On Thursday, ESPN dropped an inventory rating the 100 greatest athletes on this planet for the reason that 12 months 2000. 70,000 ESPN contributors voted based mostly on performances since 2000, assembling the record of the best athletes of the twenty first century–with observe and area’s very personal Usain Bolt taking the ninth spot.
It’s generally onerous to consider that the worlds of the “Massive 4” leagues (MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL), tennis, soccer, golf, and the Olympics all exist in the identical universe. How are you going to even evaluate the accomplishments of particular person athletes to these of athletes in a group sport?
The Jamaican sprinter has a very spectacular resume, gathering 9 Olympic gold medals over his 4 Video games (he needed to return one resulting from a teammate’s doping violation), and nonetheless holds three world data: the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay. Bolt’s 100m document has stood since 2009, when he ran 9.58 seconds to interrupt the document for his third time, deeming him the world’s quickest man.
At his final Video games in Rio 2016, Bolt achieved the triple-triple–profitable three dash golds at three consecutive Olympics. Though he retired in 2018, his monumental achievements will depart a unprecedented legacy within the observe world.
Bolt is one among three Olympians within the ESPN prime 10, bettered by solely swimmer Michael Phelps, who took the highest spot, and gymnast Simone Biles, in seventh.
The illustration of athletics in ESPN’s prime 100 doesn’t finish there: sprinters Allyson Felix of the U.S. and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica declare the 63rd and 77th spots, respectively. Felix is a five-time Olympian for Workforce USA, with seven Olympic titles to her title, plus three silvers and one bronze. Fraser-Pryce is a three-time Olympic champion and eight-time Olympic medallist. At 37, the Jamaican hasn’t known as it quits but–she has certified for her fifth and last Video games later this summer time in Paris.
