When aNative Americannamed Jim Thorpe won the gold medal in the decathlon at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, legend has it that King Gustav V of Sweden presented him the medal and said, You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world."Thanks, king," Thorpe is rumored to have responded.Exactly 100 years later, at the 2012 Olympics in London, Oregon-native Ashton Eaton became the latest in a long line of American Olympians to win the gold medal in the decathlon. He had previously set the world record in the event at the US Olympic trials, but as with every decathlete since Thorpes win in 1912, it was winning the Olympic gold that earned Eaton the formidable title of the worlds greatest athlete.Queen Elizabeth II was not, unfortunately, in attendance to present Eaton with his medal.Spanning two days and 10events, the decathlon is, and has always been, sports best objective measurement of sheer athleticism. And Eaton is so convincingly great at the 10-sport contest that his times and scores in certain single events are comparable, and often better, than those of track-and-field athletes competing exclusively in that one event.The decathlon is the only standardized test that covers a broad range of athleticism that is absolutely measurable, which I feel is great, Eaton told Business Insider this week while promoting his campaign with Chobani. You run the 100, you get a time. You do the long jump, you get a distance. You do the high jump, you get a height. You do a throw, you get a distance.Yet as the worlds greatest athlete, Eaton is not, of course, competing against every other great athlete in the world.Some of them are off dunking basketballs, or fighting in a ring, or doing whatever it is one does on an American Ninja Warrior course.Which brings us to the ageless water-cooler debate about the nature of athleticism: Of the A-list athletes playing major sportsthe superstars we see splayed across billboards and magazine covers; the ones we hear TV commentators call athletic freakswho, really, is the most athletic'We posed this question to Eaton, expecting to hear him praise the likes of LeBron James, or Mike Trout, or Russell Westbrook. Instead, he gave a surprising answer.I personally believe tennis is the next most athletic sport next to the decathlon, Eaton said. Just because of certain things required. Those matches are three or four hours long. Theres the technical aspect, the agility, the mind-body awareness. Not to mention the game itself is a little bit like a chess match.Watch Serena Williams approach the net for a swinging volleysometime and you can see where Eaton is coming from. But its still hard to believe that Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray, athletic as they undoubtedly are, reallycompare with the top NFL or NBA players.You can speculate all day, by what you perceive people to do, but I think theres two aspects to athleticism. I think theres the body, and then theres definitely the mind, Eaton said. People like to just focus on the body part. I dont think thats a holistic approach.Plus, even with advanced metrics its still hard to quantify just how truly athletic a feat on a football or basketball field really is.You see somebody on a football field make a great, athletic 70-yard run, but the athleticism is immeasurable. Its undoubtedly athletic, but compared to somebody else who did something else, how do you compare it' Thats the great part of track and field. Its a test, but with results that you can compare to others.This is all well and good, but it doesnt answer the question that has tantalized sports fans forever. Who is the worlds most athletic superstar'I dont have one specific person that I think is the most athletic person, Eaton said. In my opinion, youd have to do a really exhaustive study over a long period of time with really clearly defined metrics in order to get that.In other words, youd want them to compete in a decathlon. So what if LeBron James announced he was competing in the event this summer, along withor instead of!his duties for USA Basketball' Wouldnt Eaton be slightly worried'No, I wouldn't, Eaton said matter-of-factly.I have no doubt that anybody who did the first day of the decathlon would do great. The first day, yeah, is about being an athlete. But the second day you actually have to be a decathlete, and thats the day where people show their true colors.SEE ALSO:The 55 best photographs of the Rio Olympics so farJoin the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: Usain Bolt's key to winning
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