favorite athletes

Lance Armstrong had a great cameo in Dodgeball.
He is an amazing athlete demostrating an incredible level of resilience and persistence in order to overcome and achieve.

 

Sorry, I missed one:

Mike Tyson: He was one of the first pro athletes I looked up to and, of course, this was when he was 21 and well before any of the craziness. A left hook that will never be rivaled and the reason I got into boxing. Oh the wasted potential is unmeasurable.

 

Many of the ones mentioned, but I'll chime in...
Wayne Gretzky; when your given a nickname as "The Great One", nothing more can be said. I was blessed to see him "live" many times. The only athlete I've ever seen that truly could be called poetry in motion.
I think the mark of a great athlete is when a your name is used for a young athlete. Such as "He/She is the next ___ (fill in the blank). Wayne is always mention in hockey circles.

Also, Nolan Ryan (mentioned); I was lucky enough to see 2 of his no-hitters "live".

 

Iron Mike was a wrecking machine under the tutelage of Cus D'Amato (and Kevin Rooney). I remember him fighting almost weekly in ESPN back in the mid 1980s. My father used to call me to come watch him fight. No socks, black shoes, white towel as a robe - enter the ring and knock the other guy out in the first round.

It was sad to see him fall in with the wrong group - it seemed like the people managing him were a bunch of pimps. After D'Amato passed away, things went downhill from there.

 

Cricket
Cortney Walsh and Curtley Ambrose (Live at the Oval). The most destructive new ball bowling since Lilly and Thompson.
Ian Botham (Live at Lords). A genuine all rounder and match winner. Probably my greatest sporting hero.
Brian Lara (the Oval). A genius with the bat, massively destructive with the conventration to bat for days.

Athletics
Daley Thompson (On TV). Cheeky chappie who won and lost with a smile.

Football
Gary Linker (Live at Wembley). My first real England megastar. I remember him playing in Mexico in '86 with a cast on his arm and I still think he is going to score the equalliser against the filthy Argie cheats.
Gary Barnett & Gordon Davies (Live at the cottage and many other places - though, sadly, never Wembley) Boyhood idols

Rugby Union
Rory Underwood. Loved him the first time I saw him fly up the wing and over for a try. In his spare time he was a Harrier Pilot in the RN.