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Best athletes of all time

The community has spoken. Discover the world ranking, compare it to yours and see how everyone else voted.

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22contenders high-voltage

2.2kvotes

51TopList

0commentsUpdated on 09/26/2026 at 07:00 PM

Lionel Messi (Soccer)1428

The worldwide ranking generated by 2.2k votes

22 / 22

Lionel Messi (Soccer)1428

Usain Bolt (Track & Field)1355

Cristiano Ronaldo (Soccer)1331

Muhammad Ali (Boxing)1330

Michael Jordan (Basketball)1324

Michael Phelps (Swimming)1297

Lewis Hamilton (Formula 1)1276

Rafael Nadal (Tennis)1265

LeBron James (Basketball)1252

#10

Pelé (Soccer)1243

#11

Tiger Woods (Golf)1224

#12

Michael Schumacher (Formula 1)1212

#13

Roger Federer (Tennis)1200

#14

Novak Djokovic (Tennis)1198

#15

Diego Maradona (Soccer)1196

#16

Tom Brady (Football)1159

#17

Ayrton Senna (Formula 1)1152

#18

Floyd Mayweather (Boxing)1065

#19

Eddy Merckx (Cycling)1015

#20

Karch Kiraly (Volleyball)996

#21

Wayne Gretzky (Hockey)959

#22

Jack Nicklaus (Golf)924

What the community says

Lionel Messi (Soccer) leads with an ELO of 1,428, ahead of Usain Bolt (Track & Field) (1,355) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Soccer) (1,331). Ranked over 2,182 duels between 22 contenders, last updated September 26, 2026.

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How this ranking is computed

Every duel won lifts a contender and every loss drops them, by an amount that depends on the opponent's strength: beating the leader is worth more than beating the last. It is an ELO, the same principle as in chess. Duels are not drawn at random — an adaptive entropy sort puts the least predictable match-ups first, which settles the ranking far faster than a full round robin. A worldwide ranking is only published past 30 completed plays. Known limit: a contender who has faced few opponents keeps an approximate score, and the bottom of the table moves more than the podium.