Greatest Athletes of All Time

There may be a very few human beings that could keep up athletically with MJ (Bo Jackson, Carl Lewis etc. )... There are a very few human beings that might keep up with MJ's skill, coordination, and grace (Kobe Bryant, Zinedine, Roger Federer)... There are even fewer who might be able to match his mental game and competitiveness (Tiger woods, Larry Bird)... But there is no one- NO ONE-who has ever possessed all of these qualities on the level that MJ did. The Greatest Athlete that ever lived... Without a shadow of a doubt... Its Michael Jordan.

Michael Jordan is a widely recognized athlete all over the Earth, he has achieved many feats including NBA rookie of the year, Slam-Dunk contest winner, six NBA championships, five NBA Most Valuable Player awards, won two Olympic gold medals, was on the 1992 dream-team, and was featured in thirteen all star games, and that's still not all of his accomplishments. He earned all of these in fourteen years in the NBA, which is unbelievable. There were few that could even come close to matching his fantastic abilities like Larry Bird or Magic Johnson. Sure there are RUMORS about Jordan having addictions to gambling, but it's all illegitimate. Jordan even tried baseball!

Lets see, I know its not right to compare players at different positions or era in which they played, but you did so I will. What is his record for most points in a game Wilt got 100. Most points in a season Wilt got 50, lead the league in assist Wilt had 1, (any other big man say they did even once. Athletically, He set records in high school and college for track. He played in and won for volleyball (he started the woman's pro league). He had many more records what did Jordan do, please be specific. Who was the first person to dunk a basketball when jumping before he got to the free throw line, Wilt. Do you have any idea why you can not dunk the ball when attempting to make a free throw, because Wilt was doing it, in practice and other teams heard about it.

Jordan isn't number one by accident. In all of major league sports nobody has dominated or been as fun to watch as Michael Jordan. I don't even like basketball and I used to watch the Bulls all the time when he played for them. If you need evidence for how integral he was, then look at the two three-peat championship wins the Bulls had in the 1990's. There was one year between their 6 championships dividing the 3-peats. What was missing that year? Michael Jordan. Haters can hate, but go watch his fifty best plays or some other highlight reel on a video hosting site and then tell me I'm wrong. Ali, Thorpe, Federer, Tyson, the Babe, all of them were great, but none of them dominated their sport (s) the way Jordan did basketball. Nobody.

He is the most inspirational and most thrilling athlete of all time. If you judge his boxing carrier only addressing its first half before being banned because of his opposition to kill another colored people for the sake of white man in Vietnam, you will see he is the greatest athlete of all time with all of his athletic abilities; such as speed, coordination, accuracy. If you judge him addressing his whole carrier you will see the most honorable, durable, skilled warrior in box arena and outside teaching us what is important and what is not. I think he is one of prominent reasons of why the world and especially U.S.A is no longer so racist like in his childhood. He is the best sportsman, most importantly he is the definition of man.

Muhammad Ali had the biggest impact on boxing than any boxer from now back, to the lesser known, Jack Johnson. The courage he showed time and time again, is arguably the best ever. His endurance couldn't be equaled by the great Michael Jordan, Considering boxing is a more physically challenging sport! His speed, accuracy and technique falls short only to the greatest p4p all time Sugar Ray Robinson... Ali fought Joe Frazier (3x), George foreman, Ken Norton, Sonny Liston, Ernie Shavers and never stopped by any of them, shows his heart and durability! The fact that he was a activist and BLACK nationalist, at the height of his popularity he was more of a global icon than the president of the United States...
Clearly he must be the greatest!

If anyone ask a name in sports they remember or heard of, no doubt the name would be Muhammad Ali. No sportsman comes near to Muhammad Ali. Fact is that, there are many places in world continents where many people may not know or even heard of Michael Jordan or any other sportsperson mentioned here, but it is most likely that they would have heard and known Muhammad Ali. So, to me, he is the greatest sportsman ever born. I am 100 percent sure that even after 100 years Muhammad Ali's name would be known to many whereas names of other sportsman is most likely to fade away from memory (possibly remaining in record books).

I have never seen any other sportsperson who played his sport so differently from all others in the sport.
All the other great boxers had strength. But Ali transformed the most brutal of all sports into an Art & a Science. He had great agility for a heavyweight, offensive & defensive skills in equal measure, exemplary reflexes, tactics, endurance, presence of mind and most of all confidence & fearlessness. The fact that he definitely was not as strong as the others in a sport like boxing, and yet managed to beat all of them consistently throughout his career makes his achievements astounding.
He took on an entire country & refused to take part in a war which he thought was unjust, which speaks volumes about his character, which is very true and not media-built which is the case nowadays. The fact that in the process, he was willing to sacrifice his career & the money that goes along with it, that too when he was in the prime of his age & skill, makes it unthinkable. I don't see ...more

Let's take a look at some important stats. He got his first thousand points the fastest ever, and then got his next thousand the second fastest ever. So he is both the best and the second best ice hockey player who ever lived by an incredibly wide margin. And if you watch clips of his games, it becomes questionable why he isn't the greatest athlete of all time. Statistically, even though he leads, he should be far more in first than he is. He would often skate the puck down the ice through an entire team before making a pass for an assist. He would set his teammates up as often as he could, and if he didn't, he would be by far the greatest athlete ever statistically.

