List of sports figures considered the greatest

List of sports figures considered the greatest

In sports, spectators including sports fandom and sportswriters, as well as participants themselves have discussed players, coaches, teams, and related personalities in regards to being the greatest in their field, or sometimes across sports. These discussions on the greatest of all-time—often referred to by the acronym "GOAT"—are often held in sports culture, but widespread consensus on a sport's "GOAT" is uncommon.

Team sports in particular have GOAT discussions compartmentalized by position.

List of sports players considered the greatest

General

Simone Biles

Jim Thorpe

Sport	Player	Sources
All sports (general)	Muhammad Ali
Simone Biles
Usain Bolt
Tom Brady
Roger Federer
Wayne Gretzky
Bo Jackson
Michael Jordan
Lionel Messi
Michael Phelps
Jim Thorpe
Serena Williams

Athletics and racing sports

Michael Phelps

Katie Ledecky

Usain Bolt

Carl Lewis

<table><thead><tr><th>Sport</th><th>Player</th><th>Sources</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Cycling</td><td>Eddy Merckx</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Formula One</td><td>Lewis Hamilton</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Michael Schumacher</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Ayrton Senna</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Horse racing (Jockeys, flat racing)</td><td>Lester Piggott</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Bill Shoemaker</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Horse racing (Jockeys, jump racing)</td><td>Tony McCoy</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Ruby Walsh</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Horse racing (Thoroughbreds, in general and flat racing)</td><td>Frankel</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Man o' War</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Secretariat</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Horse racing (Thoroughbreds, in general and Steeplechase)</td><td>Arkle</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>NASCAR</td><td>Dale Earnhardt</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Jimmie Johnson</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Richard Petty</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Long-distance running (men's Marathon)</td><td>Eliud Kipchoge</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Long-distance running (women's Marathon)</td><td>Paula Radcliffe</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Swimming (in general and men's)</td><td>Michael Phelps</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Swimming (women's)</td><td>Katie Ledecky</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Track and field: Decathlon</td><td>Ashton Eaton</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Track and field: Javelin throw</td><td>Jan Železný</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Track and field (men's): Middle-distance running</td><td>Hicham El Guerrouj</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Track and field (women's): Middle-distance running</td><td>Faith Kipyegon</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Track and field (men's): Overall</td><td>Usain Bolt</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Carl Lewis</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Jesse Owens</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Track and field (women's): Overall</td><td>Allyson Felix</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Jackie Joyner-Kersee</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Track and field: Pole vault</td><td>Armand Duplantis</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Track and field: Shot put</td><td>Ryan Crouser</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Track and field (in general and men's): Sprinting</td><td>Usain Bolt</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Track and field (women's): Sprinting</td><td>Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

Ball and hockey sports

Shohei Ohtani

Jack Nicklaus

Luciana Aymar

Wayne Gretzky

Novak Djokovic

Serena Williams

<table><thead><tr><th>Sport</th><th>Player</th><th>Sources</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>American football</td><td>Tom Brady</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Jim Brown</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Jerry Rice</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Association football (men's)</td><td>Diego Maradona</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Lionel Messi</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Pelé</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Cristiano Ronaldo</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Association football (women's)</td><td>Mia Hamm</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Marta</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Australian rules football</td><td>Leigh Matthews</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Wayne Carey</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Badminton</td><td>Lin Dan</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Baseball</td><td>Willie Mays</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Shohei Ohtani</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Babe Ruth</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Basketball (men's)</td><td>Kareem Abdul-Jabbar</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>LeBron James</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Michael Jordan</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Bill Russell</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Basketball (women's)</td><td>Diana Taurasi</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>A'ja Wilson</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Box lacrosse</td><td>John Tavares</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Canadian football</td><td>Doug Flutie</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Cricket (men's, any form)</td><td>Don Bradman</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Sachin Tendulkar</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Golf</td><td>Jack Nicklaus</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Tiger Woods</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Field hockey (in general and men's)</td><td>Dhyan Chand</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Field hockey (women's)</td><td>Luciana Aymar</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Futsal</td><td>Falcão</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Ice hockey (men's)</td><td>Wayne Gretzky</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Gordie Howe</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Ice hockey (women's)</td><td>Marie-Philip Poulin</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Lacrosse</td><td>Gary Gait</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Rugby league</td><td>Cameron Smith</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Rugby union</td><td>Gareth Edwards</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Jonah Lomu</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Richie McCaw</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Softball</td><td>Lisa Fernandez</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Squash</td><td>Jahangir Khan</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Table tennis</td><td>Ma Long</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Tennis (men's)</td><td>Novak Djokovic</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Roger Federer</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Rod Laver</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Rafael Nadal</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Tennis (women's)</td><td>Margaret Court</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Steffi Graf</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Martina Navratilova</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Serena Williams</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Volleyball (men's): Beach and indoor variants</td><td>Karch Kiraly</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

