After looking through Sportcenturies Top Athletes of the 20th Century I was disappointed. First of all the list was highly Americanized. Not featuring Pele, or some of the other worldly greats. Second of all the list featured no swimmers, cyclists, marathon runners, or skiers of any kind. This was highly disappointing to me. I expect to see the great Lance Armstrong somewhere in the list despite winning most of his Tour De Frances in the new century. These disappointments of this list have inspired me to make one of my own. Lest they be forgotten, here are the top three Endurance Athletes of all-time.

3. Bjorn Daehlie; Cross-Country Skiing, Norway

Who? That's right, Bjorn "The Greatest Cross-Country Skier of all time". Find me an American that doesn't know who Michael Jordan is. You managed to do this? Now find me a Norwegian who doesn't know Bjorn Daehlie. It won't be easy. While skiing seems to be a gym class filler, and an old-timer sport in America, its the past-time in Scandinavia.

Daehlie is simply ridiculous, he has the record for Winter Olympic Medals with 12 total, and Golds with eight total (1992 Alberta, 1994 Lillehammer, 1998 Nagano). Not to mention 17 World Cup medals, and nine golds. Not only is he amazing at distances, winning two 50k events in the Olympics, he has as many 10k golds. Proving he can dominate any race on skis.

Though his career was cut short by a Roller-skiing accident. Daehlie's credentials are still far above any other skier in history. Arguably his most notable achievement is his world record VO2 Max test results, this test essentially measures aerobic capacity in how you get oxygen to your blood cells. They measured Daehlie at 96 ml/kg/min. His test was done out of season, and the observers assume he could have broken 100 at a mid-season point. Granted this test must not make much sense to you, so here's some perspective. A race horse has a VO2 Max of around 110 ml/kg/min. An average human being has a VO2 Max of 45-55 ml/kg/min. You can improve your VO2 Max in training, but only by about 10-15 points. Basically Daehlie was born a freak, more animal than man. This coupled with his records makes him good enough to be the best athlete ever, and certainly good enough to be third on this list.

2. Michael Phelps; Swimmer, USA

Phelps, this name I don't have to elaborate on. He's our newest athletic hero. An Olympic record 14 Gold medals. He stole the show in Athens in 2004, taking six gold and two bronze. Then he WAS the show in Beijing 2008 taking home eight more golds. In Athens he set two world records among his six golds. In Beijing he set seven world records and one Olympic record. And oh, he raced eight times. His World Cup career is equally ridiculous. All said Phelps owns 48 career medals and seven world records. He is also second and third to his own world records in many events. No one has ever swam like Phelps. The best part for America and for Swimming fans everywhere: Phelps is barely 23 years of age.

1. Lance Armstrong; Cyclist, USA

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