ESPN top 100 athletes since year 2000

[SnuggaRUDE]

Phelps won a record 8 Gold medals and broke 7...SEVEN world records in Beijing.

Put that up against anybody. 23 Golds all-time. That dominance has never been seen before, ever.

I get this is a hockey board and McDavid should be higher IMHO but the list isn't that crazy.

Disney had nothing to do with the list. SMDH

EDIT: I'll even stipulate to American bias. I'm sure a group of Japanese writers would have a different list as well. Probably have some Sumo wrestlers on it and a bunch of Japanese baseball players.

If Hakuho isn't on the list it's nuts. He has every meaningful modern Sumo record. Every athlete on this list is great, but how many of them are only comparable to semi-mythical competitors?

 

[nergish]

I’m extremely biased, but I’d try to find a way to fit Patrick Roy in there.

The ice hockey goalie union is still a small one relative to all the different positions in the different sports, but the man changed everything for us.

EDIT - sorry, missed the “since 2000” part. He was still great in the 21st century, but obviously on the downside of his career.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Perhaps, and if that were the case we would be competing against a global talent pool best-on-best. And if we dominated in that scenario, we could legitimately say we had the world’s dominant pool of athletes.

But that is not the case. We focus on niche sports where we are increasingly seeing the rest of the world take over, and the one sport we truly dominate is the one where there is no competition at all. It’s a bit of a sham, really.

Niche is a misnomer IMO. Baseball and basketball are global sports, represented by multiple nations. There are tens of millions of people playing these sports at all levels, it just so happens that these sports aren’t culturally relevant to every inch of the globe for one reason or another. These guys are paid tens of millions of dollars for many reasons. To say it’s a sham is just a failure to understand the athletic impact these athletes have.

Of course that’s USA-centric as you could say similar things about rugby or soccer but there’s something not being said here about why people value or are more impressed by what these baseball, basketball, and football players are doing and why they’re dominating a list of best athletes.

One of the rare instances I disagree with you so vehemently my man.

Shouldn't also US soccer players do better than everyone else if they're a) more athletic and b) that's what enables domination? According to FIFA there were 2,791 professional soccer players in the United States last year, as opposed to 1,562 in Germany for example. Also the number of amateur players is among the highest in the world. So if the numbers are there and among them are by default better athletes, why doesn't it show?

Soccer isn’t culturally valued as the other big 3 sports in the US. I think that’s all there is to it

 

[Hockey4Lyfe]

Its the American in me but no one will ever convince me that some of these 5 foot 5 150 pound soccer players are more “athletic” than some of these NFL players that are 6 foot + 200 pounds and run sub 4.5 40’s.

 

[norrisnick]

Its the American in me but no one will ever convince me that some of these 5 foot 5 150 pound soccer players are more “athletic” than some of these NFL players that are 6 foot + 200 pounds and run sub 4.5 40’s.

If you define "athletic" as some measure of power, sure? But that's awfully reductive. I mean, is Tyler Myers more "athletic" than Connor McDavid just because he's bigger and can move around the ice reasonably well?

Half this thread was talking up Tom Brady's placement but is it "athleticism" that put him there?

If it's big bodies moving quickly, Tom Brady shouldn't be at the top of the list from the NFL.

 

[Hockey4Lyfe]

If you define "athletic" as some measure of power, sure? But that's awfully reductive. I mean, is Tyler Myers more "athletic" than Connor McDavid just because he's bigger and can move around the ice reasonably well?

Half this thread was talking up Tom Brady's placement but is it "athleticism" that put him there?

I don't think Tom Brady or Tyler Myers are chiseled and running sub 4.5 40’s like I stated in my post.

Its subjective in what you deem as “athleticism”. I would label that as having the strength, size, speed, quickness, etc. I certainly wouldn't call Brady an athletic QB.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Niche is a misnomer IMO. Baseball and basketball are global sports, represented by multiple nations. There are tens of millions of people playing these sports at all levels, it just so happens that these sports aren’t culturally relevant to every inch of the globe for one reason or another. These guys are paid tens of millions of dollars for many reasons. To say it’s a sham is just a failure to understand the athletic impact these athletes have.

