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

The picture gave it away didn't it. How can you not pick Lance. He is the definition of a hero, a champion cyclist... diagnosed with aggressive testicular cancer, that spread into his brain and lungs... and he survived ... and he returned to cycling... and he was better than before.... and he won the Tour de France... seven straight years! Mental toughness is something that every athlete craves, its an intangible that can set the greats apart from the others. Lance Armstrong is so mentally strong, he's been Chuck Norris's therapist for the past 25 years! ( citation needed). Simply ridiculous, unfortunately coming back from cancer doesn't pad your athletic resume, if it did we'd all be in awe of this man. But even if he had never gotten a sniffle in his life his credentials speak so strongly he had to be number one. A long time triathlete comes back with a completely new body. Religious trains, counts calories, does time trails, practices drafting and team strategy. Goes to the French Mountains and simply puts everyone away. The Tour De France is one of the most glorified events in all of athletics. This man was built to win it. No one has ever one it seven times, let alone seven consecutive times, with two different teams. Armstrong simply has to be number one. I dare Sportscentury not to include him in the 21st century's top 100. It simply won't happen.

There are my top 3. They will not go forgoten to you readers. Here are some honorable mentions.

Honorable Mentions:

Terry Fox; Runner, Canada

Do yourself a favor and read Terry Fox's story. He was diagnosed with bone cancer that forced his right leg to be amputated above the knee. To raise money for research Terry attempted to run across Canada on a prosthetic leg. His goal was to run 26 some miles a day. Fox was unable to finish, after 143 days and 3,339 miles, doctors found the cancer had spread into each of his lungs. He died before reaching 23, yet had met his goal in raising money.

Ian Thorpe; Swimmer, Australia

Let me know what you think and if I should mention any others. Thanks for the read!