Besides having to learn a whole new skill set (I.E. skating without breaking your neck), the Great One owns every important stat in his sport, other than goalie stats. Not only was he an automatic entry into the hockey hall of fame (that's right kids, no five year wait), he has a room dedicated to him. Jordan was great at his sport, no doubt, but he is still compared to Kobe and LeBron. No one gets compared to Wayne; there is no comparison. People say, "So and so is the Jordan of their sport, " and call that high praise. How about Jordan is the Gretzky of basketball. Truly the best and deserving of the name, The Great One.

If one looks at the numbers alone, Gretzky is in a his own stratosphere, but the numbers aren't everything. No one man dominated his sport for the length of time and as dominantly as Gretzky did. And no one predicted he would be the superstar he became, as everyone called him too small and frail. But he proves that you don't need exceptional physical gifts, you just have to be smarter in your area than the man next to you. Truly the Great One, and is easily the greatest athlete ever.

Nobody dominated their sport more than Gretzky. 9 MVPs, 5 Player & coaches MVPs, 10 Leading scorer awards, 5 sportsmanlike awards, 2 time all-star MVP, 4 Stanley Cups, 2 time playoff MVP, holds or shares 61 NHL records, 3 World Cup gold medals, AP's Male Athlete of the decade in the 80's. Put hockey on the map in the hot cities, most notably L.A. and was the single largest influence on the teams being launched in Anaheim, Tampa, Phoenix and Florida. If he had the American marketing machine behind him like Jordan and Ali, he would be number 1.

I'd suggest that anyone not familiar with track records, especially the 100M, take a look a at what this man has accomplished ( the first to break the 9.7 barrier and a month later the 9.6 barrier) and you'll see why I already place him as the greatest athlete of the century and perhaps all-time. They say he's capable of breaking his current record of 9.58, and if he does look for it to be the eventual longest lasting track and field record ever. I'm headed for bed after reaching #16, but I know one athlete that's not going to be listed, and he may be, as many have argued, the greatest athlete ever; Mikhail Baryshnikov. The same hang-time as M.J. - 0.9. I would list my top three as Babe Ruth, Tiger Woods, and Jim Brown when you consider how great they were compared to the rest of their competition in their prime. In lesser followed sports, there's no doubt that "Lightning" Bolt is #1.

Bolt was not the fastest man EVER, but definitely the fastest consistently. "Bullet" Bob Hayes was wildly inconsistent, but when he was "on" even Bolt could not have beaten him. Check the grainy footage of Hayes' anchor leg in the 4X100 relay at the 1964 Olympics. Hayes got the baton badly in last place, running against the 5 other fastest people in the world. He looked like he was rocket-propelled, passing the other champions like they were elementary schoolers. Not eligible for a record, nonetheless his time was a non-human 8.6.

Usain bolt is so amazing as athlete. His primary sport is track and field of course. He is the fastest sprinter in the world. But his combination of being an athlete is well balanced because he is good at a lot of sports and he has earned three gold medals in each Olympic Games that he has been in. Usain bolt runs 100 meters in 9.58 seconds, 200 meters in 19.19 seconds and 4x1 relay 36.84 secs. 23.5 mph was his average speed because 9.58 sec in 100m x 60 x 60 is 23 mph but it takes a few seconds to accelerate. His top speed is 28 mph. He could have been the best in 300 meter hurdles. Usain Bolt is strong bench presses 350 lbs. He is so good at football, baseball and basketball.

Usain Bolt is the greatest athlete of all time hands down. He is the fastest man of all time by a mile. When he won his first Olympic title he jogged in to a new world record, 9,69, a record he has since broken. He has 9,58 run (WR) in 100 meter, 19,19 (WR) in 200 meter, and a top speed of 44,72 km/h/27,79 mph (WR). And remember in every other sport you can disguss who is better than who, but in track and field, you can say without any doubt that Usain Bolt is faster than any humans who have ever existed. And just the fact that he is faster than any of the other 100 billion humans plus who have ever lived, is an astonishing accomplishment in itself. Then we get to this guys medals. He has 8 (! ) Olympic gold medals. He is the only person to take three Olympic titles in the 100 meter, and the same with the 200 meter. He also has two gold medals from the 4x100 meter relay. He also has 11 gold medals from the IAAF World Athletics Championships. Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, or Wayne ...more

This dude not only won, but he did it repeatedly for a very long time. Father time never seemed to hit him as even when he "retired" he came back and still won more golds. Speaking of golds, he won 23 of them. Not medals, gold medals. He also won various other medals as well. There has never been a more dominant athlete in history. And in terms of athleticism, while he never trained for other sports, he would have been just fine if he did. His long lanky arms and legs would have done well for him in other sports. Simply put, his body was built for sports!

