Top Ten Greatest Athletes

#10 Megan Rapinoe

Megan Anna Rapinoe is an American professional soccer player who plays as a winger and captains OL Reign of the National Women’s Soccer League, as well as the United States national team. Rapinoe won gold with the national team at the 2012 London Summer Olympics, 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup and she played for the team at the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup where the U.S. finished in second place. Rapinoe co-captained the national team alongside Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan from 2018 to 2020, with the team earning the Bronze medal in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo

 

#9 Usain Bolt

Usain St Leo Bolt is a Jamaican retired sprinter who is widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He is a world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 4 × 100 metres relay. He is an eight-time Olympic gold medallist and an eleven-time World Champion. The media dubbed him “Lightning Bolt” because of his achievements as a sprinter. He has many awards including the following: the IAAF World Athlete of the Year, Track & Field Athlete of the Year, BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year (three times) and Laureus World Sportsman of the Year (four times). Bolt retired after the 2017 World Championships.

 

#8 Lindsey Vonn

Lindsey Caroline Vonn is an American former World Cup alpine ski racer on the US Ski Team. She won four World Cup overall championships—one of only two female skiers to do so. Vonn won the gold medal in downhill at the 2010 Winter Olympics, the first one for an American woman. She also won a record eight World Cup season titles in the downhill discipline, five titles in super-G, and three consecutive titles in the combined. In 2016, she won her 20th World Cup crystal globe title, the overall record for men or women. She has the second highest super ranking of all skiers, men or women.

Vonn is one of six women to have won World Cup races in all five disciplines of alpine skiing—downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom and super combined—and won 82 World Cup races in her career through February 3, 2018.  With her Olympic gold and bronze medals, two World Championship gold medals in 2009 (plus three silver medals in 2007 and 2011), and four overall World Cup titles, Vonn is the most successful American ski racer and considered one of the greatest of all skiers.

 

 

#7 Tiger Woods

Eldrick Tont “Tiger” Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men’s major championships, and holds numerous golf records. Woods is widely regarded as one of the greatest golfers of all time and one of the most famous athletes in history. He was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame.

 

#6 Michael Jordan

Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born February 17, 1963, and is an American former professional basketball player and businessman. He is the principal owner and chairman of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and of 23XI Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. He played 15 seasons in the NBA, winning six championships with the Chicago Bulls. His biography on the official NBA website states: “By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time.” He was integral in helping to popularize the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s, becoming a global cultural icon in the process

 

#5 Simone Biles

Simone Arianne Biles was born March 14, 1997 and is an American artistic gymnast. With a combined total of 32 Olympic and World Championship medals, she is tied as the most decorated gymnast of all time. Biles’ seven Olympic medals also ties Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals won by an American female gymnast. Biles is considered one of the greatest and most dominant gymnasts of all time.

 

 

 

 

#4 Tom Brady

Thomas Edward Patrick Brady, Jr., is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League. Brady is known for being the only quarterback in history to win 7 Super Bowls, and is often considered one of the best quarterbacks of all time. Brady is also frequently considered to be the biggest steal in NFL history as a late 6th round pick. He had previously played for the New England Patriots from 2000 to 2019.

 

 

#3 Babe Ruth

George Herman Ruth Jr., better known as Babe Ruth, was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935.

Quick Summary of Babe Ruth

Birth name: George Herman Ruth
Born: February 6, 1895 in Baltimore, Maryland
Died: August 16, 1948 in New York, New York
Height: 6′ 2″
Weight: 215 lbs
Batted: Left
Threw: Left
Major League Baseball debut: July 11, 1914
Last Major League Baseball appearance: May 30, 1935
Hall of Fame: Elected in 1936 receiving 95.13% of the votes

Career Highlights and Awards

• 2-time All-Star selection (1933, 1934)

• 7-time World Series champion (1915, 1916, 1918, 1923, 1927, 1928, 1932)

• 1923 AL MVP

• Had #3 retired by the New York Yankees in 1948

• Member of Major League Baseball’s All Century Team

• Voted Athlete of the Century by the Associated Press

• ESPN Sports Century – #2 Athlete of the 20th Century

• Named the Greatest baseball player of all time by The Sporting News

• Named the Greatest baseball player of the 20th Century by Sports Illustrated

 

#2 Serena Williams

Serena Jameka Williams was born September 26, 1981. She is an American professional tennis player who has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most by any player. The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) ranked her singles world No. 1 on eight separate occasions between 2002 and 2017. She is widely regarded to be one of the greatest female tennis players of all time. She holds the most Grand Slam titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles combined among active players. She has also won four Olympic gold medals, one in women’s singles and three in women’s doubles—an all-time record shared with her sister, Venus. She is the only player, male or female, to accomplish a Career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles.

 

 

 

#1 Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali, born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. (January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer, activist, entertainer, poet, and philanthropist. Nicknamed The Greatest, he is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated sporting figures of the 20th century, and is frequently ranked as the best heavyweight boxer and greatest athlete of the century.