Of course that’s USA-centric as you could say similar things about rugby or soccer but there’s something not being said here about why people value or are more impressed by what these baseball, basketball, and football players are doing and why they’re dominating a list of best athletes.

One of the rare instances I disagree with you so vehemently my man.

That’s true of baseball and basketball, I agree. There was a time not so long ago when those sports were pretty niche, but they have globalized. Football is still niche, not even adopted on the entirety of our own continent.

I certainly wouldn't call Brady an athletic QB.

I wouldn’t call Brady the best athlete on the field in a lot of the games he played. He had the most decorated career, which is not the same thing as being the best player.

 

[John Mandalorian]

But the numbers don’t scale in football’s favor.

Soccer has a “big 5” leagues:
- English Premier League (20 teams)
- La Liga (20 teams)
- Serie A (20 teams)
- Bundesliga (18 teams)
- Ligue 1 (18 teams)
Total: 96 teams

Without getting into the complicated roster rules of each league, we can generally say about 25 players will touch the field per team per season. So that’s 2400 roster spots available for “major league” soccer players per season.

The NFL is 1/3rd that size with 32 teams. Roster limit is 53, which gives us around 1700 roster spots available for “major league” football players per season.

That means there are around 41% roster spots available for soccer players.

So now let’s estimate how many people are competing for those spots.

According to the National Football Foundation, there are around 1 million registered high school football players in the USA in a given year. Given that any serious football player must become a registered high school player before becoming an NFL prospect, the 1M figure is a very precise measure of how many young men are actually taking football seriously and attempting to play it competitively. Technically the NFL has other sources of talent (e.g. punters from Australian rugby leagues) but those are negligible factors.

According to the Sports Research Guide at the Library of Congress, there are around 240 million registered soccer players worldwide. We could eliminate 90% of that figure and it would still be 24x higher than the number of football players.

So 41% more roster spots, being competed for by… 2500% as many hopefuls? 5000%? 10000%?

Any way you look at that figure, the soccer talent pool utterly dwarfs football’s. In no way shape or form are there enough top-tier soccer teams to balance that out.

And this doesn’t even get into the fact that soccer has an extremely well developed promotion system, so there is a constant upward pressure on players who are trying to hold their roster spots. A bubble player on a Premiere League team is standing on top of a pyramid with literally thousands of players gnawing at his ankles. Those players are spread all over the world in lower-tier leagues from which they can move up or down at the drop of a hat, resulting in a regular re-sorting of talent. Whereas and NFL third string QB is standing ahead of a couple of practice squad guys, maybe a dozen realistic free agents, and next year’s draft class. If he gets cut, he goes and plays in the CFL or XFL. If that doesn’t work out, his football career is over as there is nowhere else to develop which would have a realistic path to the NFL.

tl;dr - There are hundreds of millions more soccer players than football players, competing for only a few hundred extra roster spots at the top level. And their system of competition is far larger and more robust. It is much, much harder to become a top tier soccer player than a top tier football player.

extra nugget - maybe this is why so many irresponsible goofballs manage to stick in the NFL when they don’t seem like they could hold a regular job?

I didnt bring this up to suggest it does work in Amwrican football's favor. Nor was i saying it to express disagreement. But this is a necessary exercise when saying one thing is more competitive than another. This exercise is showing your work. But originally you just breezed past this. And I suspect you didnt look into this until I brought it up.

This exercise also becomes necessary when people go into golden age thinking when suggesting the NBA or MLB was better because there were fewer teams. Its like "there were really only half the number of teams...well what about the fact that high school participation in the sport is five times greater today than then?"

 

[LandfiII]

They credit Mia Hamm for things she accomplished in the 80s. In a list about 2000 and later. Ok.

 

[Sampe from the 2000s]

Let’s assume we want to create a more serious list than this. Which athletes would make it? Given that track & field (athletics) is the most foundational sport of them all, I though it would make a good starting point.

