The 14 Greatest Athletes of the 1920s
Golf, boxing, tennis, swimming, distance running and one racehorse, all inside a single decade.
1Babe RuthHit 54 home runs in 1920, 59 in 1921 and 60 in 1927, and made baseball a national obsession.
2Jack DempseyThe heavyweight champion whose fights drew the first million-dollar gates.
3Red GrangeThe Galloping Ghost, who dragged professional football into the mainstream.
4Bobby JonesAn amateur who beat the professionals and completed the Grand Slam in 1930.
5Bill TildenRuled men's tennis through the decade with ten major titles.
6Ty CobbStill playing, still hitting, and still the game's most disliked star.
7Lou GehrigBegan the streak in 1925 and by 1927 was the second-best hitter in his own lineup.
8Walter HagenGolf's first showman professional, with four straight PGA Championships.
9Johnny WeissmullerFive Olympic swimming golds before Hollywood cast him as Tarzan.
10Gertrude EderleThe first woman to swim the English Channel, and faster than any man had.
11Paavo NurmiThe Flying Finn, nine Olympic golds and a stack of world records in distance running.
12Suzanne LenglenThe French champion who made tennis fashionable and barely lost a match.
13Knute RockneNotre Dame's coach, whose teams and speeches defined college football in the decade.
14Man o' WarThe racehorse that lost once in 21 starts and was voted athlete of the era by more than one panel.
Comments
Fifty-four home runs in 1920, fifty-nine in 1921, sixty in 1927, on a decade's ballot that also carries a racehorse: https://youpick.best/articles/babe-ruth-ranked-many-ways
