I haven’t seen or heard from him lately, but at notice I wrote “had” so I think I’m safe 
Nice save, 400!
Thanks. Just a little ingenuity 
i can’t believe only 2 votes for carl lewis.for longevity,multi-talented and performances i rate him very high.world champion/olympic champion in 83,84,88,91 and continuing to win the LJ in 96 is some feat.
my question is-how do you define the greatest sprinter of all time?
do you go on times,championships won,olympic medals,longevity etc?
winning 2 olympic titles is one mean feat,84/88!
I went based off of times and overall performance. MJ has a 100m time that beats a lot of pure 100m sprinters today and his 200m/400m WR’s aren’t going to be touched for awhile.
Not to mention, he had quite a mean streak going of consecutive wins towards the latter part of his career.
He just produces. Didn’t he also win 2 Olympic golds as well, in the 200 and 400?
greatest: Michael or Carl
greatest 100m man: Mo Greene
-5 years at number 1
-3 time world champion
-2000 100m gold medalist
-43 (yes 43) times under 10 seconds
-16 times at 9.90 or better
-3 of histories 3 fastest legal times including 9.82 at Edmonton into a -.1 headwind while running injured for the last 12 meters
-the only person in history to hold both the 60m/100m wr and 60m/100m world championship title
Attitude or no attitude, results speak for themselves and Greene’s are unquestionably the greatest (in the 100m). Ben may have gone on to run 9.6 but unfortunately we were unable to experience his seemingly unlimited progression. As far as personality issues, the greatness of Lewis and MJ cannot and should not be diminished due their gargantuan egos, “attitudes” and refusal to concede to others talents or accomplishments (observe Michael these days). Recently Ben-one of the greatest athletes in any sport and most chilling sprinter ever-had no reservations about proclaiming himself the greatest ever. And he has a right to. Criticisms about ego or attitude can be applied across the board.
You don’t even have to ask yourself this question. Ben Johnson is by far the best. Look, Ben Johnson ran a 9.79 slowing down to look at Carl Lewis. Imagine the track was not even mondo. Just with these points imagine if he was on a mondo track, ran all the way through the line, and was 26 years of age, man that could have even been a sub 9.70 seconds legal. Even imagine if the “speed trap”(book) would not have happened. With the rate he was probably on, Charlie would have kept training him through the ages that top sprinters are at there peak. That is 27-32years. With Tim Montgomery’s conditions of 2.0 wind and a mondo track, he have well ran a 9.59 or somthing. Forever the record would state WR-Ben Johnson Canada. I don’t think Canada’s lower counter-part would have liked that. Even I am from there (U.S.) and I’ve come to this conclusion.
Think about it. It is a no brainer.
I think we’re getting into the apples and oranges issue. 100/200/400. are all “events” in their own right. As such we have 3 separate events, to test 3 different sets of running ability. Each 3 events demand different abilities.
It isn’t a no brainer. I am so tired of hearing what might have happened if he didn’t look over, if he would have run through the tape. If his mom had called before the race like always. If he would have been able to run and stay on his progression. It is Ben’s fault he didn’t run through the tape. It is Ben’s fault he decided it was more important to show boat than to finish probably the best race of all time.
How about we go off of what actually has happened. MJ is the greatest sprinter of all time, if by sprinter we are talking 100, 200, and 400 meter sprinters. If we are talking greatest 100 meter runner ever, I think the argument for Mo is more compelling. I agree, who knows what Ben could have done, but he could have gotten hurt the next day and never been able to run again. It is so easy for us to assume the best, but no one wants to assume the worst. Therefore, why assume at all.
You know, there was this guy in my highschool who ran 50.2 on a dirt track first meet of the season. He was a freshman. He had run 49.2 the end of his 8th grade season and trained his butt off. You know what he did by the 2nd meet… drugs. He ended up in continuation school and never ran track again. Who knows what he might have done 10 years later, had he not been a knuckle head. There are many stories about guys like him, even guys in college. He ran sub 4 as a freshman then got into a car accident. Can’t remember the kids name from CA who ran 44 as a senior, sometime around 95. Dang I can’t remeber names for nothing right now. The guy from USC that had the 400 WR for a minute but tore an achilles and wasn’t ever the same.
It is so apples and oranges. You can’t compare eras. What if Bob Hayes and Jesse Owens were exposed to the same supplementation, spikes, and track surfaces we have today? Who knows. You can’t compare 100-200. What if Michael trained as a 100 meter runner? Who knows.