Highlights

  • The debate over the greatest athlete of all time is subjective and impossible to definitively answer, but it's still fun for fans to discuss.
  • The website thetoptens.com provides an interactive list where fans can vote on the greatest athletes of all time, taking into account attributes like speed, endurance, and coordination.
  • According to fan opinions on the website, the top 10 greatest athletes of all time include Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Pele, and Michael Phelps, among others.

Muhammad Ali, Usain Bolt, Serena Williams, Cristiano Ronaldo and Tiger Woods are just some of the names in the conversation about the greatest athlete of all time. With so many disciplines and eras to weigh up, the question of sport's overall GOAT will always prove an impossible one, but that doesn't make it any less fun for fans to discuss.

Now, as much as we could try to nail our colours to the mast by naming our pick for the athlete to end all athletes, no doubt you'll agree that this is a matter best decided upon by the supporters. After all, collating together fan opinions is perhaps the fairest way for the complications of different sports and time periods to be traversed and diluted down into one big expression of people's views.

And that's where the thetoptens.com comes in because their interactive list on the "Greatest Athletes of All Time," is arguably the perfect way for fans to settle the GOAT debate once and for all.

Physical excellence

Setting out the premise, the vote's description clarifies: "For the purpose of this list, athletic greatness is defined as possessing a variety of attributes that contribute to athletic prowess. These include speed, quickness, endurance, power and hand-eye coordination. That is why this list does not include specialized athletes such as marathon runners or bicyclists.

"While it is clear that Lance Armstrong is a master in his field, he has not proven that he could compete in other sports where more is required than pumping his thighs for hours on end."

With sports lovers able to up-vote and down-vote contenders depending on their opinions, the resulting list that spans way beyond the website's titular top 10 makes for fascinating reading. As such, don't let us hold you up any longer because the list truly is something to behold, so be sure to check out the top 50 athletes in history down below according to the fans themselves:

Position

Athlete

Sport

Achievements

50

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson

Wrestling

WWE Champion (x8), WCW Champion (x2), Intercontinental Champion (x2), Tag Team Champion (x5), Royal Rumble Winner

49

Chris Hoy

Cycling

Olympics Gold Medal (x6), Commonwealth Games Gold Medal (x2), World Title (x11)

48

Serguei Bubka

Athletics

Olympic Gold Medal, World Championships Gold Medal (x6), World Indoor Championships Gold Medal (x4), European Championships Gold Medal, European Indoor Championships Gold Medal, Goodwill Games Gold Medal

47

Johan Cruyff

Football

Eredivisie (x9), La Liga, European Cup (x3), Ballon d'Or (x3)

46

Drew Brees

American Football

Super Bowl, Super Bowl MVP, NFL Offensive Player of the Year (x2), Pro Bowl (x13)

45

Mike Tyson

Boxing

WBC Heavyweight Champion (x2), WBA Heavyweight Champion (x2), IBF World Heavyweight Champion, Boxing Hall of Fame

44

Simone Biles

Gymnastics

Olympic Gold Medal (x4), World Championships Gold Medal (x23), Pacific Rim Championships Gold Medal (x2)

43

Serena Williams

Tennis

Australian Open (x7), Wimbledon (x7), French Open (x3), US Open (x6), Olympic Gold Medal

42

Ronaldo Nazario

Football

World Cup (x2), La Liga, UEFA Cup, Ballon d'Or (x2)

41

Brett Favre

American Football

Super Bowl Champion, NFL Offensive Player of the YearPro Bowl (x11)

40

Alfredo Di Stéfano

Football

La Liga (x8), European Cup (x5), South American Championships, Ballon d'Or (x2)

39

Tony Hawk

Skateboarding

Summer X Games Gold Medal (x10)

38

John Cena

Wrestling

WWE Champion (x13), World Heavyweight Champion (x3), United States Champion (x5), WWE Tag Team Champion (x2), World Tag Team Champion (x2), Royal Rumble Winner (x2)

37

Michael Vick

American Football

Pro Bowl (x4), NFL Comeback Player of the Year, Bert Bell Award, Archie Griffin Award

36

Haile Gebrselassie

Athletics

Olympic Gold Medal (x2), World Championships Gold Medal (x4), World Indoor Championships (x4)

35

Larry Bird

Basketball

NBA Champion (x3), NBA Finals MVP (x2), NBA MVP (x3), NBA All-Star (x12)

34

Barry Sanders

American Football

NFL MVP, NFL Offensive Player of the Year (x2), Pro Bowl (x10)

