ESPN top 100 athletes since year 2000

[CupofOil]

No. It can’t be assumed he would have dominated at football. Not everyone can handle the contact.

Also, LeBron had to team hop to win. He’s essentially a PG who doesn’t always make others better. Dwayne Wade, for example, has admitted he had to dial down his game so LeBron could thrive. He doesn’t have any definitive skill. He’s not a high level three point shooter. Doesn’t have a mid range shot. Doesn’t have a fadeaway. He’s not reallly very good with his back to the basket, especially for his size. Magic could actually play C and it seems like that was the plan for LeBron in LA when they brought in Rondo that first year - but LeBron is a one trick pony. Curry, Duncan, and Bryant each have at least as many rings (more depending on how you view the covid year when no one wanted to be there), while not team hopping to do it.

Also, there’s the matter of his agency, Clutch Sports, paying people in the media to force LeBron into GOAT discussions. They might have actually paid someone at ESPN to have him as high as #4.

No, this is very wrong. "Doesn't make others better" "One trick pony", even the needing to hop to other teams to win (his first run with the Cavs was one of the biggest carry jobs to relevancy in sports history then the franchise subsequently became the worst in the NBA when he left) "no definitive skill" What? All so very very wrong.

Curry, Duncan and Kobe had some of the greatest supporting casts in the sport during their tenure. It's not like they weren't without tons of help.

 

[WillTheThrill]

This is a hilarious ranking for anyone outside of the United States.

Like, literally nobody gives a f*** about Tom Brady outside of the U.S. regardless of how many times he won the U.S. national sport trophy.

The list of best athletes should be about the Olympic golds and sports played worldwide

This makes zero sense. Is Tom Brady not an athlete? I agree that if we're including American football we should include sports like cricket that aren't played much in north America.

 

[John Mandalorian]

No, this is very wrong. "Doesn't make others better" "One trick pony", even the needing to hop to other teams to win (his first run with the Cavs was one of the biggest carry jobs to relevancy in sports history then the franchise subsequently became the worst in the NBA when he left) "no definitive skill" What? All so very very wrong.

Curry, Duncan and Kobe had some of the greatest supporting casts in the sport during their tenure. It's not like they weren't without tons of help.

Not really. That Cavs team was very good defensively and it kept them in one or two games against the Spurs before LeBronze choked.

LeBronze is very much an AAU player and the offenses must be tailored to him. Dwyane Wade has literally admitted to watering down his game so LeBronze could thrive. People often rave and his on court intellect and awareness but when the offense is the same thing you ran in AAU, why shouldnt it seem that way?

He's a PG that is inferior to Magic as a PG. And Magic was also effective at playing in the post. If you make LeBronze play without the ball ot within the structure of a non AAU offense, he becomes a useless limb.

 

[strattonius]

Too much basketball is represented. 7 WNBA players is dumb and shows basketball favouritism. WNBA talent pool is 1% of what hockey is and .001% of what baseball is. To me the greatest WNBA player of all time isn't more impressive than Leon Draisaitl or even George Springer. Sorry, not sorry.

 

[Hockey4Lyfe]

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.

I mean I understand what you are saying but the term “athletic” when we are all sitting here trying to compare one against the other is completely subjective.

Hell, half the people in here are now onto, player A must be a better athlete than player B because sport A has more participants and viewers than Sport B.

 

[DamonDRW]

There is one sport that is played everywhere on Earth and there is one player that is probably the best of all time. And they put him as no. 3.

One man ahead is a swimmer on medicines, the other one is who? Brady?

 

[beachcomber]

Should be a men’s and woman’s list to be honest.

 

[PettersonHughes]

When I saw this graph it made me laugh.

View attachment 895788

This sure explains a lot lol, of course ESPN would severely bias North America.

 

[BTO]

It helps when there’s 20 events for swimming.

I really think there should be separate ice hockey, 4 on 4 ice hockey, 3 on 3 ice hockey and shootout events.

Yeah, they could also have hardest shot, shooting accuracy, fastest skater without the puck, fastest skater with the puck etc lol.

