Results of survey to find the greatest athlete of the 20th century

Sports poll

Thursday 06 June 1996 23:02 BST
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Sebastian Coe, Jonathan Edwards and Sally Gunnell are Britain's highest-rated performers in a new survey to find the greatest athlete of the 20th century. The European poll, conducted by Gallup after being commissioned by chemical and energy company Dupont, involved 5,000 interviews in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Britain.

SURVEY RESULTS: Most impressive sports person of 20th century: 1 Pele, 2 Miguel Indurain, 3 Alberto Tomba. Athletics: 1 Carl Lewis, 2 Serguei Bubka, 3 Pietro Mennea. Motor Racing: 1 Ayrton Senna, 2 Michael Schumacher, 3 Alain Prost. Sports except athletics: 1 Muhammad Ali, 2 Indurain, 3 Bjorn Borg. Most impressive sporting feat of 20th century: 1 Roald Amundsen, 2 Edmund Hilary, 3 Charles Lindberg. Team sports: 1 Pele, 2 Michael Jordan, 3 Just Fontaine. Winter sports: 1 Tomba, 2 Jean-Claude Killy, 3 Rosi Mittermaier.

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