Sport

Athletes, teams, and defining moments in competition.

People in Sport

744 profiles

Athlete

Lionel Messi

Leading Argentina to the 2022 World Cup title.

Athlete

Serena Williams

Winning 23 Grand Slam singles titles.

Athlete

Usain Bolt

Running 100 metres in 9.58 seconds.

Athlete

Pelé

Winning three football World Cups with Brazil.

Athlete

Michael Jordan

Leading the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships.

Athlete

Billie Jean King

Winning tennis titles while campaigning for equal treatment in sport.

Athlete

Roger Federer

Winning 20 Grand Slam singles titles.

Athlete

Diego Maradona

Captaining Argentina to the 1986 World Cup with extraordinary skill.

Athlete

Ronaldo Nazário

Scoring eight goals as Brazil won the 2002 World Cup.

Athlete

Muhammad Ali

Becoming a three-time world heavyweight champion.

Athlete

Cristiano Ronaldo

Scoring prolifically for Manchester United, Real Madrid and Portugal.

Athlete

Mika Häkkinen

Winning consecutive Formula One titles with McLaren.

Athlete

Zinedine Zidane

Helping France win the 1998 World Cup and coaching Real Madrid to three consecutive Champions League titles.

Athlete

Karim Benzema

Winning the 2022 Ballon d’Or after spearheading Real Madrid’s Champions League triumph.

Chess player

Bobby Fischer

Defeating Boris Spassky in 1972 to become world chess champion.

Athlete

Ronaldinho

Bringing dazzling skill to Brazil and Barcelona, with a World Cup and a Ballon d’Or.

Athlete

LeBron James

Becoming the NBA’s career scoring leader and winning championships with three franchises.

Athlete

Kobe Bryant

Winning five NBA championships during a twenty-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Athlete

Sachin Tendulkar

Scoring 100 international cricket centuries and helping India win the 2011 World Cup.

Athlete

Virat Kohli

Becoming a leading run-chaser in international cricket and captaining India across formats.

Athlete

Rafael Nadal

Winning fourteen French Open singles titles and twenty-two major titles overall.

Athlete

Novak Djokovic

Winning twenty-four major singles titles by 2023 and Olympic singles gold in 2024.

Athlete

Lewis Hamilton

Winning seven Formula One world drivers’ championships.

Athlete

Simone Biles

Winning Olympic and world gymnastics titles with exceptionally difficult routines.

Athlete

Tiger Woods

Winning 15 major golf championships and holding all four major titles at once.

Athlete

Michael Phelps

Winning 28 Olympic swimming medals, including eight golds at Beijing 2008.

Athlete

Michael Schumacher

Winning seven Formula One world championships and leading Ferrari’s five-title run.

Athlete

Johan Cruyff

Shaping Total Football as a player and transforming Barcelona as a coach.

Athlete

Franz Beckenbauer

Winning the World Cup as both a captain and a coach, and redefining the attacking sweeper.

Athlete

Alfredo Di Stéfano

Leading Real Madrid’s five consecutive European Cup victories.

Athlete

Michel Platini

Leading France to the 1984 European Championship with nine goals in five matches.

Athlete

Marco van Basten

Scoring the celebrated Euro 1988 final volley and winning three Ballons d’Or.

Athlete

George Weah

Becoming the first African Ballon d’Or winner, then serving as president of Liberia.

Athlete

Rivaldo

Combining spectacular goals for Barcelona with a central role in Brazil’s 2002 World Cup win.

Athlete

Luís Figo

Winning the Ballon d’Or and starring on the wing for Barcelona, Real Madrid and Portugal.

Athlete

Kaká

Driving Milan’s 2007 Champions League victory and winning the Ballon d’Or.

Athlete

Andriy Shevchenko

Winning the Ballon d’Or with Milan and leading Ukraine at its first World Cup.

Athlete

Pavel Nedvěd

Winning the 2003 Ballon d’Or as Juventus’s tireless midfield creator.

Athlete

Luka Modrić

Leading Croatia to the 2018 World Cup final and winning six Champions Leagues with Real Madrid.

Athlete

Ada Hegerberg

Becoming the first Women’s Ballon d’Or winner and a leading Champions League goalscorer.

Athlete

Aitana Bonmatí

Winning the World Cup with Spain and three consecutive Women’s Ballons d’Or.

Athlete

Alexia Putellas

Winning consecutive Women’s Ballons d’Or and helping Barcelona reach the top of European football.

Athlete

Lev Yashin

Becoming the only goalkeeper to win the Ballon d’Or.

Athlete

Wayne Rooney

Becoming Manchester United’s record goalscorer through a blend of scoring, passing and relentless work.

Athlete

Gareth Bale

Winning five Champions Leagues with Real Madrid and leading Wales to a European Championship semi-final.

Athlete

Zlatan Ibrahimović

Combining spectacular finishing with league-winning careers across several European countries.

Athlete

Didier Drogba

Delivering Chelsea’s first Champions League trophy with a late equaliser and the winning shootout penalty.

Athlete

David Beckham

Turning precise crossing and free kicks into a football career with global reach.

Athlete

Kevin Keegan

Winning two Ballons d’Or after helping Liverpool become European champions.

Athlete

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

Winning consecutive Ballons d’Or and leading Bayern Munich’s attack.

Athlete

Ruud Gullit

Captaining the Netherlands to Euro 1988 and starring in Milan’s European-winning team.

Athlete

Matthias Sammer

Winning Euro 1996 as an attacking sweeper and receiving the Ballon d’Or.

Athlete

Fabio Cannavaro

Captaining Italy to the 2006 World Cup and winning the Ballon d’Or as a defender.

Athlete

Michael Owen

Winning the 2001 Ballon d’Or after breaking through as a teenage England striker.

Athlete

Igor Belanov

Winning the 1986 Ballon d’Or after European success with Dynamo Kyiv.

Athlete

Oleg Blokhin

Becoming a Dynamo Kyiv scoring great and winning the 1975 Ballon d’Or.

Athlete

Denis Law

Becoming Manchester United’s “King” and winning the 1964 Ballon d’Or.

Athlete

Raymond Kopa

Winning three European Cups with Real Madrid and the 1958 Ballon d’Or.

Athlete

Gianni Rivera

Directing Milan’s midfield and becoming the first Italian-born Ballon d’Or winner.

Athlete

Gerd Müller

Scoring the winning goal in the 1974 World Cup final and transforming Bayern Munich’s fortunes.

Athlete

Eusébio

Leading Portugal’s 1966 World Cup run and becoming Benfica’s most celebrated goalscorer.

Athlete

Stanley Matthews

Becoming the first Ballon d’Or winner and playing top-flight football into his fifties.

Athlete

Mike Tyson

Becoming the youngest heavyweight boxing champion at twenty.

Athlete

Neymar

Combining inventive dribbling and scoring for Brazil, Santos and Barcelona.

Athlete

Kylian Mbappé

Winning the 2018 World Cup and scoring a hat-trick in the 2022 final.

Athlete

M. S. Dhoni

Captaining India to the 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy.

Athlete

Stephen Curry

Transforming basketball through exceptional long-range shooting.

Athlete

Naomi Osaka

Winning major tennis titles and becoming the first Asian singles world number one.

Athlete

Manny Pacquiao

Winning boxing world titles across eight weight divisions.

Athlete

Wayne Gretzky

Setting extraordinary NHL scoring records and winning four Stanley Cups.

Athlete

Tom Brady

Winning seven Super Bowls as an NFL quarterback.

Athlete

Don Bradman

Finishing Test cricket with a batting average of 99.94.

Athlete

Ayrton Senna

Winning three Formula One titles and producing landmark wet-weather drives.

Athlete

Lin Dan

Winning two Olympic badminton singles titles and five world championships.

Athlete

Eliud Kipchoge

Winning two Olympic marathons and running a staged marathon distance in under two hours.

Athlete

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce

Winning two Olympic 100-metre titles and five world titles in the event.

Athlete

Mary Kom

Winning six world boxing titles and an Olympic bronze medal.

Athlete

Marta

Winning six FIFA world-player awards and scoring seventeen Women’s World Cup goals.

Athlete

Cathy Freeman

Winning Olympic 400-metre gold in Sydney after lighting the Games’ cauldron.

Athlete

Muttiah Muralitharan

Taking 800 Test wickets, the highest total in the format.

Athlete

Sania Mirza

Becoming doubles world number one and winning six tennis majors.

Athlete

Hakeem Olajuwon

Leading Houston to consecutive NBA championships with exceptional footwork and defence.

Athlete

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Leading Milwaukee to the 2021 NBA championship.

Athlete

Yao Ming

Connecting Chinese basketball with the NBA as an eight-time All-Star.

Athlete

Mohamed Salah

Becoming a prolific Liverpool forward and a leading figure in Egyptian football.

Athlete

Evonne Goolagong Cawley

Winning seven major singles titles with an elegant all-court tennis game.