 

[BTO]

Looks at who put out list.. ESPN.
Looks at who has television rights for WNBA... ESPN.

This isn't journalism, it's advertising.

Um they also own the television rights to the NHL lol.

 

[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.

Now that the Olympics are over, let's update the list for track & field:

GOAT candidates who added individual Olympic Golds to their resumes

Faith Kipyegon broke the Olympic record and became the first 3-time 1500m Olympic champion in history after winning a silver in the 5000m. I think she made a tactical error in the epic 5000m race featuring the 1500m WR holder (herself), the 5000m WR holder (Gudaf Tsegay), the 10000m WR holder (Beatrice Chebet), as well as the defending 5000m Olympic champion and future Olympic marathon champion (Sifan Hassan). A 1500m specialist should usually wait for her opponents to make the first move in the 5000m, unless the idea is to ensure a slow enough pace. Had she done that, I don't think her opponents would have had any strategies left to beat her. But instead, she started her final attack already before the final lap and ran out of batteries in the last 100 meters. Granted, the way a 10000-meter specialist Chebet could match her pace in the final lap was phenomenal, but an endurance race was always going to end in Chebet's favor. I guess Kipyegon was either frustrated by Tsegay's actions a lap earlier or too concerned with Hassan's sprinting ability (Hassan too made a tactical error by not closing the gap to the leaders before the final lap). No matter – Kipyegon still achieved a “Paris double” in the 1500m as she had already set a new WR in the same city (though not the same stadium) back in July.

Ryan Crouser also became the first 3-time Olympic champion in the shot put. This was especially impressive given his injury that made him even think of retirement. If his status as the greatest ever shot putter wasn’t secured already, it certainly is now.

Armand Duplantis not only won his second Olympic gold in pole vault but then added a memorable world record of 6.25m – his 9th absolute WR already. He now has more Olympic gold medals than Sergey Bubka, albeit Bubka still leads 11–6 in global titles. But Duplantis is so young and so incredibly far beyond everyone else in this event that Bubka’s other achievements are very much within his reach. Case in point: at Armand's current age, Bubka had 5 global titles.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone added her second individual Olympic gold *and* fifth individual WR in the 400m hurdles. She was supposed to be challenged by Femke Bol, but beat the field by a whopping 1.5 seconds. She then clinched the victory in the women’s 4 x 400m where team USA came within a tenth of a second to break a 36-year-old world record. Her time in the 2nd leg was 47.71s with a running start, nearly a second faster than any other runner in the race (Femke Bol came closest with 48.62). That said, the 400m Olympic record breaker Marileidy Paulino (48.17) did not participate in the relay. Would be interesting to see these two champions go head-to-head again!

Grant Holloway got his first Olympic gold in the 110m hurdles and immediately enters the list of the GOAT candidates thanks to his other achievements. The guy has been undefeated in the 60m hurdles for an entire decade (since March 2014)! He’s a bit too tall for his own good in the 110m hurdles at 188 cm/6’2, as he’s often forced to shorten his steps in the final 30 meters and allow others to catch him. Yet he’s still won 6 out of his last 7 global finals!

• 1 individual Olympic Gold (1 x 110m hurdles; 1 x 110m hurdles silver)
• 3 individual WC Golds (3 x 110m hurdles)
• 2 individual indoor WC Golds (2 x 60m hurdles)
• 1-time Diamond League winner (1 x 110m hurdles)
• 2-time World Indoor Tour winner (2 x 60m hurdles)
• 1 individual world record (60m hurdles; 2nd fastest ever in 110m hurdles)

Yaroslava Mahuchikh not only broke Stefka Kostadinova’s 37-year-old high jump world record in the Paris Diamond League event this July, but then won her first Olympic gold (and third global title) in the same city (the only athlete besides Kipyegon to achieve this particular “Paris double”, albeit Duplantis also won twice in Paris and set a WR in the Olympics). She’s only just entered her peak, but her peak looks so glorious that she now becomes the youngest athlete on this list.

