TOP 10 Greatest Athletes of the 21th Century

     

In this article I will give a brief resume about the career of the "10 Greatest athletes of the 21th Century" in my opinion. The list is based in the athletes stats, achievements, legacy and popularity:

1. Michael Phelps: Nobody have dominated a sport so much and for so long as Michael Phelps in Swimming, the most decorated athlete in history of Ancient and Modern Summer Olympics with a Total of 28 Medals (23 Gold, 3 Silver and 2 Bronze) he is also the most decorated athlete in Swimming World Championship history with 33 Total Medals (26 Gold, 6 Silver and 1 Bronze) Phelps is the long Course Record Holder in the 100 Meter Butterfly, 200 Meter Butterfly and 400 Meter Butterfly. Phelps International Titles and record breaking performances have earned him the World Swimmer of the Year Award a record of 8 times and American Swimmer of the year a record 11 times, he was also named the 2008 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year after his historic performance in the 2008 Summer Olympics.

2. LeBron James: The most Complete Basketball Player in NBA history without a doubt the most iconic and World Famous Player since Michael Jordan in the 90's . James has won 3 NBA Championships, 4 NBA Most Valuable Player Award, 3 NBA Finals MVP, 2 Olympic Gold Medals being one of only 4 Players to ever win the NBA Finals and a Summer Olympic Gold Medal twice (David Robinson, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant) and 1 of only 4 Players to win both events in the same year (2012) (Kyrie Irving, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen), he has also been elected to 13 NBA All Star Games, 13 ALL NBA First Team and 6 All Defensive Teams as well as being the Cavaliers All Time leading scorer, James is 1 of only 2 individuals who have received the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year twice (Tiger Woods). James is also one of the most Popular Athletes in the World being the 2nd most followed athlete in social media only behind Cristiano Ronaldo.

3. Tom Brady: The Greatest QB of all Time and one of only 2 players to win 5 Super Bowls (the other being Charles Haley), the only QB to win 5 Super Bowls and also the only player to win them all playing for one team. Brady has been by far the most dominant NFL Player in the 21th Century and one of the most dominant in history of the game. He has been honored with 4 SB MVP awards, the most ever by a single player, 2 NFL MVP awards (2007 and 2010) and the Comeback Player of the Year award in 2007 after a potential career ending injury. His 2007 Season was one of the best ever by player with 4,806 Passing Yard and a then record 50 TD passes. Brady has also been selected to the Pro Bowl 12 times. Brady cemented his legacy and put together a strong argument that he's the best of All Time following his historic performance in Super Bowl LI: Brady went 43 of 62 for 466 Passing Yards and 2 TD passes, orchestrating the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history down 28-3 the Patriots scored 31 Unanswered Points to win the Super Bowl.

 As of the end of the 2016 Season Brady is 4th All Time in Career Passing Yards, 4th in Career TD passes and 3th in Career Passing Rating. His Career Postseason record is 25-9 winning more playoff games than any other QB, and he has appeared in more playoff games than any other position player. Brady 208 Combined Regular Season and Postseason Wins and also the most of any QB  in NFL history.

4. Cristiano Ronaldo: Often Considered the best player in the world and regarded by many as the Greatest of all Time, Ronaldo has 4 Ballon d' Or Awards, the most by an European Player and 2nd  in the World only behind Lionel Messi. He is also the first player in history to win 4 European Golden Shoes. Ronaldo holds the record for most official Goals Scored in the Top 5 European Leagues (369), the UEFA Champions League (105) and the UEFA European Championships (29), as well as the most goals scored in a UEFA Champions League  Season (17). Ronaldo has scored more than 600 Senior Career Goals for Club and Country. He is the All Time leading Goalscorer for Real Madrid. Ronaldo was named best Portuguese Player of All Time by the Portuguese Football Federation in 2015. He is the Active World leader in International Goals and Portugal's All Time Top Goalscorer. He was ranked as the World highest paid athlete by Forbes in 2016 and 2017 as well as the World's most famous Athlete by ESPN in 2016 and 2017.