Most individual world titles of any athlete ever. Most world records. Most decorated Olympic athlete. Most gold medals. And he wins by wide margins. Add to all that the fact that he made a huge personal comeback, continues to dominate well past the age when most athletes have retired, and he does so multiple times a day for several days, there is no dispute. It's simple fact. He's the best. Opinions are irrelevant. Math and logic confirms. The most winningest athlete of all time is the best athlete of all time. Simple criteria. Why are we struggling with this?

While Jordan and Ali are deserving of high marks, Phelps gets my vote. He won 23 gold metals at multiple Olympics. Even though he doesn't compete on a regular basis like some other athletes, he had to stay in great physical and mental shape during the downtime's. The distance that he won most races was astonishing and he often competes in multiple events in one day. Believe me, the stamina it takes to swim lap after lap, all different styles and dominate is a testament to his awesomeness.

I think comparing athletes of different sports and games is not justified. You can't really judge who is the best athlete across all sports just by public votes. After all, people will only vote athletes they know or the sports that they watch. You won't expect an American to know about Sachin Tendulkar's contribution to cricket or an Indian to know about Babe Ruth's contribution to Baseball. So, you can probably make a list of greatest footballer, swimmer, sprinter, etc. but greatest athlete? -NO

Ruth would have made the HOF as a pitcher, not to mention the fact that he revolutionized the game at the plate. Relative to his time and era, he was unparalleled as an athlete and transcended his sport and his era. It's laughable that he's only at #8. Fact is, he should be #1, and that's coming from a Chicago native who loves MJ. Oh, and let's not get hung up on body type or lifestyle choices. Jordan was notorious for some of his questionable lifestyle choices during his career, and Charles Barkley was flat-out fat during much of his career; nonetheless MJ is considered to be the best basketball player ever, and Barkley is in the top 50.

Okay Babe Ruth was probably the greatest power hitter of all time, but to call this man the greatest athlete of all time is absurd. Baseball is my favorite sport, but I have no illusions that dunking a basketball requires a far greater amount of athleticism than hitting a homerun. Does anyone seriously think Babe Ruth could run faster or jump higher than pretty much anybody in the NBA? Of course not because that'd be stupid. Babe Ruth changed the way the game of baseball was played, and it's not hard to argue that he is the greatest baseball player of all time, but baseball is a different kind of sport. It's less based on athleticism than most sports. That's not saying it's inferior; I love baseball more than any sport on the planet, but come on people. You need to be more athletic to play basketball or soccer than you do baseball. Not saying there aren't athletic baseball players. Willie Mays is easily one of the greatest athletes of all time. But look at Babe Ruth. The greatest ...more

Babe Ruth is the greatest athelete of all time. Not only was he a great pitcher before being recognized as the greatest slugger of all time, he changed Baseball for ever. His only, by today's standards, miscue was that he trained on hard living and not steroids. Furthermore, he appeared to love people and, especially children, I.E. tossing balls to kids outside his deathbed window! Remember too he never pushed off like M.J.

Ruth is baseball's GOAT. No question. He had a 2.28 career ERA, which is enough to put anybody into the hall of fame in itself. Add in 7 World Series rings, a .342 batting average (yes, he can pitch and hit), and 714 career home runs, and you've got one of the greatest, if not the greatest, athlete ever. Also, Ruth didn't even learn how to play baseball until he was like 16 years old.

Please, enough of this MJ worship! Greatest Basketball player is an acceptable choice, but this guy has never shown to be proficient at any other sport! He was a minor league baseball flop, still has a laughable handicap in golf and has never been known for lightening speed. Unlike this one sport star, Jim Thorpe, with little expert training or equipment, was voted into the College and Pro Football Hall of Fame, along with the Track & Field Hall of Fame! Thorpe also had no business playing Major League Baseball at first, but learned on the fly and finished with a respectable .252 batting average in 7 part-time seasons. Jim Thorpe was successful in three sports to Jordan's one, doing this as an impoverished ward of the government and enduring untold racial bigotry. No athlete came so far with so little! He's Jim Brown, Jesse Owens and Bo Jackson rolled into one. Hand's down the Greatest Athlete Of All Time!

I think Michael Jordan was a very good athlete, especially in basketball, but he never excelled in three sports. He also had the advantage of the training, equipment, and especially the media that existed in his time over what Jim Thorpe had to deal with in his time. Also, Jim never had to do all the training to become great he just was what he was, and unnatural athletic talent. He could could do anything, including winning the college ballroom dance championship and he ran home one hundred miles in one day. How many athletes can do what he did in three sports, not just one! Most people in our time have no clue what this guy could do but his olympic gold medial in the decathlon lasted a decade before people with greater equipment, training and preparation could finally beat his record. He is by far the greatest athlete. Only Wilt Chamberlain could come close to match some of his physical abilities. Wilt could run under fifty seconds on the quarter mile and could take a quarter off of ...more

The description starts off "The greatest athlete ever to come from Lawrence KS", this is selling Thorpe way short. Nobody is even close to Thorpe in athletic accomplishment for his time period. His like will never be seen again. All of the athletes on this list are specialists, Thorpe could do it all. He won the Olympic pentathlon and decathlon in 1912 and single handedly took small independent college "Carlisle Indian Industrial School", to beat top ranked Harvard scoring all of his teams points. No, Michael Jordan was a great basketball player and a lousy baseball player. Muhammed Ali was arguably the best boxer of all time (God love him) and a great role model for personal integrity and free will. But Jim Thorpe has no equal when it comes to sports.