• 1 individual Olympic Gold (1 x bronze)
• 1 individual WC Gold
• 1 individual indoor WC Gold
• 2-time Diamond League winner
• 1-time World Indoor Tour winner
• 1 individual world record (first woman ever to clear 2.10 meters)

GOAT candidates who remained world class in the Olympics

Karsten Warholm had already been beaten in the 400m hurdles by both Alison dos Santos and Rai Benjamin in the Oslo and Monaco Diamond League events. So, despite setting a new European Championships record (46.98s) in between, he came into the Olympics as a challenger instead of the usual favorite that he is. He did manage to beat dos Santos for silver but failed to run under 47 seconds and was left in the dust by Benjamin. His ridiculous WR in addition to 4 global titles makes him the only threat to Edwin Moses as the greatest ever 400m hurdler, but Moses remains at the top thanks to his decade-long undefeated streak. Here’s hoping Warholm can still regain his peak form somehow.

Mutaz Essa Barsham (stage name “Barshim” thanks to a typo he liked) added a bronze medal despite a difficult season, setting a season best 2.34m in the high jump final. He is now the only 4-time Olympic medalist (1 x gold, 2 x silver, 1 x bronze) in the history of the event. Javier Sotomayor is still the WR holder and arguably the GOAT, but Barsham really is neck-and-neck with him.

Sandra Elkasevic (née Perkovic) also added a bronze medal with a season best (67.51m) in the discus throw final. The silver medalist Feng Bin had the same result but a better second-best throw. This year’s results were very much in line with Elkasevic’s performances this decade. After dominating the 2010s she not only has an unmatched title resume but remains the best female discus thrower in Europe. At the global level though she has been “merely” a serious medal candidate. Her personal best (71.41m in 2017) was the best throw in 25 years but has been beaten by Valarie Allman’s 71.46m and Yaime Perez’s 73.09m since then. Whether she’s a worthy GOAT candidate or “just” a generational thrower depends on how much one emphasizes the absurd world records of the past.

Anita Wlodarczyk came within 5 cm of winning a bronze medal in the hammer throw at nearly 39 years of age. The most successful thrower in athletics history had suffered a leg muscle injury in June 2022 while apprehending a car thief (who on his part chose the totally wrong person to mess with). Recovering from a leg surgery has been a slow process, but it almost paid off twice this year: she improved her season best in both the European Championships (silver with 72.92m) and the Olympics (4th with 74.23m). She may well have even more left in her tank for the next Olympiad.


GOAT candidates who were unable to compete due to injury

• Yulimar Rojas, triple jump (Achilles injury in April)
• Elaine Thompson-Herah, 100m (Achilles injury in June)
• Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, 100m (warm-up injury during the Olympics; supposed to retire)
• Kenenisa Bekele, marathon (finished 39th despite suffering a hamstring injury in the race)
• Eliud Kipchoge, marathon (dropped out after 30 km due to severe discomfort around waist)

Extraordinarily versatile generational talents who won individual Olympic Golds

Sifan Hassan is one of those athletes to whom my designations (GOAT/generational) do not do justice. Much like sprinters Wayde van Niekerk and Irina Privalova, she is one of the most versatile runners of all time despite not being GOAT level in any single Olympic event (Privalova is the greatest ever 50/60m runner though, and van Niekerk broke Michael Johnson’s WRs in the 400m and 300m). Hassan is a sub 1:57 runner in the 800m, a European record (ER) holder and a World champion in the 1500m, ER holder in the 3000m, Olympic champion in the 5000m, Olympic *and* World champion in the 10000m, and now also an Olympic marathon champion! She became the first athlete to win medals in the 5000m (bronze), 10000m (bronze), and marathon in the same Olympics since Emil Zatopek (3 golds) in 1952. In the marathon she was racing the WR holder Tigst Assefa, who had run 400m in 54.05s at the age of 15. Yet Assefa didn’t even come close to matching Hassan’s decisive sprint. Oh, and Hassan has also set 4 individual world records (1 x mile, 1 x 5km road race, 1 x 10000m, 1 x 1 hour run) in her career. No female runner can match the range of her achievements.