Athlete

Sam Kerr

Leading Australia’s attack and becoming a major international women’s football scorer.

Athlete

Shaquille O'Neal

Dominating NBA paint scoring and winning four championships.

Athlete

Neeraj Chopra

Winning India’s first Olympic athletics gold with a javelin throw.

Athlete

Sadio Mané

Winning major club titles and helping Senegal claim its first Africa Cup of Nations.

Athlete

Nikola Jokić

Leading Denver to its first NBA championship with exceptional playmaking from centre.

Athlete

Son Heung-min

Becoming a leading South Korean footballer and a Premier League Golden Boot winner.

Athlete

Samuel Eto'o

Winning major European club titles and leading Cameroon’s attack.

Athlete

Mia Hamm

Helping make the United States a leading force in women’s football.

Athlete

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Winning six NBA MVP awards and mastering the skyhook.

Athlete

Magic Johnson

Directing the Lakers’ Showtime era as a championship point guard.

Athlete

Dirk Nowitzki

Leading Dallas to the 2011 NBA championship with a distinctive shooting game.

Athlete

Lisa Leslie

Becoming a foundational WNBA star and the league’s first in-game dunker.

Athlete

Sheryl Swoopes

Helping build the Houston Comets dynasty and the early WNBA.

Athlete

Diana Taurasi

Becoming a prolific WNBA scorer and a six-time Olympic champion.

Athlete

Sue Bird

Guiding Seattle to four WNBA titles as an elite playmaking guard.

Athlete

Candace Parker

Winning WNBA titles with three franchises through a versatile basketball game.

Athlete

A'ja Wilson

Leading Las Vegas to WNBA championships as a dominant two-way player.

Athlete

Viv Richards

Giving dominant West Indies teams an intimidating attacking batter.

Athlete

Brian Lara

Producing monumental cricket innings including 400 not out in a Test.

Athlete

Imran Khan

Captaining Pakistan to its first Cricket World Cup title.

Athlete

Wasim Akram

Mastering left-arm fast bowling and reverse swing.

Athlete

Shane Warne

Reviving the prominence of leg-spin bowling in international cricket.

Athlete

Shakib Al Hasan

Becoming a leading Bangladesh all-rounder across international formats.

Athlete

Mithali Raj

Building a long international batting career and captaining India to World Cup finals.

Athlete

Jhulan Goswami

Leading India’s pace attack across a twenty-year international career.

Athlete

Ellyse Perry

Representing Australia at World Cups in both cricket and football.

Athlete

Hicham El Guerrouj

Winning the Olympic 1500m and 5000m double in Athens.

Athlete

P. V. Sindhu

Becoming India’s first badminton world champion.

Athlete

Jim Thorpe

Excelling in Olympic combined events and professional team sports.

Athlete

Li Na

Becoming the first Asian-born major singles champion in tennis.

Athlete

Luis Suárez

Becoming a prolific striker for Uruguay and major European clubs.

Athlete

Duke Kahanamoku

Winning Olympic swimming gold and spreading surfing internationally.

Athlete

Larry Bird

Leading the Boston Celtics to three NBA championships.

Athlete

Saina Nehwal

Winning India’s first Olympic badminton medal.

Athlete

Roberto Carlos

Combining explosive attacking runs with powerful left-footed shooting.

Athlete

Niki Lauda

Winning three Formula One titles and returning after a near-fatal crash.

Athlete

Jonah Lomu

Transforming expectations of a rugby wing through exceptional size and speed.

Athlete

Kevin Durant

Becoming an exceptional NBA scorer and a two-time Finals MVP.

Athlete

Lee Chong Wei

Becoming a long-standing world number one in badminton.

Athlete

Cafu

Captaining Brazil to the 2002 World Cup title.

Athlete

Allen Iverson

Carrying Philadelphia to the 2001 NBA Finals with fearless scoring.

Athlete

Haile Gebrselassie

Winning Olympic distance titles before breaking marathon records.

Athlete

Yuzuru Hanyu

Winning consecutive Olympic men’s figure-skating titles.

Athlete

Meg Lanning

Captaining Australia through a dominant era in women’s cricket.

Athlete

Steffi Graf

Winning all four tennis majors and Olympic singles gold in one year.

Athlete

Martina Navratilova

Winning eighteen major singles titles and an extraordinary doubles record.

Athlete

Venus Williams

Winning seven major singles titles and helping advance equal prize money.

Athlete

Arthur Ashe

Winning major tennis titles while challenging racial barriers.

Athlete

Rod Laver

Completing tennis’s calendar Grand Slam twice.

Athlete

Pete Sampras

Winning fourteen major singles titles with a dominant serve-and-volley game.

Athlete

Carlos Alcaraz

Becoming the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam.

Athlete

Jesse Owens

Winning four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Athlete

Carl Lewis

Winning nine Olympic gold medals in sprinting and long jump.

Athlete

Abebe Bikila

Winning consecutive Olympic marathons, the first barefoot.

Athlete

Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Excelling in both the heptathlon and long jump.

Athlete

Florence Griffith Joyner

Setting the women’s 100m and 200m world records in 1988.

Athlete

Allyson Felix

Winning eleven Olympic medals across a long sprinting career.

Athlete

Faith Kipyegon

Winning three consecutive Olympic 1500m titles.

Athlete

Wilma Rudolph

Winning three sprint gold medals at the 1960 Olympics.

Athlete

Yulimar Rojas

Raising the standard in women’s triple jump.

Athlete

Sugar Ray Robinson

Setting a lasting benchmark for all-round boxing excellence.

Athlete

Joe Louis

Holding the world heavyweight boxing title from 1937 to 1949.

Athlete

Joe Frazier

Beating Muhammad Ali in their first heavyweight championship fight.

Athlete

George Foreman

Regaining a world heavyweight title at forty-five.

Athlete

Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Winning world boxing titles across five weight divisions.

Athlete

Roberto Durán

Winning boxing world titles from lightweight to middleweight.

Athlete

Julio César Chávez

Becoming a major Mexican boxing champion through sustained pressure and body punching.

Athlete

Canelo Álvarez

Becoming the first undisputed super-middleweight champion in the four-belt era.

Athlete

Katie Taylor

Winning Olympic boxing gold and undisputed professional titles.

Athlete

Claressa Shields

Winning consecutive Olympic boxing golds and professional championships.

Athlete

Laila Ali

Building an undefeated professional boxing career.

Athlete

Jack Nicklaus

Winning 18 professional major golf championships.

Athlete

Arnold Palmer

Helping turn professional golf into a mass television attraction.

Athlete

Gary Player

Completing golf’s career Grand Slam.

Athlete

Seve Ballesteros

Winning five majors and transforming Europe’s Ryder Cup presence.

Athlete

Rory McIlroy

Completing the career Grand Slam with the 2025 Masters.

Athlete

Hideki Matsuyama

Becoming the first Japanese man to win a major golf championship.

Athlete

Vijay Singh

Winning three golf majors and reaching world number one.

Athlete

Annika Sörenstam

Winning ten golf majors and shooting a historic 59.

Athlete

Patty Berg

Winning 15 women’s golf majors and helping found the LPGA.

Athlete

Mickey Wright

Winning 13 major golf championships.

Athlete

Nancy Lopez

Winning five consecutive LPGA tournaments in her rookie season.

Athlete

Se Ri Pak

Winning the 1998 US Women’s Open and inspiring a generation of Korean golfers.

Athlete

Inbee Park

Winning seven golf majors and Olympic gold.

Athlete

Lorena Ochoa

Becoming the world’s top-ranked woman golfer.

Athlete

Juan Manuel Fangio

Winning five Formula One world championships with four teams.

Athlete

Alain Prost

Winning four Formula One world championships.

Athlete

Max Verstappen

Winning four consecutive Formula One championships from 2021 to 2024.

Athlete

Mark Spitz

Winning seven swimming golds at the 1972 Olympics.

Athlete

Nadia Comăneci

Scoring the first perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics.

Athlete

Babe Ruth

Transforming baseball through record-breaking home-run hitting.

Athlete

Jerry Rice

Setting extraordinary NFL receiving records.

Athlete

Richie McCaw

Captaining New Zealand to consecutive Rugby World Cup titles.

Athlete

Gordie Howe

Sustaining an elite ice-hockey career across decades.

Athlete

Taufik Hidayat

Winning Olympic and world badminton singles titles.

Athlete

Ma Long

Winning consecutive Olympic table-tennis singles titles.

Athlete

Karch Kiraly

Winning Olympic volleyball gold indoors and on the beach.

Athlete

Eddy Merckx

Winning across cycling’s Grand Tours and one-day classics.

Athlete

Aleksandr Karelin

Dominating heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestling across three Olympics.

Athlete

Anderson Silva

Holding the UFC middleweight title from 2006 to 2013.

