Who Is the Most Iconic Olympian of All Time?

by GMR Posted 2012/06/29 22:31:20

Related Topics: Sports, Michael Phelps, Olympics, Summer Olympics, Movie, History, 2012, Movies, Running, London, Poll, Survey, Honor, US, Jim

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1,496 votes
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Lightning Report View Results and Demographics + View Demographics

	Carl Lewis
	Jesse Owens
	Steve Redgrave
	Paavo Nurmi
	Larisa Latynina
	Birgit Fischer-Schmidt
	Jim Thorpe
	Michael Phelps
	Other

Loading Demographics... Click an icon to see demographic results Display unknown and private
	Carl Lewis	155 votes	10%
	Jesse Owens	580 votes	39%
	Steve Redgrave	14 votes	1%
	Paavo Nurmi	22 votes	1%
	Larisa Latynina	17 votes	1%
	Birgit Fischer-Schmidt	9 votes	1%
	Jim Thorpe	253 votes	17%
	Michael Phelps	233 votes	16%
	Other	213 votes	14%

The London 2012 Summer Olympics are right around the corner, and soon most of the planet will be caught up in the breath-taking athleticism of the world's very best. Though the Olympics are technically a sporting event, they transcend traditional entertainment to become a spectacle of human endurance, willpower, skill, strength... It would take us a while just to cover the basics, so we'll leave it there.

In honor of the London 2012 Olympics, we're running a survey on some of the greatest moments in recent Olympics history, the greatest Olympics-themed movies, and a few other related topics. Make sure to check out our 8-Question Quick Poll and see what other people think!

+26

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Joker~RWAC/CFM-THE REAL POTL 2012/07/01 00:20:04

Jesse Owens

+11
How in the hell is Mark Spitz not mentioned! I mean...look at that mustache!

Seriously though, Jesse Owens is the man!
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More polls by GMR

Skeptikat to Gloria 2012/07/01 11:17:36
Gloria to Skeptikat 2012/07/01 11:35:10

+1
She can still do the floor routine!

reply
Skeptikat to Gloria 2012/07/01 12:21:26
AdmrlLocke to Gloria 2012/07/02 18:11:29

+1
I forgot about her. She really was perfect! :-)

reply
Dee 2012/07/01 07:42:41

Jesse Owens

+10
Jesse Owens for giving Hitler a world-wide smack down!

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Patriotic to Dee 2012/07/01 14:10:51

+5
He most certainly did!

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dragon88 to Dee 2012/07/02 18:29:58

Who did he beat a bunch of blacks versus 2 whites? If so that doesn't prove anything about blacks.

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Reinhold to Dee 2012/07/02 19:20:30
Dee to Reinhold 2012/07/02 19:23:34

Lighten up.

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Reinhold to Dee 2012/07/02 19:57:16
Dee to Reinhold 2012/07/02 20:04:01 (edited)

You take things waaaaaayyyyy to seriously. Jesse Owens, an "inferior" black man beat Germany's best at the Germany Olympics, in front of the top German.

Sweet!

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littlebuffalo55TBA 2012/07/01 07:12:55

Jesse Owens

+8
Jessie Owens! It was a time when Genocide was the order of the day! In the Soviet Union and was dawning in Germany by a group wanting "racial purity" and that that race was superior to all. A gracious man with incredible ability proved them wrong. I am very proud he was an American!

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Reinhold to littleb... 2012/07/02 20:06:01
lady_c5_loadmaster 2012/07/01 07:11:34

Jesse Owens

+8
Jesse Owens is the first name that poped into my mind even before I saw your list of choices.

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Fariborz-Zak 2012/07/01 06:12:17

Larisa Latynina

+7
these ones

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Faribor... to Faribor... 2012/07/01 06:13:59

+6
or this one

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Wesloco 2012/07/01 05:54:56

Other

+10
Florence Griffith Joyner

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Skeptikat to Wesloco 2012/07/01 11:18:32
Wesloco to Skeptikat 2012/07/01 14:12:44

+3
She was special for sure! (-:

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Patriotic to Wesloco 2012/07/01 14:12:07

+5
She sure was beautiful!

