Originally posted by genozaur
The short list :
Bo Jackson, (American) football and baseball (USA)
Lev Yashin, ice hockey and football (soccer) (USSR)
Dion Sanders, (American) football and baseball (USA)
Garo Yepremian, football (soccer) and (American) football
(Armenia, USA)
Babe Didrikson Zaharias, track&field and golf (USA)
Any additions anyone ?
I submit maybe the greatest ever:
Full name: James Francis Thorpe
Born: May 28, 1887
Died: March 28, 1953
Height: 6'-1" Weight: 190 lbs.
Position: Halfback
He played for Carlisle Indian School, Cleveland Indians, Oorang Indians, Rock Island Independents, New York Giants, Canton Bulldogs and Chicago Cardinals.
He was the most famous American athlete of the age. He was excellent at every sport he tried.
He won the decathlon and penthatlon events at the 1912 Olympics.
He did play major-league baseball from 1913 to 1919.
Football was his favorite sport. In 1912, Thorpe scored 25 touchdowns and 198 points in leading his Carlisle Indian School team to a national collegiate championship.
Jim Thorpe was selected by the nation's press in 1950 as the most outstanding athlete of the 20th century.
Jim Thorpe was also declared as "America's Greatest football player of the half-century," in 1950.