The 50 Greatest Living Athletes

[OldPhiKap]

Bruce Jenner.
Miguel Indurain.
Ronaldo.
Greg Maddox.
Mike Tyson.
Nolan Ryan.
Jack Nicholas.
Richard Petty.
Cal Ripken, Jr.
Sachin Tendulkar.

[COYS]

The list is interesting but is also woefully short on soccer players, which is particularly interesting since there are such an absurd number of outstanding athletes who definitely fit the definition of "athletic" it seems that the writers were applying. Mia Hamm was great, but what about Marta from Brazil whose individual and team accomplishments are off the charts? Pele, Christiano Ronaldo, and Lionel Messi are obvious (they should be way higher on the list, especially Ronaldo if we're talking about best pure athletes who are also super skilled and accomplished) but that's just scratching the surface. I feel like picking at least one living player from every major footballing country's all-time top ten is almost necessary. At the very least, a few guys from a list that includes Zidane, Beckenbauer, Buffon, Iniesta, etc is a requirement. Even a player like Roberto Carlos might fit this list just out of sheer athleticism, especially if they are including guys like Bo Jackson.

But then again, I love soccer.

[duke4ever19]

The list is interesting but is also woefully short on soccer players, which is particularly interesting since there are such an absurd number of outstanding athletes who definitely fit the definition of "athletic" it seems that the writers were applying. Mia Hamm was great, but what about Marta from Brazil whose individual and team accomplishments are off the charts? Pele, Christiano Ronaldo, and Lionel Messi are obvious (they should be way higher on the list, especially Ronaldo if we're talking about best pure athletes who are also super skilled and accomplished) but that's just scratching the surface. I feel like picking at least one living player from every major footballing country's all-time top ten is almost necessary. At the very least, a few guys from a list that includes Zidane, Beckenbauer, Buffon, Iniesta, etc is a requirement. Even a player like Roberto Carlos might fit this list just out of sheer athleticism, especially if they are including guys like Bo Jackson.

But then again, I love soccer.

Can you coach and develop talent? If so, U.S. Soccer has a position available if you want it. Someone, somewhere . . . please!

[uh_no]

Bruce Jenner.
Miguel Indurain.
Ronaldo.
Greg Maddox.
Mike Tyson.
Nolan Ryan.
Jack Nicholas.
Richard Petty.
Cal Ripken, Jr.
Sachin Tendulkar.

Jenner is great, but i'm not sure how any living decathlete can be put above eaton. Not only does he hold the world and olympic record in the decathlon and world record in the heptathlon, but defended an olympic title, and would have been a world class long jumper and 400m hurdler. He holds the decathlon records for the long jump and 400m, and his PR in the 110m hurdles is faster than any ever run as part of a decathlon. His second best decathlon is better than any other than his WR effort. And he won 3 straight heptathlon titles.

As I said, jenner was a good decathlete...but eaton is otherworldly. I would be surprised if his record is beaten in my lifetime.

[burnspbesq]

Bruce Jenner.
Miguel Indurain.
Ronaldo.
Greg Maddox.
Mike Tyson.
Nolan Ryan.
Jack Nicholas.
Richard Petty.
Cal Ripken, Jr.
Sachin Tendulkar.

I'll see your Tendulkar and raise you a Shane Warne. I've only been watching cricket since the 1990s, but I've never seen anyone in any sport make a ball dance like Warne.

[BigZ]

Stopped reading after I saw #1

[BigZ]

Quick impressions:

Jordan is #1 by a comfortable margin. And it isn't hard for me to say that even as a Duke fan.

And Tiger Woods is too low.

Gretzky is by far the best . His numbers in hockey are far superior to anyone else in the sport. He has more assists than anyone else has points. Jordan is arguably the most clutch athlete but Wayne is way more dominant in his sport.


I agree Tiger should be higher, and how can Jack not make the list?

[BigZ]

I think they put Lebron first just to create controversy

[BigZ]

RIP Hank Aaron

[YmoBeThere]

RIP Hank Aaron

Still alive...

[luburch]

as a track fan, i find the exclusion of ashton eaton inexcusable.

I was about to say this. Glad someone beat me to it. Eaton should without a doubt be on the list.

I also believe that Phelps and Messi are both ranked too low. Thierry Henry would be on my list, too.

[Bostondevil]

I know GQ stands for Gentleman's Quarterly and I know they put Serena Williams third, but, no. Throwing us bones by listing Serena, Diana Taurasi, and Martina Navratilova? I'd prefer honesty or be like Andy Murray - Top 50 Living Athletes, Male Athletes.

[Atlanta Duke]

I think they put Lebron first just to create controversy

Most likely to put an active athlete at the top to sell magazines/get page clicks, although recency bias also comes into play. When ESPN ran its Sports Century series on the 100 greatest athletes of the 20th century in the late 90s Michael Jordan was listed ahead of Ali and Babe Ruth

https://www.espn.com/sportscentury/athletes.html

Props to GQ for not including American Pharoah (Secretariat came in at #35 and Man O' War at #84 on the ESPN list)

[weezie]

No Laird Hamilton? Didn't he kinda set the bar? Not that I'm overly invested in these kind of lists but wondered.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

I thought this was somewhat interesting but more so I thought it was a lame piece of click bait by GQ. I thought they were better than this. And I think this is an incredibly US centric list, as others have mentioned - how about some wrestlers, rugby players, or other very challenging sports that we don't really care about?

Also, the person listed in the article as being in charge of this is a Duke alum so the exclusion of Patrick Davidson is not excusable.

[flyingdutchdevil]

The fact that 9 of the top 10 are North American athletes has stopped me short of reading this article.

Either make it US-based or global, but don't make it US-centric with a sprinkling of soccer and tennis stars. Sigh...

[Henderson]

Ronaldo.

The general tilt on the GQ list regrading soccer (2 of 25) and hockey players (1 of 25) seems pretty geocentric. But hey, they're going for magazine sales, and GQ knows where its magazines are sold.

Richard Petty.

There's a definitional issue here. Athlete?

[COYS]

Can you coach and develop talent? If so, U.S. Soccer has a position available if you want it. Someone, somewhere . . . please!

I refuse to acknowledge the reason why you made this post. I can't handle that level of depression. I'd rather shove it deep, deep down where it will never ever come out.

[uh_no]

There's a definitional issue here. Athlete?

It seems that's the biggest issue of such lists. It's ultimately a lot like the top 25 team rankings...what exactly are we evaluating? this week's performance? overall performance? potential? etc.

So it seems they just said pick whatever makes sense for you and we'll compile a list...and it seems the consensus is "popular guys playing major american sports with lots of championships"

[NSDukeFan]

The general tilt on the GQ list regrading soccer (2 of 25) and hockey players (1 of 25) seems pretty geocentric. But hey, they're going for magazine sales, and GQ knows where its magazines are sold.

Obviously, not in a soccer country.



Too soon?


Says the guy whose country is ranked in the 90s around El Salvador.