There are so many events in track & field for both sexes that it takes something truly special to deserve a mention. Being merely generationally good at a single event does not cut it. You need to be arguably the greatest ever at what you do. This disqualifies Allyson Felix who did make ESPN’s list: she’s best known for her consistency, not individual dominance. Yet track and field athletes that do qualify are numerous:

Usain Bolt, 100–200 meters
▪ 6 individual Olympic Golds (3 x 100m, 3 x 200m)
▪ 7 individual WC Golds (3 x 100m, 4 x 200m)
▪ 1-time Diamond League winner (1 x 100m)
▪ 7 individual world records (3 x 100m, 2 x 200m, 1 x 150m, 1 x i100m)

Kenenisa Bekele, 5000/10000 meters
▪ 3 individual Olympic Golds (1 x 5000m, 2 x 10000m)
▪ 5 individual WC Golds (1 x 5000m, 4 x 10000m)
▪ 1 individual indoor WC Gold (1 x 3000m)
▪ 11 individual cross-country WC Golds (5 x short, 6 times long)
▪ 6 individual WRs (1 x 5000m, 2 x 10000m, 1 x i2000m, 1 x indoor 2 miles, 1 x i5000m)
▪ Came within 2 seconds of breaking the marathon world record in 2019
▪ 2 M40 master world records in the marathon (the only 40-year-old under 2:05)

Mo Farah, 5000/10000 meters
▪ 4 individual Olympic Golds (2 x 5000m, 2 x 10000m)
▪ 6 individual WC Golds (3 x 5000m, 3 x 10000m)
▪ 1-time Diamond League winner (1 x 5000 m)
▪ 2 individual world records (1 x 1 hour run, 1 x indoor 2 miles)

Tirunesh Dibaba, 5000/10000 meters
▪ 3 individual Olympic Golds (1 x 5000m, 2 x 10000m)
▪ 5 individual WC Golds (2 x 5000m, 3 x 10000m)
▪ 4 individual cross-country WC Golds (1 x short, 2 times long, 1 x senior)
▪ 4 individual world records (1 x 5000m, 2 x i5000m , 1 x 15 km road race)

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, 60–200 meters
▪ 2 individual Olympic Golds (2 x 100m)
▪ 6 individual WC Golds (5 x 100m, 1 x 200m)
▪ 1 individual indoor WC Gold (1 x 60m)
▪ 5-time Diamond League winner (4 x 100m, 1 x 200m)
▪ 0 individual world records (fastest first 60m split ever at 6.81s)

Anita Wlodarczyk, hammer throw
▪ 3 individual Olympic Golds (1 retroactive)
▪ 4 individual WC Golds
▪ 6 individual absolute world records (all outdoors)
▪ 6 longest throws ever

Faith Kipyegon, 1500/5000 meters
▪ 2 individual Olympic Golds (2 x 1500m)
▪ 4 individual WC Golds (3 x 1500m, 1 x 5000m)
▪ 4-time Diamond League winner (4 x 1500 m)
▪ 4 individual world records (2 x 1500m, 1 x mile, 1 x 5000m)

Robert Korzeniowski, race walking
▪ 4 individual Olympic Golds (1 x 50km in 1996; 2 x 50km & 1 x 20km in the 2000s)
▪ 3 individual WC Golds (1 x 50km in 1997; 2 x 50km in the 2000s)
▪ 0 individual indoor WC Golds (1 x 5000m walk silver)
▪ 2 individual world records (2 x 50km)

Yelena Isinbayeva, pole vault
▪ 2 individual Olympic Golds
▪ 3 individual WC Golds
▪ 4 individual indoor WC Golds
▪ 17 individual absolute world records (15 outdoors, 2 indoors)

Barbora Spotakova, javelin throw
▪ 2 individual Olympic Golds
▪ 3 individual WC Golds
▪ 5-time Diamond League winner
▪ 1 individual absolute world record (outdoors)

Yulimar Rojas, triple jump
▪ 1 individual Olympic Gold
▪ 4 individual WC Golds
▪ 3 individual indoor WC Golds
▪ 3-time Diamond League winner
▪ 2 individual absolute world records (1 outdoors, 1 indoors)

Elaine Thompson-Herah, 60–200 meters
▪ 4 individual Olympic Golds (2 x 100m, 2 x 200m)
▪ 0 individual WC Golds (1 x 200m silver, 1 x 100m bronze)
▪ 0 individual Indoor WC Golds (1 x 60m bronze)
▪ 3-time Diamond League winner (3 x 100m)
▪ 0 individual world records (2nd fastest woman ever, fastest top speed ever at 39.7 km/h)

