G.O.A.T.

I'm not typically one to criticize an athlete for posturing. I love Sammy Sosa's home run hop and Shaquille O'Neal's post-slam stalk up the court. As a kid, I even imitated Mark Gastineau's sack dance while playing two-hand touch in the street. In general, I think it's okay for an athlete to take a moment (just a moment) to soak up the spotlight when he or she has achieved something special.

And then there's Maurice Greene, the self-proclaimed greatest of all time. Mo Greene won the gold medal in the mens 100 meter dash in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, owns a few world championship golds, held the world record in the event for a while, and has run three of the four fastest times in history, but fell short of living up to his G.O.A.T. tattoo when he could manage only a bronze at these Athens games. I have nothing against Greene, but even if he had won, I don't think that victory would have elevated him past Carl Lewis, a two-time gold medal winner himself.

So now that Justin Gatlin has removed Greene form the conversation, who really is the greatest track and field athlete of all time? Based on my limited knowledge, and what I've seen in the past twenty years, there are really only two names -- Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson. (I would have included Marion Jones had she qualified for more than just the 200 in Athens; without any world records she'd have to have two dominant Olympics to be considered.)

But back to Lewis and Johnson. Lewis's career is stunning both in its brilliance as well as its diversity, as he excelled in three events -- 100 meters, 200 hundred meters, and the long jump. He won five individual world championship golds and seven Olympic golds during his career, he briefly held the world record in the 100, and is unquestionably the greatest long jumper in history. He won an amazing four consecutive gold medals in the long jump from 1984 to 1996. He was never able to claim the world record in that event, but he did knock out three twenty-nine foot leaps in 1991 world championships, losing to Mike Powell's flukish 29'4" jump.

Michael Johnson, meanwhile, simply ran like no man before or since. He dabbled in the hundred, but dominated the 200 and 400, winning a total of six world championships and three Olympic golds over those two distances, including his historic 200/400 double in the 1996 Atlanta games. He currently holds the world records in both of his signature events, and the times appear to be untouchable.

So who is the true G.O.A.T? I'd have to go with Lewis. Differing opinions will be entertained, but agreement will be praised. I realize I have only three loyal readers, but two of them are trackheads. I expect opinions from both of them.

Comments

[Mark J.]

1) Lewis -- the true GOAT. Remarkable for the longevity and the versatility; 16 years between initial world ranking and the last...amazing. And the first track diva.
2) Johnson -- the true jaw-dropping performances of our generation (I can name at least three) -- the 200 in Atlanta has to rank among the greatest sports feats of the past century -- Lewis never had a defining moment like that; MJ dominated his events like no one ever has in our era, including Lewis in the long jump.
My heart says Johnson, my head says Lewis.
Actually, the greatest individual may be Halle Gebrasalasie from Ethiopia -- the greatest distance runner of past thirty years...but that is another discussion. Dominated the 5K and 10K despite a virtual army of Kenyan runners determined to unseat him.

[Hank]

Mark:
Did Johnson really dominate the 400 more than Lewis did the long jump? Or Edwin Moses in the 400 hurdles? I'm not disagreeing, just asking someone who has a more informed opinion.

[Mark J.]

Those are excellent examples, and I may have gone a little overboard because it is a closer call than I make it sound. And you can make that argument without getting much disagreement from me. Lewis was consistently great over a longer period of time, and Moses had that amazing winning streak -- that Felix Garcia is beginning to approach. Mike Powell broke the long jump record and Kevin Young broke Moses' hurdles record. I can't see anyone on the horizon breaking MJ's records. One of the things that always stood out to me was Lewis and Moses lifted their events so other competitors approached them; no one did that with Johnson. It is a fun argument to have, and as biased as I am about distance runners, there are a number of east Africans you can make that same argument for.

[Mark J.]

One thing about this year's track and field Olympians that I haven't noticed before is that the guys they interview after the event are very likeable. After years of the entire Santa Monica Track Club, led by prima divas Carl Lewis and Leroy Burrell, self-promoter Jon Drummond, a bevy of distance runners who couldn't run with the Kenyans and Ethipians but claimed they could, Mary Slaney, FloJo and Gwen Torrence...I could go on and on. Having Shawn Crawford make fun of his racing a giraffe, Dwight Phillips laughing off the two times he broke his legs, Justin Gatlin nearly in tears when they introduced him as the 100m winner...it was just nice to see. Maybe they were coached by USTAF officials, but it doesn't matter. These are guys easy to like, and a good thing for track.

[liban]

The athletes references just sound like a monument to dopping. Do you believe they're were just natural talents? In some ways the US tecnology just kept, in fairless fashion, one step ahead from drug detection. You were, and still are, a bunch of cheaters. Play it clean and your arrogant stance vanishes. Congratulations to your greatest coach: Miss Esther Oydd!

[Hank]

Obviously, the performance enhancement issue cannot be ignored, but to claim that this is only an American issue is misguided. In these Olympics alone, two Greek athletes brought shame upon the host nation as they missed a mandatory test and were subsequently removed from the Games. A Russian shot putter tested positive for the same drug used sixteen years ago by Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, perhaps the most famous cheater in Olympic history. Yes, it's fairly accepted that Florence Griffith Joyner was juicing, and there's an enormous cloud of suspicion hanging over other U.S. athletes like Tim Montgomery and Marion Jones amongst others, but this is not simply an American issue. This is a problem that stands to tarnish all athletic competition, regardless of sport or nation.

[Mark J.]

There aren't that many people more skeptical than me when it comes to athletic performance and performance enhancers. It sounds like you are tarring all the athletes, and until it is proven otherwise (a result more likely everyday), then I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt -- American athletes or not. American technology may make a difference, but it isn't necessarily "illegal technology." Coaching is better; nutrition is of greater concern; track surfaces are like ice rinks; and training methods are much more advanced than they were 20 years ago.
My guess is more juice up than don't, but it is a little too easy to drape that blanket over everyone who turns in a great performance.

[EJ]

Greene was exceptionally gracious after both the 100 and 4x100. I didn't expect it from him, and it was a great surprise.

Johnson dominated the 400 for nine years, 1991-2000; Lewis, the long jump from 1984 to 1992 with a great upset in 1996; and Moses dominated from 1976 to 1988, when his long winning streak finally ended in the Trials. It's a toss-up among those three for me, but for singular achievement, Johnson's 200 in 1996 may end up the longest-standing record in track. I watched the 200 this year with my dad, the winning time was 19.8, and he remarked, "Kinda slow -- almost half a second off the world record." I then explained that it is the 4th fastest time in history (I think), and that it was only 11/100ths of a second off the second fastest time in history. That gave us both some pause.

But Gebreselassie, in his prime, may have been the most dominant, and if anyone can run the marathon in sub-2:00 (think about THAT), it'll be him, as he moves up to that distance. And how about an American getting the Silver in the men's marathon today!?

[Whitney]

My dad ran track in school, so I grew up thinking Carl Lewis was a god, and confused when other people barely seemed to know who he was. I think one of the best stories about how great Lewis was, is that when Powell set the long jump record, he later said that he immediately sat down and waited for Lewis, who was next up, to beat him. You've got to be pretty great to get that kind of respect from an athlete who is directly competing against you.