The 14 Greatest Athletes of the 1920s
Golf, boxing, tennis, swimming, distance running and one racehorse, all inside a single decade.
1Babe Ruth
Hit 54 home runs in 1920, 59 in 1921 and 60 in 1927, and made baseball a national obsession.
2Jack Dempsey
The heavyweight champion whose fights drew the first million-dollar gates.
3Red Grange
The Galloping Ghost, who dragged professional football into the mainstream.
4Bobby Jones
An amateur who beat the professionals and completed the Grand Slam in 1930.
5Bill Tilden
Ruled men's tennis through the decade with ten major titles.
6Ty Cobb
Still playing, still hitting, and still the game's most disliked star.
7Lou Gehrig
Began the streak in 1925 and by 1927 was the second-best hitter in his own lineup.
8Walter Hagen
Golf's first showman professional, with four straight PGA Championships.
9Johnny Weissmuller
Five Olympic swimming golds before Hollywood cast him as Tarzan.
10Gertrude Ederle
The first woman to swim the English Channel, and faster than any man had.
11Paavo Nurmi
The Flying Finn, nine Olympic golds and a stack of world records in distance running.
12Suzanne Lenglen
The French champion who made tennis fashionable and barely lost a match.
13Knute Rockne
Notre Dame's coach, whose teams and speeches defined college football in the decade.
14Man o' War
The racehorse that lost once in 21 starts and was voted athlete of the era by more than one panel.
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