T&FN Favourite Athletes THE RESULTS No1 Haile Gebrselassie

[mump boy]

and i know it's nothing to be proud of but i have never heard of him (where's embarrased Smiley when you need it ??)

[Pego]

71st (4 votes 16 points)

Wilma Rudolph

I am among those four. One of (many) of my great memories from Rome.

[Tuariki]

66 to go and I have 13 left - all legends.

4 x USA, 2 x Russia, 1 x NZ, Australia, Norway, Jamaica, Czech, Netherlands, Ethiopia

[72]

Me also at no 19. A great personal story and a triple Goldie.

Mixed memories for me of Rome, with some disapppointing Brit performances

[72]

not quite sure why I missed off a certain Dutch female athlete. I was being bit soft in the head. She is bound to be in the top 30 surely.

[gh]

why? she wouldn't be in my top 1000 (different strokes for different folks)

[preston]

why? she wouldn't be in my top 1000 (different strokes for different folks)

I've been thinking the same thing about this most of this thread. There are so many athletes who are on someone's list who I think: "not them!?" "Really?!". A certain Australian comes to mind. Mike Powell, on the otherhand...one of the most down to earth folks - ever, but someone else will probably say he's an a-hole. That's how it goes.

[dukehjsteve]

Glad you picked up on Bob Richards... I was one of his 2 votes.

Only 2 votes for a double OG winner ( plus a bronze) ??!!....

All depends what you're voting for. Like the subject line says, I'm voting for "favorite" athletes, not "best" athletes. 7 of my 20 won 0 Olympic golds.

I agree with gh. My "favorites" have little/nothing to do with elite performance.. I was/am more influenced by personality, acquaintance, background or some commonality..

ok, ok, I agree with both of you but he's a favorite for me not just because of the medals but also due to my early memory of him, plus hearing motivational talks by him that our high school coach bought and played for us. He could really lay it on.

[Per Andersen]

ok, ok, I agree with both of you but he's a favorite for me not just because of the medals but also due to my early memory of him, plus hearing motivational talks by him that our high school coach bought and played for us. He could really lay it on.

It's an age thing, Steve.
I was the other voter for Bob Richards. He was one of the most popular athletes who competed on Scandinavian tracks during the late 40's and early 50's. That was the time I got interested. Bob Richards was quoted probably more than any of them. He was a great athlete and would have been terrific on fiberglass poles.
I even bought his book "The Heart of a Champion"

In Ben Hogan's "Modern Fundamentals of Golf" he talks about skill- sets and repetition and the one athlete he mentions as an example is Bob Richards!
That's how well known Richards was at one time.

This might be ancient history to most folks here but as William Faulkner said :" The past is not dead, it's not even past"

[Flumpy]

not quite sure why I missed off a certain Dutch female athlete. I was being bit soft in the head. She is bound to be in the top 30 surely.

I love Nelli Cooman as well but she just missed out on my Top 20.

[Pego]

not quite sure why I missed off a certain Dutch female athlete. I was being bit soft in the head. She is bound to be in the top 30 surely.

I love Nelli Cooman as well but she just missed out on my Top 20.

If I picked a Dutch woman, it would be Fanny Blankers-Koen. Another boneheaded omission :-(.

[72]

Of course it would have to be FBK.

Nellie Cooman.? What did she do outdoors; but of course its all to do with "favourites". Flumps probably having a little joke at my expense. Why not, indeed?

[oldvaulter]

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[Flumpy]

Of course it would have to be FBK.

Nellie Cooman.? What did she do outdoors; but of course its all to do with "favourites". Flumps probably having a little joke at my expense. Why not, indeed?

Obviously i was joking but with no smilies it's hard to tell.

Gary what's haappened???

[mump boy]

66th ( 4 votes 40 points)

Irina Privalova
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irina_Privalova

65th (4 votes 43 points)

Said Aouita
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%C3%AFd_Aouita


64th ( 4 votes 44 points)

Allyson Felix (it is possible she has 54 points but not sure what i wrote !! she may also have only 3 votes so any feedback would be appreciated)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allyson_Felix

62nd (4 votes 46 points)

Charles Austin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Austin

Dean Macey
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Macey

60th (4 votes 47 points)

Jim Thorpe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Thorpe

Mary Peters
http://www.sporting-heroes.net/athletic ... eroID=9800

[Daisy]

62nd (4 votes 46 points)
Dean Macey

Even as a Brit this surprises me. Would be interested to hear more.

