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Daily Featured Ranking Question for 2022-06-15
The All Time Top 25 Athletes by Mark D. Hauser
(To give your answer and view the results to this ranking question, go to: Greatest Athletes and Teams: Athletes: All Time.)
1. Michael Jordan 2. Jim Thorpe 3. Deion Sanders 4. Bo Jackson 5. Pele 6. Jim Brown 7. Muhammad Ali 8. Babe Ruth 9. Bobby Orr 10. Tiger Woods 11. Roger Federer 12. Babe Didrikson-Zaharis 13. Martina Navratilova 14. Nadia Comaneci 15. Jackie Joyner-Kersee 16. Cheryl Miller 17. Wayne Gretzky 18. Dan Gable 19. Michael Phelps 20. Bruce Lee 21. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 22. Carl Lewis 23. Sugar Ray Robinson 24. Willie Mays 25. Jackie Robinson.
As you might suspect, (or know -- if you tried to answer this question), this ranking question is probably the hardest question on the site to answer for several reasons. First, is the sheer volume of possible answers that you have to choose from. Basically, you have to consider every athlete, male or female, in every sport since around 1900. (Unless you want to consider wrestler Milo of Croton from the ancient Olympics like one of my friends did -- gosh, Chris, isn't the question hard enough without going back that far? Should I also include Achilles?)
Second, you have compare different sports, some of which are team sports and some of which are individual sports. Third, you have to compare different generations. Fourth, you have to compare male athletes with female athletes. Fifth, you have to compare athletes in the US with whom you are familiar, with athletes from other countries, most of whom you are not familiar with.
Sixth, and probably most importantly, what factors or criteria you use (and how much weight you put on each of them) will greatly influence your rankings. (I came up with 10 major criteria and they are outlined in my article "Who are the 25 Greatest Athletes of All-time?" (see "Weekly Articles") along with my justifications for my answers.)
I did lots of research, however, I cannot tell you that I fell strongly about my list. I could easily change it all tomorrow (except for number 1 ). I am sure I short changed non-North America athletes; I am equally certain non-US individuals who vote will short change US athletes and other athletes not from that voter's home country. Women will always struggle to get their due, however, you have to remember that there have been a lot more male athletes than female athletes since 1900. Like I said, no one said answering this ranking question would be easy. Good Luck!
In case you are wondering about my list for the 25 greatest male athletes of all-time it is the same 20 male athletes listed above in the same order (1-20) followed by: 21. JESSE OWENS 22. WILT CHAMBERLAIN 23. TED WILLIAMS 24. CAEL SANDERSON 25. JOHN SMITH.
The rest of my list for the female athletes is (same concept for numbering): 6. SONJA HENIE 7. MICHELLE AKERS 8. MIA HAMM 9. CHRIS EVERT 10. ANNIKA SORENSTAM 11. BONNIE BLAIR 12. TRACY CAULKINS 13. WILMA RUDOLPH 14. BILLIE JEAN KING 15. MONICA SELES 16. STEFFI GRAF 17. ALTHEA GIBSON 18. SHERYL SWOOPES 19. CYNTHIA COOPER 20. LAILA ALI 21. PEGGY FLEMING 22. MICHELLE KWAN 23. MARY T. MEAGHER 24. LISA FERNANDEZ 25. LARISSA LATYNINA
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Past Featured Ranking Questions
The All Time Top 10 NBA Passers by Mark D. Hauser
The All Time Top 25 Athletes by Mark D. Hauser
My Favorite Ranking Question and Why by Mark D. Hauser
The All Time Top 10 NHL Players (non-goalies) by Mark D. Hauser
The 10 Greatest Boxers of All Time by Mark D. Hauser
The 10 Greatest Heavyweight Boxers of All Time by Mark D. Hauser
The Top 25 NBA Players of All Time by Mark D. Hauser
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