There is no universally accepted ranking of the greatest athletes in history. This is a curated, cross-sport ranking based on dominance, achievements, longevity, records, influence on sport and impact beyond competition. It includes athletes from different eras, countries and sporting disciplines.
The 100 greatest athletes in history
1\. Michael Jordan — Basketball. Widely regarded as the greatest basketball player ever, with six NBA championships and five MVP awards.
2\. Muhammad Ali — Boxing. A three-time heavyweight world champion whose sporting achievements and cultural influence transcended boxing.
4\. Lionel Messi — Football. An eight-time Ballon d'Or winner and 2022 World Cup champion.
5\. Serena Williams — Tennis. Winner of 23 Grand Slam singles titles in the Open Era.
6\. Usain Bolt — Athletics. Olympic sprint legend and world-record holder in the 100m and 200m.
7\. Michael Phelps — Swimming. The most decorated Olympian in history, with 28 Olympic medals.
8\. Wayne Gretzky — Ice hockey. Widely considered the greatest hockey player ever, holding numerous NHL records.
9\. Cristiano Ronaldo — Football. One of football's most prolific goalscorers, with five Ballon d'Or awards and five UEFA Champions League titles.
10\. Roger Federer — Tennis. A 20-time Grand Slam singles champion who helped define modern men's tennis.
11\. LeBron James — Basketball. Four-time NBA champion and the NBA's all-time leading regular-season scorer.
12\. Tiger Woods — Golf. A 15-time major champion who transformed professional golf.
13\. Jackie Joyner-Kersee — Athletics. One of the greatest heptathletes and long jumpers in history.
14\. Novak Djokovic — Tennis. A record-setting men's singles Grand Slam champion with remarkable longevity.
15\. Babe Ruth — Baseball. A transformative baseball superstar whose home-run achievements changed the sport.
16\. Diego Maradona — Football. Led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup and produced one of football's most celebrated individual performances.
17\. Simone Biles — Gymnastics. One of the most decorated gymnasts ever, renowned for skills that have redefined the sport.
18\. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — Basketball. Six-time NBA champion and six-time NBA Most Valuable Player.
19\. Jack Nicklaus — Golf. Winner of 18 major championships, the most in men's professional golf.
20\. Jesse Owens — Athletics. Won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
21\. Marta — Football. A six-time FIFA Women's World Player of the Year and one of the greatest female footballers ever.
22\. Floyd Mayweather Jr. — Boxing. Retired with an undefeated 50–0 professional record.
23\. Rafael Nadal — Tennis. A 22-time Grand Slam singles champion, particularly dominant on clay courts.
24\. Jim Thorpe — Multi-sport. Olympic gold medallist who excelled in several sports, including American football and baseball.
25\. Babe Didrikson Zaharias — Athletics and golf. An extraordinary multi-sport champion who excelled in track and field, basketball and golf.
26\. Magic Johnson — Basketball. Five-time NBA champion and one of the greatest point guards ever.
27\. Bill Russell — Basketball. An 11-time NBA champion whose defensive dominance shaped basketball history.
28\. Carl Lewis — Athletics. Won nine Olympic gold medals across sprinting and long jump.
29\. Steffi Graf — Tennis. Won 22 Grand Slam singles titles and achieved the Golden Slam in 1988.
30\. Sachin Tendulkar — Cricket. The first player to score 100 international centuries and one of cricket's most celebrated batters.
31\. Tom Brady — American football. Seven-time Super Bowl champion and one of the most successful quarterbacks in NFL history.
32\. Lionel Messi — Football.
33\. Bjørn Borg — Tennis. Won 11 Grand Slam singles titles and dominated Wimbledon and the French Open.
34\. Emil Zátopek — Athletics. Won three gold medals at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, including the 5,000m, 10,000m and marathon.
35\. Valentino Rossi — Motorcycle racing. A seven-time premier-class motorcycle world champion and one of MotoGP's defining figures.
36\. Lewis Hamilton — Formula One. A seven-time world champion who shares the record for most drivers' titles.
37\. Nadia Comăneci — Gymnastics. The first gymnast to receive a perfect 10 at the Olympic Games.
38\. Wilt Chamberlain — Basketball. Scored 100 points in a single NBA game, a record that still stands.
39\. Manny Pacquiao — Boxing. The only boxer to win world titles in eight weight divisions.
40\. Jack Johnson — Boxing. The first Black world heavyweight boxing champion.
41\. Florence Griffith-Joyner — Athletics. Still holds the women's 100m and 200m world records.
42\. Mia Hamm — Football. Two-time World Cup champion and one of the most influential figures in women's football.
43\. Martina Navratilova — Tennis. Won 18 Grand Slam singles titles and dominated women's tennis for decades.
44\. Bobby Orr — Ice hockey. Revolutionised the role of the offensive defenceman.
45\. Mark Spitz — Swimming. Won seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
46\. Hicham El Guerrouj — Athletics. Holds the men's outdoor world records in the 1,500m and mile.
47\. Haile Gebrselassie — Athletics. Two-time Olympic 10,000m champion and multiple world-record holder.
48\. Abebe Bikila — Athletics. Won the 1960 Olympic marathon barefoot and became the first sub-Saharan African to win Olympic gold.
49\. Kelly Slater — Surfing. An 11-time world surfing champion.
50\. Tony Hawk — Skateboarding. A pioneer who helped bring professional skateboarding into mainstream culture.
