Thursday, July 22, 2004

Is Lance Armstrong the Most Dominant Individual Athlete Ever? With his third straight stage win today in the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong has all but wrapped up a record sixth consecutive Tour title. In each of the past three days, Armstrong has simply blown past his competitors at the finish for the victory. Through some combination of talent, hard work, and manic determination, he's clearly just a level better than the other best cyclists in the world in this race. Has another individual athlete been so dominant in an event for so long a period? Swimmer Mark Spitz won seven gold medals at a single Olympics, but didn't continue that success over time. Perhaps Carl Lewis, who won nine gold medals in the sprints and long jump over four Olympic Games from 1984 to 1996. Another track star, Edwin Moses, won 122 consecutive races in the 400-meter hurdles between 1977 and 1987. That included two Olympic gold medals and four world-record times. Joe Louis was heavyweight champion of the world for 11 years and 252 days, while fellow boxer Rocky Marciano won 42 consecutive fights, 37 by knockout. Clearly, these are all amazing feats. And granted, Armstrong hasn't won a huge number of consecutive races in a single cycling season. But by Sunday, he will have won the same event - the Super Bowl of cycling - six times in a row. 10:56:55 AM    comment []