Greatest European Athletes of All Time

Here are some of Europe's best athletes. And don't add people like Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, or Walter Payton because they're good, because they aren't from Europe.
The Top Ten
Paavo Nurmi

One of the greatest Olympians with a total of 12, 9 of them gold.

Janica Kostelić
Sergei Kharkov

The greatest European athlete of all time hands down.

One of the most ridiculous number 1 (he reminds me Jackie Evancho in celebrites lists).
What had he done as a gymnast compared to Latynina, Čáslavská, Comaneci, Scherbo, Andrianov?
He shouldn't be even in the top ten. If Kharkov is a so great why isn't he in the list with the greatest athletes?
List maker, shake your head...
Additionaly, you delete votes from a legend like Paavo Nurmi with 9 gold Olympic medals. How many Kharkov gained?
Is it a voting list?

Drazen Petrovic
Lev Yashin Lev Ivanovich Yashin, nicknamed the "Black Spider" or the "Black Panther", was a Soviet-Russian football goalkeeper, considered by many to be the greatest goalkeeper in the history of the game.
Roger Federer Roger Federer (born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player who is currently ranked world No. 3 in men's singles tennis by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has won 20 Grand Slam singles titles, the most in history for a male tennis player. He has held the world No... read more
Björn Borg
Sergei Fedorov
Peter Schmeichel Peter Bolesław Schmeichel (18 November 1963) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and was voted the IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper in 1992 and 1993. He is best remembered for his most successful years at English club Manchester United, whom he captained to the 1999... read more
Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Juventus and captains the Portugal national team.

One of the best modern day European Athletes.

The Contenders
Yelena Isinbaeva
Martina Navratilova
Hannes Reichelt
Vasily Alekseyev

Greatest record breaker of all sports.

Nadia Comaneci
Alina Tsviliy
Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes "Johan" Cruijff (25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and coach. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973, and 1974. Cruyff was a proponent of the football philosophy known as Total Football explored by Rinus Michels, and is... read more

Johann Cruyiff is consideredly one of the best football players of all time. He was a a very elegant, clever player and brings his own style to the boggest game.

Best European soccer player ever.

Larisa Latynina
Rafael Nadal Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player, currently world No. 1 in men's singles tennis by the Association of Tennis Professionals.
Eddy Merckx
Aleksandr Karelin
Leonid Taranenko

The Bellarussian weightlifter is still (from 1988) the strongest man in the world.

Holger Nielsen
Kim Clijsters
Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane, nicknamed "Zizou", (born 23 June 1972) is a is a French former professional football player who played as an attacking midfielder. He received many individual accolades as a player, including being named FIFA World Player of the Year in 1998, 2000 and 2003, and winning the 1998... read more
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