Sport > World > Lists > Fittest Athlete > Endurance > ESPN

Discussion of a poll of the Greatest Endurance Athlete of All Time conducted on the ESPN Sport Science website in 2012. The voting was based on the best athlete (not overall Endurance Athlete) who has a combination of strength, speed, endurance, quickness, durability and the other attributes that make an athlete elite. See more about the ESPN Sport Science poll to determine the Greatest Athlete of All Time.

Nominees

Who is the greatest endurance athlete of all time?

1. Mark Allen — Allen is a six-time winner of Ironman World Championship, and he won 20 straight triathlons from 1988-90. He holds the record for the fastest marathon split ever in the Ironman World Championships: 2:40:04.
2. Bjorn Daehlie — winner of 8 Olympic gold medals in cross-country skiing, with an exceptional VO_2max, one of the highest ever recorded.
3. Patrick Makau — world record holder for the marathon at 2:03:38.
4. Diana Nyad — she has the fastest time ever swimming around Manhattan Island, and once swam 102.5 miles.
5. Pam Reed — she was the first woman to be overall winner in the Badwater Ultramarathon.

And the winner is ...

Ironman champion Mark Allen

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Related Pages

• About endurance testing
• The ESPN Sport Science poll to determine the Greatest Athlete of All Time.
• highest VO_2max scores

Old Comments

Commenting is closed on this page, though you can read some previous comments below which may answer some of your questions.

• Josef Firmage Miyasato (2017)
  What, no David Goggins?
• Amanda Nemaric (2016)
  Yiannis Kouros, without doubt. Ran 800 kilometers non-stop. That is literally non-stop, day and night, not stopping to eat, toilet, just go man! Now that is endurance.
• Bjorn Daehlie has the highest VO_2max score ever recorded. (from Rick Eliot, Jan 2013)