which sport has the best athletes? based on fitness, speed, endurance, vo2 max, anaerobic and aerobic threshold etc.
Funny how things come full circle. Wasn’t that the question that started the first Ironman? Then comes growth of the sport, hence this web site.
my money would be on an NFL linebacker or defensive back for best all around athlete. I’ve known a few top flight collegiate linebackers and d’backs (a few who are currently playing in the NFL, and a few who will be drafted in a few weeks), and they are absolutely scary talented.
I have a good friend, who I also work with, who is a former national class collegiate triple jumper. He was slated to try out for the Olympics (Barcelona) until he suffered a series of career ending ankle and knee injuries. He is so athletically gifted he makes us mortals look silly. Playing basketball with him is an exercise in futility. On the golf course, he has the longest drives of anyone I’ve ever seen (limited expereince here though, I’m not a golfer). We went to the police academy together several years ago. Part of the physical curriculum was a 1.5 mile run. As a runner and cyclist, I ran an 8.50 I think (for 4th best out of about 100). On no endurance training at all, my friend ran the fastest time of the entire group, 8.15 if I remember right.
Although I love endurance sports, and consider myself an endurance athlete as it were, I don’t consider endurance sports to be particularly athletic.
I’ve always had a profound respect for boxers, expecially at weights below light hvwt. They are an incredible(optimal in my mind) mix of endurance, speed, strength, and skill. It’s a little sad and ironic of course that they become these precise intruments only to demolish one another.
ping pong
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I remember reading about a study, many years ago, that asked this question. After testing a large number of athletes in a large variety of sports, for many of the things you mention, the surprising answer was ice hockey players were the fittest overall athletes. Can’t say much for their dental bills though.
Based on your criteria, which is biased towards endurance sports rather than strength/skill, I guess it would have to be either runners or cyclists. Other sports draw from too small of a pool to have the “best.” Of course, you didn’t say anything about doping results excluded, so that gives a huge advantage to cyclists 
After considering the question more, I vote dog sled racing…of course the dogs are the athletes.
Dan
Let me guess, that study was done in Montreal or Edmonton 
I’ll second the NFL DB vote, also adding decathlete, 400/800 meter runners, and long jumpers.
A major study made in Sweden a few years ago showed that wrestlers (greek roman style) and badmintonplayers had the best overall fitness. That study measured all kinds of abilities such as flexibility and coordination etc. Cross country skiers had the best endurance results… by far! If I remember correctly, the study included only young athletes, age 16-21.
Now we’re getting somewhere! Note that a followup study by a special select subcommittee of Swedes determined that, based on exhaustive further study, the best overall fitness is displayed by naked, oiled-up gladiators.
This is a question that can be debated and studied repeatedly with no clear cut “best” found. It all depends on the criteria that whoever conducts the study decides to go with. Most decathletes are very good athletes, but the event is skewed towards speed and power (most of the world class decathletes couldn’t win a junior boys 1500m in any Ontario high school competition). Nordic skiiers … incredible aerobic fitness and coordination, ditto … cyclists and triathletes. Boxers need to have fantastic coordination and stamina and power (not to mention a hard head). Gymnasts have strength, power and flexibility galore. So I figure that whatever category of athleticism you place the most importance on will determine who the best athlete is on any given day.
From a not too educated or scientific standpoint, I would say that biathletes are phenomenal athletes. They have world class engines and some serious body control and muscular endurance.
read something a long time ago that stated that (I know this is not a sport) ballet dancers had the best overall fitness of anybody so much so that some football teams were including ballet workouts into the preseason. This was 15-20 years ago, amazing what useless info the old memory circuits retain.
I’m somewhat troubled that on a triathlon forum nobody has said… triathletes!
Oh wait, this is a lifestyle forum… right…
You can’t get anything past the tibbsmeister!
Curling.
I’d have to say Nordic Combined, which includes XC skiing and Ski Jumping. These guys have incredible power, endurance, coordination, and finally, they are fearless…and of all sports that involve an endurance component, Nordic combined is the most fun to watch.
NASCAR drivers,
just kidding
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Synchronized swimming- yeah go ahead and laugh, but it requires huge levels of endurance, strength and flexibility, and also good breathing control.
Next time you’re doing track workouts, try running your 800s while holding your breath. (similar to what they have to do in the water)
At the elite level, you’ve got to be practicing 5-7 hours a day to be successful at it.
NASCAR drivers,
just kidding
You may be kidding, but the NASCAR people have really been putting out a lot of hype about what great athleticism it takes to be a driver. Tiger Woods and some of the other young stars made a bunch of the old school golfers realize what a disadvantage they were putting themselves at by being so “soft”.
Still, you really have to give the edge to pro bowlers, don’t you?
As far as just plain toughness goes, have you watched those bull riders on OLN?