Romney calls Nicklaus the 'greatest' 20th century athlete

Reuters Close

WESTERVILLE, Ohio -- Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has named his pick for the “greatest athlete of the 20th century.”

Golf legend Jack Nicklaus deserves the title, the former Massachusetts governor said on Wednesday.

To his advantage, Nicklaus had just spoken at the rally for Romney in Ohio, talking about the economic woes facing his native state.

“When I was competing, I didn’t lean on someone else in tough times," Nicklaus said, comparing his golfing career to the government. "I know what I had to do on the golf course to succeed, and when I won I certainly didn’t apologize for my success.”

On why America needs to elect Romney in November, he said, “We can’t keep doing what we’ve been doing. We have to look at problems at hand and change them."

Afterward, Romney said, "What you heard from the Golden Bear, what you heard from the greatest athlete of the 20th century, the words that he spoke, have touched my heart, and I'm sure they touched your hearts as well.”

Romney went on to joke about his own lack of athletic ability and time spent heading up the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

"When I got the job to help organize the Olympic winter games in 2002, I knew that it was a bit ironic for a guy with such little athletic ability as myself to be able to be responsible for the largest athletic event in the world," Romney said. "My boys also saw the irony in it. My oldest son called and said, ‘Dad I saw the paper this morning and I've talked to the brothers, we want you to know there's not a circumstance we could've conceived of that would put you on the front page of the sports section.’ But there I was."