OT Best Female Athlete You Ever Saw?

[UConn82]

Hmm.

I have to go with Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

Not only is she the finest heptathlete of all time, with the WR and the six top scores-- the WR set in 1988, she won three medals in the long jump. No one can excel in a multi-event and also in a single event. That is not possible. It is, if you are Jackie Joyner. She won medals in four Olympics.

In her prime, when she completed in the heptathlon, there was no question who was going to win. And, of course, she was going to break her own WR. The only question was: by how much was she going to break her own WR.

And, she played excellent basketball for UCLA, and had a very short stay in the WNBA.

And, she was a lovely person, and overcame very severe asthma. And grew up in bitter poverty in East St. Louis. I just loved to watch her compete.

Thoughts?

 

[azfan]

On TV...Serena hands down!

In person DT

 

[MD#12Fan]

Nice post!
I'll go retro: Wilma Rudolph, gold medals in track and field in 1956, 1960
She overcame huge obstacles too, including growing up in the south and childhood polio. Incredibly classy. Makes you proud to be an American. (needed about now)
Google: Wilma Rudolph Rome 1960 Look at her demeanor on the podium. What an example!
In David Maraniss' book, 1960, he talked about how Muhammed Ali (then Cassius Clay) tried to "rap" to Wilma and how she
kind of shot him down. She was royalty, and he was the court jester.

 

[Hoops66]

Can't beat Simone Biles.

 

[Aluminny69]

The legendary JOAN JOYCE! I had the pleasure of watching her perform for the Stratford Raybestos Brakettes. Not only did she dominate Softball, she also excelled in Gold, Volleyball, and basketball.

GOLF After softball, she joined the LPGA Tour, which she was on from 1977–1994.[4] Her best finishes included sixth-place in tournaments in 1981, 1982 and 1984, including a round of 66.[4] She is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for lowest number of putts (17) in a single round (both men and women), set at the 1982 Lady Michelob.

VOLLEYBALL Joyce served as player and coach in the United States Volleyball Association with the Connecticut Clippers. She competed in four national tournaments, and was named to the All-East Regional team

BASKETBALL Joyce played on the USA women's national basketball team in 1964 and 1965, setting a national tournament single game scoring record in 1964 with 67 points. She was a four-time Women's Basketball Association All-American, and a three-time Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) All-America player.

 

[Aluminny69]

 

[donalddoowop]

To me a great athlete must be able to play more than one sport and play it at a high level. In my opinion that leaves out DT, who was great at basketball, Serena, who was great at tennis, and Biles, who is great at gymnastics. Joyner-Kersee and Joyce were great athletes as was Kristyn (sp) Fokl. I watched Joyner-Kersee and Fokl locally and I'd give Joyner-Kersee the edge. Just my opinion of what an athlete is. There have been great baseball pitchers who were not great athletes, as an example. Could play the game but were not athletic.

 

[Aluminny69]

Have to add this incredible record:

Joyce pitched for the Raybestos Brakettes, a women’s major fastpitch softball team, for 19 seasons. During that time, she boasted a 753-42 record and tossed 150 no-hitters and 50 perfect games. Her lifetime ERA was 0.09.

 

[HuskyNan]

Maya Moore

 

[TeamFirst!]

Babe Didrickson Zaharias. 2 time Olympic gold medalist and dominated pro golf as well as other sports.

 

[meyers7]

Hmm.

I have to go with Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

Not only is she the finest heptathlete of all time, with the WR and the six top scores-- the WR set in 1988, she won three medals in the long jump. No one can excel in a multi-event and also in a single event. That is not possible. It is, if you are Jackie Joyner. She won medals in four Olympics.

In her prime, when she completed in the heptathlon, there was no question who was going to win. And, of course, she was going to break her own WR. The only question was: by how much was she going to break her own WR.

And, she played excellent basketball for UCLA, and had a very short stay in the WNBA.

And, she was a lovely person, and overcame very severe asthma. And grew up in bitter poverty in East St. Louis. I just loved to watch her compete.

Thoughts?

Yea, that was the first name that popped into my head when I read the title. Saw her play basketball in HS for E. St. Louis Lincoln.

 

[Ron and Vida]

We live in upstate NY. We came to Gampel out of curiosity to see what the hoopla about UCONN women basketball was all about.
Posted this before but when we saw Maya Moore live running down the floor on a fast break like a gazelle we were awe struck and still are

 

[borninansonia]

I saw Joan Joyce pitch several times, both no hitters, one a perfect game.
She dominated her sport more than any other athlete, male or female, dominated their sport.

 

[Kaizen]

Maya Moore too. She is so friendly and humble.

 

[WillB4]

Check out on Amazon, Tony Renzoni's book on Joan Joyce. Great read.

 

[UConn82]

On TV...Serena hands down!

In person DT

I have heard a lot of people assert Serena as the GOAT in women's tennis. I most emphatically disagree.

Steffi Graf is easily as good, if not better. No one mentions Steffi, but she won 22 majors, one less than Serena. So what! (She had to retire at age 30, due to a neck injury.)

And, she did something Serena did not, something no one ever did. In 1988, she won the "Golden Slam" = all four majors and Olympic Gold.

And, she played against Martina, Monica Seles, et al. Serena did not have nearly as difficult competition, the only great player she really competed against was his sister. But she owned her sister on the tennis court.

I don't know why people ignore Steffi.

Thoughts?