Hicham El Guerrouj, 1500/5000 meters
▪ 2 individual Olympic Golds (1 x 1500m, 1 x 5000m)
▪ 4 individual WC Golds (2 x 1500m in the 1990s, 2 x 1500m in the 2000s)
▪ 3 individual indoor WC Golds (2 x 1500m in the 1990s, 1 x 3000m in the 2000s)
▪ 5 individual world records (1 x 1500m, 1 x mile, 1 x 2000m, 2 indoor 1500m/mile)

Ashton Eaton, heptathlon/decathlon
▪ 2 individual Olympic Golds (2 x decathlon)
▪ 2 individual WC Golds (2 x decathlon)
▪ 3 individual Indoor WC Golds (3 x heptathlon)
▪ 5 individual world records (3 x heptathlon, 2 x decathlon)

David Rudisha, 800 meters
▪ 2 individual Olympic Golds (2 x 800m)
▪ 2 individual WC Golds (2 x 800m)
▪ 2-time Diamond League winner (2 x 800m)
▪ 4 individual world records (3 x 800m, 1 x 500m)

Ryan Crouser, shot put
▪ 2 individual Olympic Golds
▪ 2 individual WC Golds
▪ 1 individual indoor WC Gold
▪ 2 individual absolute world records (both outdoors)

Karsten Warholm, 400m/400m hurdles
▪ 1 individual Olympic Gold (1 x 400m hurdles)
▪ 3 individual WC Golds (3 x 400m hurdles)
▪ 0 individual indoor WC Golds (1 x 400m silver)
▪ 2-time Diamond League winner (2 x 400m hurdles)
▪ 4 individual world records (2 x 400m hurdles; 2 x 300m hurdles)

Mutaz Essa Barsham, high jump
▪ 1 individual Olympic Gold
▪ 3 individual WC Golds
▪ 1 individual indoor WC Gold
▪ zero world records, but did show the capability of breaking it

Armand Duplantis, pole vault
▪ 1 individual Olympic Gold
▪ 2 individual WC Golds
▪ 2 individual indoor WC Golds
▪ 3-time Diamond League winner
▪ 8 individual absolute world records (3 outdoors, 5 indoors)

Eliud Kipchoge, 3000m/5000m/marathon
▪ 2 individual Olympic Golds (2 x marathon)
▪ 1 individual WC Gold (5000m)
▪ 0 individual indoor WC Golds (1 x 3000m bronze)
▪ 2 individual world records (2 x marathon)

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, 400m hurdles
▪ 1 individual Olympic Gold (1 x 400m hurdles)
▪ 1 individual WC Gold (1 x 400m hurdles)
▪ 1-time Diamond League winner (1 x 400m hurdles)
▪ 4 individual world records (4 x 400m hurdles)

That's 21 athletes that are arguably the greatest ever at what they do. Some of them will add to their resumes within a couple of weeks. And I didn't even mention the Paralympics: List of multiple Paralympic gold medalists - Wikipedia

Bottom line: top 100 athletes is an extremely demanding list to make!

EDIT: triple jumper Christian Taylor also deserves to be called arguably the greatest ever. He may be 8 cm shy of Jonathan Edwards' WR, but otherwise his achievements are superior to the late-blooming 1990s great Edwards: 2 individual Olympic Golds, 4 individual WC Golds, 5-time Diamond League winner against a strong generation of triple jumpers.

Other athletes who deserve a mention:
- Ezekiel Kemboi (2 OG, 4 WCG) played 2nd fiddle to Said Saaeed Shaheen (aka Stephen Cherono) in the 3000m steeplechase, but started to dominate like no one else once injury problems cut Shaheen's prime short. Kemboi still did it against a strong generation, so he might be legit here.
- Valerie Adams/Vili (2 OG, 4 WCG, 4iWCG, 6 DLW) has all the achievements but the ridiculous shot put WRs set in the distant past make them (unfairly?) seem less impressive.
- Virgilijus Alekna's (2 OG, 2 WCG, 6 DLW) main problem in discus throw is the 4-time Olympic champion Al Oerter. It's tough to call Alekna the greatest rather than "just" generational.
- Sandra Elkasevic/Perkovic (2 OG, 2 WCG, 6 DLW) is a discus throw version of Valerie Adams, except challenged by her peers a bit better. Unlike Alekna, she's been at her best in the European championships though, as her record 7th title in an individual event this year shows.

