Which athlete is the world's greatest? It's a question that is often asked, is a difficult question to answer, and probably has never been satisfactorily answered.

First of all, what is the definition of 'greatest'? To excel in their sport, an athlete must have exceptional skills and fitness for that sport. However, world-class athletes mostly excel at single tasks, such as having exceptional endurance or strength. The greatest athlete should be more rounded, and have skills to excel in a variety of sporting situations.

Below are links to further pages which discuss a variety of topics such as which factors play a part in greatness, how to measure greatness, examples of testing for greatness, and lists of possible 'greatest athletes of the world'.

Lists of Greatest Athletesdecathlete

Factors of Greatness

  • Sports Athleticism — athleticism encompasses all the attributes that make up a successful sports person. Here is a list of factors as determined by ESPN that are important for sports. In addition to the standard components of fitness, this list also has the capacities of nerve (a fear factor), durability (ability to constantly withstand physical punishment) and analytic aptitude (ability to evaluate and react to strategic situations).
  • Factors of Success — our list of the top 15 important individual factors to that are factors of success in sports.
  • Psychological Factors of Success — the psychological and mental components that contribute to successful performance in sports.

Measurements of Greatness

Examples of Testing for Greatness

  • TV Shows — There have been several TV shows around the world that have tried to answer the question of the greatest athlete and fittest sport.
  • Head 2 Head — in this section of the site two great athletes in the world of sport are pitted against each other to determine who is the greatest.

Fittest Sport