Nafissatou Thiam deserves an honorable mention in this category. She’s never going to match Jackie Joyner-Kersee’s ability in the combined events. The latter’s heptathlon WR (7291p) is simply too impressive. But at least Thiam now matches Joyner-Kersee in Olympic golds (3). And if we only count heptathlon, she surpassed Joyner-Kersee in both Olympic golds (3 vs. 2) and global titles (5 vs. 4). Joyner-Kersee of course was also one of the greatest long jumpers ever, but Thiam isn’t half bad at her own favorite event: her high jump PB (2.02m) would have been good enough for Olympic gold this year (albeit she only managed 1.92m in the heptathlon). Plus Thiam has a WR in the indoor pentathlon, an event that barely existed during Joyner-Kersee’s prime.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Bad list from a bad publication. Who cares

 

[Sentinel]

The man with 7 Norrises (2nd all-time) is the most glaring omission. The list seems to value victories, so the man with four Stanley Cups who happens to be the first European Cup-winning captain absolutely must be included.

 

[Bombshell11]

The man with 7 Norrises (2nd all-time) is the most glaring omission. The list seems to value victories, so the man with four Stanley Cups who happens to be the first European Cup-winning captain absolutely must be included.

Its not a real list, all the guys you see there have been bought and paid for. Its the list of who's the biggest sellout

 

[John Mandalorian]

Now that the Olympics are over, let's update the list for track & field:

GOAT candidates who added individual Olympic Golds to their resumes

Faith Kipyegon broke the Olympic record and became the first 3-time 1500m Olympic champion in history after winning a silver in the 5000m. I think she made a tactical error in the epic 5000m race featuring the 1500m WR holder (herself), the 5000m WR holder (Gudaf Tsegay), the 10000m WR holder (Beatrice Chebet), as well as the defending 5000m Olympic champion and future Olympic marathon champion (Sifan Hassan). A 1500m specialist should usually wait for her opponents to make the first move in the 5000m, unless the idea is to ensure a slow enough pace. Had she done that, I don't think her opponents would have had any strategies left to beat her. But instead, she started her final attack already before the final lap and ran out of batteries in the last 100 meters. Granted, the way a 10000-meter specialist Chebet could match her pace in the final lap was phenomenal, but an endurance race was always going to end in Chebet's favor. I guess Kipyegon was either frustrated by Tsegay's actions a lap earlier or too concerned with Hassan's sprinting ability (Hassan too made a tactical error by not closing the gap to the leaders before the final lap). No matter – Kipyegon still achieved a “Paris double” in the 1500m as she had already set a new WR in the same city (though not the same stadium) back in July.

Ryan Crouser also became the first 3-time Olympic champion in the shot put. This was especially impressive given his injury that made him even think of retirement. If his status as the greatest ever shot putter wasn’t secured already, it certainly is now.

Armand Duplantis not only won his second Olympic gold in pole vault but then added a memorable world record of 6.25m – his 9th absolute WR already. He now has more Olympic gold medals than Sergey Bubka, albeit Bubka still leads 11–6 in global titles. But Duplantis is so young and so incredibly far beyond everyone else in this event that Bubka’s other achievements are very much within his reach. Case in point: at Armand's current age, Bubka had 5 global titles.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone added her second individual Olympic gold *and* fifth individual WR in the 400m hurdles. She was supposed to be challenged by Femke Bol, but beat the field by a whopping 1.5 seconds. She then clinched the victory in the women’s 4 x 400m where team USA came within a tenth of a second to break a 36-year-old world record. Her time in the 2nd leg was 47.71s with a running start, nearly a second faster than any other runner in the race (Femke Bol came closest with 48.62). That said, the 400m Olympic record breaker Marileidy Paulino (48.17) did not participate in the relay. Would be interesting to see these two champions go head-to-head again!

Grant Holloway got his first Olympic gold in the 110m hurdles and immediately enters the list of the GOAT candidates thanks to his other achievements. The guy has been undefeated in the 60m hurdles for an entire decade (since March 2014)! He’s a bit too tall for his own good in the 110m hurdles at 188 cm/6’2, as he’s often forced to shorten his steps in the final 30 meters and allow others to catch him. Yet he’s still won 6 out of his last 7 global finals!