[mump boy]

62nd (4 votes 46 points)
Dean Macey

Even as a Brit this surprises me. Would be interested to hear more.

the easy explaination would be that i've mis counted !!

[mump boy]

62nd (4 votes 46 points)
Dean Macey

Even as a Brit this surprises me. Would be interested to hear more.

the easy explaination would be that i've mis counted !!

I don't know why i doubt myself 4 votes 46 points :-) and i don't think they're all from Brits !!

This is an occasion when an amazing personality adds to some pretty solid achievements :-D

[donley2]

Charles Austin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Austin

I was one of the Charles Austin voters. This one comes down almost exclusively to the fact at the only Olympics I have attended, his win in the high jump is, for whatever reason, permanently etched in my brain. I am not sure I will ever forget literally jumping up out of my seat when he made the winning height.

[Daisy]

I was one of the Charles Austin voters. This one comes down almost exclusively to the fact at the only Olympics I have attended, his win in the high jump is, for whatever reason, permanently etched in my brain.

I was sitting near the 400 start that night and got a perfect view of the whole event. So much happening that evening!, just amazing. While I did not vote for him his name did come up into my mind as I was compiling my list.

[gh]

Of course it would have to be FBK.

Nellie Cooman.? What did she do outdoors; but of course its all to do with "favourites". Flumps probably having a little joke at my expense. Why not, indeed?

Obviously i was joking but with no smilies it's hard to tell.

Gary what's haappened???

they're back

[DecFan]

I was one of the Charles Austin voters. This one comes down almost exclusively to the fact at the only Olympics I have attended, his win in the high jump is, for whatever reason, permanently etched in my brain. I am not sure I will ever forget literally jumping up out of my seat when he made the winning height.

I was sitting near the 400 start that night and got a perfect view of the whole event. So much happening that evening!, just amazing. While I did not vote for him his name did come up into my mind as I was compiling my list.

I too voted for him. I always liked and rooted for Austin - he had an infectious enthusiasm and a gracious manner combined with great talent - but that night in Atlanta was key for me also. Donley, I wonder, which of us jumped higher?

[John G]

62nd (4 votes 46 points)
Dean Macey

Even as a Brit this surprises me. Would be interested to hear more.

I had Deano above even Daley in my list (I think at #3). Why? In no particular order:
The emergence out of nowhere in 1999.
His amazing level of untapped talent. He never had any significant period of training to enable him to even get close to his true potential and never arrived at any champs remotely fit. Even in the build up to Seville he hadn't been able to train for the HJ.
Never say die spirit - in-between comps when he was invariably injured and during comps when he'd often be in excruciating pain (especially when throwing the jav).
He gave better TV interviews than even Daley. He was as quotable as Daley but without the arrogance (not that I particularly had a problem with Daley's arrogance).
The 4th places.
His dignity and resolve in defeat.
The HOPE - right up to 2008 you felt he still might have one monster comp in him.
His excellent punditry on TV.
His background - Canvey Island is ROUGH!
The experience of watching him live in Sydney. I was surrounded by a large number of BASC members - predominantly nice middle class people, retired teachers, civil servants and the like; the kind who fulfil the stereotype of reserved Brits. The boy from Canvey Island turned them into a football crowd, baying 'Deano, Deano' every time he stepped into the arena.
The fatal flaws in his personality. He didn't take conditioning and diet and injury prevention serious enough and suffered the consequences. And yet it was that same character trait - not taking life or himself too seriously that made him so endearing. His proneness to injury also came from his inability to do anything by halves. He couldn't take it easy in training and consequently kept getting injured / re-injured. But then again, the same trait made him such a compelling competitor to watch: he ran every race and made every throw as if his life depended on it. It's a cliche but Deano really left it all out on the track.
Deano, I salute you!

[mojo]

Oh let's cut to the chase. We all know JJK will be number one.

[TN1965]

64th ( 4 votes 44 points)

Allyson Felix (it is possible she has 54 points but not sure what i wrote !! she may also have only 3 votes so any feedback would be appreciated)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allyson_Felix

She is my #2 pick. And a very close #2.

I picked those two athletes for a very simple reason. They are very pleasant to watch. She has the most beautiful running form by any sprinter that I have ever seen. When I think about the number one reason I enjoy watching track atheltes, it comes down to seeing people running beautifully. (It does not hurt she is beautiful even when she is not running. But that's a topic for another discussion . ) So no sprinter can beat Allyson in my book regardless of their records or medals.

My #1 athlete has the same attributes, except she is a distance runner. We shall see her name a bit higher on the list.

