Actually the better method would only give points in one olympics the athletes best... nothing is gained by fiving an athlete multiple points because they were around for more than one olympic... Your system taken to an extreme would reward a also ran with longevity over someone that wins and quits.

Yirmin Snipe, boston,

Decathlon signifies the ultimate allround athlete. The modern day Zeus. Yet the winner only gets one meddle. If this was swimming one could expect 10 meddles to be awarded; one for each event. Why do some sports allow the meddles to be give so cheaply?

James Whitaker , Sydney , Australia

STOP PRESS Chuck: Michael Phelps has 11 gold medals (with more to come) .... and he can swim a medley. Ever see Mark Spitz breastroke or backstroke? Nah, didn't think so. Phelps has to be up there with Daley Thompson for sheer excellence, durability and breadth of skill.

Michael Costello, Sydney, AUSTRALIA

A "points system" is a pointless exercise.The only valid method is to compare an athelete's performance to all competitors in his/her field, and determining how many standard deviations from the mean an athlete is. Then compare the leading exponents from all sports. Voila - you the best of the best.

Bill , Sydney, Australia

Haven't read the whole list, but to all those complaining; athlete means those competing in athletics (ie track and field events). Though it is a bit misleading.

David Simpson, Edinburgh,

This is ridiculous.

The greatest Olympic athelete is MARK SPITZ. HELLO?!

Not even on the list???

Chuck , Williamsville, USA

Something wrong here, Jesse Owens Ranked 38? In middle distance running you have included the Finns but my favorites the likes of Abebe Bikila and Haile Gebrselassie, the Ethiopians are missing.

kart, Bangalore, India

How about Karelin (wrestling) 4 olympic games !!! 3 gold 1 silver !!

Marco, Xiamen, China

What about Dean Macey???? Superb Athlete........

James Ward, Bristol,

Where's Sergey Bubka?

Hywel, Aberystwyth, Wales

I can not believe my eyes !
There is not a single Asian in the chart !
Can i say it is a trustworthy one ???
I firmly doubt it .

Tic, Guandong, CHN

When you use the term 'athlete', I'm assuming you're on referring to track and field, as the term athlete is not necessarily limited to these disciplines. Can't the term also apply to someone who competes in sports? If it can, you're missing some and your title is, henceforth, rather misleading.

Gozi, Belfast, UK

Great chart. I am surprised that Wayne King was not included but fantastic reading all the same.

Micheal Hunt, London,

Where is Bob Mathias who won the decathlon twice (easily) and was only 17 years old the first time?

Sam, Ventura, usa

Is Fannie Blankers-Koen included in this list?

Peter Lewin, Northwood, UK

Like those from the US Jonathon?

darren, London, UK

An utterly pointless chart as so many athletes, especially those from the eastern bloc, were clearly on drugs.

jonathan anthony, london,

Wow, a very good job accumulating the athletes and their accomplishments. There are many places where one can disagree (e.g., part-time amateur athletes of the past verses present athletes who are sponsored and train full-time). I enjoyed it.

steve, atlanta, usa

For me it will always be Jesse Owens. Timing is everything!

Ian, harlow,

Talk about lies, damn lies and statistics. Isn’t the credibility of your ‘statistics’ undermined by the fact that they produced in the number 1 spot a completely anonymous athelete who competed in obsolete and faintly ludicrous events? True greatness isn't measured in ounces of metal.

Richard, Oxford,

Clearly competition is much greater towards the present day and comparisons of 19th ecntury and 21st century athletes are virtually meaningless. A more sensible result would be achieved if the points were reduced for earlier Olympics - perhaps in a ratio related to world population?

Martin, London,

I have had the pleasure of seeing many of these great athletes perform.

Always brings back poignant memories of sitting with my Father in wonderment.

Thank you for the memories.

Terry, Caldy, UK

No surprise to see all the Americans up there, but how great are the Finns? Is that 5 in the top 20? What are they running from up there?

Rich, London, UK

The analysis is fallacious because not everyone can compete in multiple events. A great thrower for example can only participate in one throwing event. A great runner might have 4 chances per Games to win medals. And relay chances are out if you're the one outstanding athlete from your country.

RH, Birmingham, England

This article's header states "we present the greatest Olympians of all time ". This is clearly wrong. The article is a list of great Olympic TRACK & FIELD athletes, not the wider class of 'Olympians'. Very confusing.

Peter, London,

Did you mean "alluded" or "eluded" when you referred to a couple of athletes who did not manage to win a gold?

Helen Steve Redgrave is a rower not a Track and Field athlete hence his exclusion otherwise the like of Spitz, Phelps, Comaneci would all be there as well.

Ashiq, London,

Why isn't Bruce Jenner anywhere on this list? His nickname was 'The Worlds Greatest Athlete".