 

[Else Ermine]

so if there were no American players in the EPL, does that mean soccer isn’t popular in the US?

The fact that one country is dominant at the highest level of competition doesn’t necessarily mean that that’s the only country where the sport is popular.

The EPL isn't close to being the only place to play high level soccer, so no, not at all. Very clearly soccer is popular in the US in the same sort of way American football is popular in Canada.

Oh absolutely it doesn't necessarily mean it's the only country where it's popular. It's a correlation that ought to raise questions. There could be any number of socioeconomic reasons the US dominates the sport but the standout obvious reality in this particular case is simply that interest and uptake in the game is significantly lower elsewhere. It's a measurable fact. Every sport has regions of greater and lesser relevance and American football is one of the starkest examples of that. It doesn't diminish its undeniable importanance in its own realm.

 

[Janvonpobben]

They credit Mia Hamm for things she accomplished in the 80s. In a list about 2000 and later. Ok.

Really weird. It says since 2000 so why are her past accomplishments there

 

[Sniperberg]

Its the American in me but no one will ever convince me that some of these 5 foot 5 150 pound soccer players are more “athletic” than some of these NFL players that are 6 foot + 200 pounds and run sub 4.5 40’s.

Athletic? 4.5s to cover 30m?
I mean, your average NFL play between whistles is around 4 seconds so it does make sense you hamburgers think that equals peak athleticism.

 

[Hockey4Lyfe]

Athletic? 4.5s to cover 30m?
I mean, your average NFL play between whistles is around 4 seconds so it does make sense you hamburgers think that equals peak athleticism.

Like I said its completely subjective in what you believe is “arhleticism. Don't make a mistake in believing some of those guys in the NFL don't have elite endurance as well.

 

[Machinehead]

They credit Mia Hamm for things she accomplished in the 80s. In a list about 2000 and later. Ok.

Yeah, that was a super weird inclusion. She deserves to be on a lot of lists, but she retired in 2004 and did her most impactful work before the turn of the century.

 

[ColbyChaos]

Every game of the WNBA Finals was sold out last year. Almost 60,000 seats. This is just an ignorant take.


Growing the game wasn't a criteria!!

It was "who had the better career?"

I agree 100% that Rousey is a glaring omission on this list but it would also be an omission to not include all of the WNBA entries based on the criteria of the list.

They didnt sell out one game of the WNBA finals last october.

LMAO 60,000 are you drunk? They didnt even hit 55,000

Clinching game between the aces and the liberty wasnt even sold out at Barclays.

Micelob Ultra Arena has a capacity of 12,000 for basketball, Barclays is over 17,000.

WNBA finals didnt even fill those stadium.

There were too many WNBA players and NBA players polluting that list on that list sorry that bothers you. There is like 7 teams in the WNBA winning a championship there isnt that impressive even internationally the competition the US women's team faced was non existent it would be like praising team canada for beating up team Kenya in ice hockey. Most of the world doesnt care about basketball and its very evident with the lack of womens players outside the US

 

[DuklaNation]

The list is a joke. Half of it is basketball/football players shows bias towards broadcast advertising revenues. Further bias towards qualifications that are rather subjective. Now, Beltre was a solid player but how he made this list is beyond me.

 

[Machinehead]

They didnt sell out one game of the WNBA finals last october.

LMAO 60,000 are you drunk? They didnt even hit 55,000

Clinching game between the aces and the liberty wasnt even sold out at Barclays.

Micelob Ultra Arena has a capacity of 12,000 for basketball, Barclays is over 17,000.

WNBA finals didnt even fill those stadium.

There were too many WNBA players and NBA players polluting that list on that list sorry that bothers you.

I was at the f***ing Barclays Center for the WNBA Finals but by all means, educate me.

YOU heard of the WNBA when Caitlin Clark came into the league. You. That's an important distinction.

 

[joelef]

The list is a joke. Half of it is basketball/football players shows bias towards broadcast advertising revenues. Further bias towards qualifications that are rather subjective. Now, Beltre was a solid player but how he made this list is beyond me.

