The Greatest Athletes in History
In-depth biographies, career statistics, records, and legacy of the athletes who transcended their sports.
Football (Soccer)
4 profilesLionel Messi
Lionel Andrés Messi is widely regarded as the greatest footballer of all time. Born in Rosario, Arge...
★ 8× Ballon d'Or (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2023)
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, into a working-class fam...
★ 5× Ballon d'Or (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017)
Pelé
Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known universally as Pelé, was born in Três Corações, Brazil, the son o...
★ 3× FIFA World Cup winner (1958, 1962, 1970)
Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona was born in Lanús, Buenos Aires Province, the fifth of eight children. He gre...
★ 1986 FIFA World Cup winner with Argentina
Basketball
3 profilesMichael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Wilmington, North Carolina. Fam...
★ 6× NBA Champion (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998)
LeBron James
LeBron Raymone James was born in Akron, Ohio, to a single teenage mother. His early life was marked ...
★ 4× NBA Champion (2012, 2013, 2016, 2020)
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryant was born in Philadelphia and moved to Italy at age 6 when his father Joe "Jellybean...
★ 5× NBA Champion (2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010)
Tennis
4 profilesRoger Federer
Roger Federer was born in Basel, Switzerland, to a Swiss father and South African mother. His natura...
★ 20 Grand Slam titles
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera was born in Manacor, Mallorca, Spain. His uncle Toni Nadal, a professional tenni...
★ 22 Grand Slam titles
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic was born in Belgrade, then part of Yugoslavia, into a family that ran a fast food and...
★ 24 Grand Slam titles (most in men's history)
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams was born in Saginaw, Michigan, the youngest of five daughters. Her father Ric...
★ 23 Grand Slam singles titles (most in Open Era)
Formula 1
3 profilesAyrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva was born in São Paulo, Brazil, into an upper-middle-class family. His father g...
★ 3× Formula 1 World Champion (1988, 1990, 1991)
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, to a British-Grenadian family. Hi...
★ 7× Formula 1 World Champion (2008, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)
Max Verstappen
Max Emilian Verstappen was born in Hasselt, Belgium, to Belgian mother Sophie Kumpen (a racing drive...
★ 3× Formula 1 World Champion (2021, 2022, 2023)
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