Photos: Ten best athletes to be born in Colorado

By Michael Roberts Tue., Feb. 19 2013 at 7:50 AM

Number 2: Amy Van Dyken

Long before Missy Franklin (who lives in the metro area but was born in Pasadena), there was Denver's Van Dyken, who won four gold medals in swimming at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics -- the first female athlete to accomplish such a feat. And even though she was troubled by injuries leading up to the 2000 games in Sydney, Australia, she still managed to collect another two golds as part of championship relay teams.

Number 1: Jack Dempsey

Jack Dempsey.

The Manassa Mauler (named for the small Colorado town where he was born in 1895) held the heavyweight championship belt for a staggering seven years, from 1919 to 1926. During this period, boxing was arguably the most popular sport in America, making him not just famous but iconic -- and his renown lasted for the rest of his life. He ran a New York City restaurant he named for himself from 1935 to 1974, and he was a regular feature there for most of that stretch, with celebrities who never saw him throw a punch thrilled simply to be in his presence. Decades after his death in 1983, he still tops this list -- and he's likely to do so for many years to come.

More from our Sports archive: "Videos: Top five trades in Denver Nuggets history."

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Juan_Leg topcommenter

Why not :

The Top Ten Colorado Celebs You'd Most Likely LOVE To Wake Up Next To .......

Craig_Houston

How could you leave Reggie Jackson off the list? He's doing wonders for the Thunder as a third-string point guard.

Craig_Houston

How could you leave Reggie Jackson off the list? He's doing wonders for the Thunder as a third-string point guard.

crucialbee1

Buddy Werner? Billy Kidd? Lindsay Vonn? Where my skiers at?

Pam Stiffler

Depends on what you consider athletic...

Juan_Leg topcommenter

Roberts, nice job putting a difficult list together .

You did surprisingly miss Anderson,

but otherwise did a damn fine job !

David Kotzebue

Whizzer White, duh. & how about a few skiers?

dgarrettcham

1 Like

No Dick Anderson, Boulder native, All-American at CU, Pro-Bowler for the Miami Dolphins, defensive stalwart of three Super Bowl teams, winner of two?

Most egregiously, no Whizzer White, Fort Collins native, CU AllAmerican, two-time leader of NFL in rushing?

michael.roberts moderator editortopcommenter

@dgarrettchamTwo strong arguments, dgarrettcham. White, in particular, was a huge oversight, since we forgot to include him on a previous list, too -- one featuring famous people to have died in Colorado. Here's that link:

http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2012/05/ten_most_notable_people_to_die_in_colorado_part_2.php

Thanks for the post.

Aly Sotiros

Adeline Gray-Wrestling

Tim Tindle

Tim Tindle, he is a strong pedicab operator, has a nice stereo system on his bike and provides concierge level service. A Colorado athlete indeed!

Laura Grisenti de Luna

Matt Hasselbeck was born in Boulder, Eddie Eagan, Goose Gossage and Dutch Clark were all born in Colorado.

Nathan Jones

How could you not include Eric Willet or Bobby Brown? You're saying these dudes that play baseball are better athletes than them?

tandersonbank

How could you not include Glenn Morris from Simla? He won the Decathlon at the 1936 Olympics and was chosen the 1936 United States athlete of the year.