Who Are the Greatest Athletes of All Time? 10,000 Fans Have Voted — Here Are the Results

Okay, let's be real for a second.

You have had this argument before. Maybe at a family dinner. Maybe at 2 AM with your friend who just refuses to admit that Michael Jordan is better than LeBron.

We all have.

The greatest athletes of all time debate is the one fight that never gets old. It does not matter if you love basketball, football, boxing, or soccer - everyone has an opinion. And everyone thinks they are right.

So we did something about it.

At Ultimate Rankings, we let the fans decide. Over 10,000 real sports fans voted to rank the greatest athletes in history across every sport. No experts. No fancy committees. Just real people who love sport picking their legends.

These are the results. 

But First — How Do You Even Pick the Greatest?

This is the hardest part, right?

Is it the most championships? The most records? Or is it just that feeling you get when you watch them play - that "oh wow, I am watching something special" feeling?

Here is what fans on Ultimate Rankings said matters most:

•      Winning — Titles, gold medals, championships. Did they WIN when it mattered?

•      Dominance — Were they so far ahead of everyone else that it was almost unfair?

•      Longevity — Did they stay at the top for years, not just one good season?

•      Impact — Did they change their sport? Did they make people fall in love with it?

•      Cross-sport greatness — Could they have been great in ANY sport?

Keep these in mind as you read through the list. And trust us - you are going to disagree with at least one pick. That is the whole point. 

The Greatest Athletes of All Time — Fan Voted Results 

1. Michael Jordan — Basketball 

No surprise here.

Michael Jordan tops the fan vote and honestly, it is hard to argue. Six NBA championships. Six Finals MVP awards. Five regular season MVPs. A man who simply did not lose in the NBA Finals. Not once.

But here is what makes Jordan different from everyone else. He did not just win. He made you feel something.

•      6 NBA Championships

•      6 Finals MVP awards

•      5 regular season MVPs

•      2 Olympic gold medals

Jordan did not just play basketball. He made basketball the biggest sport on the planet. Nike became a lifestyle brand because of him. Kids in Japan, India, and Brazil were wearing his jersey.

That is what the greatest athlete of all time does. They go beyond the sport.

"He is not the greatest basketball player. He is the greatest athlete. Period." — Fan vote comment on Ultimate Rankings

2. Muhammad Ali — Boxing 

If Jordan is the greatest of the modern era, Muhammad Ali is the greatest of all time in terms of pure human story.

Three-time world heavyweight champion. Olympic gold medalist. Unbeaten for the first part of his career. But the numbers are almost secondary with Ali.

He was fast. Impossibly fast for a heavyweight. He moved like a middleweight and hit like a truck.

•      3x World Heavyweight Champion

•      Olympic gold medal (1960)

•      Beat Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier, and George Foreman — the three best heavyweights of his era

•      Refused to go to war and gave up his prime years - and still came back and won

That last point. Ali was stripped of his title and banned from boxing for three years in his absolute prime because he refused military service. He came back. He won again.

No other athlete on this list faced what Ali faced outside of sport. And he handled it all with style, wit, and strength that made him more than just a fighter.

3. Serena Williams — Tennis 

Serena Williams is the greatest tennis player ever. Not the greatest female tennis player. The greatest tennis player.

•      23 Grand Slam singles titles — more than any player in the Open Era

•      Won Grand Slams across four different decades

•      Won the Australian Open while 8 weeks pregnant

•      Returned from life-threatening blood clots to win more titles

The argument ends there honestly. Twenty-three Grand Slams. Steffi Graf, who everyone calls the standard for women's tennis, won 22. Serena passed her.

Fans on Ultimate Rankings consistently rank her in the top five of the all-time list — not just the women's list. The all-time list. 

4. Usain Bolt — Athletics

Usain Bolt is the only person on this list who made an entire stadium laugh while winning a gold medal.

He is that good. He can slow down to celebrate before the finish line and still win. He is that far ahead.

•      8 Olympic gold medals

•      World record holder in the 100m (9.58 seconds) and 200m (19.19 seconds)

•      Both records still stand today — nobody has come close

•      Won three consecutive Olympic 100m golds

Bolt is the reason people who never watch athletics sat down and watched the 100m final. That is the GOAT factor right there. 

5. Lionel Messi — Soccer 

We know. We know. Half of you want Cristiano Ronaldo here.

And that is exactly why this debate will never die.

But fan votes on Ultimate Rankings put Lionel Messi ahead — and here is why. Messi did the one thing Ronaldo could not for most of their careers. He won the World Cup.

•      8 Ballon d'Or awards — the most ever

•      World Cup winner (2022) — the only trophy he was missing

•      4 UEFA Champions League titles

•      Copa America winner

•      All-time leading scorer for both Barcelona and Argentina

The 2022 World Cup final against France might be the greatest single performance in a World Cup final ever. 3–3 after extra time. Messi scored twice. Then won on penalties. In his last World Cup. At 35 years old.

Even Ronaldo fans went quiet after that one. 

6. Tom Brady — American Football 

7 Super Bowl rings.

That sentence is the whole argument.

