7 Greatest Sportsmen Of All Time

There are often arguments and counterarguments on who the 7 greatest sportsmen of all time are. Some sports historians, analysts, and supporters pick their own choices not necessarily on facts but emotions. 

In picking the 7 greatest sportsmen of all time, I briefly checked their achievements not just in their specific fields but also their impact outside the world of sports.

1. Boxing legend, Muhammad Ali has been crowned the best sports athlete of all time in a star-studded list. The 'Greatest' is widely considered the best boxer in history and arguably the most iconic sports star of the 20th century. 

Ali was not just a beauty to watch in the boxing ring, the greatest pugilist positively influenced decisions in many countries globally. 

2. Pele is widely picked as the winner, and number one football player in history in all criteria. His three-time World Cup-winning feat, from four World Cup appearances, is unlikely to be matched. Pele scored a Guinness World Record of 1279 goals in 1363 games and also collected the following personal records along the way such as being the youngest player at the age of 17 to win a FIFA World Cup, which was in 1958, when Brazil defeated the host nation, Sweden 5-2.

3. Michael Jordan is widely considered to be the greatest basketball player of all time. He's arguably one of the greatest athletes of all time. He was a four-time gold medalist with USA Basketball, including winning two Olympic golds, and was twice named the USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year. Jordan's magic - 'Air Jordan' while playing in his days in the NBA is yet to be matched.

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4. Tom Brady is another great sportsman. No player in the 101-year history of the National Football League (NFL) has as many championships as Brady, who holds the record with seven. Brady also has five Super Bowl MVPs, which is the most in NFL history, in addition to owning numerous league records, cementing himself as the greatest of all time.

5. Novak Djokovic is the GOAT of Tennis. There is no doubt that Novak Djokovic is considered as the Greatest Tennis player of all time based on his achievements on and off the Court of Lawn Tennis. Many people believe that the Serb is not just a Tennis legend, but is one of the greatest athletes of all time, and sits high up there among the GOATs in the world of sports. The current World number one Tennis player has won a total of 24 Grand Slam titles to his name and might make it 25th at the 2024 Australian Open.

6. Usain Bolt without any doubt is the world's greatest sprinter of all time. The Jamaican won eight Olympic sprinting gold medals and is the first man to win the premier 100m sprint three times, in 2008, 2012, and 2016. Athletics was never the same after the Jamaican arrived, and he changed it for the better, which many people agree on one point straightaway. Usain Bolt is the greatest athlete of all time, with a world record and fastest time of 9.58 seconds in the 100m.

7. Michael Phelps is the greatest swimmer of all time. The American swimmer is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time, with a total of 28 medals to his name. Phelps also holds the records for Olympic gold medals (23), Olympic gold medals in individual events (13), and Olympic medals in individual events (16). When Phelps won eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, he broke fellow American swimmer, Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven first-place finishes at any single Olympic Games. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Phelps already tied the record of eight medals of any color at a single Games by winning six gold and two bronze medals. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Phelps won four gold and two silver medals, and at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, he won five gold medals and one silver. This made him the most successful athlete of the Games for the fourth Olympics in a row. 

All the above seven highlighted athletes have left indelible marks on the sands of time as far as being the greatest sportsmen of all time is concerned.

Oladele Hakeem Olaniyan who lives in Nigeria wrote this article exclusively for Naijaloveinfo.