[Fortius19]

I am very surprised my number 5 pic has not surfaced yet. Especially with all the much more famous greats that have already gone out. I just went back and double checked all the results and his name isn't listed.


Great write up on Dean Macey! I love the decathlon. He seemed to come out of nowhere and perform 'above his ability'.

[Atanvarno]

66th ( 4 votes 40 points)

Said Aouita
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%C3%AFd_Aouita
[b]

There goes my number one.

The most versatile distance runner ever. Word class from 800 to 10000 (with a damn good steeple in there).
Still the only man to run sub1:44, sub3:30, sub7:30 and sub13
Still the only man to win Olympic medals over 800 and 5000
Beat the Olympic Champions Cruz, Rono, Ngugi and Cova in their main events
First sub7:30 and sub13

[Daisy]

Oh let's cut to the chase. We all know JJK will be number one.

I only have one multi-eventer in my top 20.

[Jon]

A few more of my choices gone since my last post on this thread...

Dawn Harper
I remember following her progress throughout 2007 when she was "just another US sub-13 hurdler", but she made some good progress towards the latter end of the season (12.73 to 12.70 to 12.67) and had several wins at the lower-level GP meets. I don't know what, but something told me that she was due to do something special. I continued to follow her results throughout 2008 - she didn't win many races before Beijing, but boy did she get it right when it mattered. Granted, Lolo Jones clattered the final hurdle in that race, but I was delighted to see Harper win. In 2009 it was her turn to suffer some misfortune (had a bit of a shocker in the WC final after a superb semi), but she was back to her best last year with a PB and a WC medal. She also comes from a very unprivileged background and is involved in various charity work. I've not yet had the pleasure of interviewing her, but by all accounts from fellow reporters, she is a delight to speak to, and (unlike many athletes) she seems to have a very down-to-earth personality.

Felix Sanchez
When I started getting in to athletics (mid-to-late Nineties), I remember reading about Ed Moses and his legendary winning streak. I was amazed by it and wished that I'd been around during that era to witness Moses winning on the circuit week in, week out. So when Felix Sanchez was at his peak in 2001-2004, that for me kind of made up for not being able to see Moses. From mid-2002 through to 2004, Sanchez was undefeated, and one appearance in particular that stands out was his 400/400H double at Crystal Palace in 2002. His winning streak came to an unfortunate end in his last race of 2004 at the Brussels GL where he pulled up injured and he was never quite the same again. But since then he has kind of reinvented himself from being an all-conquering hurdling machine to a reliable veteran who is able to peak when it matters most - his surprise WC silver in 2007 in 48.01 (pre-WC SB being 48.86), making the WC final in 2009, and finishing fourth in the WC final in 2011 (off the back of a pre-WC SB of 49.41) - his fifth World Champs final.

Sally Pearson
Mump posted this link earlier - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPn3qY2vJFU - which explains a big part of the reason. But last year her performances on the track outshone her personality off it. And being in Daegu to witness her 12.28 will long live in my memory as one of the greatest performances I've ever witnessed.

Koji Murofushi
An absolute class act. Have never heard a bad word said about him. I also like athletes who buck the athletics stereotypes of their nation, so it's great to see a successful hammer thrower from a distance-running-crazy nation like Japan. I've probably never been so happy about a medal upgrade than I was when Murofushi retroactively got the 2004 Olympic gold, and it's great that he's still winning global titles now in his late Thirties. I only wish he'd compete more!

Stefan Holm
Like Murofushi, Holm is another classy performer who had great longevity and consistency. Patrick Sjoberg had a long-running spat with him about Holm's obsession with breaking 2.30m and 2.35m, but Holm had his moments where he cranked out big jumps, and I was lucky enough to witness his 2.40m. Another plus-side to Holm is that he is an absolute athletics stats geek, and I've spent many an hour studying all the high jump stats on his website.

Kathy Cook
Another athlete whose name used to pop up a lot when I'd spend many an hour as a youngster looking through old athletics books, mags and stats websites. The longevity of her records (and I still consider her to be the UK 100m record-holder) speaks for itself, although I'd be happy to see a Brit legitmately break her records and challenge for global medals like Cook did 20-odd years ago. Also had the pleasure to meet her at an England Athletics hall of fame event a few months ago and she was so unassuming and polite - she seemed genuinely surprised that athletics fans still have an interest in her achievements.