No other quarterback has won more than 4. Brady won 7. He won them with three different head coaches. He won one after age 40. He won one with a team — the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — that had not won a Super Bowl in nearly 20 years.

•      7 Super Bowl Championships

•      5 Super Bowl MVP awards

•      Played until he was 45 years old — and was still one of the best

•      3 NFL MVP awards

What makes Brady special is that he was never supposed to be great. He was the 199th pick in the NFL Draft. Nobody wanted him. He turned up and became the greatest quarterback in NFL history.

Fans on Ultimate Rankings love Brady because his story feels like a movie. The underdog who became the undisputed king.

 7. Michael Phelps — Swimming 

23 Olympic gold medals.

Read that again slowly.

Twenty-three.

The second most decorated Olympian of all time, Mark Spitz, has nine. Michael Phelps has 23 gold medals alone, plus 3 silver and 2 bronze — 28 Olympic medals total.

•      23 Olympic gold medals (most in history)

•      28 total Olympic medals (most in history — by a huge margin)

•      Competed in four Olympic Games

•      Won gold at ages 19, 23, 27, and 31

Phelps is the definition of sports GOAT debate — he is so far ahead in his sport that the conversation almost feels unfair.

The argument against him is always "well, swimming has a lot of events." And to that, fans say: then why hasn't anyone else done what he did? 

8. Simone Biles — Gymnastics 

Simone Biles has moves named after her.

Not one move. Not two. She has FOUR gymnastics moves officially named after her because they were so hard and so dangerous that only she could do them. The scoring system literally had to be adjusted to stop other gymnasts from attempting them and hurting themselves.

•      7 Olympic gold medals

•      30 World Championship medals — the most by any gymnast ever

•      4 gymnastics skills named after her

•      Took a break for her mental health at the 2020 Olympics — and came back to win more

That last point matters a lot to fans on Ultimate Rankings. Biles walked away at the biggest moment of her career to protect herself. And then she returned and kept winning.

That takes more courage than any gold medal.

9. Pelé — Soccer 

Pelé is the only player to win three FIFA World Cups.

Three. Messi has one. Ronaldo has zero. Pelé has three.

He scored over 1,200 goals in his career (by his own count). He played in Brazil during a time when Brazilian football was the most exciting, free-flowing, joyful football the world had ever seen.

•      3 World Cup titles (1958, 1962, 1970)

•      Over 700 official goals

•      Won every major title available in his era

•      First global football icon — before Messi, before Ronaldo, before anyone

The 1970 World Cup Brazil team, with Pelé, is still considered by many coaches and historians as the greatest international football team that ever played. When you are the best player on the greatest team ever, that counts for something. 

10. The Biggest Debate on Ultimate Rankings Right Now

Here is where it gets interesting.

The top athletes in history debate heats up most when you get to position 10. Fans on Ultimate Rankings are split between:

•      Tiger Woods — changed golf forever, won 15 major championships, the greatest golfer of the modern era

•      Roger Federer — 20 Grand Slams, the most graceful player tennis has ever seen

•      LeBron James — the argument of a generation, still producing numbers nobody else has ever matched

•      Cristiano Ronaldo — 900+ career goals, the most decorated player in the history of club football

There is no right answer. And that is the beauty of it.

This is exactly why Ultimate Rankings exist. Because every fan has a different top 10. And every fan is right. 

This Debate Will Never End. That's Exactly the Point.

Here is what 10,000 fans agreed on.

Greatness is not just about numbers. It is about moments.It is about making someone who has never watched your sport sit down and watch because they heard your name.

Michael Jordan. Muhammad Ali. Serena Williams. Usain Bolt. Lionel Messi.

These are not just athletes. They are part of human history.

And now it is your turn to vote.

Who Do YOU Think Is the Greatest Athlete of All Time?

This list is decided by fans — by people exactly like you.

Cast your vote on Ultimate Rankings right now and see where YOUR pick stands in the live rankings → ultimaterankings.com

The debate is never over. New votes come in every day. Your vote could change everything.

Vote now on Ultimate Rankings — the home of the world's greatest sports debates

FAQ 

1. Who is the number 1 greatest athlete of all time?

Based on fan votes at Ultimate Rankings, Michael Jordan currently holds the top spot as the greatest athlete of all time, followed closely by Muhammad Ali and Serena Williams.

1. Is Michael Jordan or LeBron James the greater athlete?

This is the biggest debate in sports. Michael Jordan has 6 championships with a perfect Finals record. LeBron James has the most points in NBA history. Both have strong cases. 

1. Who is the greatest female athlete of all time?

Serena Williams is ranked as the greatest female athlete of all time by fans on Ultimate Rankings, based on her 23 Grand Slam titles, longevity, and impact on tennis.

1. What makes an athlete the greatest of all time?

Fans consider championships won, dominance over opponents, longevity at the top, impact on the sport, and cross-generational greatness when deciding the top athletes in history.

1. Where can I vote for the greatest athlete of all time?

You can cast your vote at Ultimate Rankings (ultimaterankings.com) — a fan-powered platform with over 7,000 sports and entertainment ranking questions.