While each person on the list excelled at one sport or two, this man excelled at multiple sports in multiple different arenas. Whether is was winning the Olympics for sports that he didn't play in the US or playing professional football or baseball he excelled at any sport he went at. That's what the question is who is the greatest athlete, not the greatest at one particular sport of who propelled one game. Jim help lay the foundation for football, set America ahead on track and field or paving the way for minorities in sports all together what didn't he do.

Not only did he play in two professional sports, but he was a superstar in both. On the baseball diamond, Bo had a career batting average of.250 and hit 141 home runs in just under 694 career games. In 1989 he was selected to the American League All-Star team and went on to win the game's MVP award. And that doesn't count Bo's "hobby" sport. Bo the football player won the Sugar Bowl MVP award, the Liberty Bowl MVP award and then the Heisman Trophy. Then, when he decided to play pro football, he averaged 5.4 yards per carry for his short career and was named to the Pro Bowl team. At one time, Bo was in commercials with Jordan and Gretzky and if it weren't for his career ending hip injury, he would still be regarded as deserving of that type of company.

Who ever is voting on here must have never watched Bo. The question is who was the best athlete, NOT "who was the best at their sport? ". Bo was with out question the best athlete that God has blessed us with. It was a great honor to watch this man perform. It would have been great if we could have watched his career play out. I think we all could agree it would have been pretty cool to see an athlete to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in two sports. No question he would have. His numbers continued to go up every season in the MLB and to play part time in the NFL and almost carry 1000 yards when the leader had 1400 for the season. He also has the highest per carry average in the NFL with 5.4. With out a doubt greatest speed and power combo. Baseball 5 tool player. His arm was amazing, his bat continued to increase with average and power, covered the outfield very well and of course his speed was outstanding.

I'm shocked that this is number 8. Bo Jackson is the best athlete to ever step foot on earth. He had every attribute to be a successful athlete. Balance, strength, power, speed, endurance, coordination, and flexibility. For gods sake, he played 2 professional sports in an elite level. He could of ran professional track if he wanted too as well. 10.2 second 100 meter dash isn't too shabby. In his documentary they said he came into training camp a week before the season started without any practice and dominated. Built like a bodybuilder with the speed of Bold. God given abilities. Bo Jackson is the greatest athlete to ever step foot on earth.

Without doubt the greatest athlete in modern times (with respect to Jim Thorpe who is from another era). The only person ever to be an all star at TWO major sports. He could do it all and not just based on strength and speed. Fabulous hand eye coordination and would kick Michael Jordan's butt at anything but basketball...

However, I worry that steroids were involved. I hope not and base the above on that assumption, but some of what he did seemed super-human and recent times have shown that just about all super-human athletic feats appear to involve PED's. Steroids were around in his playing days and rumors are out there. I hope they are just rumors...

Ahh pele sad that he died this year at the age of 82. pele was indeed one of the goats of football winning three world cups, no other player has achieved this yet and it will likely not be broken.

Awesome talent for sure. This guy stood out not only with his talent but he also captivated people with his skill set. I started watching soccer because of Pele and have yet to see anyone come close to his talent level on the field. He reminds me of Bruce Lee with the ease that he played the game. It came natural to Pele as fighting did to Bruce Lee. Pure and smooth best describe this icon. Number 1 on my list.

The king of THE most popular sport on the planet, Football (Soccer, for those who don't know better). He was respected and admired by BILLIONS around the globe long before athletes such as Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky became superstars of their respective sports, and still is to this day. Pele should be #1 on this list, followed by Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, and Wayne Gretzky.

What an American list. Don't even know some of those above. I know Michael Jordan from space jam though, didn't know he played pro sports. Only Ali could have the honour of being above this guy. Who is Jim Thorpe, Bo Jackson or Wayne Gretzky? These are not and have not ever been global superstars. Their sports are not globally important enough to justify their ranks (this applies to Jordan
and Ruth too).

Without a doubt Roger Federer is the greatest tennis player in the history of the sport. But not only is his extravagance as a sportsman apparent in Tennis. His records are incredible, and they probably won't be touched any time soon. What other athlete in any sport has dominated his/her sport the way Federer did in the 2000s? Now he is 30+, and he is still relevant in his sport, competing avidly against his younger competitors. Yes, his invincibility has been lessened, but the fact that his is still considered a MAJOR CONTENDER even at such an old age is a testament to his ability and dedication to the game. He is also a class act outside the court. No one trumps Federer in the athletic department. No one. Period.