Well when hockey is run top and bottom training people that self promotion is absolute epitomize of evil don’t be surprised when hockey gets no respect

 

[Acallabeth]

Like I said its completely subjective in what you believe is “arhleticism. Don't make a mistake in believing some of those guys in the NFL don't have elite endurance as well.

It's not so much subjective, but sport-specific.
Imagine a 6'4 260 lbs NFL player. I have a very hard time imaging him outpacing a 5'9, 170 lbs pro soccer player in the 90s minute of the game, placing high in a decathlon event or even finishing a full rugby match.
Does it make an NFLer a bad athlete? Not at all. He's just prepared to his sport with 15-second-plays and long breaks.

 

[Bruce Granville]

Going to ESPN for sports is like going to Fox for news.

And obviously McDavid should be at #97.

 

[J bo Jeans]

Having a swimmer anywhere near the top is ridiculous despite Phelps's dominance.

Its so one dimensional and the amount of marginally different events you can win gold in is crazy, it inflates the gold totals.

Team sports have to play a full tournament of 60+ minute games and win after numerous knockout matches to win gold. You're telling me that gold equates to swimming in a straight line for 25 seconds?

Its just easier for the best swimmer or track star to accumulate gold medals with 12+ events they can go for that essentially the same thing with a few differences.

Not taking anything from Phelps but to me to be the best athlete in the world you have to actually compete h2h against another athlete.

 

[Plastic Joseph]

Having a swimmer anywhere near the top is ridiculous despite Phelps's dominance.

Its so one dimensional and the amount of marginally different events you can win gold in is crazy, it inflates the gold totals.

Team sports have to play a full tournament of 60+ minute games and win after numerous knockout matches to win gold. You're telling me that gold equates to swimming in a straight line for 25 seconds?

Its just easier for the best swimmer or track star to accumulate gold medals with 12+ events they can go for that essentially the same thing with a few differences.

Not taking anything from Phelps but to me to be the best athlete in the world you have to actually compete h2h against another athlete.

I have to agree.

Nothing against Phelps, he is definitely the goat in swimming - but it is very one-dimensional.

Imagine all of a sudden the Olympics had ice hockey 5v5, 4v4, and 3v3. Suddenly McDavid is the best in 3 events and might win 3 olympic gold medals in essentially the same sport. That is pretty much what Phelps did. He still dominated it like no other, but this is an American list and the bias is bad.

Federer over Djokovic (and Nadal)? I am as big of a Fed fan as you will find, and the case could have been made a few years ago, but he got passed now. Is this a popularity contest? Djokovic has 4 more slams than he has, if that isn't enough to pass Federer nothing will be in the eyes of the "experts" at ESPN.

Realistically, anyone but Messi at #1 is kind of BS. Personally I would have : Messi, LeBron, Bolt, Williams, Djokovic, and Tiger as the top 6.

 

[Coffey]

but it is very one-dimensional.

Most Olympic sports are.
Run for 10s a few times. "I'm a GOAT!"

 

[Midnight Judges]

I wouldn’t call Brady the best athlete on the field in a lot of the games he played. He had the most decorated career, which is not the same thing as being the best player.

You'd be hard-pressed to name a more effective player in NFL history IMO.

I have to agree.

Nothing against Phelps, he is definitely the goat in swimming - but it is very one-dimensional.

Imagine all of a sudden the Olympics had ice hockey 5v5, 4v4, and 3v3. Suddenly McDavid is the best in 3 events and might win 3 olympic gold medals in essentially the same sport. That is pretty much what Phelps did. He still dominated it like no other, but this is an American list and the bias is bad.

Federer over Djokovic (and Nadal)? I am as big of a Fed fan as you will find, and the case could have been made a few years ago, but he got passed now. Is this a popularity contest? Djokovic has 4 more slams than he has, if that isn't enough to pass Federer nothing will be in the eyes of the "experts" at ESPN.

Realistically, anyone but Messi at #1 is kind of BS. Personally I would have : Messi, LeBron, Bolt, Williams, Djokovic, and Tiger as the top 6.

Just out of curiosity, is there something odd going on in tennis where the 3 greatest mens players with the most slams (by a huuuuuge margin) are all in the current generation? It just seems like a helluva coincidence.