Definition of an athlete, according to merriam-webster.com, is a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina.
Tiger Woods has been named the AP Athlete of the decade. He has absolutely dominated the game of golf over the past ten years. He has won 56 PGA tournaments, including an amazing 12 major championships. Tiger has been winning tournaments at an incredible 30% clip, unprecedented in the world of golf. That’s just the beginning, however, of the Tiger story. Tiger won the 2000 U.S. Open by 15 shots, becoming the first player ever to finish double digits (12) below par. Tiger Woods has been the number one ranked golfer in the world for all but 32 weeks of the decade. It can be argued that he alone is the reason that total PGA purses rose from $65 million in 1996 to a whopping $275 million in 2009!
While all of the above listed accomplishments are unparalleled, Tiger Woods does not deserve to be named the AP’s Athlete of the Decade. By the way, this has nothing to do with the scandal in which Tiger is currently mired. There are at least two more deserving athletes who were dominant in their sports, sports which require much more physical strength, agility, and stamina.
Cycling great Lance Armstrong finished second to Tiger Woods. We all know the story of Lance Armstrong. On October 2, 1996 Lance was diagnosed with advanced testicular cancer which had spread to his brain and lungs. Emergency surgery, along with aggressive chemotherapy, saved Armstrong’s life. Following time to recuperate and rehab, Lance Armstrong went on to become a seven time Tour de France champion. Six of those tour victories, cycling’s premier event, occurred during this decade.
Only seven championships, how can anyone compare this number to 56 tournament wins or 12 major championships? Look at the event that Lance Armstrong dominated for much of the decade. The Tour de France is arguably the most grueling recognized sporting experience in the world. Riders must race other riders and the clock for a period of two weeks, covering 3,600 km, which converts to over 2,200 miles! Included in the 2,200 mile race, in the summer heat, is over 900 miles of racing through the Pyrenees Mountains. Along the road to his fifth of seven championships, Lance had to overcome a nasty fall that would have broken many lesser athletes. From John Leicester of the Associated Press:
At the Tour, the most ferocious demonstration of his implacable will came in the mist-cooled Pyrenees in 2003, when his winning streak brushed within a whisker of a premature end. Accelerating uphill away from his rivals, Armstrong shaved too close to the roadside crowds and snagged his handlebar on a spectator’s bag, slamming him to the ground.
Riders with less steel and less luck — Armstrong was fortunate not to break a bone — might have thrown up their hands in despair. Not him. His eyes burning charcoal black with fury, Armstrong jumped back on his bike and powered past everyone, rescuing what until then had been a sub-par race for him. Of the Tours he won, that was the only one where he showed hints of vulnerability.
“Everyone has a bad day, an off day but Lance is that well-trained that it never happens to him. Hats off,” says 13-time Tour veteran Stuart O’Grady. “For seven years, to never fall sick, to never have (a serious) accident. The level of professionalism that he’s shown has made cycling that much bigger. Armstrong is a superstar, a celebrity in all aspects of life.”
Tennis sensation Roger Federer finished third behind Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong. Roger Federer has dominated the tennis scene over the past decade, winning on all three of the surfaces on which modern tennis is played. Federer was the number one ranked player in the world from Feb.2, 2004 until Aug. 18, 2008, when he slipped behind rival Rafael Nadal, a record 237 straight weeks. Then, becoming only the second player in tennis history to do so, Federer recaptured the number one ranking to close out the decade.
The past ten years has seen Federer capture the all time record 15 Grand Slam titles. He has played in 21 Grand Slam finals, including 17 of the past 18. He strung together a streak of 24 victories in a row when reaching the finals of a tournament. His versatility is displayed with 65 consecutive victories of grass courts and 56 consecutive victories on hard courts. He won so often despite the fact that he has been pushed by his chief rival, the before mentioned Rafael Nadal. Tiger Woods has had no such rival over the course of his career.
In September of 2009, TENNIS magazine proclaimed Roger Federer the best tennis player of all time.
Tiger Woods had an amazing decade as a golfer, but this does not make him the athlete of the decade. Golf just doesn’t require the athleticism required in sports such as cycling and tennis. I am not saying that Tiger Woods is not athletic, on the contrary, Tiger keeps himself in great shape. It is not his athleticism, however, which makes him the world’s number one golfer, it is his skill at hitting the ball as he walks from shot to shot. A golfer shouldn’t be athlete of the decade any more than a race car driver should be, and I love auto racing. The point is, both Lance Armstrong and Roger Federer deserve the honor for dominating their sports more than Tiger does for dominating the game of golf.
An athlete is a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina.
Here’s a treat for you. If you have not seen this before, or even if you have, this clip must be watched. Roger Federer playing in this year’s U.S. Open.