33

Michael Johnson

Athletics

Olympic Gold Medal (x4), World Championships Gold Medal (x8), Goodwill Games Gold Medal (x4)

32

Derek Jeter

Baseball

All-Star (x14), World Series Champion (x5), World Series MVP, Gold Glove Award (x5)

31

Jackie Robinson

Baseball

NgL All-Star, World Series Champion, All-Star (x6), NL MVP

30

Daley Thompson

Decathlon

Olympic Gold Medal (x2), World Championships Gold Medal, European Championships Gold Medal (x2), Commonwealth Gold Medal (x3)

29

Donald Bradman

Cricket

Highest Career Batting Average, Highest Series Batting Average, Highest Percentage of Centuries per innings

28

Peyton Manning

American Football

Super Bowl Champion (x2), Super Bowl MVP, NFL MVP (x5), NFL Offensive Player of the Year (x2)

27

Carl Lewis

Athletics

Olympic Gold Medal (x9), World Championships Gold Medal (x8), Pan American Games Gold Medal (x2), Goodwill Games Gold Medal (x3)

26

Kobe Bryant

Basketball

NBA Champion (x5), NBA Finals MVP (x2), NBA MVP, NBA All-Stars (x18)

25

Jerry Rice

American Football

Super Bowl Champion (x3), Super Bowl MVP, NFL Offensive Player of the Year (x2), First-Team All-Star (x10)

24

Magic Johnson

Basketball

NBA Champion (x5), NBA Finals MVP (x3), NBA MVP (x3), NBA All-Star (x12)

23

Wilt Chamberlain

Basketball

NBA Champion (x2), NBA Finals MVP, NBA MVP (x4), NBA All-Star (x13), NBA All-Star Game MVP

22

Zinedine Zidane

Football

Serie A (x2), La Liga, Champions League, World Cup, European Championship, Ballon d'Or

21

Gordie Howe

Ice Hockey

Stanley Cup Championships (x4)

20

Jim Brown

American Football

NFL Champion, NFL MVP (x3), Pro Bowl (x9), NFL Rookie of the Year

19

Bobby Orr

Ice Hockey

Canada Cup Gold Medal, Norris Trophy, Art RossTrophy, Hart Trophy, Conn Smythe Trophy

18

Tiger Woods

Golf

Masters Champion (x5), PGA Champion (x4), US Open (x3), The Open Championship (x3)

17

Bruce Lee

Martial Arts

Long Beach International Karate Championships, Hong Kong Inter-School Boxing Championship, Crown Colony Cha-Cha Championship

16

Tom Brady

American Football

Super Bowl Champion (x7), Super Bowl MVP (x5), NFL MVP (x3), NFL Offensive Player of the Year

15

Jesse Owens

Athletics

Olympic Gold Medal (x4)

14

Cristiano Ronaldo

Football

European Championship, Premier League (x3), La Liga (x2), Serie A (x2), Champions League (x5), Ballon d'Or (x5)

13

Lionel Messi

Football

World Cup, La Liga (x10), Champions League (x4), Ligue 1 (x2), Ballon d'Or (x7)

12

LeBron James

Basketball

NBA Champion (x4), NBA Finals MVP (x4), NBA MVP (x4), NBA All-Star (x19)

11

Roger Federer

Tennis

Australian Open (x6), French Open, Wimbledon (x8), US Open (x5)

10 Joe Montana (American Football)

Montana was a quarterback who played the majority of his career for the San Francisco 49ers, before spending a year with the Kansas City Chiefs to see out his long and storied career. The American has a long list of achievements and honours to his name with the most impressive surrounding the Super Bowl which is a worldwide phenomenon. Montana contributed to four separate successes in the tournament, being named MVP on three of those occasions.

9 Pele (Football)

Pele holding the FIFA World Cup.
GettyImages

The Brazilian is still widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all-time and actually ranks the highest among his professional peers within this list, above the likes of Messi and Ronaldo. Pele unfortunately passed away in late 2022, but will always be remembered for his contributions to the game with an unmatched goal record and many trophies in the cabinet.

8 Bo Jackson (American Football and Baseball)

Bo Jackson

Incredibly, Jackson excelled in not only one sport at an elite level, but two. His short career in American Football saw him represent the Los Angeles Raiders from 1987 to 1990 as a running back as he won many individual awards within the sport. Alongside his career in the NFL, Jackson was a revelation in the world of Baseball in which he spent an eight-year professional career and even played in an All-Stars game in 1990 before retiring in 1994.

