1. Pele - Soccer
2. Jim Thorpe - Football, Track and Field
3. Tiger Woods - Golf
4. Muhammed Ali - Boxing
5. Jessie Owens - Track and Field
6. Michael Jordan - Basketball
7. Carl Lewis - Track and Field
8. Jack Nicklaus - Golf
9. Wayne Gretzky - Ice Hockey
10. Jean-Claude Killy – Skiing
11. Lance Armstrong-Cycling
12. Garfield Sobers - Cricket
13. Garrincha - Soccer
14. Hank Aaron - Baseball
15. Miguel Indurain - Cycling
16. Aryton Senna - Motor Racing
17. Johan Cruyff - Soccer
18. Pete Sampras - Tennis
19. Diego Mardonna – Soccer
20. Roger Federer – Tennis
21. Michael Schumacher - FI
22. Paavo Nurmi - Track and Field
23. Rod Laver - Tennis
24. Jahanghir Khan - Squash
25. Wilt Chaimberlain - Basketball
26. Babe Ruth - Baseball
27. Jim Brown - Football
28. Lasse Viren - Track and Field
29. Mark Spitz - Swimming
30. Joe Louis - Boxing
31. Bobby Orr - Ice Hockey
32. Sugar Ray Leonard - Boxing
33. Stanley Matthews - Soccer
34. Donald Bradman - Cricket
35. Eddie Merckx - Cycling
36. Sergei Bubka - Pole Vaulting
37. Johnny Weismuller - Swimming
35. Jerry Rice – Football
36. Eric Heiden – Speed Skating
37. Viktor Barna – Table Tennis
38. Dale Earnhardt – Nascar
39. Brian Lara – Cricket
40. Willie Mays – Baseball
41. Joe Montana - Football
42. Rocky Marciano - Boxing
43. Matt Biondi - Swimming
44. Tom Watson - Golf
45. Mario Lemieux - Ice Hockey
46. Magic Johnson - Basketball
47. Zinedine Zidane - Soccer
48. Bjorn Borg - Tennis
49. Roger Clemens - Baseball
50. John McEnroe - Tennis
68 comments:
Carl Lewis was a cheat and he should not be included. Michael Phelps and Ian Thorpe should be before Matt Biondi in swimming.
Eddy Merckx should be number 1! not number 35! that is just ridiculous! if you look at the mans record u will soon see why.
Sir Stanley Matthews was a fantastic player and a true gent of the game but look up the lesser known Sir Tom Finney and you will find a more deserving name for this list.
I agree that Phelps and Thorpe should be on the list. I will have to modify this in the future.
Finney was a phenomenal player but Matthews was arguably one of the greatest dribblers of all-time. He was an artist.
oh yes pele , garincha , crueff , and then maradona....... what a waste of time,
and anyway how many pepole play baseball, basketball,and golf...
i can see america is wining the battle of your ethics and logic...
i am the greatest player of guli- danda pls consider me... lol
Kelly slater is the perfect candidate for greatest athlete of all time. He has 9 world titles and holds virtual every surfing record. He has done in surfing what lance armstrong has done for his sport, and then some. Not to mention he has an attitude and personalty that is very good for the sport. Surfers are athletes just as a football player or golfer.
Phil "the power" Taylor is the greatest sportsman of all time. No one else comes close, the man is a true LEGEND!
sir don bradman at 34 is this a joke?
this list has not a single rugby player in it, even though rugby is within the top 5 most watched and played sports. jonah lomu? jonny wilkinson? JPR williams? house hold names
i had to google phil taylor. he is or was a darts player. im sorry, but darts? i myself really enjoy playing chess, but i would never say that bobby fischer or garry kasparov are the greatest sportsmen of all time, that would just be ridicolous!
federer just 20th?? ridiculous!
Don Bradman is number 1, CLEARLY.
How can Gary Sobers be ranked ahead of Don Bradman, the top cricketer must surely be Bradman
WHAT the helll!!!
Bradman is by far and away the greatest of all time. his records will never be beaten. Sobers is up then and Bradman was better then him
Bradman!! he should so be number 1. he is the greatest in his sport and captained the greatest ever team
Tom Watson??? Ahead of Gary Player and Arnold Palmer?!!! They're not even on the list?!!!! What are you thinking?!!!