Combat sports

Muhammad Ali

Teddy Riner

<table><thead><tr><th>Sport</th><th>Player</th><th>Sources</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Boxing (men's)</td><td>Muhammad Ali</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Sugar Ray Robinson</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Boxing (women's)</td><td>Laila Ali</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Claressa Shields</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Katie Taylor</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Brazilian jiu-jitsu</td><td>Roger Gracie</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Collegiate (folkstyle) wrestling</td><td>Cael Sanderson</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Fencing</td><td>Edoardo Mangiarotti</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Freestyle wrestling (men's)</td><td>Buvaisar Saitiev</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Freestyle wrestling (women's)</td><td>Kaori Icho</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Saori Yoshida</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Greco-Roman wrestling</td><td>Aleksandr Karelin</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Mijaín López</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Judo (men's)</td><td>Teddy Riner</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Judo (women's)</td><td>Ryoko Tani</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Karate</td><td>Rafael Aghayev</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>MMA (men's)</td><td>Demetrious Johnson</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Jon Jones</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Anderson Silva</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Georges St-Pierre</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>MMA (women's)</td><td>Cris Cyborg</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Amanda Nunes</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Sumo</td><td>Hakuhō Shō</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

Extreme and adventure sports

Mikaela Shiffrin

<table><thead><tr><th>Sport</th><th>Player</th><th>Sources</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Biathlon</td><td>Ole Einar Bjørndalen</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Cross-country skiing</td><td>Johannes Høsflot Klæbo</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Skateboarding</td><td>Tony Hawk</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Skiing (in general and men's)</td><td>Ingemar Stenmark</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Skiing (in general and women's)</td><td>Mikaela Shiffrin</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Ski jumping</td><td>Matti Nykänen</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Snowboarding</td><td>Terje Håkonsen</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Craig Kelly</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Shaun White</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Surfing</td><td>Kelly Slater</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

Mind sports

Magnus Carlsen

Sport	Player	Sources
Chess	Magnus Carlsen
Garry Kasparov
Speedcubing (general)	Feliks Zemdegs

Esports

Sport	Player	Sources
Fortnite	Bugha
Peterbot
League of Legends	Faker
Overwatch	Fleta
Profit
Rocket League	Turbopolsa

Precision sports

Walter Ray Williams Jr.

<table><thead><tr><th>Sport</th><th>Player</th><th>Sources</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Archery (men's)</td><td>Kim Woo-jin</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Archery (women's)</td><td>Sara López</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Curling</td><td>Kevin Martin</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Darts</td><td>Phil Taylor</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Horseshoes</td><td>Alan Francis</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Pool</td><td>Efren Reyes</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Snooker</td><td>Ronnie O'Sullivan</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Tenpin bowling</td><td>Earl Anthony</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Walter Ray Williams Jr.</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

Parasports

Brian McKeever

Trischa Zorn

Sport	Player	Sources
Goalball	Sevda Altunoluk
Para cross-country skiing	Brian McKeever
Paralympics (general)	Sarah Storey
Trischa Zorn
Wheelchair basketball	Patrick Anderson

Other individual sports

Joey Chestnut

<table><thead><tr><th>Sport</th><th>Player</th><th>Sources</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Competitive eating (in general and men's)</td><td>Joey Chestnut</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Competitive eating (women's)</td><td>Miki Sudo</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Gymnastics (men's)</td><td>Kohei Uchimura</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Gymnastics (in general and women's)</td><td>Simone Biles</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Olympic weightlifting</td><td>Lasha Talakhadze</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

List of team sports athletes considered the greatest by position

American football

Barry Sanders

Rob Gronkowski

Jerry Rice

Lawrence Taylor

Dick Butkus

Adam Vinatieri

Devin Hester

Association football

Lionel Messi

Cristiano Ronaldo

Baseball

Willie Mays

Mariano Rivera

Cal Ripken Jr.

Basketball

Michael Jordan

Lebron James

Other team sports

Virat Kohli

List of sports teams considered the greatest

List of sports figures considered the greatest

<table><thead><tr><th>Sport</th><th>Team</th><th>Sources</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>American football</td><td>Miami Dolphins (1972)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Chicago Bears (1985)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Association football</td><td>Brazil national football team (1970)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Baseball</td><td>New York Yankees (1927)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>New York Yankees (1998)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Basketball</td><td>United States men's national basketball team (1992)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Cricket</td><td>Australia national cricket team (1948)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Rugby</td><td>British & Irish Lions (1971)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>New Zealand national rugby union team (2015)</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

List of sports personnel considered the greatest

Coach/manager/trainer

<table><thead><tr><th>Sport</th><th>Coach</th><th>Sources</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>All sports</td><td>John Wooden</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>American football</td><td>Bill Belichick</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Vince Lombardi</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Don Shula</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>American football (college)</td><td>Nick Saban</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Association football</td><td>Sir Alex Ferguson</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Baseball</td><td>Joe McCarthy</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Casey Stengel</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Basketball (men's)</td><td>Red Auerbach</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Phil Jackson</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Gregg Popovich</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Basketball (women's)</td><td>Geno Auriemma</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Boxing</td><td>Cus D'Amato</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Horse racing (trainer, flat racing)</td><td>Bob Baffert</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Ice hockey</td><td>Scotty Bowman</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>MMA</td><td>Greg Jackson</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

List of sports media figures considered the greatest

Commentators

Type/Field	Individual	Sources
Announcer/broadcaster, general	Howard Cosell
Bob Costas
Vin Scully
Murray Walker