 

[ucbart]

I have heard a lot of people assert Serena as the GOAT in women's tennis. I most emphatically disagree.

Steffi Graf is easily as good, if not better. No one mentions Steffi, but she won 22 majors, one less than Serena. So what! (She had to retire at age 30, due to a neck injury.)

And, she did something Serena did not, something no one ever did. In 1988, she won the "Golden Slam" = all four majors and Olympic Gold.

And, she played against Martina, Monica Seles, et al. Serena did not have nearly as difficult competition, the only great player she really competed against was his sister. But she owned her sister on the tennis court.

I don't know why people ignore Steffi.

Thoughts?

So, I am the most firm believer that Monica Seles would've dominated women's tennis like no other if she hadn't gotten stabbed. She had clearly taken over Steffi as #1 and was beating her regularly. Monica dominated women's tennis from the 1990 French Open - basically the time of her stabbing. So, while Steffi was great and won all those slams, several of them sort of have an asterisks next to them because Monica was sidelines.

As a side note-the stabbing of Monica Seles is probably the saddest story in the history of sports.

 

[boontonbomber]

tough to choose between Joan Joyce and Babe Zaharias.

 

[MD#12Fan]

I love GOAT discussions.
In this one, I am not as interested in an all-around athlete. I don't even pay much attention to the decathlon or heptathlon anymore. I think a way of thinking about it possibly is, who you would most like to see up-close. Like if it was a musician, who would you pay $1000 to watch from the 1st row. Imagine the buzz of an Olympic 100 meter dash final, like with Usain Bolt. Google: 100 m final men's London, and you can see what a virtuosic performance looks like. Something you would never forget.
I don't choose the all-around, I like the show stoppers.
Graf? Serena? Simone? Jackie?
Good job!

 

[oldude]

The legendary JOAN JOYCE! I had the pleasure of watching her perform for the Stratford Raybestos Brakettes. Not only did she dominate Softball, she also excelled in Gold, Volleyball, and basketball.

GOLF After softball, she joined the LPGA Tour, which she was on from 1977–1994.[4] Her best finishes included sixth-place in tournaments in 1981, 1982 and 1984, including a round of 66.[4] She is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for lowest number of putts (17) in a single round (both men and women), set at the 1982 Lady Michelob.

VOLLEYBALL Joyce served as player and coach in the United States Volleyball Association with the Connecticut Clippers. She competed in four national tournaments, and was named to the All-East Regional team

BASKETBALL Joyce played on the USA women's national basketball team in 1964 and 1965, setting a national tournament single game scoring record in 1964 with 67 points. She was a four-time Women's Basketball Association All-American, and a three-time Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) All-America player.

I grew up in Stratford, CT. On a Friday or Saturday night in the summer I could get a hot dog, French fries and a Coke, and watch the best female athlete ever throw a no-hitter for under $10.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Have to add this incredible record:

Joyce pitched for the Raybestos Brakettes, a women’s major fastpitch softball team, for 19 seasons. During that time, she boasted a 753-42 record and tossed 150 no-hitters and 50 perfect games. Her lifetime ERA was 0.09.

Living in Milford, I got to see Joan Joyce and Bertha Ragan Tickey play for the Brakettes in Stratford. They were the epitome of dominant pitchers. Nolan Ryan of the softball world.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I never saw Allyson Felix in person, but she has an incredible resume that includes multiple Gold Medals at multiple distances over nearly 2 decades.

Allyson Felix - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[oldude]

Living in Milford, I got to see Joan Joyce and Bertha Ragan Tickey play for the Brakettes in Stratford. They were the epitome of dominant pitchers. Nolan Ryan of the softball world.

There was another great pitcher on that Brakettes team. Donna Lopiano, from Stamford, CT had been denied the opportunity to play Little League because she was a girl. She started playing for the Brakettes at age 16, and along with Joyce & Tickey became the most formidable trio of pitchers in the history of WSB.

Lopiano went on to become the Director of Women’s Athletics at the University of TX, and was instrumental in the promotion and passage of Title IX legislation, without which women’s college sports would never have achieved the growth and recognition that it has.

 

[phil sampieri]

The legendary JOAN JOYCE! I had the pleasure of watching her perform for the Stratford Raybestos Brakettes. Not only did she dominate Softball, she also excelled in Gold, Volleyball, and basketball.

GOLF After softball, she joined the LPGA Tour, which she was on from 1977–1994.[4] Her best finishes included sixth-place in tournaments in 1981, 1982 and 1984, including a round of 66.[4] She is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for lowest number of putts (17) in a single round (both men and women), set at the 1982 Lady Michelob.

VOLLEYBALL Joyce served as player and coach in the United States Volleyball Association with the Connecticut Clippers. She competed in four national tournaments, and was named to the All-East Regional team

BASKETBALL Joyce played on the USA women's national basketball team in 1964 and 1965, setting a national tournament single game scoring record in 1964 with 67 points. She was a four-time Women's Basketball Association All-American, and a three-time Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) All-America player.

Watched Joan Joyce strike out Ted Williams . She then decided to be a golfer, played 9 holes with her at HillNadler in Trumbull, she was as nice as she was great.

 

[topogigio]

Being a Waterbury native, gotta' agree with many of the posters above, and go with Joan Joyce. My dad told tales of her as a kid, and she dominated the boys then! There was a musical play going around the state this summer about her. She was just a spectacular all around athlete in everything she did. Zaharias is right up there. No one, no one since those two compare as an multi-sport all around superstar!