51\. Don Bradman — Cricket. Finished his Test career with an extraordinary batting average of 99.94.
52\. Brian Lara — Cricket. Holds the record for the highest individual score in Test cricket, 400 not out.
53\. Viv Richards — Cricket. One of the most dominant and intimidating batters in cricket history.
54\. Ronaldo Nazário — Football. Two-time World Cup winner and two-time Ballon d'Or recipient.
55\. Zinedine Zidane — Football. World Cup and European Championship winner, celebrated for his technique and vision.
56\. Johan Cruyff — Football. Three-time Ballon d'Or winner and a central figure in the development of Total Football.
57\. Franz Beckenbauer — Football. World Cup-winning captain and one of the greatest defenders in history.
58\. George Best — Football. A Manchester United icon celebrated for his exceptional dribbling and creativity.
59\. Ronaldinho — Football. A World Cup winner and two-time FIFA World Player of the Year.
60\. Kobe Bryant — Basketball. Five-time NBA champion and an 18-time NBA All-Star.
61\. Shaquille O'Neal — Basketball. Four-time NBA champion and one of the most physically dominant centres in basketball history.
62\. Larry Bird — Basketball. Three-time NBA champion and three-time consecutive NBA MVP.
63\. Tim Duncan — Basketball. Five-time NBA champion and a model of consistency and leadership.
64\. Stephen Curry — Basketball. Revolutionised modern basketball through his extraordinary three-point shooting.
65\. Diana Taurasi — Basketball. One of the most decorated players in women's basketball, with multiple WNBA titles and Olympic gold medals.
66\. Jackie Robinson — Baseball. Broke Major League Baseball's colour barrier in 1947 and became a sporting and civil rights icon.
67\. Willie Mays — Baseball. A 24-time All-Star celebrated for his hitting, fielding and athletic ability.
68\. Hank Aaron — Baseball. Held the Major League Baseball career home-run record for 33 years.
69\. Joe Louis — Boxing. Held the heavyweight championship for nearly 12 years, one of the longest reigns in boxing history.
70\. Sugar Ray Robinson — Boxing. Frequently regarded as one of the greatest pound-for-pound boxers ever.
71\. Rocky Marciano — Boxing. Retired undefeated as a professional heavyweight champion with a 49–0 record.
72\. Evander Holyfield — Boxing. A four-time world heavyweight champion and former undisputed cruiserweight champion.
73\. Ole Einar Bjørndalen — Biathlon. One of the most decorated Winter Olympians, with 14 Olympic medals.
74\. Eddy Merckx — Cycling. A five-time Tour de France winner widely regarded as one of cycling's greatest competitors.
75\. Lance Armstrong — Cycling. A controversial former champion whose seven Tour de France titles were stripped following a doping investigation.
76\. Chris Evert — Tennis. Won 18 Grand Slam singles titles and reached remarkable consistency at the highest level.
77\. Billie Jean King — Tennis. A 12-time Grand Slam singles champion and influential advocate for equality in sport.
78\. Monica Seles — Tennis. Won nine Grand Slam singles titles, including eight before turning 20.
79\. Steffi Graf — Tennis.
80\. Allyson Felix — Athletics. The most decorated female Olympic track and field athlete, with 11 Olympic medals.
81\. Jackie Joyner-Kersee — Athletics.
82\. Paavo Nurmi — Athletics. Won nine Olympic gold medals and helped establish Finland's distance-running tradition.
83\. Sergei Bubka — Athletics. Dominated pole vaulting and broke the world record repeatedly.
84\. Yelena Isinbayeva — Athletics. A two-time Olympic champion and multiple world-record holder.
85\. Jackie Chan — Martial arts. A highly influential martial artist and stunt performer whose physical skills shaped action cinema.
86\. Bruce Lee — Martial arts. A transformative martial arts figure whose influence extended across combat sports and popular culture.
87\. Georges St-Pierre — MMA. A two-division UFC champion widely regarded as one of the greatest mixed martial artists.
88\. Jon Jones — MMA. One of the most accomplished UFC light-heavyweight and heavyweight champions.
89\. Khabib Nurmagomedov — MMA. Retired undefeated at 29–0 and became one of the sport's most dominant champions.
90\. Ronda Rousey — Judo and MMA. Olympic judo medallist and a pioneer of women's mixed martial arts.
91\. Niki Lauda — Formula One. A three-time world champion whose comeback after a near-fatal crash became one of motorsport's defining stories.
92\. Ayrton Senna — Formula One. A three-time world champion remembered for exceptional speed and wet-weather driving.
93\. Michael Schumacher — Formula One. A seven-time world champion who helped define an era of Formula One.
94\. Mika Häkkinen — Formula One. A two-time world champion who challenged Schumacher's dominance in the late 1990s.
95\. Mikaela Shiffrin — Alpine skiing. One of the most successful alpine skiers in World Cup history.
96\. Lindsey Vonn — Alpine skiing. An Olympic champion and one of the most successful female ski racers ever.
97\. Teddy Riner — Judo. A multiple-time Olympic and world champion who dominated heavyweight judo for years.
98\. Tirunesh Dibaba — Athletics. A three-time Olympic gold medallist and one of the greatest female distance runners.
99\. Lin Dan — Badminton. A two-time Olympic champion and five-time world champion.
100\. Naomi Osaka — Tennis. A four-time Grand Slam singles champion who helped bring renewed global attention to women's tennis.
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