The greatest athletes of all time are people to remember for many reasons. They inspire you and own an astounding history in sports. Also, their contribution to the industry is worth discussion. The list below includes all amateur icons from different leagues of their time.
Undeniably, it is challenging and tricky to compare sports stars from a different field in a single list. Nonetheless, the discussion here delivers information about the greatest people who never lost a battle in their profession.
Among the icons listed below, some were born gifted while others practiced reaching the top successfully. It is an honour to talk about such people and appreciate their natural talent, hard work, dedication, and victories.
List of the Top 10 Greatest Athletes of All Time
Some sportspersons do not have the ability to dunk a basketball naturally. However, you cannot skip how they dedicatedly practice for reaching a goal. Most often, it is not easy to discuss an athlete who solo performed in the ring with a player who mastered teamwork.
If you are a fan of any of these are the top 10 Greatest athletes discussed below, try the Sport and Leisure discount codes. Look forward and understand how different stars from the sports industry contributed to the world.
Muhammad Ali (1942-2016)
Muhammad Ali (Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.) was born on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. He was an American boxer, philanthropist, and activist of his time. Ali began his training at the age of 12 as an amateur boxer.
Successfully, at 18, he was the winner of the gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics, Lightweight Division. It was the year he turned into boxing professionally. He was nicknamed as ‘The Greatest‘ and is globally known as the most celebrated and significant icons of the 20th century. Also, people regarded him as the greatest boxer of all time.
Carl Lewis (1961-Present)
Carl Lewis (Fredrick Carlton Lewis) was born on July 01, 1961, in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. He is a former American track and field sportsman. Carl is the winner of nine Olympic gold medals and one Olympic silver medal.
Also, he won eight World Championship gold medals and two World Championship silver medals. Successfully, he is one of the three best athletes who were gold medal winners in the same individual event for four consecutive Olympic sports. He was an excellent long jumper and sprinter who topped the global ranking in 100m and 200m.
He achieved 65 uninterrupted victories in his long jump for ten years. It is known as the longest undefeated streaks in the history of sports.
Diego Maradona (1960-Present)
Diego Armando Maradona (djeɣo maɾaˈðona) was born on October 30, 1960 in Lanús, Argentina. He is a retired football player and currently coaches the Argentine Primera División club Gimnasia de La Plata.
Globally, he is known as the greatest footballer of all time. He is one of the two joint winners of the ‘Player of the 20th Century’ award by FIFA. Besides his leadership abilities, he popularly possessed an eye for his goal. It is why he is regarded as a free-kick specialist. Maradona was nicknamed as “El Pibe de Oro” meaning ‘The Golden Boy‘ throughout his inspirational career.
Michael Jordan (1963-Present)
Michael Jeffry Jordan (MJ) was born on February 17, 1963, in NYC, New York. He is a former American basketball player by profession. Currently, he is the principal owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the NBA – National Basketball Association.
He played 15 seasons within the association and successfully won six championships with Chicago Bulls. It is by NBA states him as the greatest basketball player of all time. MJ joined the Bulls during 1984 as the third overall draft pick and successively emerged as a rising sports star.
He gained a position as an inspirational defensive player. Jordan became the first-ever billionaire player in NBA and is currently the fourth richest African American owning a net worth of 2.1 billion US dollars.
Toni Kukoč (1968-Present)
Toni Kukoč (kukotʃ) was born on September 18, 1968, in Split, Croatia, Yugoslavia. He is a former Croatian basketball player. Currently, he operates as a special advisor to the owner of Chicago Bulls, Jerry Reinsdorf.
He is one of the first-ever established European sports stars to play in the NBA – National Basket Association. In 1996, he became the winner of the ‘NBA Sixth Man of the Year’ award. He started playing at the age of 17 for his hometown basketball club KK Jugoplastika.
He owns several nicknames like “The Spider from Split“, “The White Magic“, “The Waiter“, “The Pink Panther” and successfully “The Croatian Sensation“. Also, he is one of the two players in history to be awarded as the ‘EuroLeague Final Four MVP’.
Oscar Robertson (1938-Present)
Oscar Palmer Robertson was born on November 24, 1938, in Charlotte, Tennessee, USA. He is a former American basketball player and is nicknamed as “The Big O“. Formerly, he was a player of the Milwaukee Bucks and Cincinnati Royals in the NBA – National Basketball Association.
He was the first-ever player to become a ‘triple double‘ in the history of NBA in 1962. Robertson played a point guard and was a one-time winner of the ‘NBA Most Valued Player’ award (MVP). Also, he was a 12-time NBA All Star and 11-time member of the All NBA Team. Unfortunately, his career majorly during high school was effected by racism.
Martina Navratilova (1956-Present)
Martina Navratilova (Martina Šubertová pronounced [ˈmarcɪna ˈʃubɛrtovaː]) was born on October 18, 1956, in Prague, Czech Republic. She is a former Czechoslovak-born American tennis player and coach. She is considered as the best female tennis players of all time.
Navratilova remained World No. 1 for 332 total week sin singles. Likewise, she is a record-breaker for 237 weeks in doubles. This effort makes her the only player in sports history to hold the top position in both singles and doubles for a period over 200 weeks. The player owns the record of most singles (167) and most doubles (177) in the Open Era.
Her inspirational record as No. 1 in singles from 1982 to 1986 remains unbeatable in the history of tennis until today.
Lionel Messi (1987-Present)
Lionel Andrés Messi (ljoˈnel anˈdɾez ˈmesi) was born on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina. He is a popular Argentine football player who plays forward and captains the Spanish club Barcelona and the Argentina National Team.
He is most often considered as the best player in the world. Also, he is known as the one of the greatest footballs of all time. He is the winner of a record six ‘Ballon d’Or Awards’ as well as a record six ‘European Golden Boots’. Messi has spent his entire life playing with Barcelona and became the winner of 33 club record trophies.
He successfully won more than 700 senior career goals for country and club. Interestingly, he is sponsored by the sportswear company Adidas since 2006.
Michael Phelps (1985-Present)
Michael Fred Phelps II was born on June 30, 1985, in Towson, Baltimore, Maryland. He is a former American competitive swimmer and the most successful and decorate Olympian of all time. He won a total of 28 medals.
He is the holder of all-time records for 23 Olympic gold medals, 13 Olympic Gold medals, and 16 Olympic medals in particular events. The industry regards him as the most successful athlete of sports for the fourth Olympics in a row.
Moreover, Phelps is a long course world record owner for the 400m individual medley. Inspiring, he won 82 medals in major international long courses including 65 Gold, 14 Silver, and 3 Bronze.
Babe Ruth (1895-1948)
George Herman Babe Ruth Jr. was born on February 06, 1895, in Pigtown, Baltimore, Maryland. He was a professional American baseball player. He had a career in the MLB – Major League Baseball for 22 seasons from 1914 to 1935. He was nicknamed as “The Sultan of Swat” and “The Bambino“.
The player began his career as a left-handed pitcher at the Boston Red Sox. Later, he continued as an outfielder for the New York Yankees where he gained popularity. He created multiple MLB records for batting and pitching.
These include 714 home runs, 2,213 runs batted in, and 2,062 bases on the ball. Also, he is regarded as the greatest baseball player of all time.
Final Thoughts
These are the top 10 greatest athletes of all time who created history in the sports world. With time, the names may change and shuffle the list. Nonetheless, these are the people who will always be remembered by sports lovers.