It's not even a competition. It's not about who has the most titles, or who won what, or whatever. It's about who changed the sport. Federer completely revolutionized tennis in the open era by being the first major proponent of the serve and volley, crushing all of his opponents with it from an early age. Then, when many of the best players began to catch on and use it themselves, he created a new shot: the dipper, once thought to be a very foolish choice in tennis. Using this, he then reduced the prominence of serve-volley, completely changing the game again, while staying on top. His ability to see the court from a thousand different angles and weave a point as elegantly and effortlessly as possible truly marks him as the best athlete ever.

In tennis, Federer is the best ever, with the most graceful and elegant style, the most consistent ever, won the most slams, hold the most records, won the most number of the respected Laureus Sportman Awards...
Outside tennis, Federer was voted the most respected in the world after Mandela, is one of the most marketable sports person around the world, a great ambassador in sports, a lovely son, husband and dad, genuine and passionate in his charity organisation, organised the most number of charity exhibition games in times of disaster around the world...
As a person (a super star no less), Federer is genuine, passionate, humble, happy, humane, down to earth, matured, poised, fluent, joyful...
His influence goes far beyond his sports. So what else could one ask for?
The greatest and the most complete ever.

He's Roger Federer. He spent 302 weeks at world number one; something that is extremely had to do in tennis. You have to be very consistent. Won 17 Grand Slams, more than any other player, 6 world tour finals, and has been the most consistent player of any tennis era. Not only are his records impressive, but you also have to watch him with a naked eye. You see him do things no other player has ever done with a racket before. He makes such a physical game look so effortless. I have never seen any other player play like that. Definitely Great Of All Time. We love you Federer! Long live the King!

Should be higher on This list. He is the most athletic person to ever step foot on this planet. Hear me out. I get mj is the greatest NBA player ever but do you people realize how physically dominate Lebron James is. He is a human wrecking ball. He's huge. He can out power anyone. Evan 7 foot centers. He can run the point guard position better then any point guard. He is the only player to ever be able to competitively play all 5 positions. The fact that he is out of the top 10 in my opinion is crazy. He should be top 5 with Jordan, Ali, bolt and phelps. He doesn't get enough credit. This man is the most physically dominate human that was ever created. That's a fact.

What people are clearly forgetting when voting is that this list is about the greatest ATHLETES ever, not players in their sports ever. MJ, Ali, Thorpe, Phelps, Bo and Bolt are decent choices but LeBron is the greatest athlete ever. MJ was fast and could leap, but he wasn't nearly as strong as LeBron. Ali's athleticism was limited to a ring so he couldn't truly show us what he was capable of. Thorpe lived in a time before modern practices where athletes were a fraction of what they are today. At the time, Thorpe may have been the greatest athlete ever, but he isn't anymore. Phelps is the greatest swimmer but he doesn't have the strength or speed on land that LeBron does. Usain is clearly the fastest dude. No one on this list can touch that but he doesn't show us any other ability (I.e. jumping, upper-body strength, agility) because of his sport. Finally, Bo, the biggest threat that LeBron has, in my opinion. Bo was stronger, and more talented at other sports (which isn't inherently an ...more

What athlete dominated basketball. Lets see who score 100 points in a game Wilt, who averaged 50 points for an entire season Wilt. How many points a game does the King average? (lets see if Wilt scoren only 27 in a game to get to his average he would have to score 73 points in his next game), lead the league in assists Wilt did it once. Who could touch the top of the backboard, Wilt.

Who set records in High School and College Track (not only for running but he also set records in the high jump, Wilt. Played pro Volleyball (started the women pro circuit). Run 11 second 100 yard dash, Wilt. Was there anyone stronger than Wilt to play the game (even Wilts detractors say it was Wilt)

No

He's one of the athlete's world would ever see... he's more athletic than any other athlete who is on top in this list... he can play any position on the court and that is very difficult if you know the game of basketball... he's the best all rounder player in the game of Basketball... he can compete and play any sport he desires he's gifted with that body... people say there won't be another Michael Jordan... and also there won't be another Kobe Bryant... but there won't be another LeBron James because no one can play all the 5 positions in the game the way he does. Definitely should be in top 5

If ever there was an athlete worthy of the title athlete it was Jesse owen. At the Berlin Olympics in 1935, he not only ran for America, he ran for the whole free world against Nazi Germany - and beat them all. Hitler was so incenced he refused to congratulate him at the podium and stormed out of the games.

Owens held or shared the 100 meter world record for 20 years and also held the Long Jump world record for 25 years! As much as like Usain Bolt and admire his fabulous times it is hard to put Bolt ahead of Owens.

In 1936 Jesse Owens won 4 gold medals in Germany a country ruled by the face of EVIL (Hitler) who thought the Aryan race was superior. Jesse owens overcame all the obstacles facing him and brought home the gold

I don't know who but someone did the math and figured out that if jesse owens was given the same technology as usain bolt, he could've broken 9.2

Without a doubt the greatest athlete of all time, as well as being the greatest footballer of all-time, winning every possible trophy you can with man united Juventus and real Madrid. The only trophy this man does not have is the world cup, sadly he couldn't bring it home in his last world cup in Qatar.

