I was just reading the latest Bill Simmon’s column (here) and came across a paragraph describing Lebron James which I really liked:
“At age 24, he’s a cross between ABA Dr. J (unstoppable in the open court, breathtaking in traffic, has the rare ability to galvanize teammates and crowds with one “Wow” play, even handles himself as well off the court) and 1992 Scottie Pippen (the freaky athletic ability on both ends, especially when he’s cutting pass lines or flying in from the weak side for a block), with a little MJ (his overcompetitiveness and sense of The Moment), Magic (the unselfishness, which isn’t where I thought it would be back in 2003, but at least it’s in there a little) and Bo Jackson (how he can occasionally just overpower the other team in a way that doesn’t seem human) mixed in … only if all of that Molotov Superstar Cocktail was mixed together in Karl Malone’s body. This is crazy. This is insane. This is unlike anything we’ve ever seen. And to think, LeBron doesn’t even have a reliable 20-footer or a post-up game yet. See, this is only going to get better. And it’s already historic.”
Couldn’t have said it better!
Anyway, earlier in the column, while writing about Yao Ming, Simmons wondered who the 10 most famous athletes in the world were.
Well, I suppose him being an American, his viewpoint is always going to be skewed towards American sports (he actually wondered if Peyton Manning and Tom Brady should be in the list!).
I thought about it, and here are who I think are the 10 most famous athletes in the world right now.
(NB: This means that if you were to poll every single human being on earth, these would be the 10 athletes which receive the most votes of recognition. Also, let’s limit this discussion to only active athletes, not retired ones.)
In no particular order:
- Tiger Woods
- Roger Federer
- Yao Ming
- Michael Phelps
- David Beckham
- Cristiano Ronaldo
- Rafael Nadal
- Lewis Hamilton
- Fernando Alonso
- Kimi Raikkonen
Honourable Mentions:
- Shaquille O’Neal
- Ronaldinho
- Wayne Rooney
- Steven Gerrard
- Maria Sharapova
- Lebron James
- Thierry Henry
You mean F1 drivers are considered athletes ah?… Then again, I guess if golfers are considered athletes, everybody is an athlete! ;-)
Hmmm…actually you have a point. Maybe instead of “athletes”, we could use the term “sportsperson”? That might be more appropriate.
Lol such idiots…F1 drivers are fitter than any other athletes…they are wayyyyy fitter than any footballer and maybe just as fit as someone like Michel phelps…they get thrown around by g-forced up to 4..and there nekcs have to hold 24 kg of weight each corner…the heart rate stays 180 bpm for 2 straight hours..how arent they athletes?
http://www.f1technical.net/articles/1125
Add lionel messi, ronaldo (fat one), kaka to that list. btw how many people watch freaking golf outside the US?
how can usain bolt not be on the list?afterall he is the fastest man that ever existed and he is synonymous with the word athlete
Usain Bolt should be on your list the worlds fastest man 9.58s who the hell is gonna break that?
Yeah I guess it’s high time Usain Bolt gets on the list. 9.58s is just insane!
that list is nonsense
i only kno the top 3 and im most positive about this
most famous athletes
1 Tiger woods
2 David Beckham
3 Usain bolt
But i personally tink that bolt should be number 1
because in beijing and at berlin recently he got the WORLD’s attention
what about muhammed ali and maradonna
wtf some of the people mentioned i dont even know of
i agree. who the hell is Kimi Raikkonen. and yao ming? really. you think he is one of the best athletes. the guy isn’t even athletic. he is only good cuz he is tall.
Not the best athlete…just the most famous; granted most of the famous ones are typically the best. But I can see Yao Ming being ranked.
Bolts of lightening, 9.58 is his game. Usain Bolt should really be in the top 2. 3 gold medals, 3 world records need we say more.
The answer is certainly not Tiger Woods, even though American journalists have made the claim thousands of times, apparently without even thinking that it needs supporting evidence. I am a golf fan, but I recognise that golf is a major sport in less than 10% of the world. Based on probability my digging around in google trends, the most famous ACTIVE athlete is almost certainly Cristiano Ronaldo. He is ahead of Woods in every European language except English, and he’s ahead of him by 18.1:1 in India, the world’s second most populous country. I can’t get stats for China because I don’t know how to type Chinese, but I would bet my left arm the most famous footballer is many times more famous in China than the most famous golfer. There’s no reasonable doubt the same applies to Africa and Latin America.
Usain Bolt competes in a sport that only gets major exposure once a year, and not always that.
Some websites list Lance Armstrong as the world’s most famous active athlete.
Oh yes, forgot about Lance Armstrong. Thanks for pointing that out!
Great info here on football. I cant wait till the world cup. It will be huge.
Without Kobe Bryant or Lebron James this list has no sense !!!
To me these two are the most popular athletes.
how can SACHIN TENDULKAR ‘the god of cricket ‘ miss this list when cricket is most watched and played game after footbaall in world.and in my country india i think 0.0000001 percent of the whole sport loving people would be knowing YAO MING,RAIKONEN,ALONSO AND HEMITON.MANY DOESNT KNO TIGER WOODS ALSO .INFACT after crickters, fedrer ronaldo and beckhem r most popular.i think ronaldo should b on top followed by fedrer beckhm then sachin tendulkar.
how can SACHIN TENDULKAR ‘the god of cricket ‘ miss this list when cricket is most watched and played game after footbaall in world.and in my country india i think 0.0000001 percent of the whole sport loving people would be knowing YAO MING,RAIKONEN,ALONSO AND HEMITON.MANY DOESNT KNO TIGER WOODS ALSO .INFACT after crickters, fedrer ronaldo and beckhem r most popular..
You got to include Kobe Bryant over LeBron James I mean common
how ’bout lionel messi and kaka. this list make no sense what so ever. but at least you didn’t forgot C. Ronaldo
did you forget KOBE BRYANT? haters
this is a crazy list…
We keep forgetting athletes from the second most popular spectator sport in the world and the sport with the largest annual event. Bicycle racing and the Tour de France. Lance Armstrong is certainly one of the top several most famous athletes in the world.
where is michael schumacher,lin dan,taufik hidayat,drogba
unbelievable!!!! bull shit where is the GOD!!!sachin tendulkar!!! beckham is a gone story!!!bolt plays once in a year!!!!tiger woods ahhh no 1 knws him in india!!!cristiano ronaldo nd messi fit the bill!!!nd then there is kobe bryant and michael jordan!!!!INDIA got a population of 1 bilion more than that of us and europe combined!!!this is nonsense if sachin is not there!!!
send free text message in the Philippines…
[...]Who Are The 10 Most Famous Athletes In The World? « Random Musings[...]…