Could any pro athlete in the big sports beat Aston Eaton in any event in the decathlon?

Runnerman85 wrote:

Thoughts if Michael Phelps were to have started training for the decathlon instead of swimming at an early age? Also to note I clearly don't think track would have been a better choice for him.

Phelps is built to swim. He has huge hands and feet, short legs and a long torso. He's obviously got great fitness too, but swimming definitely maximizes his weird shape. There's also no saying what kind of footspeed he has or doesn't have.

The fact that some of you think the world's greatest athletes don't run track is extremely funny. Track people - sprinters and jumpers - are generally the most athletic people in the world. They lack skill more often than not.

The reason why Leonard Scott isn't in the NFL is because he wasn't skilled, he was the best at pretty much every combine. Tyree Washington, etc.

Go to a local basketball court -- see the guys that have the best jumping ability, sprinting etc -- they probably ran track, unfortunately, they just don't have skill. It's like on a football team, often the most athletic guys on the team are on defense, they just don't have the skill to play offense.

Probably 80% of all state-qualifying sprinters in HS can prob dunk a basketball and run a 4.4 40 at the slowest. [Insert random Letsrunner who looks a sprinter in Idaho that ran 11.8 and qualified for the state meet].

LeBron James is a superb athlete because of his size. But in terms of strength output per pound, speed, endurance, jumping ability, he loses to Aston Eaton by a large amount.

I'd say Ashton could prob beat LBJ by a minimum of .8 in the 100m (and I honestly only think LBJ can run 11.5 or so].

100m - .8+

Hurdles - no contest

1500m - 1min+

400m - 3 seconds (with training)

HJ - close. I'd give LBJ actually a good chance to jump 6'6 -6 '8.

LJ - 4 ft+

TJ - no contest

Javelin / Discus / Shot Put - with training, LBJ has a chance.

But with that said, the ONLY athletes I could see beating Ashton are football players. Sprinting and throwing.

Lastly, enjoy this video of Mike Conley Sr. ( father of NBA player Mike Conley, former WR holder and Olympic Champ in the TJ) showing off his athletic prowess on the basketball court.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29TixSRcEA4

Note: He's below 6 ft tall.

Back in high school, a school near us would have a team decathlon, with a different person running each event. Someone needs to set up an event like this with Ashton Eaton competing against teams made up of 10 athletes from each of the major sports. Track on its own may not draw big tv audiences, but throw in 30 pro athletes competing against 1 track guy, and I think people would watch.

LBJ is the greatest athlete on earth. However, the decathlon wouldn't be his event. He's too tall/bulky, the running events would kill him.

Let's test Cam Newton out against Eaton:

100m - NEWTON

Hurdles - with training probably NEWTON

1500m - NEWTON

400m - close, but with training NEWTON

HJ - close. Give edge to EATON. I'd give Cam a 6'6 -6 '8 as well

LJ - close. Give edge to EATON. I'd give Cam 25ft+

PV - EATON

Javelin - NEWTON

Discus - Close, probably NEWTON though

Shot Put - Close, probably EATON

Cam wins - 100, hurdles, 1500, 400, Javelin, Discuss

Eaton wins - LJ, HJ, PV, Shot Put

With training Cam Newton is now the greatest athlete in the world.

The Browns' Joe Thomas threw 62+ in college at Wisconsin in the shot put.

As someone said earlier - the throws are Eaton's weakness. I wonder if as he gets older will he gain more bulk and therefore sacrifice some speed/endurance??

Earth to Track Fans is a moron. Ashton Eaton is BY FAR the greatest athlete in the world by definition of the the event he competes in. It's basic human performance at its highest level (ie: how far can you jump/ throw, how fast can you run, etc VS who's the best player...Lebron, Kobe, or Durant?). Had Lebron been training for the Decathlon since age 18 like Eaton, he'd probably only be better in one or two events, MAX...the shot and the disc. Eaton is not very strong in the disc, and James is much stronger and would probably yield better results in the shot. The high jump is a toss-up. James is a great jumper, but high jumping 6'11" (Eaton's PR) is no easy task for Lebron and his big butt. Eaton is FAR better than Deca-Bron would be in 7-8 of the 10 events. 10.2 in the 100, 27' 0" in the LJ, 46.6 in the 400...are you kidding me? Those marks are rediculously amazing. On top of it all, who's to say that the greatest NBA player currently (Bron, Kobe, Durant) is the world's 2nd best athlete??? Not I. Many of the top cyclists in the world, especially the winner of the tour, could be considered the worlds 2nd best athlete. You try riding 180km + every day for 3 straight weeks.

Get a clue mr. Earth

Almost any 1st line starter in an NFL/NHL/NBA team could surely beat him if they were doing just one event. Eaton isn't a all-star talent in 10 events, he is an all-star talent in the Decathlon which just means he is just good enough over a wide range of events.

He isn't even the beat Deca guy in the world right now.

To think someone like Adrian Peterson couldn't beat him in a 100 AND the shot-put is absurd, especially if Peterson started training for these events instead of football.

T BONE, you're a bigger idiot than Earth to Track Fans? Cam Newton over Eaton in a DECA??? Waaaaaay trippin. Eaton just ran a 10.2 in the 100. 10.2!!! Cam Newton could MAYBE run 10.7-10.8 if he's lucky. Football speed is a lot different than track speed. Additionally, Cam Newton could run a 4:15 1500m? Maybe 1500ft., but not meters. Cam Newton weights 240+...Eaton tops the scale at 185. You do the math.

Idiot.

They don't even need proper training. Or to look at it another way, plenty of NFL lineman probably have more proper training than Eaton. Many probably threw shot in High School and some even in college. I really have a hard time seeing how Eaton beats any NFL Lineman in the shot unless NFL guys beat themselves and are not able to get a legal shot off.