Brian Lara?!!! Don't get me wrong - this guy can bat but if you include him then you have to include Kallis, Tendulkar etc, who, don't get me wrong - are also good but no where near the 'Greatest Sportsman of all time'list. Tsk Tsk...
Michael Schumacher undoubtedly for me!! He was absolutely exceptional in F1 and is probably the most successful sportsman of all time!
Sobers is rated too high to be at no. 12. He is nowhere near as good as D Bradman
Jahangir Khan dominated his sport for 10 years and was unbeaten for five and half years in a stretch -- the longest winning streak in any sport. For any other sport this would be a great achievement, but for an extremely strenuous sport like Squash it was incredible. Only the fittest, most driven, and most competitive athlete could have achieved it. He should be in the top 3.
Don Bradman should be No 1. The guy had a batting average of 99.84through his entire career (that's 39 higher than any other batsman!) and kept improving. In his last season before ill health forced his retirement he averaged 132.44!
The guy was so good he made his team almost unbeatable and England (Bradman was Australian) had to change their batters and invent a new form of bowling just to keep him to 99.84!
No one else on the list even comes close. Shame he wasn't a Brit ;)
In hundreds of thousands of matches played, Marion Tinsley with less than 7 games lost in his last FORTY FIVE years (NOT a single Match lost) is the best ever. He even defeated the WORLD'S best computer program.
You are kidding. Federe at 20? I would put him in top 2 and include Sachin Tendulkar and Micheal Phelps in place of Sobers and Lara.
I AM NOT SATISFY EITH THE LIST. ROGER FEDERER SHOULD BE AT TOP 3. HE HAS WON 15 GRANDSLAMS TITLE. HE IS MUCH BETTER THAN PETE SAMPRAS. AND HE IS THE WORLD BEST SPORTSMAN IN THE WORLD...............
i am not satisfy with the ranking..... roger federer is the best tennis player ever. he has won 15 grandslam titles. he must be at top 3 spot.... he is the best sportsman of the world
Where is Usain Bolt on your list? And/Or Christiano Ronaldo?
whre is roger, 20th the list is not complete without roger federer,usain bolt and sachin tendulkar in the top 10 federer should come within the first 3 spots
I think muhammad ali definitely should be number 1. I think he is the most successful and the most reconisable sportsman ever
I think muhammad ali should be on number 1 on this list. for me he is the best sportsman ever.
muhammad ali should be on number 1
he is the greatest sportsman of all time.
Is billiards a sport? I guess not, since Walter Lindrum would be at the top of the list. How many other sportsmen on your list have repeatedly been the cause of their sports rules in an attempt to try and reduce their dominance? Not a single one.
Marcelo Rios is the first Latin American tennis player in history to be the number 1 in the world, opening the way for new Latinos in the tennis world. It deserves a place within the before mentioned. Also Usain, Phelps and Thorpe. Maradona is a drug addict.
where is sachin tendulkar his record is enough to rate him as the greatest player in cricket and where is dhyan chand the field hockey wizard even hitler was mesmerized by his skills
WHERE THE HELLLLL IS sachin tendulkar are you all blind.if Brian Lara deserves place then what wrong with sachin
federer should be in the top ten (at least)!
Lance Armstrong isn't even one of the top 5 greatest cyclists of all time. He's the greatest in Tour de France history, but Merckx is by far the best. He dominated the TDF, Giro and won the Vuelta as well as nearly every major classic.
To be the best...THE whole WORLD needs to recognized you by one word....ALI or PELE, .........make my point? uno y dos!!!
There is absolutely no doubt that Bradman is number 1. This list lost all credibility when I read he was at 34 - a complete joke.
Proxy I agree entirely with you, however his average was actually 99.94. Sorry to nit pick!
I also agree with the person that spoke of Lindrum, he is no doubt top 5. Whether you can justify a top 2 spot for him i'm not sure because billiards is only a small sport.
