Honorific epithets The title of "'''World's Greatest Athlete'''" traditionally belongs to the world's top competitor in the
decathlon (males) and
heptathlon (females) in track and field. The
decathlon consists of 10 events:
100 meters,
long jump,
shot put,
high jump,
400 meters,
110 m hurdles,
discus,
pole vault,
javelin, and
1500 m. The
heptathlon consists of seven events: the
100 m hurdles,
high jump,
shot put,
200 meters,
long jump,
javelin, and
800 meters. These competitions require an athlete to possess the whole spectrum of athletic ability to be successful, including speed, strength, coordination, jumping ability, and endurance. Although the title "World's Greatest
Athlete seems a natural fit for these two events, its traditional association with the decathlon/heptathlon officially began with
Jim Thorpe. During the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, Thorpe won the gold medal in the
Decathlon (among others). Thorpe competed professionally in baseball,
American football, and basketball; and competed collegiately in track and field, baseball,
lacrosse, and did
ballroom dancing. King
Gustav V of Sweden, while awarding Thorpe the decathlon gold, said: "Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world." This title has been associated with the decathlon event ever since.
Superlatives holds the record for the most 100-metre races clocked at
less than 10 seconds An "
all-round athlete" is a person who competes in multiple sports at a professional level. Examples of people who played more than one sport professionally include
Jim Thorpe,
Lionel Conacher,
Deion Sanders,
Danny Ainge,
Babe Zaharias and
Erin Phillips. Others include
Ricky Williams,
Bo Jackson and
Damon Allen, each of whom was drafted both by
Major League Baseball and by professional
gridiron football leagues such as the
NFL and the
CFL. Another female example is
Heather Moyse, a multiple Winter Olympic gold medalist in
bobsled and member of the
World Rugby Hall of Fame who also represented Canada internationally in
track cycling and competed at
university level in basketball and track and field. Japanese athletes such as
Kazushi Sakuraba,
Kazuyuki Fujita,
Masakatsu Funaki and
Naoya Ogawa have successfully performed in
professional wrestling and competed in
mixed martial arts. If an athlete receives more credit than is warranted it is often described as
overrated or
overhyped, or in the case of semantics or a superlative,
hyperbole. The 100-metre dash is the foundational short-distance event in modern athletics, functioning as a primary global fixture since 1896 and serving as a universal benchmark for human acceleration, speed and peak velocity. Its universal resonance due to it simplicity, accessibility, dramatic finishes, and the relevance of speed across sports and human history marks the
100 metre dash as among the most prestigious athletic events. As of the mid 2020s decade, the all time record for the unofficial title of the world's fastest person is
Usain Bolt whilst continentally, the holders of this title are
Ferdinand Omanyala for Africa,
Erik Cardoso for South America,
Su Bingtian for Asia,
Patrick Johnson for Oceania, and
Marcell Jacobs for Europe.
Kim Collins is the only
quadragenarian athlete to have broken the
10-second barrier. The ability to run the
100 metres in under 10 seconds is among the most reliable measurements of extraordinary human athletic prowess, and
Asafa Powell holds the distinction of having achieved this feat more than any other athlete, at ninety-seven recorded sub-10s.
Jim Hines first broke the 10-second barrier in 1968,
Tyson Gay ran the fastest non-winning sub-10 at 9.71 in 2009,
Kim Collins became the only
quadragenarian to run sub-10 with 9.93 at age 40, and
Justin Gatlin held the longest sub-10 career span, lasting 18 years. == See also ==