• 1 individual Olympic Gold (1 x 110m hurdles; 1 x 110m hurdles silver)
• 3 individual WC Golds (3 x 110m hurdles)
• 2 individual indoor WC Golds (2 x 60m hurdles)
• 1-time Diamond League winner (1 x 110m hurdles)
• 2-time World Indoor Tour winner (2 x 60m hurdles)
• 1 individual world record (60m hurdles; 2nd fastest ever in 110m hurdles)

Yaroslava Mahuchikh not only broke Stefka Kostadinova’s 37-year-old high jump world record in the Paris Diamond League event this July, but then won her first Olympic gold (and third global title) in the same city (the only athlete besides Kipyegon to achieve this particular “Paris double”, albeit Duplantis also won twice in Paris and set a WR in the Olympics). She’s only just entered her peak, but her peak looks so glorious that she now becomes the youngest athlete on this list.

• 1 individual Olympic Gold (1 x bronze)
• 1 individual WC Gold
• 1 individual indoor WC Gold
• 2-time Diamond League winner
• 1-time World Indoor Tour winner
• 1 individual world record (first woman ever to clear 2.10 meters)

GOAT candidates who remained world class in the Olympics

Karsten Warholm had already been beaten in the 400m hurdles by both Alison dos Santos and Rai Benjamin in the Oslo and Monaco Diamond League events. So, despite setting a new European Championships record (46.98s) in between, he came into the Olympics as a challenger instead of the usual favorite that he is. He did manage to beat dos Santos for silver but failed to run under 47 seconds and was left in the dust by Benjamin. His ridiculous WR in addition to 4 global titles makes him the only threat to Edwin Moses as the greatest ever 400m hurdler, but Moses remains at the top thanks to his decade-long undefeated streak. Here’s hoping Warholm can still regain his peak form somehow.

Mutaz Essa Barsham (stage name “Barshim” thanks to a typo he liked) added a bronze medal despite a difficult season, setting a season best 2.34m in the high jump final. He is now the only 4-time Olympic medalist (1 x gold, 2 x silver, 1 x bronze) in the history of the event. Javier Sotomayor is still the WR holder and arguably the GOAT, but Barsham really is neck-and-neck with him.

Sandra Elkasevic (née Perkovic) also added a bronze medal with a season best (67.51m) in the discus throw final. The silver medalist Feng Bin had the same result but a better second-best throw. This year’s results were very much in line with Elkasevic’s performances this decade. After dominating the 2010s she not only has an unmatched title resume but remains the best female discus thrower in Europe. At the global level though she has been “merely” a serious medal candidate. Her personal best (71.41m in 2017) was the best throw in 25 years but has been beaten by Valarie Allman’s 71.46m and Yaime Perez’s 73.09m since then. Whether she’s a worthy GOAT candidate or “just” a generational thrower depends on how much one emphasizes the absurd world records of the past.

Anita Wlodarczyk came within 5 cm of winning a bronze medal in the hammer throw at nearly 39 years of age. The most successful thrower in athletics history had suffered a leg muscle injury in June 2022 while apprehending a car thief (who on his part chose the totally wrong person to mess with). Recovering from a leg surgery has been a slow process, but it almost paid off twice this year: she improved her season best in both the European Championships (silver with 72.92m) and the Olympics (4th with 74.23m). She may well have even more left in her tank for the next Olympiad.