Athlete

Fernando Alonso

Winning Formula One titles and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Athlete

Ian Thorpe

Winning five Olympic swimming gold medals.

Athlete

Larisa Latynina

Winning 18 Olympic gymnastics medals.

Athlete

Jackie Robinson

Breaking Major League Baseball’s modern colour barrier in 1947.

Athlete

Jim Brown

Leading the NFL in rushing in eight of his nine seasons.

Athlete

Dan Carter

Becoming a record-scoring international rugby fly-half.

Athlete

Bobby Orr

Redefining attacking play from ice hockey’s defence.

Athlete

Rudy Hartono

Winning eight All England badminton singles titles.

Athlete

Jan-Ove Waldner

Winning table tennis’s Olympic, world and World Cup singles titles.

Athlete

Giba

Helping Brazil win three consecutive volleyball world championships.

Athlete

Bernard Hinault

Winning five Tours de France and ten Grand Tours.

Athlete

Buvaisar Saitiev

Winning three Olympic freestyle wrestling titles.

Athlete

Georges St-Pierre

Winning UFC championships at welterweight and middleweight.

Athlete

Sebastian Vettel

Winning four consecutive Formula One titles from 2010 to 2013.

Athlete

Johnny Weissmuller

Winning Olympic swimming gold before becoming cinema’s Tarzan.

Athlete

Věra Čáslavská

Winning seven Olympic gymnastics golds and protesting the 1968 invasion.

Athlete

Willie Mays

Combining exceptional hitting, running and outfield defence.

Athlete

Walter Payton

Becoming one of the NFL’s most prolific running backs.

Athlete

Siya Kolisi

Captaining South Africa to the 2019 and 2023 Rugby World Cups.

Athlete

Mario Lemieux

Leading and later helping save the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Athlete

Kento Momota

Winning consecutive badminton world singles titles.

Athlete

Liu Guoliang

Winning table tennis’s major singles titles before coaching China.

Athlete

Lang Ping

Winning Olympic volleyball gold as a player and coach.

Athlete

Miguel Indurain

Winning five consecutive Tours de France.

Athlete

Aleksandr Medved

Winning three Olympic freestyle wrestling gold medals.

Athlete

Jon Jones

Becoming the UFC’s youngest champion and winning in two divisions.

Athlete

Valentino Rossi

Winning nine motorcycle Grand Prix world championships.

Athlete

Dawn Fraser

Winning the Olympic 100m freestyle at three consecutive Games.

Athlete

Olga Korbut

Bringing daring acrobatics to Olympic gymnastics.

Athlete

Hank Aaron

Breaking Babe Ruth’s career home-run record.

Athlete

Joe Montana

Quarterbacking San Francisco to four Super Bowl victories.

Athlete

Bryan Habana

Scoring tries at exceptional speed for South Africa.

Athlete

Sidney Crosby

Leading Pittsburgh to Stanley Cups and scoring Canada’s 2010 golden goal.

Athlete

Viktor Axelsen

Winning consecutive Olympic badminton singles titles.

Athlete

Kong Linghui

Completing table tennis’s career singles Grand Slam.

Athlete

Zhu Ting

Leading China’s attack during its 2016 Olympic volleyball victory.

Athlete

Greg LeMond

Winning the Tour de France by eight seconds in 1989.

Athlete

Dan Gable

Winning Olympic wrestling gold without conceding a point.

Athlete

Khabib Nurmagomedov

Retiring from MMA with 29 wins and no defeats.

Athlete

Marc Márquez

Winning MotoGP titles through aggressive, highly skilled riding.

Athlete

Ryan Lochte

Winning twelve Olympic swimming medals.

Athlete

Gabby Douglas

Becoming the first Black Olympic gymnastics all-around champion.

Athlete

Roberto Clemente

Combining baseball excellence with humanitarian work.

Athlete

Peyton Manning

Winning five NFL MVP awards and Super Bowls with two teams.

Athlete

Gareth Edwards

Driving Wales’s celebrated rugby teams of the 1960s and 1970s.

Athlete

Alexander Ovechkin

Breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL regular-season goals record.

Athlete

Peter Gade

Combining deceptive badminton shots with sustained European success.

Athlete

Wang Liqin

Winning three table-tennis world singles championships.

Athlete

Mireya Luis

Captaining Cuba’s dominant women’s volleyball team.

Athlete

Tadej Pogačar

Winning Grand Tours, one-day classics and world championships.

Athlete

Saori Yoshida

Winning thirteen wrestling world titles and three Olympic golds.

Athlete

Conor McGregor

Holding UFC titles in two weight divisions simultaneously.

Athlete

Sébastien Loeb

Winning nine consecutive World Rally Championships.

Athlete

Adam Peaty

Redefining speed in the 100m breaststroke.

Athlete

Sunisa Lee

Winning Olympic gymnastics all-around gold in Tokyo.

Athlete

Shohei Ohtani

Excelling as both a major-league pitcher and hitter.

Athlete

Patrick Mahomes

Leading Kansas City to three Super Bowl victories.

Athlete

Jonny Wilkinson

Kicking England’s winning drop goal in the 2003 Rugby World Cup final.

Athlete

Jaromír Jágr

Combining prolific NHL scoring with extraordinary longevity.

Athlete

Susi Susanti

Winning Indonesia’s first Olympic gold medal.

Athlete

Zhang Jike

Completing table tennis’s career Grand Slam in 445 days.

Athlete

Regla Torres

Winning three Olympic volleyball gold medals with Cuba.

Athlete

Chris Froome

Winning all three of cycling’s Grand Tours.

Athlete

Jordan Burroughs

Winning Olympic wrestling gold and six world titles.

Athlete

Fedor Emelianenko

Dominating heavyweight MMA during the Pride era.

Athlete

Michèle Mouton

Becoming the first woman to win a World Rally Championship event.

Athlete

Kosuke Kitajima

Winning both Olympic breaststroke distances at consecutive Games.

Athlete

Rebeca Andrade

Winning Olympic gymnastics gold for Brazil.

Athlete

Ichiro Suzuki

Bringing record-setting contact hitting from Japan to Major League Baseball.

Athlete

Lawrence Taylor

Changing NFL pass rushing from the outside-linebacker position.

Athlete

Brian O'Driscoll

Combining creative centre play with leadership of Irish rugby.

Athlete

Dominik Hašek

Winning Olympic hockey gold through exceptional goaltending.

Athlete

Liliyana Natsir

Winning Olympic mixed-doubles badminton gold.

Athlete

Xu Xin

Combining inventive penhold play with major doubles and team titles.

Athlete

Kerri Walsh Jennings

Winning three Olympic beach volleyball golds with Misty May-Treanor.

Athlete

Egan Bernal

Becoming the first Latin American Tour de France winner.

Athlete

Abdulrashid Sadulaev

Winning Olympic freestyle wrestling titles at two weights.

Athlete

Demetrious Johnson

Defending the UFC flyweight title eleven consecutive times.

Athlete

Danica Patrick

Becoming the first woman to win an IndyCar race.

Athlete

Katie Ledecky

Dominating women’s distance freestyle swimming.

Athlete

Oksana Chusovitina

Competing in eight Olympic Games as a gymnast.

Athlete

Sadaharu Oh

Hitting 868 career home runs in Japanese professional baseball.

Athlete

Reggie White

Becoming one of the NFL’s most productive pass rushers.

Athlete

Serge Blanco

Bringing adventurous attacking play to French rugby.

Athlete

Vladislav Tretiak

Backstopping the Soviet Union to three Olympic hockey titles.

Athlete

Zhang Ning

Winning consecutive Olympic women’s badminton singles titles.

Athlete

Fan Zhendong

Completing table tennis’s career Grand Slam with Paris Olympic gold.

Athlete

P. T. Usha

Becoming one of India’s leading sprinters and hurdlers.

Athlete

Caster Semenya

Winning two Olympic 800m titles.

Athlete

Kipchoge Keino

Helping establish Kenya as a force in international distance running.

Athlete

Lella Lombardi

Becoming the first woman to score in the Formula One World Championship.

Athlete

Shane Gould

Winning five individual swimming medals at the 1972 Olympics.

Athlete

Kristin Otto

Winning six swimming gold medals at the 1988 Olympics.

Athlete

Simone Manuel

Becoming the first Black American woman to win individual Olympic swimming gold.

Athlete

Katinka Hosszú

Winning three Olympic gold medals and dominating individual medley swimming.

Athlete

Kirsty Coventry

Winning seven Olympic swimming medals for Zimbabwe.

Athlete

Kōhei Uchimura

Winning eight consecutive world and Olympic all-around titles.

Athlete

Sawao Kato

Winning eight Olympic gymnastics gold medals.

Athlete

Kenenisa Bekele

Winning Olympic distance golds and eleven senior world cross-country titles.

Athlete

Li Ning

Winning three gymnastics golds at the 1984 Olympics.

Athlete

Daiki Hashimoto

Winning Olympic all-around and horizontal-bar gold at nineteen.

