side. Then you combine that with growing up in a time and place where the women's sport basically didn't exist/get any press and it's hard to develop favorites.

And perhaps most important of all, when I look at my list, I realize that overwhelmingly the people on it are people that I wanted to be. Athletes I could fantasize about emulating (and came from an era when I was still dreaming athletic dreams). And that pretty much narrowed it down!

I can't wait to see the depth and breadth of the overall survey.

[DoubleRBar]

I'm still thinking.

[DrJay]

Working on it. Might be tomorrow before I have time to finish it.

Hey, this is like voting for NL/AL All-Star teams with those little punch cards when I was a kid in the 1970s. My dad would bring home about a dozen of 'em and I'd stuff the ballot box for the Cincinnati Reds.

[DrJay]

Done. 18 men 2 women. 14 distance runners, a hurdler, a sprinter, two throwers, two jumpers, 12 USAnians, three Brits, two Kenyans.

[Pego]

my list goes back 90 years

Somehow I assumed, we should work with athletes we actually saw competing in real time. My list only goes back about 60 years.

[Conor Dary]

my list goes back 90 years

Somehow I assumed, we should work with athletes we actually saw competing in real time. My list only goes back about 60 years.

I see you hadn't looked at my list.

[gh]

the premise was to do these lists in isolation; i honored that request.

[Daisy]

my list goes back 90 years

Somehow I assumed, we should work with athletes we actually saw competing in real time. My list only goes back about 60 years.

I have three athletes I never saw compete but made a big impression.

[Conor Dary]

the premise was to do these lists in isolation; i honored that request.

[mump boy]

OK, mine's finally entered. And despite my being one of the loudest pro-women voices on the Board I make no apologies for including only 4 women among my 20.

Several reasons for that, not the least of which is that if you look at the history of the sport (and my list goes back 90 years) and look at the events available and numbers participating, there are a quantum number more candidates on the men's side. Then you combine that with growing up in a time and place where the women's sport basically didn't exist/get any press and it's hard to develop favorites.

And perhaps most important of all, when I look at my list, I realize that overwhelmingly the people on it are people that I wanted to be. Athletes I could fantasize about emulating (and came from an era when I was still dreaming athletic dreams). And that pretty much narrowed it down!

I can't wait to see the depth and breadth of the overall survey.

But didn't you want to be Merlene, like me ??

[mump boy]

I'm going to have a few i didn't see compete as well

actually i hevn't done my list yet so i don't knoe who i'm going to have but i can envisage a couple from the 60's

[mump boy]

Gaz i don't have your list, did you PM me ??

[Gumbo Gold]

OK, mine's finally entered. And despite my being one of the loudest pro-women voices on the Board I make no apologies for including only 4 women among my 20.

Several reasons for that, not the least of which is that if you look at the history of the sport (and my list goes back 90 years) and look at the events available and numbers participating, there are a quantum number more candidates on the men's side. Then you combine that with growing up in a time and place where the women's sport basically didn't exist/get any press and it's hard to develop favorites.

And perhaps most important of all, when I look at my list, I realize that overwhelmingly the people on it are people that I wanted to be. Athletes I could fantasize about emulating (and came from an era when I was still dreaming athletic dreams). And that pretty much narrowed it down!

I can't wait to see the depth and breadth of the overall survey.

I must agree with your explanation, esp. with the "wished I could be like" (my paraphrase) part. I had 5 women in my 20, and I still follow women's side of sport more. But if I eliminated the "wished I could be like" athletes from my younger days, I think it would be almost even. Such athletes gave me those very strong memories, and I think that fits well into the "favorite" part of this thing. I think the same would happen if I were to list my favorites from other sports.

Also looking forward to the results. I may have a unique selection or two, but I doubt it (the most likely unique ones didn't make the 20 cut). GH, I think your list will be quite interesting.

[Conor Dary]

I hope dj is doing this. I am very curious on his selection if he so chose.

[gh]

Gaz i don't have your list, did you PM me ??

e-mail

[Atanvarno]

Breakdown:
17 men, 3 women
2 current, 18 retired
6 I never saw live
7 GER, 4,5 KEN, 0,5 USA, 2 GB, 1 MAR, 1 CUB, 1 RUS, 1 FIN, 1 CZE, 1 DOM
14 track, 6 field

[gh]

10 Murkans
2 Soviets
2 Canucks
1 Kiwi
1 DDR
1 Kenyan
1 Aussie
1 Finn
1 Czech

9 field, 11 track (which shocks the crap outta me)