GOAT candidates who were unable to compete due to injury

• Yulimar Rojas, triple jump (Achilles injury in April)
• Elaine Thompson-Herah, 100m (Achilles injury in June)
• Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, 100m (warm-up injury during the Olympics; supposed to retire)
• Kenenisa Bekele, marathon (finished 39th despite suffering a hamstring injury in the race)
• Eliud Kipchoge, marathon (dropped out after 30 km due to severe discomfort around waist)

Extraordinarily versatile generational talents who won individual Olympic Golds

Sifan Hassan is one of those athletes to whom my designations (GOAT/generational) do not do justice. Much like sprinters Wayde van Niekerk and Irina Privalova, she is one of the most versatile runners of all time despite not being GOAT level in any single Olympic event (Privalova is the greatest ever 50/60m runner though, and van Niekerk broke Michael Johnson’s WRs in the 400m and 300m). Hassan is a sub 1:57 runner in the 800m, a European record (ER) holder and a World champion in the 1500m, ER holder in the 3000m, Olympic champion in the 5000m, Olympic *and* World champion in the 10000m, and now also an Olympic marathon champion! She became the first athlete to win medals in the 5000m (bronze), 10000m (bronze), and marathon in the same Olympics since Emil Zatopek (3 golds) in 1952. In the marathon she was racing the WR holder Tigst Assefa, who had run 400m in 54.05s at the age of 15. Yet Assefa didn’t even come close to matching Hassan’s decisive sprint. Oh, and Hassan has also set 4 individual world records (1 x mile, 1 x 5km road race, 1 x 10000m, 1 x 1 hour run) in her career. No female runner can match the range of her achievements.

Nafissatou Thiam deserves an honorable mention in this category. She’s never going to match Jackie Joyner-Kersee’s ability in the combined events. The latter’s heptathlon WR (7291p) is simply too impressive. But at least Thiam now matches Joyner-Kersee in Olympic golds (3). And if we only count heptathlon, she surpassed Joyner-Kersee in both Olympic golds (3 vs. 2) and global titles (5 vs. 4). Joyner-Kersee of course was also one of the greatest long jumpers ever, but Thiam isn’t half bad at her own favorite event: her high jump PB (2.02m) would have been good enough for Olympic gold this year (albeit she only managed 1.92m in the heptathlon). Plus Thiam has a WR in the indoor pentathlon, an event that barely existed during Joyner-Kersee’s prime.

Duplantis is great. No denying that. But people should make Bubka comparisons with some reluctance. His affiliated nation boycotted the Olympics in the middle of his prime. Also, his affiliated nation gave him a financial bonus every time he broke a world record. So he was economically incentivized to break records in the smallest increments. So he never really “went big” because it would mean foregoing money. He was a capitalist.

 

[Sentinel]

While swimming and running do have multiple events, inflating the goal totals (and Olympic gold winner in hockey amounts to just one medal), Phelps and Bolt are first compared to other swimmers and runners before being compared to each other. They dominated their fields in a ridiculous fashion in terms of both peak and career. So they are on the top of the list rightfully.

 

[Sampe from the 2000s]

Duplantis is great. No denying that. But people should make Bubka comparisons with some reluctance. His affiliated nation boycotted the Olympics in the middle of his prime. Also, his affiliated nation gave him a financial bonus every time he broke a world record. So he was economically incentivized to break records in the smallest increments. So he never really “went big” because it would mean foregoing money. He was a capitalist.

You're right, Bubka did lose the the chance to compete in the 1984 Olympics. And there were no outdoor World Championships in 1985 or 1989. Plus while Duplantis too wants to break WRs in the smallest increments, these days the incentive is to break absolute WRs. Back in Bubka's day, he got the WR bonus just by breaking either an outdoor or an indoor record. Duplantis has a slightly bigger incentive to raise the bar.

I still feel the comparison is justified, however. According to a German study, Bubka's best ever competitive jump would have cleared 6.30m. And based on what we've seen the same goes for Duplantis. Then there's the separate question of what they are/were theoretically capable of. According to AI, Duplantis is capable of 6.51m. But if the reports about Bubka's sprinting ability are true, Bubka could run 100m in 10.3 seconds. Meanwhile Duplantis believes he can run it in 10.30-10.40s. Bubka was also taller and much stronger, so he had the edge when it comes to holding the pole. Duplantis meanwhile seems like the most technically perfect pole vaulter ever. It's close.

Bubka's main weakness is his Olympic resume after Soul. Total failure in Barcelona, injury in Atlanta, past his prime in Sydney. Won't take much from Duplantis to do better in 2028 and 2032.

 

[yeaher]

Why is Serena Biles not first??????