Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
Friday, September 22, 2006, Washington Post

Who's the Worlds Best Athlete?

American tennis star James Blake declared after a tough four-set loss two weeks ago at the U.S. Open that Roger Federer was not only the best tennis player around but the best athlete in the world.

Wow! That's quite a title, even for the amazing Federer, who won his ninth major tennis championship at the Open.

But some folks pointed out that Tiger Woods has won 12 major golf titles. Doesn't that make Woods the better athlete? Or how about Annika Sorenstam? She has 10 major women's golf titles.

Hold on. I love and play golf, so I know it's hard to be as good a golfer as Woods or Sorenstam. But playing a five-set tennis match is a lot harder than playing 18 holes of golf. Golfers hardly sweat through their ugly shirts.

What about athletes in other sports? Aren't some of them better than Federer? A basketball player has to be big, fast and oh-so coordinated to hit jump shots and make twisting dunks. So maybe LeBron James or Carmelo Anthony is the best athlete.

Major league shortstops, such as Derek Jeter, have to be terrific athletes, too -- as quick as any hoopster an d able to hit a 95-mile-an-hour fastball. Michael Jordan was maybe the greatest basketball player ever, but he couldn't hit pro pitching.

More athletes play soccer worldwide than any other sport. Maybe a soccer star such as Ronaldinho of Brazil could claim he is the best athlete in the world.

But as great as these athletes are, they play only one game. So maybe Roman Sebrle is the world's greatest athlete. Who? Sebrle is from the Czech Republic. He is the reigning Olympic decathlon champ. A decathlete competes in 10 track and field events, including the 100-meter dash (which tests speed) and the shot put and javelin throw (which test strength). When your parents were kids, the Olympic decathlon champion was usually considered the world's greatest athlete.

Maybe it's silly to argue over who's the best athlete in the world. We haven't even talked about the great athletes in hockey, lacrosse, cycling or a dozen other sports. And we haven't mentioned tennis star Martina Navratilova, who just won her 59th major title (including doubles matches) a month short of her 50th birthday.

Different games require different skills. Just because you are good at one sport doesn't mean that you will be good at another. If you're a kid, try several sports and see which ones you like best. And if you are a fan, enjoy the different games and appreciate any chance you get to see Tiger Woods hit a golf ball, Derek Jeter hit a fastball and Roger Federer hit a tennis ball.