7 Jim Thorpe (Athletics, American Football, Baseball and Basketball)

Not only did Thorpe thrive in both Baseball and AMerican Football in a similar vein to Bo Jackson, but he also won two Olympic gold medals in Athletics. These titles were taken away from him initially due to a violation in rules prior to taking part in the Olympic Games, before they were then restored to him three decades after his death. Thorpe began his Baseball career in 1913 and continued this until 1919 while also kicking-off his American Football career in 1915 which ended in 1928.

6 Babe Ruth (Baseball)

'Babe' Ruth

More than likely the most well-known Baseball player of all-time is a man that sadly passed away in 1948, which is now 75 years ago and just goes to show the impact he had during his time in the sport. Ruth's career in Major League Baseball last almost two decades and in that time he won the World Series on a staggering seven different occasions. With many other career honours under his belt, the icon of the sport was inducted into the Baseball Hame of Fame in 1936 shortly after he brought his career to a close.

5 Michael Phelps (Swimming)

Michael Phelps

The most decorated Olympian of all-time is the former swimmer, who won a total of 28 medals during his career. 23 of those medals were gold which just goes to show how prolific a performer he was at his best. Add to this a total of 27 gold medals in the World Championships and there was really no competition within the sport of Swimming when Phelps was around. He cleaned up almost all medals in sight before bowing out in 2016.

4 Usain Bolt (Athletics)

Usain Bolt

Bolt is looked upon as the greatest sprinter ever witnessed, with the Jamaican becoming a big name in the world of Olympics in Beijing in 2008 before going on to impress in the next two versions of the Olympic Games also. Across the three tournaments, Bolt won eight gold medals with the only one he missed out on being the 4 x 100 metre relay as his team was disqualified. The 37-year-old still holds the world record for the 100 metres, 200 metres and 4 x100 metres relay to this day.

3 Wayne Gretzky (Ice hockey)

Wayne Gretzky

Hockey Hall of Famer, Gretzky, may be a slight surprise to come in at third in an all-time athletes list, but he did have an incredible career in his chosen field. That chosen field was Ice Hockey, in which he spent almost a decade with the Edmonton Oilers before spending time with the Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers to see out his playing days. His iconic number 99 shirt was retired across the entire sport upon his retirement in tribute to the Canadian.

2 Muhammad Ali (Boxing)

Muhammad Ali

With no real competition, Ali is regarded as the greatest Boxer of all-time as the man famous for saying: "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee," finishes second on this list. Ali won 56 of his 61 professional fights, with 36 being via knockout. With only five losses to his name, he is one of the most successful men to have ever graced the sport to this day. The light-heavyweight also won an Olympic gold medal among his many career achievements.

1 Michael Jordan (Basketball)

Michael Jordan

The honour of being named the greatest athlete ever in this list is the former Chicago Bulls icon. Jordan is almost unanimously voted as the greatest Basketball player of all-time with his accomplishments speaking for themselves, with six NBA CHampionships among the best of them. His Cv is littered with personal accolades, but his six NBA Finals MVP awards to coincide with the six times he won the competition go a long way to tell you of the star Jordan was, not only in his sport, but on a global scale.

Position

Athlete

Sport

Achievements

10

Joe Montana

American Football

Super Bowl Champion (x4), Super Bowl MVP (x3), NFL MVP (x2)

9

Pele

Football

World Cup (x3), Brasileiro Serie A (x6)

8

Bo Jackson

Baseball and American Football

Heisman Trophy, Walter Camp Award, Pro Bowl, SEC Player of the Year

7

Jim Thorpe

Baseball, American Football, Athletics

Olympic Gold Medal (x2), First-Team All-Pro, NFL 1920s All-Decade Team

6

Babe Ruth

Baseball

World Series Champion (x7), All-Star (x2), AL MVP

5

Michael Phelps

Swimming

23 Olympic Games, World Championships Gold Medal (x27), Pan Pacific Championships (x16)

4

Usain Bolt

Athletics

Olympic Gold Medal (x8), World Championships Gold Medal (x11), CAC Championships Gold Medal, Commonwelath Games Gold Medal

3

Wayne Gretzky

Ice Hockey

Art Ross Trophy (x10), Conn Smythe Throphy (x2), Lester B. Pearson Throphy (x5)

2

Muhammad Ali

Boxing

Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year (x6), Olympic gold Medal, WBA Champion, Ring Heavyweight Champion

1

Michael Jordan

Basketball

NBA Champion (x6), NBA Finals MVP (x6), NBA MVP (x5), NBA All-Star (x14)