People who don't watch football or 'soccer' will never truly understand just how amazing he is. Literally been best football player for last 20 years scoring over 800 goals. That's 40 goals per season, which to the uninitiated, is something which genuinely is considered basically impossible to do once let alone consisently for 20 years. Nobody comes close to level this level of production and consistency.

Just a noob used to play in Real Madrid and real Madrid fans started comparing him to Messi which is his only achievement in my opinion.

Cristiano Ronaldo deserves to be in the top 15 of this list. For me he is the most complete football player of all time. He has won 3 golden balls, 4 golden boots and many other individual awards. He also has won many trophies with his teams. He was part of a historical Manchester United team where he won the UEFA Champions League, the Barclays Premier League, the FIFA Club World Cup and many other trophies. Right now, Cristiano is 31 years old and he is already the top scorer in the history of Real Madrid, the top scorer of Portugal national team, the top scorer of UEFA Champions League and the top scorer of UEFA Euro. Many coaches said that Cristiano is something different. Ronaldo worked with great managers through the years like Carlo Ancelotti, Jose Mourinho, Sir Alex Ferguson, Manuel Pellegrini, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Rafael Benitez and all of them had good memories with the portuguese superstar. Surely one of he bests if not the best.

After the Super Bowl 51 comeback, Brady won his fifth SuperBowl (most all time) and became a 4 time SuperBowl MVP (most all time). After this historic win, he's the greatest of all time in all sports, not just football. I watch him play ever since he got drafted. After watching him win all five of his SuperBowls, he's the greatest athlete to ever walk the earth. He's gonna keep winning more titles, especially a 6th SuperBowl. The rest is pretty much self explanatory. Love him or hate him, he's the GOAT for real, there's no question about it anymore, you can't dream of a career like his. There won't ever be someone better than Tom Brady.

I know many people hate him, but what other athlete has accomplished so much over so long a period of time, in a sport that is designed to not let you stay on top with the Salary cap. There are some amazing athletes on the list above him, but None of these other athletes played in such a challenging and competitive system that makes racking up championships repeatedly so hard. I really think this guy deserves his due as the best athlete ever.

He has won more games than anyone else, more super bowl wins than anyone else and came back from a broken leg to win the super bowl that year. He will never be caught in super bowl wins because he's going to win a nothther one this year

Five rings that's even greater than Joe Montana. He is the GOAT and there is no discussion to it. If there was the battle would be won without a doubt, considering his record of most games won, most touchdown passes. He should definitely be put in the top 10. Other then all that he is a good person, donating regularly, and supporting many charities. You couldn't ask for a better person.

Bruce Lee was a greater athlete than his friend, a basketball player called kareem abdul jabaar so id put him above Michael Johnson.

Bruce Lee, the pioneer of MMA, he taught not to limit ones self to one style but learn many and become well rounded. This is a top ATHETES page, no other person listed was a more rounded and gifted athlete. 2% body fat, ripped and could outlast any of these athletes in almost any category, with the exception of Michael Phelps and swimming, who knows. He is superhuman and showed unbelievable athleticism, none of which any athletes posted here could even come close to. It seems like this more of a popularity contest. Really, MJ #1? Put Lee next to Jordan in any athletic category except high jumping of course and I'll bet he gets smoked!

Yes first person to come to mind was Bruce Lee, not sure what that tells me? You might say I must be a fan? Well I don't know his birthday or day he died off hand so I don't think I deserve privilege of being called a fan. Admire him of course and know of him how could I not. He was an outstanding athlete.

Indeed my friend, Indeed. Bruce lee was an impressive physical specimen and extremely bright. He was ambitious and dedicated, or more so devoted to his "craft". He pushed the boundaries and reproved the false notions of what is possible. Hypothetically speaking of course, lets say aliens decided to visit our planet to observe the human capacity and articulation of combat and self defense. Bruce would without a doubt be the poster child. He displayed, to a great extent, what the human being can do regarding combat.

Messi one of the GOATS, Messi has achieved everything with Barcelona and Argentina, he even led his country to the world cup final and won it, Messi has won just about every trophy there is in football.

Lionel Messi is arguably the greatest footballer ever because of following reasons :-

* In the field he is like PlayStation as the things he do, are just not normal at all.

* He can dribble past whole team... He takes the ball under control, insists to his team mates "I see you, I really don't need you"..

*His goals are joy to watch (Especially when finished with a chip)

*He is Completely Unselfish.. If one of his team mates better position, then Messi will pick him with a lethal pass.

*Thing what I most like about this guy is Despite being the best.. He is so humble, never losses him cool, and don't have Ego..

I see this list overrun by american athletes. No doubt are they great but basketball, hockey, baseball are all very confined sports played by hardly 10 countries. Lionel messi is the best player in the world in the biggest sport in the world. There are more countries in the FIFA than in the UN! Football is the biggest and most followed sport on the planet. The UEFA champions league final and world cup are the biggest sporting events on the planet. The kind of popularity and money football involves, no other sport does.Lionel Messi He is not only the best player at the moment but the best ever to grace the pitch, Considering these facts I believe he should make it to the top 5 automatically.