Bob, Southfield, MI, USA

You printed Steve Payne's (Valencia) words that "China is evil." Let's see if you'll print my saying that the UK and the US are evil for their anti-Chinese fabrications and deceitful propaganda (among other things).

Jon Muster, Tampere, Finland

A daft way to rank athletic prowess.

Jesse Owens set 4 world records in 45 minutes at club meet and won 4 gold medals a year later at the Berlin Olympics. He is by far the greatest but E.Zatopek, S.Bubka and V.Scherbo bring back found memories. All eyes on Michael Phelps in 2008.

Dominic, London, England

The Olympic games are the most boring nationalistic capitalist venture ever created. I'm going on vacation for the duration as most of Europe will do. China is evil but the world supports it out of fear, pathetic. This is NOT sport and participants should hold their heads in shame.

Steve Payne, Valencia, Spain

I’ve no problem with including the 3-legged race. (If not, which other ones do we miss out? Cricket or baseball? Who decides?) But I’m certainly not about to click through 29 pages.

joe, birmingham, uk

I agree re. Redgrave. For me, points or not, Nurmi is the greatest of all. It was the Swedes who worked to block him from the games on the "pro" technicality. He would have gone on to be unassailable. Nurmi revolutionized training - running watch in hand: not waiting only for lap timings.

Jeremy Allen, Turku, Finland

Helen - track and field not water

Now id redgrave had won his 5 goals whilst rowing on a cinder track.....

Gabe, London,

I have been watching the Olympics for over 50 years. My top moment is Daley Thompson winning gold for the decathlon for the second time and with a world record. Surely his score should be mutiplied by 10?There is no greater measure of all-round athetic ability than the decathlon.

Iain Farrell, Harrow, UK

Nice work but I don't think relay results should be counted it gives an unfair advantage to athletes from the larger nations.

Ian, London,

To avoid clicking through 29 pages (ludicrous I agree), try clicking on the "Print" button at the bottom of the page, which should open a new window containing the entire article.

Richard, Hong Kong,

One way of seeing all info on one page is to click the "Print" option below. This brings up a one page view. Agree re the format not being good for this kind of article.

Jay, Shanghai,

Nurmi, Lewis, Ritola - I can live with that as 1906 doesn't count.

Mike, Leatherhead, England

The stats now skew towards athletes from the late 1800's/early 1900s. Higher competition now and some odd events included.

Also interesting that it is mostly sprinters and long distance runners in list. Not many running 400m to 1500.

Be interesting to see equivalents in swimming, etc.

Paul, Toronto, Canada

Where's Steve Redgrave?? Surely he deserves a mention for his unequalled achievements over such a long period of time?

Helen, London,

Just change the number to 29 in the URL link at the top of your browser...

John, Tunbridge Wells, UK

I realise that the format is not great but if you want to go to a particular page directly after the "article4423021.ece?token=null&offset=" bit you have to put the page number subtracted by 1 and multiplied by 12. Then comes &page= after which you put your actual page number.

So, 12(n-1)&page=n.

Can, London,

Unfortunately I have to consider the previous comments, and add that, what was a very good idea as been poorly executed. To have to click through 29 pages just shows that who has planned this site, really needs to go back to the drawing board.

Christian Ingle, Montreal, Canada

I suppose now Michael Johnson has lost his Gold medal in the 2000 4x400 as one of his teammates was on drugs he was only the 38th equal best athlete instead of the 22nd. Mind you, that leaves him tied with some guy called Owens. This kind of accounting is hardly worth reading let alone discussing.

Robin, Ottawa, Canada

Agree with previous comments about finding a better way to present such information. The prospect of clicking through 29 pages was to much and I gave up...pity given the list holds interest, just not its format.

Andrew, Melbourne, Australia

There has to be a better way to present such lists. When I saw how cumbersome the process of clicking through (and through, and through) would be, I decided it wasn't worth my while. Too bad, because it's likely an interesting list.

Bill MacDonald, Oakland, Ca.

Number 21 won in the... three-legged race??? Are you having a laugh?

Heather, London,

I find it annoying that to get to see number one I have to click through 29 pages. Also if I get to page 15 and then come back tomorrow I have to start again at page one and click through to 15. Could there not be a better system to choose which page you view.

Matt, London, UK

How ludicrous to write "Jamaica/Slovenia" for M. Ottey (in the 7th position), thus accepting the distasteful custom of a country achieving a semblance of sporting glory by issuing a passport to an athlete born and bred elsewhere!

John Powers, Groningen, Netherlands

Daley was a great athlete and I have fond memories of having a beer with him in the mid 80's. When I was growing up in West Texas, I tried to do what Daley had done and failed. Daley, if you are reading this, you were my hero and if you are ever back in West Texas again, lets have another beer!

Casey L. Brown-Myers, Lubbock-TX, USA