World's Greatest Athlete is the title generally given to the Olympic decathlon champion.
The tradition of "World's Greatest Athlete" began when King Gustav V of Sweden told Jim Thorpe, "You, sir, are the World's Greatest Athlete", after Thorpe won the decathlon at the Stockholm Olympics in 1912. The current holder of the title is American Ashton Eaton, the gold medal winner of the event at the 2012 London Olympics, who took the title from Beijing Olympics champion Bryan Clay.
Read more about World's Greatest Athlete: List of Olympic Decathlon Winners, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words world, greatest and/or athlete:
“For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life?”
—Bible: New Testament, Matthew 16:26.
“Modesty, ‘tis a virtue not often found among poets, for almost every one of them thinks himself the greatest in the world.”
—Miguel De Cervantes (1547–1616)
“Developing the muscles of the soul demands no competitive spirit, no killer instinct, although it may erect pain barriers that the spiritual athlete must crash through.”
—Germaine Greer (b. 1939)