I eat lots of ice cream wrote:

Good points.

NFL linemen in the shot with proper training is a good one.

I should have noted how much training the other athletes get to prepare to compete.

Say 3 months of training.

Splits... Nice message. I wholeheartedly agree with you on numerous statements made. Ashton is a FAR better decathlete than James ever could/would be. It's not even close.

Ashton Eaton for prez! He's a track god.

o.O wrote:

He isn't even the beat Deca guy in the world right now.

Really?! As the world record holder, he is literally the best "Deca" guy ever.

You kidding me? No way Lebron would ever beat Eaton in the decathlon. To show that I'm not just an 'ignorant track fan' I will admit that I understand what you are saying. But use a different athlete than Lebron as an example. Lebron is the best basketball player in the NBA. But there is no way on earth that he is naturally fast enough to run a 10.2 100 or long jump 27 feet. He's too big to run a decent 400. They don't even make pole vault poles for someone his weight and I highly doubt he could carry his 250 pound body around the track for a 4:14 1500. And who is to say he even has body awareness to master the technique in all if the events? You think the best high jumper is the person with the best jumping ability? It's about 75% form. To say Lebron could ever beat Eaton in a decathlon is absurd. No matter how much he trained.

Check out Dwight Howard holding his own against Maurice Greene in this sprint relay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BOj2oRI71A

I know that Greene is already retired and Howard is in his prime when this race happened but this should shut up the idiots who are underestimating Lebron's raw speed. Lebron is probably just as fast or faster than Howard.

T BONE wrote:

LBJ is the greatest athlete on earth. However, the decathlon wouldn't be his event. He's too tall/bulky, the running events would kill him.

Let's test Cam Newton out against Eaton:

100m - NEWTON

Hurdles - with training probably NEWTON

1500m - NEWTON

400m - close, but with training NEWTON

HJ - close. Give edge to EATON. I'd give Cam a 6'6 -6 '8 as well

LJ - close. Give edge to EATON. I'd give Cam 25ft+

PV - EATON

Javelin - NEWTON

Discus - Close, probably NEWTON though

Shot Put - Close, probably EATON

Cam wins - 100, hurdles, 1500, 400, Javelin, Discuss

Eaton wins - LJ, HJ, PV, Shot Put

With training Cam Newton is now the greatest athlete in the world.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda. You're either the greatest athlete in the world or you're not. When you talk about the world's greatest athlete, you're not talking potential. You either capitalize on your potential or you don't. You either train for it or you don't.

Ashton Eaton is the greatest athlete of all time. Anyone wants to take it from him, they can step on the track and prove it.

The definition of the decathlon is just as arbitrary as any other sport. It in no way defines the "World's Best Athlete" anymore than another sport. Put it this way-if 1 sprint, 1 throw and 1 jump were subtracted and the marathon, 10k and steeple were added, would the current elite still be the best?

Some of us simply judge this stuff on common sense. Essentially zero percent of the world's population has or will ever have a chance to pole vault, high jump or throw a javelin in any type of competition. That's before money is factored into the equation. For being the 'world's best athlete' Eaton sure is poor and unknown. If you had a son tomorrow and the doctor told you 'This kid can either set the WR in the decathlon or start on a team that wins the World Cup or NBA title, which woud you honestly choose? What do you think the majority of the world's population would choose? That ought to tell you the priority of T&F and the relative amount of elite athletes it siphons from major sports.

I played on a team with a guy who high jumped 7 feet in high school. He was unremarkable at other sports and didn't care about high jump or even like T&F very much-never even trained outside of track season. He wasn't a freakish athlete or remarkable at any other sport. At least half the NBA could high jump 7 Feet at their peak athleticism if they trained for the event.

For all the doubters of in game speed of LBJ, half the court including a dunk in ~2 sec flat:

asdfasdf wrote:

stop watch2.4 wrote:

You guys don't understand non-track sports. Keeping close to Rondo for 40feet isn't the same as outrunning Hardee.

Lebron couldn't break 12 right now.

Yes sir, lots of JV high school boys nationwide will beat LeBron James in a footrace. Right on.

Two "speedy" guards from our HS basketball team came out for track senior year and ran 10.8 and 11.0 with minimal training. I think they both ended up playing D3 basketball.

Um yes - those guys are faster than Lebron. Have you ever played basketball? There isn't much 100m dash going on there.

Dont underestimate pro ballers wrote:

Check out Dwight Howard holding his own against Maurice Greene in this sprint relay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BOj2oRI71A

I know that Greene is already retired and Howard is in his prime when this race happened but this should shut up the idiots who are underestimating Lebron's raw speed. Lebron is probably just as fast or faster than Howard.

Did you not notice that a 30lbs+ overweight Mo jogs and still makes up more than a one turn stagger on dwight (who is 2 lanes out!!) in only 50m. Dwight is running MAYBE 16s/100m during that clip.

I'm not going to go through 6 pages of this thread, but Terence Newman (Bengals' cornerback) would hang with him in his prime. 2 time big XII champion with a 100 meter PR of 10.22 I believe. I think there a handful of NFL guys that could sprint with him.

10.21 is pretty damn fast. Not too many "Pro" athletes would run much faster than this even with specific training for the 100, nevermind training for 10 events. And based on some of y'alls logic Lebron James would dominate in any sport he played. Hahahahahahah!!! SMH. Get off the nuts people. A 27 foot long jump is ridiculous. Most people could train for a lifetime and not come close to 27 feet. Michael Jordan would have long jumped 30 feet!! Do you really believe that??