This list is a long, long way off the mark I'm afraid. I suggest that research be done properly before embarking on such a task because otherwise you will only be laughed at.
where is THE GOD OF CRICKET in this list.i mean2 say SACHIN TENDULKAR.HE HAS 93 CENTURIES IN INTERNATIONAL CRICKET.i agree bradman is greatest in test but in ODISsachin is greatest.17689 runs in422 matches at an avg of 45 ith highest no of 100s i.e. 46 far ahed of LAR(19) IN 300 MATCHES.HE is the only person on earth to score a double hundred in ODI format
No Sachin Tendulkar? Atleast half of the world considers him as one of the top 3 sportmen of all time.Let alone cricket.
Here is my top 3:
Pele- Soccer
Mohammed Ali-Boxing
Sachin Tendulkar-Cricket
And definitely Dhyan Chand(the greatest field hockey player of all time) should be in the top ten.
Sir Donald Bradman should be number 1. He was so dominant in his sport, more dominant than anyone in any other sport has ever been.
And Jonah Lomu deserves a mention, along with Gareth Edwards and Jeff Wilson.
Also Wally Lewis and Mark Graham in rugby league.
Strange list! Table tennis and Tennis are both World wide sports but Tennis is more Commersial. Tennes have 5 people on the list and Table tennis one (1). ??? Viktor Barna is not considered among the 10 greatest table tennis players by table tennis players.
Everything has to do with Commersial importance. Icehokey is a tiny sport in the big world but a large sport in Canada and Commersial in USA and some other Western countries!
It is a "babysport! This list seems to be of no value!
LG
Shocking! Don Bradman, should be at least in the top 5. Why's Carl Lewis there? He was a cheat. Usain Bolt? Phelps? I do have to admit, there are too many legends who've made their mark on sport, probably too many to put in a list of 50. The people who've made their mark on sport are the true legends.
michael schumacher!!!!
Phil "The Power" Taylor should definatly be on there no question. 15 time champion of the world! Enough said.
Where is Sir Steve Redgrave? Five consecutive gold medals should put him above alot of the people on that list.
Schummacher should be way higher up than where he is.
What about Steve Davis? Absolute legend.
What about Jonah Lomu and Gareth Edwards unbelievable rugby union players.
By the way Maradona is the human form of God. And as much as I love Garrincha Maradona is above him no question.
Oh and Joni why should Taylor not be concidered the Greatest ever. No one man has dominated a sport in the way he has and if you claim that darts is a "minor" sport then footballers, since football is the biggest sport on the planet, should be above all the basketball, ice hockey, baseball, grid-iron players mentioned.
dhyaan chand and sachin tendulkar should be in the list
Why is Anderson Silva not top of this list?
Sir Don Bradman is the greatest sportsman who ever lived - EASILY
Sir Don Bradman averaged a century every 2.76 innings and averaged 99.94 in one of the most skilled sporting positions in the world - a batsman in cricket.
There are many great sportsman - Muhammud Ali, Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Rod Laver, Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Sachin Tendulkar (cricket - who averages 56 & scores a century every nearly 5.8 innings) and many others who are considered all time great sportsman. However, they would all have to double every stactistic within their own sport in their own era - then those stactisitcs would have to remain almost twice as good as all the competitors in every era that followed to even be mentioned as a contender of the greatest sportsman of all time.
Bradman still holds the following significant records for Test match cricket today!
•Highest career batting average 99.94
•Highest series batting average (5 Test series): 201.50
•Highest ratio of centuries per innings played
•Highest 5th wicket partnership: 405 (with Sid Barnes, 1946--47)
•Highest 6th wicket partnership: 346 (with Jack Fingleton, 1936--37)
•Highest score by a number 5 batsman: 304 (1934)
•Highest score by a number 7 batsman: 270 (1936--37)
•Most runs in one series: 974 (1930)
•Most centuries scored in a single session of play: 6 (1 pre lunch, 2 lunch-tea, 3 tea-stumps)
•Most runs in one day's play: 309
•Most double centuries: 12
•Most double centuries in a series: 3
•Most triple centuries: 2 (equal with Chris Gayle, Brian Lara and Virender Sehwag)
•Most consecutive matches in which he made a century: 6
•Bradman has averaged over 100 in seven different calendar years - No other player has achieved this in more than two calendar years.