Athlete

Carlos Yulo

Winning the Philippines’ first two Olympic gymnastics golds.

Athlete

Pedro Martínez

Dominating major-league hitters with a fastball, curve and changeup.

Athlete

Mariano Rivera

Saving 652 major-league games with his signature cut fastball.

Athlete

Fernando Valenzuela

Sparking Fernandomania with his extraordinary 1981 rookie season.

Athlete

Albert Pujols

Combining 700 home runs with more than 3,000 major-league hits.

Athlete

Satchel Paige

Bringing legendary Negro-league pitching to the majors at forty-two.

Athlete

Josh Gibson

Establishing an extraordinary batting record in the Negro leagues.

Athlete

Mutaz Essa Barshim

Sharing Olympic high-jump gold and winning three world titles.

Athlete

Deion Sanders

Playing in both a Super Bowl and a World Series.

Athlete

Barry Sanders

Turning elusive running into four NFL rushing titles.

Athlete

Emmitt Smith

Setting the NFL career rushing record with 18,355 yards.

Athlete

Johnny Unitas

Leading Baltimore’s sudden-death victory in the 1958 NFL Championship.

Athlete

Aaron Rodgers

Winning four NFL MVP awards as Green Bay’s quarterback.

Athlete

Antoine Dupont

Bringing world-class scrum-half play to fifteen-a-side and sevens rugby.

Athlete

Portia Woodman-Wickliffe

Scoring prolifically in both forms of international rugby.

Athlete

Sarah Hunter

Becoming England’s most-capped rugby player.

Athlete

Maggie Alphonsi

Helping England win the 2014 Women’s Rugby World Cup.

Athlete

Emily Scarratt

Scoring sixteen points in England’s 2014 World Cup final victory.

Athlete

Phaidra Knight

Earning international recognition at both prop and flanker.

Athlete

Hayley Wickenheiser

Winning four consecutive Olympic hockey gold medals.

Athlete

Marie-Philip Poulin

Scoring the winning goals in three Olympic hockey finals.

Athlete

Angela Ruggiero

Anchoring the United States defence across four Olympic medal campaigns.

Athlete

Hilary Knight

Becoming a prolific scorer in women’s world championship hockey.

Athlete

Caroline Ouellette

Winning Olympic hockey gold at four consecutive Games.

Athlete

Willie O'Ree

Breaking the NHL’s colour barrier in 1958.

Athlete

Carolina Marín

Winning Olympic gold and three world badminton singles titles.

Athlete

Tai Tzu-ying

Combining deceptive badminton with long spells at world number one.

Athlete

An Se-young

Winning world and Olympic badminton singles titles.

Athlete

Deng Yaping

Winning singles and doubles gold at two consecutive Olympics.

Athlete

Fermín Cacho

Winning the Olympic 1500m title in Barcelona.

Athlete

Wang Nan

Winning Olympic gold and three consecutive world singles titles.

Athlete

Ding Ning

Completing table tennis’s singles Grand Slam with Rio Olympic gold.

Athlete

Liu Shiwen

Winning five women’s table tennis World Cups.

Athlete

Chen Meng

Winning Olympic table tennis singles gold in Tokyo and Paris.

Athlete

Sun Yingsha

Winning world singles and Olympic mixed doubles table tennis titles.

Athlete

Misty May-Treanor

Winning three consecutive Olympic beach volleyball titles with Kerri Walsh Jennings.

Athlete

Kim Yeon-koung

Winning Olympic volleyball MVP despite her team finishing fourth.

Athlete

Paola Egonu

Leading Italy to its first Olympic volleyball gold.

Athlete

Tijana Bošković

Leading Serbia to consecutive women’s volleyball world titles.

Athlete

Saeid Marouf

Directing Iran’s rise in international volleyball as its setter.

Athlete

Ivan Zaytsev

Powering Italy to Olympic volleyball medals with his serving and attack.

Athlete

Wilfredo León

Combining explosive volleyball serving with titles for European clubs and Poland.

Athlete

Yuji Nishida

Bringing explosive left-handed hitting and serving to Japan’s volleyball team.

Athlete

Richard Carapaz

Becoming Ecuador’s first Grand Tour champion.

Athlete

Biniam Girmay

Winning the Tour de France green jersey in 2024.

Athlete

Marianne Vos

Winning world titles across road, track and cyclo-cross.

Athlete

Annemiek van Vleuten

Winning the inaugural Tour de France Femmes in 2022.

Athlete

Jeannie Longo

Winning thirteen world cycling titles across a long career.

Athlete

Anna Meares

Winning Olympic track medals at four consecutive Games.

Athlete

Laura Kenny

Winning five Olympic cycling gold medals.

Athlete

Victoria Pendleton

Winning Olympic sprint and keirin cycling titles.

Athlete

Nawal El Moutawakel

Winning the first Olympic women’s 400-metre hurdles title.

Athlete

Hamid Sourian

Winning Iran’s first Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling gold.

Athlete

Mijaín López

Winning five consecutive Olympic wrestling gold medals.

Athlete

Kaori Icho

Winning four consecutive Olympic wrestling titles.

Athlete

Helen Maroulis

Winning the first US women’s Olympic wrestling gold.

Athlete

Sakshi Malik

Becoming India’s first woman to win an Olympic wrestling medal.

Athlete

Vinesh Phogat

Winning Asian and Commonwealth Games wrestling golds.

Athlete

Yui Susaki

Winning Olympic wrestling gold without conceding a point.

Athlete

José Aldo

Defending the UFC featherweight title seven times.

Athlete

Amanda Nunes

Holding and defending UFC titles in two weight divisions.

Athlete

Ronda Rousey

Becoming the UFC’s inaugural women’s champion.

Athlete

Valentina Shevchenko

Building a dominant UFC flyweight championship reign.

Athlete

Zhang Weili

Becoming the first Chinese UFC champion.

Athlete

Cris Cyborg

Winning featherweight titles across major MMA promotions.

Athlete

Rose Namajunas

Winning the UFC strawweight championship twice.

Athlete

Israel Adesanya

Winning the UFC middleweight championship twice.

Athlete

Tegla Loroupe

Becoming the first African woman to hold the marathon world record.

Athlete

Derartu Tulu

Winning two Olympic 10,000-metre titles.

Athlete

Xavi

Dictating midfield for Barcelona and Spain through an era of World Cup, European Championship and Champions League victories.

Athlete

Andrés Iniesta

Scoring Spain’s winning goal in the 2010 World Cup final and shaping Barcelona’s great midfield.

Athlete

Gianluigi Buffon

Keeping goal for Italy’s 2006 World Cup winners and Juventus across two decades.

Athlete

Paolo Maldini

Spending his entire playing career at AC Milan and winning five European Cups.

Athlete

Franco Baresi

Captaining AC Milan’s great defence through three European Cup victories.

Athlete

Thierry Henry

Becoming Arsenal’s record goalscorer and leading the attack of its unbeaten 2003–04 league team.

Athlete

Dennis Bergkamp

Bringing exceptional control and inventive finishing to Ajax, the Netherlands and Arsenal.

Athlete

Gabriel Batistuta

Scoring prolifically for Argentina and becoming Fiorentina’s enduring centre-forward icon.

Athlete

Gheorghe Hagi

Leading Romania’s 1994 World Cup run with visionary passing and spectacular left-footed goals.

Athlete

Hristo Stoichkov

Winning the Ballon d’Or after powering Bulgaria to the 1994 World Cup semi-finals.

Athlete

Birgit Prinz

Winning two World Cups with Germany and three consecutive FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year awards.

Athlete

Abby Wambach

Scoring 184 international goals and winning a World Cup and two Olympic gold medals with the United States.

Athlete

Christine Sinclair

Scoring 190 international goals and captaining Canada to Olympic football gold.

Athlete

Michelle Akers

Scoring ten goals at the first Women’s World Cup and helping the United States win again in 1999.

Athlete

Homare Sawa

Captaining Japan to the 2011 Women’s World Cup while winning its Golden Ball and Golden Boot.

Athlete

Formiga

Playing in seven Women’s World Cups and seven Olympic football tournaments.

Athlete

Chris Evert

Winning 18 major singles titles with relentless baseline consistency.

Athlete

Monica Seles

Winning nine major singles titles, including a comeback Australian Open after an on-court attack.

Athlete

Martina Hingis

Becoming a teenage world number one before building a second championship career in doubles.

Athlete

Björn Borg

Winning five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Opens.

Athlete

Andre Agassi

Completing the career Grand Slam and winning Olympic singles gold.

Athlete

Jimmy Connors

Winning eight major singles titles and sustaining one of tennis’s longest elite careers.

Athlete

John McEnroe

Combining seven major singles titles with exceptional doubles success and a fiercely confrontational on-court personality.

Athlete

Pancho Gonzales

Dominating professional tennis in the years when paid players were barred from the Grand Slam tournaments.

