Who is the best athlete in the world? What is the definition of “greatest” first? An athlete needs to be exceptionally skilled and physically fit for their sport to flourish in it. This does not imply that they would succeed in any other sport.
A sportsperson who is so talented that they would excel in any sport they participate in should be considered the World’s Greatest Athlete. Here are a few athletes that successfully experimented with multiple sports. There would have been many people who could have done the same but opted to stay and succeed in their chosen sport.
These are the best.
Some athletes have excelled at the highest levels of competition in more than one sporting discipline. Do you have any further recommendations? Comment using the form below.
Men who excel in multiple sports
- The Sporting News rated NFL running back Jim Brown as the best professional football player in 2002. He might have also pursued careers in baseball, boxing, track & field, lacrosse, basketball, and other sports. The New York Yankees extended an offer to sign him to a minor-league contract, and he is the only individual to have been inducted into the halls of fame for pro football, college football, and lacrosse. The 1956 National Decathlon Championship was the cherry on top for him, where he came in sixth.
- Bo Jackson was the first athlete to be selected an All-Star in two major sports, playing at the highest level of sports in the United States in both the NFL and Major League Baseball. Played four seasons in the NFL and nine seasons in Major League Baseball. Jackson had a brief appearance with a semi-pro squad in Los Angeles in 1992 as he tried his hand at basketball.
- Carl Crawford was an outstanding baseball player who also excelled in basketball and American football. He was also swift and skilled. After high school, he received a scholarship offer to play point guard for UCLA in basketball. He also could sign on with a college team as a backup quarterback.
- In addition to playing in the NBA, Allen Iverson excelled on the football field. While attending Bethel High School in Virginia, he broke numerous records while playing a variety of positions, including quarterback, running back, and kick returner.
- The equivalent of Jim Brown in Australia is Reginald “Snowy” Baker. After competing in 29 sports at the state or collegiate level and representing Australia in Rugby Union, swimming, polo, diving, and boxing, Snowy was inducted into Australia’s Sports Hall of Fame. He was the only Australian to compete in three Olympic sports in 1908: diving, boxing, and swimming.
Outstanding female athletes who compete in multiple sports
Babe Didrickson Zaharias won gold in the javelin throw and the 80-meter hurdles at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She also won silver in the high jump. She won 10 major golf competitions, including the US Open and British Ladies’ Amateur. She was the first woman in history to finish in the top half of a regular PGA Tour competition (which she did three times). She was an All-American in volleyball, basketball, tennis, swimming, diving, boxing, bowling, skating, and cycling, among other sports.
Lottie Dod: She won the Wimbledon Ladies Singles Championship at age 15 and went on to win it four more times. Field hockey player for the England national team for two years after starting the sport. In 1904, she triumphed in the British Ladies Amateur Golf Championship. a silver medalist in archery at the 1908 London Olympics.
Canadian cyclist and speed skater Clara Hughes. She competed in the Olympics six times and is the only person to take home multiple medals in both the summer and winter games.
Ellyse Perry is an Australian athlete who began playing for the national cricket and soccer teams at 16 and still participates in both competitions today.
Sports with Several Events
Athletes can demonstrate their variety without necessarily excelling in numerous different sports. Sports like the triathlon (swimming, cycling, and running), modern pentathlon (shooting, fencing, swimming, riding, and running), Olympic biathlon (cross-country skiing and rifle shooting), and many other combinations of two sports call for athletes to be proficient in a variety of athletic challenges (Duathlon, aquathlon, etc.). Events within some sports, like the decathlon (10 events for men) and heptathlon (7 events for women) in track and field, call for all-around athletic prowess. The world champion decathlete is frequently referred to as the most outstanding athlete in the world, and many will concur that this is justified.