   

  5. Lionel Messi: The "Mozart"  of Soccer Lionel Messi may be somewhat vertically challenged but he certainly isn't short of total admiration from his peers. Often considered as the best Player in the World and regarded by many as the greatest of all Time. Messi is for now the only player in history with 5 Ballon d'Or Awards and a record tying 4 European Golden Shoes. Messi has won 29 trophies with FC Barcelona, including 8 La Liga titles, 5 Copa del Rey and 4 UEFA Champions League. He holds the record for most official Goals Scored in La Liga (349), La Liga Season (50) and a Club Football Season in Europe (73) as well as most assists made in La Liga (137) and the Copa America (11).

6. Kobe Bryant: He is the closest thing We've ever seen to Jordan in terms of Skill, footwork, clutch and the devotion to win. Elite Guards don't have 20 years careers but Kobe did it,  with 17 All Star Appearances, 15 All NBA Selections, 5 NBA Championships and 1 MVP award. Kobe finished his career as the third leading Scorer in NBA history. Only 3 Players (Kareem, Kevin Willis and Kevin Garnett) played more seasons than Bryant's 20 Seasons and no  player had more 1st Team All NBA Selections than Kobe's 11.

 7. Roger Federer: He is widely regarded by many Commentators, Players and Sports Analyst to be the greatest Tennis Player of All Time. Federer has won 18 Grand Slams Singles Titles, the most in history for a male tennis player, and held the No.1 Spot in the ATP World Rankings for a record 237 Consecutive Weeks and a record total of 302 Weeks. Federer has won a joint Open Era Record 7 Wimbledon titles and 5 US Open titles as well as winning 5 Australian Open and 1 French Open. He is one of only eight men tennis players to capture a career Grand Slam.

 8. Serena Williams: One of the Strongest and most powerful women to ever play the game, widely regarded as the best female tennis player of all time. Serena and her sister Venus have been dominating women's tennis since the late 1990's, together they have won 14 Grand Slam Doubles titles. In Singles Serena have won an incredible 23 Grand Slam titles an open era record for Grand Slam Singles titles by a tennis player male or female. She held the NO. 1 Spot in the WTA World Ranking for 186 Consecutive Weeks, tying the record set by Steffi Graf for the most Consecutive weeks as the World No.1 by a female tennis player. In total  she has been World No.1 for 319 Weeks.

 9. Usain Bolt: The Fastest man in the world, the first person to hold both the 100 m and 200 m World records. Both have won 8 Olympic Gold Medals, 11 World Championship Gold Medals and 2 Silver Medals, he won consecutive World Championship 100m and 200m and 4x100m relay Gold Medals from 2009 to 2015 with an exception of a 100m False Start in 2011. He is the most successful athlete of the World Championship, his achievements have earned him the media nickname "Lighting Bolt" and his awards include IAAF World Athlete of the Year, Track & Field Athlete of the Year and Laureus World Sportsman of the Year (4 times).

  10. Tiger Wood: One of the greatest golfers of all time. Wood has been one of the highest paid athletes in the World for several years. We all remember the 1997 Masters record 18 under par  total that Woods shot in his first Masters as a Pro. We remember his incredible 12 shot margin of victory. He first reached World No. 1 Position in June 1997 after less than a year as a Professional Golfer. Throughout the 2000's Woods was the dominant force in Golf. From August 1999 to September 2004 (264 Weeks) and from June 2005 to October 2010 (281 Weeks) Woods was the Top Ranked Golfer in the World. Woods has broken numerous Golf records. He has been World No.1 for the most Consecutive Weeks and for the greatest total number of weeks of any golfer. He has won 14 Professional Major Golf Championships, where he trails only Jack Nicklaus who leads with 18, and 79 PGA Tour events, second most All Time behind Sam Snead, who had 82 Wins.

Bibliography

1.       "Top 10 Greatest Women's Tennis Players Of All Time". HowTheyPlay. N.p., 2017. Web. 11 June 2017.

2.       "20 Greatest Golfers Of All Time (Updated)". AthlonSports.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 11 June 2017.