Athlete

Ken Rosewall

Winning major titles across the amateur, professional and Open eras with an exceptional backhand.

Athlete

Romário

Leading Brazil to the 1994 World Cup title with five goals and the tournament’s Golden Ball.

Athlete

Ivan Lendl

Winning eight Grand Slam singles titles and helping establish the power-baseline style of modern tennis.

Athlete

Kapil Dev

Captaining India to its first Cricket World Cup title in 1983.

Athlete

Emil Zátopek

Winning the 5,000 metres, 10,000 metres and marathon at the same Olympics in 1952.

Athlete

Bill Russell

Winning 11 NBA championships with the Boston Celtics and transforming basketball through defence.

Athlete

Pieter van den Hoogenband

Winning the 100- and 200-metre freestyle Olympic titles in Sydney and defending the 100-metre title in Athens.

Athlete

Bobby Jones

Completing golf’s original Grand Slam in 1930 and co-founding the Masters Tournament.

Athlete

Jackie Stewart

Winning three Formula One world titles and campaigning to make motor racing safer.

Athlete

Jack Johnson

Becoming the first Black world heavyweight boxing champion in 1908.

Athlete

Ted Williams

Batting .406 in 1941 and becoming one of baseball’s most accomplished hitters.

Athlete

Dan Marino

Transforming NFL passing with a 5,084-yard, 48-touchdown season for Miami in 1984.

Athlete

David Campese

Helping Australia win the 1991 Rugby World Cup with daring running and six tournament tries.

Athlete

Maurice Richard

Becoming the first NHL player to score 50 goals in a season and 500 in a career.

Athlete

Fausto Coppi

Becoming the first cyclist to win the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France in the same year.

Athlete

Max Whitlock

Winning Britain’s first Olympic artistic gymnastics gold and then a second gold on the same day in 2016.

Athlete

Hendra Setiawan

Winning Olympic badminton gold and four men’s doubles world titles with two different partners.

Athlete

Jörgen Persson

Winning the 1991 table tennis world singles title and representing Sweden at seven Olympic Games.

Athlete

Lorenzo Bernardi

Helping Italy win two volleyball world titles and being jointly named the FIVB’s male Player of the Century.

Athlete

Bruce Baumgartner

Winning four Olympic wrestling medals, including super-heavyweight gold in 1984 and 1992.

Athlete

Daniel Cormier

Holding the UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight championships at the same time.

Athlete

Tadahiro Nomura

Winning three consecutive Olympic judo titles in the 60 kg division.

Chess player

Garry Kasparov

Holding the classical world chess title from 1985 to 2000.

Athlete

Megan Rapinoe

Winning two Women’s World Cups and the 2019 Ballon d’Or.

Athlete

Althea Gibson

Breaking tennis’s racial barriers while winning five major singles titles.

Athlete

Charlotte Edwards

Captaining England to both women’s world cricket titles in 2009.

Athlete

Maria Mutola

Winning Olympic gold and three outdoor world titles in the 800 metres.

Athlete

Lauren Jackson

Winning three WNBA MVP awards and leading Australia to the 2006 world title.

Athlete

Penny Heyns

Winning both women’s Olympic breaststroke events in 1996.

Athlete

Karrie Webb

Winning seven major golf championships and completing the career Grand Slam.

Athlete

Shirley Muldowney

Becoming the first woman to win an NHRA Top Fuel championship.

Athlete

Cecilia Brækhus

Becoming the first woman to hold boxing’s four major world titles at once.

Athlete

Lou Gehrig

Combining extraordinary power hitting with 2,130 consecutive major-league games.

Athlete

Drew Brees

Quarterbacking the New Orleans Saints to their first Super Bowl title.

Athlete

Jessy Trémoulière

Winning World Rugby’s women’s player award in 2018 and its player-of-the-decade vote.

Athlete

Jayna Hefford

Winning four consecutive Olympic hockey gold medals with Canada.

Athlete

Kristina Vogel

Winning two Olympic track-cycling titles and eleven world championships.

Athlete

Svetlana Khorkina

Winning three world all-around titles and two Olympic uneven-bars golds.

Athlete

Li Xuerui

Winning the 2012 Olympic women’s badminton singles title.

Athlete

Hyun Jung-hwa

Winning Olympic doubles gold and world titles in all four table-tennis disciplines.

Athlete

Yekaterina Gamova

Helping Russia win two volleyball world titles as a dominant attacker.

Athlete

Risako Kawai

Winning Olympic wrestling gold at two different weight classes.

Athlete

Joanna Jędrzejczyk

Winning the UFC strawweight title and defending it five times.

Athlete

Ryoko Tani

Winning judo medals at five consecutive Olympics, including two golds.

Chess player

Judit Polgár

Reaching the world’s top ten in open chess competition.

Athlete

Roberto Baggio

Winning the Ballon d’Or and inspiring Italy’s run to the 1994 World Cup final.

Athlete

Stefan Edberg

Winning six major singles titles with precision serve-and-volley tennis.

Athlete

Sunil Gavaskar

Becoming the first batter to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket.

Athlete

Paavo Nurmi

Winning nine Olympic gold medals in distance running.

Athlete

Wilt Chamberlain

Scoring 100 points in a single NBA game.

Athlete

Alexander Popov

Winning the Olympic 50 m and 100 m freestyle double twice.

Athlete

Ben Hogan

Winning nine golf majors, including three in 1953 after a devastating car crash.

Athlete

Jim Clark

Winning Formula One titles and the Indianapolis 500 in the same career.

Athlete

Rocky Marciano

Retiring as heavyweight boxing champion with a 49–0 professional record.

Athlete

Mickey Mantle

Winning seven World Series with the Yankees and the 1956 batting Triple Crown.

Athlete

Terry Bradshaw

Quarterbacking the Pittsburgh Steelers to four Super Bowl victories.

Athlete

Johnny Sexton

Winning rugby’s world player award and leading Ireland to a Grand Slam.

Athlete

Jean Béliveau

Winning ten Stanley Cups as a Montreal Canadiens player.

Athlete

Gino Bartali

Winning the Tour de France twice, with ten years between victories.

Athlete

Zou Kai

Winning five Olympic gymnastics gold medals across Beijing and London.

Athlete

Mohammad Ahsan

Winning three badminton world doubles titles with Hendra Setiawan.

Athlete

Timo Boll

Becoming a world number one in table tennis and a mainstay of Germany’s Olympic teams.

Athlete

Andrea Giani

Winning three successive volleyball world championships with Italy.

Athlete

Kurt Angle

Winning Olympic wrestling gold before becoming a major professional wrestling performer.

Athlete

Stipe Miocic

Winning the UFC heavyweight championship twice and setting a divisional title-defence record.

Athlete

Teddy Riner

Winning three individual Olympic judo gold medals and a record series of world titles.

Chess player

Anatoly Karpov

Holding the world chess championship and mastering positional play.

Athlete

Alex Morgan

Winning two football World Cups with the United States and becoming a leading voice for equal pay.

Athlete

Maureen Connolly

Becoming the first woman to win all four major tennis singles titles in one calendar year.

Athlete

Suzie Bates

Leading New Zealand’s batting across two decades and winning the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup.

Athlete

Julien Alfred

Winning Saint Lucia’s first Olympic medal with gold in the women’s 100 metres at Paris 2024.

Athlete

Dawn Staley

Winning Olympic basketball gold as both a player and a head coach.

Athlete

Inge de Bruijn

Winning four Olympic swimming titles in sprint freestyle and butterfly.

Athlete

Juli Inkster

Winning seven major golf championships and completing the LPGA career Grand Slam.

Athlete

Emerson Fittipaldi

Winning world championships in Formula One and American IndyCar racing.

Athlete

Amanda Serrano

Winning boxing world titles in seven weight divisions.

Athlete

Sandy Koufax

Dominating baseball with three Cy Young Awards and a perfect game for the Dodgers.

Athlete

Roger Staubach

Quarterbacking the Dallas Cowboys to two Super Bowl victories.

Athlete

Kendra Cocksedge

Winning three Rugby World Cups with the Black Ferns.

Athlete

Hege Riise

Winning the World Cup, European Championship and Olympic football gold with Norway.

Athlete

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot

Winning world titles across cycling disciplines and Olympic mountain-bike gold.

Athlete

Shannon Miller

The gymnast who won seven Olympic medals, including two golds at Atlanta 1996.

Athlete

Ratchanok Intanon

The badminton player who became Thailand’s first world champion in 2013, aged 18.

Athlete

Li Xiaoxia

The table tennis champion who won the Olympics, World Championships and World Cup in women’s singles.

Athlete

Sheilla Castro

The volleyball attacker who helped Brazil win consecutive Olympic gold medals in 2008 and 2012.

Athlete

Tamyra Mensah-Stock

The wrestler who won Olympic gold at Tokyo and became the first Black American woman to do so in the sport.

