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The Greatest Action Sports Athlete?

Action (or adventure or extreme sports) is only for great athletes. This is a discussion of a poll of the Greatest Action Sports Athlete of All Time conducted on the ESPN Sport Science website in 2012. As these sports have only been around for a relatively short time, this all time list is going to be of fairly recent athletes. The voting was based on the best 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 action sports athlete of all time?

  1. Tony Hawk — Won 16 X Games medals, including 10 golds. Crowned Vertical Skating's World Champion 12 years in a row. He invented nearly 100 tricks which are now staples in the sport.
  2. Dave Mirra — primarily a BMX rider, he is the most decorated X Games athlete with 24 total medals and 14 gold medals in Summer X Games.
  3. Travis Pastrana — a versatile motor sports athlete. He won 17 X Games medals. Four-time Rally America National Champion.
  4. Kelly Slater — 11-time Surfing World Champion. Won 51 ASP World Tour events in his career.
  5. Shaun White — Won gold medals in 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics. 14-time X Games gold medalist. ,First athlete to medal in both Summer X Games and Winter X Games in different sports (half-pipe and skateboarding)

And the winner is ...

American professional skateboarder Tony "The Birdman" Hawk



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