London Olympics Subway Map Sends Riders Through Kobe Bryant, Michael Phelps, Cassius Clay Stations

With athletes and supporters from all over the world planning to crowd London this summer for the Olympic Games, a couple of journalists thought they’d make a map in a language everyone can understand: sports.

The Olympic Legends Map, being sold by Transport for London, gets rid of those persnickety English names that get foreigners all confused, from Kensington to Canonbury to Tufnell Park to Finchley Road and Frognal. Instead, Tube riders can transfer at Carl Lewis station, ride all the way to the Kobe Bryant stop, or get off outside the Olympic Stadium at platforms named for Michael Phelps or Cassius Clay.

Each of the 361 stops on the regular map of the Tube (the English term for the subway) has been replaced by the name of a famous Olympic athlete. The different lines are dedicated to specific sports, including a central line full of swimmers and an outer line that is all basketball.

"We love sport, we love lists and we love London, so what better challenge than to select 361 of the greatest athletes the world has ever seen and to fit them onto our iconic Tube map," said David Brooks, a sports historian, journalist and author who designed the map with sports journalist Alex Trickett, according to Transport for London.

Mia Hamm, Jesse Owens, Mary Lou Retton and Mark Spitz all make an appearance on the map, and the basketball stretch of the line is almost exclusively American, from Magic Johnson and Larry Bird down to Chris Mullin, David Robinson, Christian Laettner and Michael Jordan.

Photo: Facebook/Michael Phelps fan page