Athlete

Holly Holm

The boxer and mixed martial artist who knocked out Ronda Rousey to win the UFC bantamweight title.

Athlete

Clarisse Agbegnenou

The French judoka who combined repeated world titles with Olympic individual and team gold.

Chess player

Hou Yifan

The chess grandmaster who became the youngest women’s world champion at sixteen.

Athlete

Garrincha

The dazzling winger who helped Brazil win the 1958 and 1962 World Cups.

Athlete

Mats Wilander

The seven-time major tennis champion who won three Grand Slam singles titles in 1988.

Athlete

Ricky Ponting

The Australian batting great who captained two Cricket World Cup-winning teams.

Athlete

Sebastian Coe

The middle-distance runner who won consecutive Olympic 1500-metre titles and later led London’s 2012 Games.

Athlete

Tim Duncan

The five-time NBA champion who anchored the San Antonio Spurs for nineteen seasons.

Athlete

Grant Hackett

The swimmer who won consecutive Olympic 1500-metre freestyle titles and dominated distance swimming.

Athlete

Lee Trevino

The six-time major golf champion known for inventive shot-making and an unconventional swing.

Athlete

Jack Brabham

The Formula One champion who won the 1966 title driving a car bearing his own name.

Athlete

Lennox Lewis

The Olympic gold medallist who became undisputed heavyweight boxing champion.

Athlete

Ken Griffey Jr.

The baseball star whose 630 home runs and spectacular centre-field defence made him a defining player of his generation.

Athlete

Steve Young

The San Francisco quarterback who won two NFL MVP awards and threw six touchdown passes in Super Bowl XXIX.

Athlete

Michael Jones

The dynamic flanker who scored the first try of the inaugural Rugby World Cup and helped New Zealand win it.

Athlete

Patrick Roy

Winning four Stanley Cups and three playoff MVP awards as a goaltender.

Athlete

Peter Sagan

Winning three consecutive road world titles and seven Tour de France points classifications.

Athlete

Yang Wei

Winning the 2008 Olympic gymnastics all-around title and consecutive world all-around championships.

Athlete

Lee Yong-dae

Winning Olympic badminton mixed-doubles gold and reaching the top with multiple partners.

Athlete

Ryu Seung-min

Winning Olympic table-tennis singles gold in Athens in 2004.

Athlete

Sergey Tetyukhin

Winning four Olympic volleyball medals across six Games, including London gold.

Athlete

Valentin Yordanov

Winning seven freestyle wrestling world titles and Olympic gold in 1996.

Athlete

Francis Ngannou

Winning the UFC heavyweight championship after a journey from Cameroon to professional fighting.

Athlete

Steve Redgrave

Winning rowing gold at five consecutive Olympic Games.

Chess player

José Raúl Capablanca

Winning the world chess championship and mastering apparently simple positions.

Athlete

Carli Lloyd

Scoring decisive World Cup and Olympic goals for the United States.

Athlete

Maria Bueno

Winning seven major singles titles and a calendar-year women’s doubles Grand Slam.

Athlete

Alyssa Healy

Winning major cricket titles as Australia’s attacking wicketkeeper-batter.

Athlete

Tirunesh Dibaba

Winning three Olympic gold medals in distance running.

Athlete

Tamika Catchings

Leading the Indiana Fever to a WNBA title and winning four Olympic gold medals.

Athlete

Sarah Sjöström

Winning Olympic sprint titles in both butterfly and freestyle.

Athlete

Yani Tseng

Becoming the youngest golfer to win five major championships.

Athlete

Giacomo Agostini

Winning fifteen motorcycle Grand Prix world championships.

Athlete

Nicola Adams

Becoming the first woman to win an Olympic boxing gold medal.

Athlete

David Ortiz

Delivering clutch hits and three World Series titles for the Boston Red Sox.

Athlete

LaDainian Tomlinson

Scoring 31 touchdowns in the 2006 NFL season and becoming the league’s Most Valuable Player.

Athlete

Kelly Brazier

Winning rugby world titles in both sevens and the fifteen-a-side game.

Athlete

Riikka Sallinen

Winning Olympic ice-hockey medals twenty years apart for Finland.

Athlete

Mark Cavendish

Winning a record 35 stages of the Tour de France.

Athlete

Aly Raisman

Captaining two Olympic champion US gymnastics teams and winning six Olympic medals.

Athlete

Nozomi Okuhara

Winning Japan’s first women’s singles badminton world title after an epic final in 2017.

Athlete

Feng Tianwei

Helping Singapore defeat China for the 2010 women’s world team table-tennis title.

Athlete

Saori Kimura

Helping Japan win Olympic volleyball bronze at London 2012.

Athlete

Hassan Yazdani

Winning Olympic freestyle wrestling gold and three world titles.

Athlete

Kamaru Usman

Becoming the UFC’s first Nigerian-born champion.

Athlete

Elisabeta Lipă

Winning five Olympic rowing gold medals across a twenty-year span.

Chess player

Nona Gaprindashvili

Becoming the first woman awarded the unrestricted grandmaster title.

Athlete

George Best

Winning the Ballon d’Or and helping Manchester United become European champions in 1968.

Athlete

Boris Becker

Winning Wimbledon at seventeen as an unseeded player.

Athlete

Kumar Sangakkara

Scoring more than 12,000 Test runs and helping Sri Lanka win the 2014 World T20.

Athlete

Daley Thompson

Winning consecutive Olympic decathlon titles in 1980 and 1984.

Athlete

Steve Nash

Winning back-to-back NBA MVP awards while directing the Phoenix Suns’ fast-paced offence.

Athlete

Dara Torres

Winning twelve Olympic swimming medals across five Games, including three silvers at forty-one.

Athlete

Ernie Els

Winning four major golf championships with the fluid swing that earned him the nickname The Big Easy.

Athlete

Mick Doohan

Winning five consecutive 500cc motorcycle world championships.

Athlete

Oleksandr Usyk

Becoming undisputed world champion at both cruiserweight and heavyweight.

Athlete

Miguel Cabrera

Winning baseball’s 2012 batting Triple Crown.

Athlete

Ray Lewis

Leading the Baltimore Ravens’ defence to two Super Bowl titles.

Athlete

Shane Williams

Wales’ record try scorer and the 2008 world rugby player of the year.

Athlete

Nicklas Lidström

Detroit Red Wings defender who won four Stanley Cups and seven Norris Trophies.

Athlete

Fabian Cancellara

Two-time Olympic time-trial champion and a master of cycling’s cobbled classics.

Athlete

Nastia Liukin

The 2008 Olympic all-around gymnastics champion, who won five medals in Beijing.

Athlete

Akane Yamaguchi

Winning three badminton world singles titles with exceptional court coverage and defensive skill.

Athlete

Yoo Nam-kyu

Winning the first Olympic men’s singles table tennis title in Seoul in 1988.

Athlete

Bartosz Kurek

Leading Poland’s attack as the most valuable player of the 2018 volleyball World Championship.

Athlete

Gholamreza Takhti

Winning Olympic wrestling gold and becoming an enduring Iranian sporting hero.

Athlete

Alexander Volkanovski

Winning the UFC featherweight championship and building a leading career in mixed martial arts.

Athlete

Edoardo Mangiarotti

Winning thirteen Olympic fencing medals across épée and foil.

Athlete

Emanuel Lasker

Holding the world chess championship for 27 years, from 1894 to 1921.

Athlete

Kristine Lilly

Playing 354 international matches for the United States and winning two Women’s World Cups.

Athlete

Arantxa Sánchez Vicario

Winning four major singles titles and reaching world number one in both singles and doubles.

Athlete

Smriti Mandhana

Becoming one of India’s leading opening batters and a multiple ICC award winner.

Athlete

Sifan Hassan

Winning Olympic gold on the track and in the marathon.

Athlete

Maya Moore

Winning four WNBA titles and stepping away from basketball to campaign for criminal-justice reform.

Athlete

Janet Evans

Winning four Olympic swimming gold medals with a distinctive windmill freestyle stroke.

Athlete

Lydia Ko

Winning Olympic golf gold and becoming the youngest golfer to reach world number one.

Athlete

Carlos Sainz Sr.

Winning two World Rally Championships and four Dakar car titles.

Athlete

Sugar Ray Leonard

Winning world boxing titles in five weight divisions and defining a celebrated era of rivalries.

Athlete

Hideo Nomo

Opening a path from Japanese baseball to MLB with his tornado pitching delivery.

Athlete

Dick Butkus

Becoming the Chicago Bears middle linebacker renowned for fierce tackling and forcing turnovers.

Athlete

Schalk Burger

Winning the 2007 Rugby World Cup and returning to international rugby after severe illness.

Athlete

Teemu Selänne

Scoring 76 goals as an NHL rookie and winning the Stanley Cup with Anaheim.

Athlete

Chris Hoy

Winning six Olympic gold medals in track cycling.