Lionel Messi dominates the game in a way that cannot be rivaled. Imagine controlling 21 athletes for an hour and a half while delivering a spectacular performance for the fans! Quite unparalleled if you ask me! Lionel Messi is already considered one of the best athletes in history. By the time the little maestro retires, he will be considered the best athlete ever!

If soccer was as popular in the United States as football, basketball, baseball etc... there would be no doubts!

If Tiger wasn't injured for about 4 years he would most likely be the greatest golfer of all time. But as of now, he is second in overall PGA tour wins (81), and major title wins (15). But I think he could possibly be better than Jack, when he got his 71st win, statistics showed that Tiger won 30% of tournaments he entered. Knowing how hard it is to do that against other big talents like Ernie Els, Vijay Singh. and Phil Mickelson. If you disagree that he is the greatest golfer ever, look at some of his victories, he won a couple of his tournaments by over 10 shots. Some of these wins were lucky, because the other competitors missed some easy putts, but that was because they were pressured by Tiger. Try golf out for yourselves and see some of Tiger's greatest shot and you will start to believe that Tiger is not possibly the greatest golfer of all time, but possibly one of the greatest and most dominant athletes ever.

I know golf isn't as physical as most other sports, but I play golf and know how easy it is to make a mistake. Tiger Woods is the best athlete because of all his accomplishments & is still young and will be achieving even more before he's done. Michael Jordan was great, but his name also gave him extra room with refs and getting away with stuff, not to mention the intimidation he struck into others that guarded him. Tiger has no refs, therefor no miss calls or extra slack from refs because of his star level.

Does he have a 50 inch vertical leap, or even a 25 inch vertical leap? Does he run a 3.9-40, or even a 5.5-40? Sure he is a great player of the game, but If you read the description of the list, you'd see this is based off athleticism not skill. Tiger Woods is NO match against pretty much ANY player of football, soccer, hockey, basketball, rugby etc. Tiger Woods is an AMAZING golfer, but not an athlete. Clearly somebody forgot to check the dictionary before they put this up...

Tiger dominated his sport like no ever has during a time where the depth of talent in the fields was greater than ever before. He changed the sport of golf forever and created a new generation of players. And just when everyone was ready to count him out he came back and beat them all on the biggest stage in golf marking the greatest comeback in sports history. 82 wins 15 majors and countless unforgettable moments. Quite simply the GOAT. And he isn't done yet

Watching Bobby Orr on an end-to-end rush was a sight to behold. He even won the scoring title one year, as a defenseman! I can't think of any comparable feat in any sport. Bobby Orr revolutionized the game of hockey. He had the artistry of Roger Federer and the grit and toughness of Rafael Nadal. As a Montreal Canadiens fan, I've seen a lot of great players, going back to Rocket Richard. None could compare with Bobby Orr.

Beyond merely changing the game of hockey, Bobby Orr could keep control of the puck and make the other 9 players on the ice look like idiotic little kids. no one had seen that before, or since, not even in Gretzky. His +/- record of +124 wont be broken in the next 50 years, possibly ever. He simply dominated every game, end to end, that he ever played, and often on only one good knee. no one could touch him. The maradona of hockey in my opinion.

I have seen many great athletes - Jim Brown, Mohammed Ali, Federer to name a few. But the greatest of all was Bobby Orr. Unmatched grace and skill - so clearly better than his contemporaries or any players since that he deserved to play in his own league. As the great Booby Hull said - "He was better on one leg than the rest of us". by the way Orr won the scoring title twice.

The best hockey player ever, could do everything at top, blazing fast and got to top speed faster than anyone. Great play maker who not only got a ton of goals and assists as a defense man he led the league in +/-. I agree with Don Cherry in saying he was the greatest and put him ahead of Gretzky (and that is not meant to disrespect Grez but in my opinion Orr was that good

104.3 yards per game. 0 NFL games missed. 5.22 yards per carry. Led the NFL in rushing 8 of his 9 seasons, and the season he didn't finish first he played most of the season with a broken arm. Enough said. Greatest NFL player of all time and was so dominant in lacrosse that they made a rule after him (Having a crease around the goal). Former NFL players have been on record saying at age 50 he could still win the MVP in the NFL.

Not only was he one of the greatest football players of all-time, but he was perhaps the greatest lacrosse player of all-time too. And he could play basketball and baseball well enough to attract the pro scouts.

I'm gonna guess many today are unaware of him.
Granted, this is subjective, and I don't diminish any of those above. Yet I strongly believe this man deserves to be in the top ten, or at least above some currently there.

Not only the greatest runningback of all-time in the NFL, but the man was the greatest lacrosse player to. And he was excellent in basketball and baseball and could have made the pros in those sports.

Awe. #1 All around best athlete ever! What he did when being a hockey player meant keeping your job the hard way and totally loved to play. He owned the league and made it look easy. Tough, Good and a true idol for millions. Amazing. Chris

GOAT of hockey, Gretzky was insane, but played in an era where he was guaranteed to score a lot. Nobody beats Mr. Hockey!

He played in the NHL until he was 51, he dominated every aspect of the game. One of the greatest athletes of all time.