Frankie Fredericks
I was kicking myself that I'd not included Kim Collins on my list, but in many ways Frankie Fredericks is very similar so I wasn't too disappointed I'd missed Collins off. Both are from far-flung countries not known for their athletics prowess, both have won global sprint titles, both had great longevity, and both were the "nice guys" of their event - a rarity in the sprints where it's usually all about ego and machismo. Achievement-wise, he's a bit like the male version of Merlene Ottey - lots of great performances on the circuit, times that ranked high on the all-time lists, around for years, but so often missed out on gold at the majors. But he managed to get one global title (1993 200m) among his numerous silver medals, and was still going strong at age 36 when he finished fourth at the 2004 Olympics.

Dean Macey
Macey and Denise Lewis are probably the two athletes responsible for my love of multi events. I remember watching Macey's exciting breakthrough unfold at the 1999 World Champs where he won silver at 21 years old. He then bettered that PB at the 2000 Olympics but in a close competition he narrowly missed out on bronze by 28 points and gold by 74 points. Another WC medal in 2001 and another Olympic fourth-place finish in 2004 punctuated a career that was absolutely dogged by injury. He never really came close to fulfilling his potential and had he been fit in 2003, that season could well have been his best chance of winning a global title. In one sense it was great to see him win a championship title at the 2006 Commonwealths, but on the other hand it's unfortunate that that will be his only career gold when he had the potential to do so much more. He has been the only world-class decathlete Britain has produced since Daley Thompson retired. Hopefully we won't have to wait another 10 years for a top decathlete to come along.
Mump also summed it up perfectly when he said "an occasion when an amazing personality adds to some pretty solid achievements." Macey was an absolute dream to interview - none of this soulless PR-friendly spiel that so many of today's athletes seem to robotically churn out. Instead, everything he said was completely genuine, heart-felt, and bursting of personality. Always looked forward to seeing him on TV.

[Daisy]

I remember reading about Ed Moses and his legendary winning streak. I was amazed by it and wished that I'd been around during that era to witness Moses winning on the circuit week in, week out.

More amazing were his championship performances. You're right that you missed out though. His jaw dropping stride pattern (13 all the way) is also another thing that made him so amazing to watch. I didn't pick him for my top 20 but he almost made it.

Macey sounds like a great one to follow, but being in the US I heard little about him. Maybe if I had been able to follow his exploits with British TV coverage he would have risen higher in my mental standings.

[mump boy]

I am very surprised my number 5 pic has not surfaced yet. Especially with all the much more famous greats that have already gone out. I just went back and double checked all the results and his name isn't listed.


Great write up on Dean Macey! I love the decathlon. He seemed to come out of nowhere and perform 'above his ability'.

This worries me as it usually means i've missed them can you PM me who it was please

[72]

The Mary Peters "sporting heroes" text forgets to mention in the body of the text about her major attainmemts, the Gold in Munich.

Mary is well known not just as fine pentathlete but an outstanding person for her work to assist track in troubled Northern Ireland.
My personal memory of being at Munich was to see her in the high Jump, right in front where I was seated break her HJ PB 3 times to the delight of the Stadium, and then just pip Rosendahl after the latter's brilliant last event ,the 200m.

Met her later on in the nineties and she was, as ever, a delight.

[Jon]

The Mary Peters "sporting heroes" text forgets to mention in the body of the text about her major attainmemts, the Gold in Munich.

Her achievements are spread across three pages on that site:
http://www.sporting-heroes.net/athletic ... eroID=9800
http://www.sporting-heroes.net/athletic ... eroID=9801
http://www.sporting-heroes.net/athletic ... eroID=9802

[Vault-emort]

I was too young to be at all interested in the 1972 Olympics, but by 1976 things had changed and - as well as joining an athletics club - I had become very interested in sporting histories and biographies.

I borrowed quite a few from libraries but one of the few that I was able to buy myself was 'Mary P' which I found to be a terrific read. It must be maybe 15-20 years since I read it (though I read it many times over the years) but so many of the anecdotes remain fresh in my mind.

- The photo of the 1958 Northern Ireland 4x110y team executing a textbook final change while the winners cross the line, breaking the WR

- Mary's belief that birth control pills had been invented to assist female athletes regulate their cycles

- The stories about 1960s sex testing and Mary's application for funding

- The Mary P vs Mary R(and) rivalry and friendship

- The 'bumping' of Mary P in the warm-up areas during Munich

- Her HJ 'triumph' where she and a solo male vaulter (I think) were the only athletes left competing in the Olympic stadium

Though I'm sure she didn't write every word, her down-to-earth humour certainly comes through. One of my favourite athlete biographies ever.

[oldvaulter]

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