Legendary swimmer Michael Phelps has been named the #1 Athlete of the 21st Century by ESPN.
Phelps is the most decorated Olympian in history, with an impressive 28 medals, 23 of which are gold. The American broke out at the 2008 Beijing Games when he won eight gold medals, seven of which were world records. Many experts then tried to get to the reason for Phelps' dominance in the pool, and his mother, Debbie, was often asked by the media what made her son so untouchable. And she was succinct, saying this: "His hard work".
In Phelps' company in the top 10 are also 23-time women's Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi, one of the greatest basketball players in history LeBron James, seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady, Swiss tennis maestro Roger Federer , seven-time Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, golf legend Tiger Woods, 100m world record holder Usain Bolt and the late basketball player Kobe Bryant.
Just behind the top ten are tennis players Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, Cristiano Ronaldo (soccer) and Steph Curry (basketball).
Here are the top 100 greatest athletes of the century:
1. Michael Phelps (swimming)
2. Serena Williams (tennis)
3. Lionel Messi (football)
4. LeBron James (basketball)
5. Tom Brady (American Football)
6. Roger Federer (tennis)
7. Simone Biles (gymnastics)
8. Tiger Woods (golf)
9. Usain Bolt (Athletics)
10. Kobe Bryant (basketball)
11. Novak Djokovic (tennis)
12. Rafael Nadal (tennis)
13. Cristiano Ronaldo (football)
14. Steph Curry (basketball)
15. Katie Ledecky (Swimming)
16. Tim Duncan (basketball)
17. Shaquille O'Neal (basketball)
18. Patrick Mahomes (American football)
19. Lewis Hamilton (Formula 1)
20. Aaron Donald (American football)
21. Diana Taurasi (Basketball)
22. Sidney Crosby (ice hockey)
23. Kevin Garnett (basketball)
24. Albert Pujols (baseball)
25. Floyd Mayweather (boxing)
26. Peyton Manning (American football)
27. Randy Moss (American football)
28. Nikola Jokic (basketball)
29. Michael Schumacher (Formula 1)
30. Mike Trout (baseball)
31. Clayton Kershaw (baseball)
32. Marta (football)
33. Miguel Cabrera (baseball)
34. Tamika Catchings (Basketball)
35. Dwyane Wade (basketball)
36. Maya Moore (Basketball)
37. Ichiro Suzuki (baseball)
38. Barry Bonds (baseball)
39. Kevin Durant (basketball)
40. Justin Verlander (baseball)
41. Dirk Nowitzki (basketball)
42. Giannis Antetokounmpo (basketball)
43. Alex Rodriguez (baseball)
44. Mikaela Shiffrin (ski-alpine disciplines)
45. David Ortiz (baseball)
46. Max Scherzer (baseball)
47. Jimmie Johnson (NASCAR)
48. Thierry Henry (football)
49. Aitana Bonmati (football)
50. Zinedine Zidane (football)
51. Steve Nash (basketball)
52. Adrian Beltre (baseball)
53. Derek Jeter (baseball)
54. Alex Ovechkin (ice hockey)
55. Luka Modric (football)
56. Alexia Putellas (football)
57. Calvin Johnson (American football)
58. JJ Watt (American football)
59. Mariano Rivera (baseball)
60. Candace Parker (Basketball)
61. Ray Lewis (American football)
62. Shohei Ohtani (baseball)
63. Allison Felix (Athletics)
64. Mia Hamm (football)
65. Kylian Mbappe (football)
66. Jon Jones (MMA)
67. James Harden (basketball)
68. Phil Mickelson (golf)
69. Jason Kidd (Basketball)
70. Andres Iniesta (football)
71. Manny Pacquiao (boxing)
72. Sean White (skateboarding)
73. Mookie Betts (baseball)
74. Lisa Leslie (Basketball)
75. Xavi Hernandez (football)
76. John St-Pierre (MMA)
77. Shelley-Anne Fraser Price (Athletics)
78. Bernard Hopkins (boxing)
79. Bryce Harper (baseball)
80. Andy Murray (tennis)
81. Cheryl Swoopes (basketball)
82. Kohei Uchimura (gymnastics)
83. Chris Paul (basketball)
84. Lauren Jackson (basketball)
85. Kawhi Leonard (basketball)
86. Venus Williams (tennis)
87. Ronaldo Nazario (football)
88. Roy Halladay (baseball)
89. Annika Sørenstam (golf)
90. A'ya Wilson (basketball)
91. Aaron Rodgers (American football)
92. Pedro Martinez (baseball)
93. Rory McIlroy (golf)
94. Ronaldinho (football)
95. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (football)
96. Darrelle Revis (American football)
97. Virat Kohli (cricket)
98. Connor McDavid (ice hockey)
99. Ed Reed (American football)
100. Charles Woodson (American football). | BGNES