Athlete

Dominique Dawes

Winning Olympic gymnastics team gold with the Magnificent Seven in 1996.

Athlete

Sapsiree Taerattanachai

Winning the 2021 mixed-doubles badminton world title with Dechapol Puavaranukroh.

Athlete

Mima Itō

Winning Japan’s first Olympic table-tennis gold with Jun Mizutani.

Athlete

Jordan Larson

Captaining the United States to its first Olympic women’s volleyball gold.

Athlete

Max Holloway

Winning the UFC featherweight championship with relentless striking.

Athlete

Birgit Fischer

Winning eight Olympic canoe sprint gold medals across six Games.

Athlete

Mikhail Tal

Winning the world chess title through imaginative attacks and sacrifices.

Athlete

Roger Milla

Helping Cameroon reach Africa’s first men’s World Cup quarter-final.

Athlete

Andy Murray

Ending Britain’s long wait for a Wimbledon men’s singles champion.

Athlete

Waqar Younis

Making reverse swing one of fast bowling’s most feared weapons.

Athlete

Michael Johnson

Winning the Olympic 200m and 400m double in Atlanta.

Athlete

Pau Gasol

Winning NBA championships with the Lakers and a world title with Spain.

Athlete

Ariarne Titmus

Winning consecutive Olympic 400m freestyle titles.

Athlete

Adam Scott

Becoming the first Australian golfer to win the Masters.

Athlete

Richard Petty

Winning a record 200 races in NASCAR’s top series.

Athlete

Marvin Hagler

Dominating the middleweight division and defeating Thomas Hearns in a celebrated three-round fight.

Athlete

Hideki Matsui

Winning World Series MVP after a championship-clinching performance for the Yankees.

Athlete

Chester Williams

Helping South Africa win the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

Athlete

Pavel Bure

Scoring at exceptional speed as ice hockey’s Russian Rocket.

Athlete

Nino Schurter

Winning ten elite cross-country mountain-bike world titles.

Athlete

Jin Jong-oh

Winning four Olympic shooting gold medals, including three consecutive 50-metre pistol titles.

Chess player

Tigran Petrosian

Becoming world chess champion with exceptionally resourceful defensive play.

Athlete

Nadine Angerer

Keeping a clean sheet throughout Germany’s winning 2007 World Cup campaign.

Athlete

Gabriela Sabatini

Winning the 1990 US Open singles title.

Athlete

Harmanpreet Kaur

Captaining India to its first Women’s Cricket World Cup title in 2025.

Athlete

Valerie Adams

Winning two Olympic shot put titles and four consecutive world titles.

Athlete

Seimone Augustus

Winning four WNBA championships with the Minnesota Lynx.

Athlete

Federica Pellegrini

Becoming Italy’s first female Olympic swimming champion.

Athlete

Ko Jin-young

Winning two golf majors and reaching world number one.

Athlete

Mario Andretti

Winning the Formula One title, Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500.

Athlete

Juan Manuel Márquez

Winning world boxing titles in four weight divisions.

Athlete

Iván Rodríguez

Setting exceptional defensive standards as a major-league catcher.

Athlete

Matt Biondi

Winning eleven Olympic swimming medals, including eight golds.

Athlete

Toni Stone

Breaking a gender barrier in Negro leagues baseball.

Athlete

John Smith

Winning six consecutive world and Olympic wrestling titles.

Athlete

John Eales

Captaining Australia to the 1999 Rugby World Cup.

Athlete

Belinda Clark

Scoring the first double century in One Day International cricket.

Athlete

Cammi Granato

Captaining the first Olympic champion U.S. women’s hockey team.

Athlete

Ackeem Blake

Winning world sprint and relay medals for Jamaica.

Athlete

Carlos Valderrama

Orchestrating Colombia’s midfield across three World Cups.

Athlete

Davor Šuker

Winning the Golden Boot at the 1998 World Cup.

Educator

Senda Berenson Abbott

Adapting basketball for women and developing its early rules.

Athlete

Hilde Krahwinkel Sperling

Winning three consecutive French singles championships.

Athlete

Josef Masopust

Leading Czechoslovakia to the 1962 World Cup final.

Athlete

Joan Harrison

Becoming South Africa’s first Olympic swimming champion.

Athlete

Brian Laudrup

Helping Denmark win Euro 1992 and starring for Rangers.

Athlete

Sean Fitzpatrick

Captaining the All Blacks and winning the inaugural Rugby World Cup.

Athlete

Young Barney Aaron

Winning the American lightweight title in bare-knuckle boxing.

Athlete

Anna Richards

Winning four Rugby World Cups with New Zealand.

Athlete

Emre Belözoğlu

Playing in Turkey’s 2002 World Cup team and Galatasaray’s UEFA Cup-winning side.

Athlete

Sanath Jayasuriya

Transforming opening batting during Sri Lanka’s 1996 World Cup victory.

Athlete

Dikembe Mutombo

Dominating NBA defence as a four-time Defensive Player of the Year.

Athlete

Tony Parker

Winning four NBA championships as the San Antonio Spurs’ point guard.

Athlete

Tony Roche

Winning the French singles championship and excelling in doubles.

Athlete

Vladimir Salnikov

Becoming the first swimmer under fifteen minutes for 1,500 metres.

Athlete

Pramote Teerawiwatana

Representing Thailand at four Olympics in men’s doubles.

Athlete

Billy Barnes

Playing as an all-rounder for Nottinghamshire and England.

Athlete

Roy Emerson

Winning twelve major singles titles and sixteen major doubles titles.

Athlete

Mathias Boe

Winning Olympic doubles silver with Carsten Mogensen.

Athlete

DJ Forbes

Captaining New Zealand’s successful rugby sevens teams.

Athlete

Karel Koželuh

Winning three US professional tennis championships.

Athlete

Natasha Zvereva

Winning eighteen major women’s doubles titles.

Athlete

Tjun Tjun

Winning the inaugural men’s doubles badminton world title.

Coach

John deBarbadillo

Developing YMCA swimming in York, Pennsylvania.

Coach

Mike Peppe

Leading Ohio State to eleven NCAA swimming and diving titles.

Athlete

Mary Forsyth

Helping organise the first women’s Rugby World Cup.

Athlete

Thelma Coyne Long

Winning nineteen major tennis titles.

Athlete

Bernard King

Leading the NBA in scoring during the 1984–85 season.

Promoter

Arthur Frederick Bettinson

Co-founding Britain’s National Sporting Club.

Coach

Marianne Stanley

Leading Old Dominion to national basketball championships.

Athlete

Buster Crabbe

Winning Olympic swimming gold before playing Flash Gordon.

Coach

Chuck Daly

Coaching the Pistons’ championships and the Olympic Dream Team.

Athlete

Barney Aaron

Becoming a leading English bare-knuckle lightweight.

Athlete

Barry McGuigan

Winning the world featherweight boxing title.

Coach

Aleksandar Nikolić

Helping build Yugoslav basketball through coaching and mentorship.

Coach

Gail Emery

Coaching the Walnut Creek Aquanuts and US Olympic synchronised swimmers.

Athlete

Jaroslav Drobný

Winning Wimbledon after an international career in both tennis and ice hockey.

Athlete

Tom Lawton Snr

Captaining Australia’s rugby union side as a five-eighth.

Athlete

Deborah Griffin

Helping organise the first Women’s Rugby World Cup.

Athlete

Brendon McCullum

Captaining New Zealand to the 2015 World Cup final.

Athlete

Neale Fraser

Winning Wimbledon and two US singles titles before leading Australia’s Davis Cup team.

Athlete

Zbigniew Boniek

Helping Poland finish third at the 1982 World Cup and winning European trophies with Juventus.

Athlete

Adrian Quist

Winning three Australian singles titles and ten consecutive Australian doubles championships.

Athlete

Jeff Fenech

Winning world boxing titles across multiple weight divisions.

Athlete

Ruud van Nistelrooy

Scoring prolifically for PSV, Manchester United and Real Madrid.

Coach

Ron Johnson

Coaching Arizona State and Olympic swimming teams.

Athlete

Osea Kolinisau

Captaining Fiji to its first Olympic gold medal.

Athlete

Barbados Joe Walcott

Becoming the first Black world welterweight boxing champion.

Athlete

José Nápoles

Holding the world welterweight championship in two reigns.

Athlete

Erik Morales

Winning world boxing titles in four weight divisions.

Athlete

Gustavo Borges

Winning four Olympic swimming medals for Brazil.

Athlete

Tom Stock

Setting backstroke world records while swimming for Indiana.

Athlete

Panama Al Brown

Becoming Latin America’s first world boxing champion.

Athlete

Sugar Ramos

Winning the world featherweight boxing championship.

Coach

James Counsilman

Coaching Indiana to six consecutive NCAA swimming titles.

Athlete

Kid Chocolate

Becoming Cuba’s first world boxing champion.

