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World Famous

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Okay, random question of the day: Who were the most Internationally famous athletes of the 20th Century? I’ve got Ruth, Ali, Pele and Jordan.

It doesn’t matter if people around the world knew or cared about baseball or boxing or basketball. Just that these guys were recognized as being famous.

Who else? Tiger, Lance? I don’t know anything about cricket and little about soccer–Maradona, perhaps?

Pre-WWII is harder to figure: Jesse Owens, Jack Johnson, Joe Louis? DiMaggio because of Marilyn–and even Hemingway? There’s no right answer, I’m just throwing it out there.

Whadda ya hear, whadda ya say?

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20 comments

1 Alex Belth   ~  Feb 26, 2015 3:18 pm

Maybe Iron Mike?

2 Greg G   ~  Feb 26, 2015 4:11 pm

Bobby Fischer? Is chess a sport or a hobby?

3 rbj   ~  Feb 26, 2015 4:39 pm

Jean Claude Killy?

4 Chyll Will   ~  Feb 26, 2015 4:47 pm

Mike Tyson, yes. When you talk of athletes that the whole world knows about (in terms of professional sports), the four you mentioned are icons of their respective sports; they left an indelible mark on their sport that people pay reverence to this day. Tyson fits into that description, even if his dominance was not as long as the others; Tyson was scary, brutal and most importantly undisputed in his prime. The only other athlete of the 20th century I would consider for this list because of his impact on and beyond sports would be Jackie Robinson.

5 Mr OK Jazz Tokyo   ~  Feb 26, 2015 6:56 pm

Think you nailed it, AB. Maybe Jessie Ownens too.
(4) not many people abroad know Jackie Robinson. Might throw Magic Johnson in there too. I remember watching a doc in him where he went to Paris for his honeymoon thinking he'd have privacy, but everywhere he went it was 'Majeeek! Majeeek!' And that was 1990..

6 mhoward120   ~  Feb 26, 2015 6:56 pm

Ali, hands down.
At his prime, he was the most famous person on the planet.

7 mhoward120   ~  Feb 26, 2015 6:57 pm

By the way, I'm offended that Frankie Brains wasnt included as a possibility.

8 Boatzilla   ~  Feb 27, 2015 1:42 am

Carl Lewis? Olga Korbut!

David Beckham? Ronaldo? Or did they rise up too near the end of the century? Ian Thorpe?

Captain Lou Albano? ;>)

9 Boatzilla   ~  Feb 27, 2015 1:48 am

No tennis players? Funny how one name doesn't jump out for me. Martina maybe. She was all alone for awhile.

10 simonfa   ~  Feb 27, 2015 2:31 am

Bjorn Borg? McEnroe.
From cricket - Don Bradman, Garfield Sobers and, more recently, Tendulkar.

11 RIYank   ~  Feb 27, 2015 7:25 am

Don Bradman, of course! Almost unheard of in our country, but incredibly famous in most of the former British colonies, including South Asia.

12 Alex Belth   ~  Feb 27, 2015 8:59 am

I doubt Jackie Robinson's fame spread outside of this country. A tennis player would make sense, but which one? Sir Donald Bradman seems like a good choice, too.

I don't think Tyson's fame can touch Ruth, Pele, MJ or Ali, but he's probably second tier for sure.

13 GaryfromChevyChase   ~  Feb 27, 2015 10:49 am

Let me suggest Jim Thorp, although media coverage was not as great then. If I had to pick one, it would be Ali.

14 RagingTartabull   ~  Feb 27, 2015 11:22 am

Ali for sure, then probably Jordan. Ruth I put a notch lower ONLY because there was no TV or internet and therefore not as many people ever actually saw him perform.

Although that actually might make him MORE impressive because his fame was built largely on print and word-of-mouth.

15 Alex Belth   ~  Feb 27, 2015 12:09 pm

True, but with Ruth--or anyone--it's not about watching them perform. It's knowing who they are.

16 RagingTartabull   ~  Feb 27, 2015 12:48 pm

Yeah I know, I guess what I'm trying to say is I feel like globally Jordan and Ali were more ubiquitous. African bushmen who never had running water knew who Michael Jordan was.

17 Alex Belth   ~  Feb 27, 2015 3:27 pm

16) Yup. Or at least his kicks. Ali, for sure.

18 Ken Arneson   ~  Feb 27, 2015 3:45 pm

The Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter in 2008 came out with a list of their 100 greatest athletes of all time. It's not a "most famous" list, but if you want to get an idea of the international perspective, it's a good place to start. Their top 10:

1 Pelé
2 Carl Lewis
3 Michael Jordan
4 Jesse Owens
5 Nadia Comaneci
6 Diego Maradona
7 Muhammad Ali
8 Tiger Woods
9 Paavo Nurmi
10 Jim Thorpe

Babe Ruth is #30, and Joe DiMaggio is #74. Of course, the only reason Swedes have ever heard of DiMaggio is because he married Marilyn Monroe.

The full list is here:
http://www.dn.se/sport/tidernas-100-basta-idrottare/

19 Chyll Will   ~  Feb 27, 2015 11:03 pm
20 Alex Belth   ~  Mar 2, 2015 8:33 am

Carl Lewis. Wow. That's fascinating.

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