Should be in the Top 10 simply for his longevity. Had tons of records as well.

I think - he should be in the top 10 easy!
Took LAL for 9 Finals
Won 5 Championships
Smart and successful Businessman
Respects everyone and well spoken
Very Charismatic
Level Headed
What more you need?

The only big man to lead the NBA in assists. His rebounding and shot blocking I know they didn't record shot blocking for most of his career. He also blocked shots that remained in play instead of in the stands so the other team kept control of the ball. Rebounding was not only great but his ability to block other players so his teammates could get rebounds is almost never talked about. His scoring is talked about but not that during his 50 points a game season. If he scored only 27 points in one game (what's King James average last season that makes him so great? ) he would have to score 73 points to just get to his average! I know we do not compare centers with other positions or the era in which he played, but who has done it better please be specific with numbers. I know he didn't win many titles but he did when given teammates who could actually effect a game. Any body remember 1972 when Wilt and the Laker won 33 games in a row? Or 68 games for the season I know the Bulls won 69 ...more

One of the craziest players to play the game. Super athletic. In fact, I'd say he is the most athletic person to ever touch a basketball. In the NBA, he is the all time single person scorer in a single game, with 100 points! 100! In a basketball game! The second place is Kobe with 81. Wilt is one of the best, no doubt about it. Here is a quick list of everything he was. (Died 1999)
-Most athletic player to ever exist.
-Most rebounds in career
-Strongest player to ever exist.
-5th place for most points in a career (31,419)
-Most rebounds in a game (55)
-Hall of Fame NBA.
-Could probably play any other sport as well.

Ok idc what anyone thinks about Wilt, he was one of the greatest all around athletes ever. Sure, he was extremely selfish but to say all these other people are better than him is non-sense. I'd say he's up there with Ali, Jordan, Bo, and Bruce. This man did whatever he wanted to do. Led the league in assists because he felt like it, his defense was almost impossible to get by, his scoring was just insane, also a track star growing up and is in the volleyball hall of fame. He beat Jim Brown in a race, can bench more than Shaq and Wallace in his 50s, could grab a quarter off the top of the backboard (could jump to 13 feet), had an estimated 50 inch vertical, and lastly he kept his promises. When Magic Johnson entered the league he challenged him to a 1v1 and Wilt said to him "your not making any lay ups in this gym" and he proceeded to block all of Magic's shots. Also, during an NBA game he was matched up with NBA hall of famer, Walt Bellamy, who was averaging 31 points that season. ...more

The greatest basketball player of all time, books and videos are the proof of that. Nobody gets close to what Wilt was able to do on both sides of the court. Unbelievable physical specimen and arguably the best athlete that has ever walked on the face of the earth. The reason he is not #1 here is because he finished playing in 1973 and most of the people are not familiar with his accomplishments.

A legend and just think if he hadn't that knee injury his numbers would have been untouchable for many more years. He is the greatest receiver of all time without a doubt. I do feel that as far the greatest football play er of all time he is in the top 5 for sure.

The best wide receiver to ever live. They took all of jerry rices records one time, and compared them to every person who has ever played in the nfl. And there was only 7 men in all of history, who even had half.

I have a jerry rice football card, and let me tell you, it is stacked with amazing stats, and he is totally the #1 athlete without a doubt! G.O.A.T.

Best nfl player of all time by far. His records double every other wide receiver's career high, He can never be replaced. He is one in a million

Kobe is the Goat He will kick your butt in basketball he is so good that you mama is more proud of him then you. This guy is also giga chad he is buff

I have loved Kobe ever since I was 2 years old. I saw Kobe when he made 81 points, I saw Kobe each time he got the MVP award in both the NBA and All-Star games. I've seen everything Kobe has accomplished if I wasn't born at the time I would see it on YouTube. Only Jesus could beat Kobe at basketball. I don't care if he can be a ball hogger sometimes, I don't care if he disses people, and I don't care if he's 21 on this list! Kobe did not go to the NBA for fame or anything like that! What he went to the NBA for was to express his love of basketball not for popularity! When he retires it will be the saddest day of my life besides the death of friends or family. Like I said I don't care if Kobe is not #1 in this list. He will always be #1 to me.

This is UNFORGIVABLE. How in the WORLD could you put Kobe at 49?!?!?! better than Jordan. Sure, MJ won 6 rings, But Kobe won 5, two of which he won practically by himself. People forget that Jordan ALWAYS had Rodman and Pippen, both top 50 of all time. Kobe could take the Sixers bench and win a ring. Also, MJ left the NBA to play baseball. This was mostly because hi father died, and this is understandable, but do you really think Kobe would do that? Kobe had back to back 50-point games after his near divorce with Vanessa. More competitive by a huge margin

This dude is undoubtedly, the greatest scorer in NBA history, Kevin Durant is another incredible basketball player who has a career high of 54 points in 1 game, Kobe Bryant's career high in a half is 55. He could do things that no other to pick up a basketball can do. Before he retired at the age of 40 he made 60 points, if that's not incredible enough to at least make the top 10 then I'm insane