•Fastest player to reach 2000 (in 22 innings),3000 (33 innings),4000 (48 innings),5000 (56 innings)and 6000 (68 innings) Test runs.
There are many arguments about the variations of strengths, weaknesses, conditions and depth within each era of all sporting debates - however no sportsman has dominated any sport to the same degree as Bradman.
Not taking into account the forever standing and unbroken records above - just to be on par with Bradman, Michael Jordan would have to average 70 points per basketball game (Jordan averages 31.5 per game) and the all time great baseballer, Ty Cobb would need to have a batting average of 508! (batting average is 366)
Who is the second best sportsman of all time is a good debate!
Any one heard of Kelly Slater or Jimmy Johnson?
What the hell is with this list where is the "GOD OF CRICKET" I mean the legend sachin tendulkar he should be listed in the top 5 and Don Bradman must be rated number one
Darts is officially classed as a sport and Phil Taylor is officially the most successful sportsman in the world. Greatest does not mean best or most successful though which is why the order is not what some people said. Otherwise It will read Phil Taylor, Roger Federer, Nadal etc.
Quoiting Ali in the best sportsmen would be avoiding the man: wicked even in victory, supremely selfish and arrogant, he doesn’t deserve such an honour. He never adopted a “sport” attitude . The greatest, yes. The best sportsman:never.
Eddy Merckx was the best cyclist ever. He was way better than Armstrong. He should be in the top 5
sachin should be in the list and above brian lara.lara performed in tests only.sachin performed in both the formats and better than others
There are two ways to determine 'GREATEST'. Popularity and statistically. Take the best sportsman/woman in every modern sport and get their average. I think this is the less impartial way and sensible way of doing it. Base it on fact and not opinion. The highest average of any sportsman/woman, is Sir Donald Bradman. The Australian cricketer had an average of 99.94 upon retirement and only a few runs short of a perfect average of 100. Give me one person who comes close??
Typical American poll lists many American athletes who are average and slightly above average but nowhere near the best. Oh! Mohammed Ali is not even in the Top 10 in boxing WIN/LOSS records.
donald bradman is the greatest sportsmen of all time. period. statistics indicate this...obviously little research has been done to compile this list
This list seems to be very pro american. Don Bradman was statistically a better sportsman then Michael Jordan and Jack Nicklaus.
These lists should be ignored, because they are too biased towards American sports. Americans are insular and have little idea of sport in the global context. That's why you get nonsense like Sir Garfield Sobers above The Don. It is a statement of fact that The Don is the greatest cricketer of all time. This list should be ignored like every one of these lists from Americans, which are just about the self-agrandisement of their nation.
Oh dear come on, you have putted jahangir khan at number 24, "Between 1981 and 1986, he was unbeaten in competitive play for five years. During that time he won 555 games consecutively, the longest winning streak by any athlete in top-level professional sports as recorded by Guinness World Records.[5]", Can you campare this record with any other athelete over here?
In my opinion Tiger wins. He both dominated and transformed an entire sport. Infact, one might say he transformed a game into a sport: As soon as he dropped off (temporarily?) Majors started to be won by chubby guys smoking cigars again...
Ayrton Senna not even in the top 50? Without a doubt for me the greatest F1 driver in history. With the exception of Fangio no one else comes close. He deserves to be at least in the top 10.
lolllll where the hell is GOD OF CRICKET??? SACHIN TENDULKAR??
1)Mohd Ali
2)Pele
3)Sir Donald Bradman
4)Michael Jordan
5)Roger Federer
6)Sir Sachin Tendulkar (aka GOD in India)
7)Tiger Woods
8)Maradona
9)Neil Armstrong
10)Michael Schumacher
Sachin????
The number 1 is Don Bradman, by far. Statistically he is a total outlier - you have to compare people within their own sports, and no one comes close to Bradman in terms of batting average, let alone his other records.
Sachin should probably be there too, agreed.
Ayrton Senna must be first!
Ayrton senna? Fernando Alonso? RAFA NADAL? Usain bolt? Mo farah?
lance Armstrong is a cheat.
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