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Wesloco to Patriotic 2012/07/01 14:17:27

+4
.... and fast, she holds 2 world records, the 100 & 200 m, which no one has even come close to matching! And then she was so fashionable the way she only had one leg covered and the other bare. She was awesome!

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bags th... to Wesloco 2012/07/01 23:45:03

+2
And her nails....FloJo's famous nails....

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Kibbles 2012/07/01 05:46:48

Jesse Owens

+6
Was my first ever book report, first time I ever read a chapter book and learned something well.

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cmpiercerd 2012/07/01 05:38:49

Jesse Owens

+8
Jesse has never once been threatenned by another atheletes abilties. And did so in NAZI Germany

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shotgun the 3rd 2012/07/01 03:14:06

Other

Don't know, don't care....

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Jay Ford to shotgun... 2012/07/02 17:53:12

So why respond?

reply
MarinerFH 2012/07/01 02:56:11

Jesse Owens

+7
It was a special time and Owens rose to the occasion in front of Hitler. While Owens may not be the best as an athlete, he was the best for his times.

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Sterling 2012/07/01 02:23:08

Michael Phelps

+5
Michael Phelps already has 5 more gold medals (14-9) than any other Olympian ever and he has one more time to dominate. People just haven't kept up to date with the Olympics I guess.

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MarinerFH to Sterling 2012/07/01 17:11:19

As a swimmer myself, this comment may seem strange. Due to the variety of strokes and events, swimmers have far more opportunities to win Gold Medals than any other sport.

In college I swam Freestyle, Butterfly and Individual Medley. So in our Conference Championships I swam in the 50, 100 and 200 yard freestyle, 100 and 200 yard butterfly, 200 yard IM, 3 freestyle relays and one medley relay. That was 9 opportunities for me to win a medal.

I agree that Phelps is amazing as a swimmer.

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Sterling to MarinerFH 2012/07/02 00:34:38

+1
I understand that Swimming gives you ample opportunity to win medals. That's why many of the top medal winners were swimmers. Of course none of them got close to 14 golds before, and most likely Phelps will be winning at least 3 more this year, making him have the most medals as well.

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MarinerFH to Sterling 2012/07/02 01:03:35 (edited)

Phelps is amazing. Remember last Olympics when he won the 100 m Butterfly by 1/100 of a second?

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Sterling to MarinerFH 2012/07/02 15:22:32

+1
Ya that was spectacular.

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Alvin 2012/07/01 01:18:18

Jim Thorpe

+5
Jim Thorpe came out of nowhere, broke record after record, got cheated on his medals but he is still the best we've ever had represent this country

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MarinerFH to Alvin 2012/07/01 17:12:30

+2
I voted for Jesse Owens as more iconic, but I agree that Thorpe was the better athlete.

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bags th... to Alvin 2012/07/01 23:45:54

+3
Got cheated on more than just his medals. Damn shame.

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Joker~RWAC/CFM-THE REAL POTL 2012/07/01 00:20:04

Jesse Owens

+11
How in the hell is Mark Spitz not mentioned! I mean...look at that mustache!

Seriously though, Jesse Owens is the man!

reply
MarinerFH to Joker~R... 2012/07/02 01:04:32

+1
Spitz was a great athlete but a total jerk of a person.

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Joker~R... to MarinerFH 2012/07/02 21:25:23

+1
I believe that. I only respect athletes as atheltes unlessthey prove otherwise.

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DOrigin... to Joker~R... 2012/07/03 09:48:18

+1
Phelps overtook his gold medal haul, but no one can ever touch the impact of Jesse Owens' 1936 performance

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MarinerFH to DOrigin... 2012/07/05 20:18:33

Owens was an unassuming man who rose to the occasion under the most trying of circumstances.

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