Yuzuru Hanyu voted by AIPS 6th best male athlete of the past 100 years

[TallyT]

I was actually somewhat surprised that so many footballers were chosen (4 out of 10). Is it really true that 40% of the worlds greatest athletes just happen to be great at the sport of football rather than some other sport?

Even though I don't care for it myself, soccer (and they are all soccer players, no other football code got a look in here) is almost incomprehensibly enormous in most of the world, it is by far and away the most popular game with (I checked) 205 FIFA member associations, over 300,000 clubs, 240 million players and something like 3.5-4 billion fans. That's heading towards half the population of the world.

On the other hand, according to most info I can find the second most popular is cricket (2.5 billion, well look at India/Pakistan alone) and no cricketer made it!

Even discounting golf, Babe Didrikson also competed in track and field (winning two Olympic gold metals and one silver at the 1932 Olympics), baseball and softball, basketball, diving, roller skating, and bowling. She also won competitions in sewing, singing and playing the harmonica. (and had a recording contract).

I suspect that's the 'recency bias' coming out, yes.

 

[Magill]

I was actually somewhat surprised that so many footballers were chosen (4 out of 10). Is it really true that 40% of the worlds greatest athletes just happen to be great at the sport of football rather than some other sport? I would have expected that the sports journalists taking part in the voting would make an effort to cast as wide a net as possible, acknowledging that there are many different areas where one might stake out a claim for all-time-greatness.

Also, there seems to be a gender gap. Three out of ten (in fact 3 out of the top 6) of the greatest female athletes of the last hundred years were gymnasts. For men, 0 out of 10.

Well, I guess that's fair enough -- I, for one , would be hard pressed to name a single male gymnast ever, but I love, love, love Olga Korbut.

No male golfers made the list -- not Jack Nicklaus, not Tiger Woods -- but 1 female did (but not Babe Didrikson ???). I guess golfers are not really athletes, more like weekend goof-offs. At least figure skaters, well, there is no question about the challenge of excelling in that super-arduous athletic endeavor.

Even discounting golf, Babe Didrikson also competed in track and field (winning two Olympic gold metals and one silver at the 1932 Olympics), baseball and softball, basketball, diving, roller skating, and bowling. She also won competitions in sewing, singing and playing the harmonica. (and had a recording contract).

I guess it is just a consequence of having a widely cast and fairly unlimited vote as opposed to offering the voters a predetermined very short list of names to choose from, which might be better balanced to avoid such an outcome, or having just a committee discussing and then deciding on the Top 10, able to shape it more evenly across different sports. The way it was, which honestly I like better than any list compiled by the selected few in an office closed off from the public view, journalists voted whoever they wanted from a very large pool and then the votes were just counted. That is as wide a net as possible. And the outcome is pretty raw and unmediated. AFAIK, they were voting by selecting 3 best male and 3 best women athletes of the century. Soccer is the most popular game in the world for men sports and gymnastics probably the most popular, or one of the most popular, for women sports. Both had lots of great global stars over the years. So I guess what happened here was that many of the voters included one footballer for men and one gymnast for women, but not the same one. That's how we received the result we can see - the most popular and biggest sports are better represented on the final Top 10 lists than some other disciplines. That's a natural consequence of an unmediated voting system.
Just my guess

 

[Mathman]

AFAIK, they were voting by selecting 3 best male and 3 best women athletes of the century.

That' is the part that makes Hanyu's selection so utterly fantastic. Quite a few sports journalists thought that he was one of the top three male arletes, in any sport, of the past hundred years.

Figure skating does not have 240 million players and 5 billion fans. And yet...

 

[Magill]

Some more stats for you
Only Micheal Phelps, Usain Bolt and Yuzuru Hanyu among men and Simone Biles among women were included in both AIPS and ESPN lists as best athletes of last 100 years (AIPS) and best olympians of 21 century (ESPN). Again, this can be explained by a different angle and very different time range of the two lists.

 

[TallyT]

I guess it is just a consequence of having a widely cast and fairly unlimited vote as opposed to offering the voters a predetermined very short list of names to choose from, which might be better balanced to avoid such an outcome, or having just a committee discussing and then deciding on the Top 10, able to shape it more evenly across different sports. The way it was, which honestly I like better than any list compiled by the selected few in an office closed off from the public view, journalists voted whoever they wanted from a very large pool and then the votes were just counted. That is as wide a net as possible. And the outcome is pretty raw and unmediated. AFAIK, they were voting by selecting 3 best male and 3 best women athletes of the century. Soccer is the most popular game in the world for men sports and gymnastics probably the most popular, or one of the most popular, for women sports. Both had lots of great global stars over the years. So I guess what happened here was that many of the voters included one footballer for men and one gymnast for women, but not the same one. That's how we received the result we can see - the most popular and biggest sports are better represented on the final Top 10 lists than some other disciplines. That's a natural consequence of an unmediated voting system.
Just my guess

I would love to see the top 100s... especially 11-20, those deemed just out of the top 10 but still incredibly good.

 

[Magill]

Japanese popular author and sports doctor, Takuya Futaesaku, in response to MFA tweet on Yuzuru's ranking as 6th best athlete of the century:
Translation by Google:
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is the point of contact with other countries, is the section that really feels the cultural value of Yuzuru Hanyu. Yoko Ono was once said to be the "most famous Japanese person overseas," but Yuzuru Hanyu's name will be forever engraved in our memory as the "representative of the Japanese people."

 

[Magill]

The Top 10 Best Champions of the Century announcement has already inspired some fanart of its own, here's a proud example
Can you recognize everyone here?

 

[Magill]

That' is the part that makes Hanyu's selection so utterly fantastic. Quite a few sports journalists thought that he was one of the top three male arletes, in any sport, of the past hundred years.

Figure skating does not have 240 million players and 5 billion fans. And yet...

As an example, this Japanese sport journalist revealed he voted for Yuzuru ("But of course I voted for Hanyu!" - he says) despite specializing in covering typical summer sports - cycling, table tennis and track and field.
He also revealed later that he received more than 10,000 "thank you" messages from fans in response, and apologized he was not able to respond to everyone individually, as they were just too many

 

[Magill]

Here's from an established Japanese sports journalist and columnist, Kiyozumi Ninomiya, who also covered a few Olympics and Para-Olympics for various media. He nicknames Yuzu the "Great Sixth" and a "progressing legend" and stresses the importance of his ranking not just for his own personal fame and glory, or increasing interest in his past, present and future performances and achievements, but also for the appeal of his current social actions, mainly assisting victims and strengthening rehabilitation efforts in the disaster-stricken areas. He's also reminding the readers of the involvement in the civil rights movement of Muhammad Ali, the No 1 on the Best Champions of the Century list. Very important words offering another ankle to the ranking itself and the way journalists actually do assess athletes when asked to do so.