Athlete

Kunlavut Vitidsarn

Becoming Thailand’s first men’s singles badminton world champion.

Athlete

Jack Randall

Competing as the bare-knuckle boxer nicknamed The Nonpareil.

Athlete

Michael Holding

Bowling fast for the West Indies and winning the 1979 World Cup.

Athlete

Michael Laudrup

Creating chances for Barcelona’s Dream Team and Denmark.

Athlete

Brett Lee

Bowling fast for Australia and winning the 2003 Cricket World Cup.

Athlete

Eric Rowan

Opening the batting for South Africa and scoring 236 at Headingley.

Athlete

Sergei Belov

Helping the Soviet Union win Olympic and world basketball titles.

Athlete

Ken McGregor

Completing a doubles Grand Slam with Frank Sedgman in 1951.

Athlete

Teófilo Cubillas

Scoring ten World Cup goals for Peru.

Athlete

Uwe Seeler

Leading Hamburger SV and playing in four World Cups for West Germany.

Athlete

Waisale Serevi

Leading Fiji to two Rugby World Cup Sevens titles.

Athlete

Goh V Shem

Winning Olympic doubles silver with Tan Wee Kiong.

Athlete

Keith Miller

Playing a central all-round role in Australia’s 1948 Invincibles.

Athlete

Maurice Stokes

Becoming a three-time NBA All-Star before an injury ended his career.

Coach

Del Harris

Coaching the Houston Rockets to the NBA Finals and leading the Lakers.

Athlete

Enzo Francescoli

Winning three Copa América titles with Uruguay and the Copa Libertadores with River Plate.

Coach

Deryk Snelling

Coaching Canadian swimmers across seven Olympic Games.

Athlete

Learie Constantine

Playing West Indies cricket and challenging racial discrimination in Britain.

Athlete

Rui Costa

Playmaking for Benfica, Fiorentina, AC Milan and Portugal.

Athlete

David Hall

Winning wheelchair-tennis singles gold at the Sydney Paralympics.

Athlete

Joe Warbrick

Organising and captaining the 1888–89 New Zealand Native rugby tour

Athlete

René Lacoste

Winning seven major singles titles and founding Lacoste

Athlete

Jim Montgomery

Swimming the first sub-50-second men’s 100-metre freestyle

Athlete

Marnus Labuschagne

Becoming a leading Australian Test batter.

Athlete

Desmond Haynes

Opening the batting for West Indies with Gordon Greenidge.

Athlete

Tamim Iqbal

Opening the batting for Bangladesh across three international formats.

Athlete

Javed Miandad

Hitting a last-ball six at Sharjah and helping Pakistan win the 1992 World Cup.

Athlete

Harry Gallatin

Leading the NBA in rebounding for the New York Knicks in 1954.

Athlete

Dick Motz

Becoming New Zealand’s first bowler to take 100 Test wickets.

Athlete

Ferenc Puskás

Leading Hungary’s Mighty Magyars and scoring for Real Madrid.

Athlete

Martin Crowe

Captaining New Zealand to the 1992 World Cup semi-final.

Athlete

Lesley Turner Bowrey

Winning two French singles titles and eleven major doubles titles.

Athlete

Carlos Alberto Torres

Captaining Brazil to the 1970 World Cup.

Athlete

Alexander Doom

Winning individual and relay world indoor 400-metre titles.

Athlete

Pierre Etchebaster

Holding the real-tennis world title from 1928 to 1954.

Athlete

Emilio Butragueño

Leading Real Madrid’s Quinta del Buitre generation.

Athlete

Ted "Kid" Lewis

Twice holding the world welterweight boxing title.

Athlete

Arthur Mold

Taking more than 1,600 first-class wickets for an English cricket career centred on Lancashire.

Athlete

Frank Mitchell

Playing Test cricket for England and South Africa.

Athlete

Percy Chapman

Captaining England to regain the Ashes in 1926.

Athlete

Younis Khan

Leading Pakistan to the 2009 World Twenty20 title

Athlete

Calvin Murphy

A Hall of Fame career with the Rockets

Athlete

Nigel Benn

World titles at middleweight and super-middleweight

Athlete

Majid Khan

Batting for Pakistan and captaining Cambridge University

Athlete

Zelmo Beaty

Leading the Utah Stars to the 1971 ABA championship

Athlete

Karl Malone

Power-forward scoring with the Utah Jazz

Athlete

Ann Jones

Winning the 1969 Wimbledon singles title

Athlete

Darlene Hard

Major singles titles and an exceptional doubles career

Athlete

Sharon Cherop

Winning the 2012 Boston Marathon

Athlete

Tom Richards

Playing rugby for both Australia and the British Lions

Athlete

Margaret Scriven

Britain’s first women’s singles champion at the French Championships

Athlete

Anne Donovan

Olympic basketball gold as a player and coach

Athlete

Wang Shixian

Reaching world number one in women’s badminton

Athlete

Cheryl Miller

Leading USC to consecutive national basketball titles

Athlete

Heather Moyse

Two Olympic bobsleigh gold medals

Athlete

Zico

Creative midfield play for Flamengo and Brazil.

Athlete

Peter Schmeichel

Goalkeeping for Denmark’s European champions and Manchester United’s treble winners.

Athlete

Nicholas Shehadie

Australian rugby leadership and advocacy for the Rugby World Cup.

Athlete

Giacinto Facchetti

Attacking full-back play for Inter Milan and Italy.

Coach

Howard Hobson

Coaching Oregon to the first NCAA basketball tournament championship.

Athlete

Clive Rice

All-round cricket and championship-winning captaincy at Nottinghamshire.

Athlete

Ray Allen

Three-point shooting and NBA championships with Boston and Miami.

Athlete

Major Booth

Yorkshire all-round cricket before his death at the Somme.

Athlete

Lottie Dod

Five Wimbledon singles titles and success across several sports.

Athlete

Larry Holmes

A long heavyweight championship reign built around an exceptional jab.

Athlete

Daphne Akhurst

Five Australian Championships singles titles.

Coach

Red Holzman

Leading the New York Knicks to two NBA championships.

Athlete

Jack Kid Berg

A fast, attacking light-welterweight boxing style.

Athlete

Léo Júnior

Flamengo success and Brazil’s 1980s World Cup teams.

Athlete

George Smith

Breakdown expertise for Australia and the Brumbies.

Referee

Joey Crawford

Nearly four decades officiating NBA basketball.

Athlete

Dave Gallaher

Captaining the Original All Blacks on their 1905–06 tour.

Athlete

Guillermo Vilas

Four major singles titles and a dominant 1977 tennis season.

Athlete

Alan Davidson

Left-arm swing bowling and all-round performances for Australia.

Athlete

Isiah Thomas

Leading the Detroit Pistons to consecutive NBA championships.

Athlete

Virgil Hill

World championships at light heavyweight and cruiserweight.

Athlete

Cliff Drysdale

Professional tennis and decades of ESPN commentary.

Athlete

Clarence Seedorf

Winning the Champions League with Ajax, Real Madrid and Milan.

Athlete

Hugo Porta

Captaining Argentina and directing play at fly-half.

Athlete

Carlos Monzón

Holding the world middleweight championship through fourteen successful defences.

Athlete

Betty Nuthall

Winning the 1930 US women’s singles championship.

Athlete

Tobi Amusan

Winning Nigeria’s first world athletics title in 2022.

Athlete

Lothar Matthäus

Captaining West Germany to the 1990 World Cup.

Athlete

Jay-Jay Okocha

Creative dribbling and playmaking for Nigeria and European clubs.

Athlete

Imrich Bugár

Winning the first men’s world discus title in 1983.

Athlete

Alonso Edward

Winning the 200 metres silver medal at the 2009 World Championships.

Athlete

Lupe Pintor

Winning world titles at bantamweight and super bantamweight.

Athlete

Nickel Ashmeade

Winning Olympic and world relay gold with Jamaica.

Athlete

Elías Figueroa

Chile’s commanding defender across three World Cups

Athlete

Jan Ceulemans

Captaining Belgium to the 1986 World Cup semi-finals

Athlete

Yoshihiro Sakata

Japanese rugby’s pioneering international winger

Athlete

Joe Gans

Holding the world lightweight boxing title from 1902 to 1908.

Coach

Arthur Schabinger

College basketball coaching and the organisation of the coaching profession.

Athlete

Kid Norfolk

Competing against leading light-heavyweights and heavyweights in the early twentieth century.

Athlete

Tom Hayward

Prolific opening batting for Surrey and England.

Athlete

Jean-Marie Pfaff

Goalkeeping for Belgium, Beveren and Bayern Munich.

Athlete

Lee Hyo-jung

Mixed-doubles gold and women’s-doubles silver at Beijing 2008.

Athlete

Lou Ambers

Two reigns as world lightweight boxing champion.

Coach

Al McGuire

Coaching Marquette to the 1977 NCAA basketball championship.