Who is No 1 sports player in the world?
Professional sport has seen the birth of many icons since its emergence. The likes of Babe Ruth, Muhammad Ali, David Beckham and Billie Jean King have become household names, and their exploits the subject of numerous news reports, documentaries and even films.
But while these stars of the last century are still famous today, we wanted to take a look at the most popular sportsmen of the moment and reveal which professional sports heroes are generating the most interest around the world.
To find out, we dug into Google search data to find out which sports stars were most searched for on the search engine in different countries over the past 12 months, to reveal the most popular male and female athletes. in the world. We first split our results between male and female athletes, before looking at the most searched names in several of our favorite sports, including running, cycling, swimming and CrossFit. Read on to find out more…
WORLD’S MOST POPULAR SPORTS STARS
Professional sport has seen the birth of many icons since its emergence. The likes of Babe Ruth, Muhammad Ali, David Beckham and Billie Jean King have become household names, and their exploits the subject of numerous news reports, documentaries and even films.
But while these stars of the last century are still famous today, we wanted to take a look at the most popular sportsmen of the moment and reveal which professional sports heroes are generating the most interest around the world.
To find out, we dug into Google search data to find out which sports stars were most searched for on the search engine in different countries over the past 12 months, to reveal the most popular male and female athletes. in the world. We first split our results between male and female athletes, before looking at the most searched names in several of our favorite sports, including running, cycling, swimming and CrossFit. Read on to find out more…
WORLD’S MOST POPULAR SPORTS STARS
TOP 20 WORLD FAMOUS ATHLETES
Basketball and soccer stars really topped the list of annual global searches, with Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo taking the top spot. Since Manchester United paid £12m to sign him aged 16, he has played for Real Madrid and Juventus Turin. At 36, the footballer has won the Ballon d’Or an incredible five times. Only Lionel Messi (8th on our list) has won more since the award was created. Ronaldo is also the all-time top scorer for his country, with 103 goals scored for the Portugal international team. Admired around the world, Ronaldo is the number one sports star in 82 different countries, including Italy, Spain and Switzerland. He does
In second place on our list is American NBA legend LeBron James, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, while Brazilian soccer megastar Neymar da Silva Santos Jr takes third place.
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| Ranking | Athletes | Sport | Searches per year worldwide |
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Soccer | 99 207 840 |
| 2 | James LeBron | Basketball | 77,564,570 |
| 3 | Neymar | Soccer | 76,622,600 |
| 4 | Michael Jordan | Basketball | 75 210 140 |
| 5 | Tom Brady | Football | 63,573,740 |
| 6 | Conor McGregor | mma | 63,375,910 |
| 7 | mike tyson | Boxing | 51,364,010 |
| 8 | Lionel Messi | Soccer | 38,967,190 |
| 9 | Virat Kohli | Cricket | 33,133,610 |
| 10 | Tyson Fury | Boxing | 31,323,230 |
| 11 | Ronaldinho | Soccer | 30,366,410 |
| 12 | Stephen Curry | Basketball | 30 281 390 |
| 13 | Lewis Hamilton | Formula 1 | 26,050,970 |
| 14 | Tiger Woods | Golf | 23,588,140 |
| 15 | Pele | Soccer | 23,486,730 |
| 16 | Khabib Nurmagomedov | mma | 21,874,320 |
| 17 | Floyd Mayweather | Boxing | 20,488,400 |
| 18 | Dennis Rodman | Basketball | 20,482,780 |
| 19 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | Basketball | 20,448,480 |
| 20 | Kevin Durant | Basketball | 20 395 370 |
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TOP 20 WORLD FAMOUS SPORTSMEN
When it comes to the most famous sportswomen in the world, UFC legend Ronda Rousey has seemingly crushed the competition. With nearly double the number of searches compared to American soccer forward Alex Morgan coming in second, Rousey topped the list in 93 different countries. Originally trained in judo, she became the first American to win an Olympic medal in the sport at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Rousey then embarked on a career in mixed martial arts, eventually setting the record for most UFC title defenses by a woman, losing only twice in her entire professional MMA career. Interestingly, Rousey is one of eight MMA stars to make the top 20 famous sportswomen.
Considered by many to be the best tennis player of all time, Serena Williams came third in the rankings, making her an all-American top 3. Williams has won a phenomenal 23 Grand Slam singles titles – the second most ever – and was ranked world number 1 eight times between 2002 and 2017. , does not appear in the list, although she is also considered one of the great ladies in the history of tennis.
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| Ranking | Sports | Sport | Searches per year worldwide |
| 1 | Ronda Rousey | mma | 21,666,500 |
| 2 | Alex Morgan | Soccer | 8,446,340 |
| 3 | Serena Williams | Tennis | 7,462,710 |
| 4 | Tonya Harding | Figure skating | 7,254,410 |
| 5 | paige vanzant | mma | 6,330,600 |
| 6 | Smriti Mandhana | Cricket | 5,923,860 |
| 7 | Joanna Jedrzejczyk | mma | 5,595,360 |
| 8 | Amanda Nunes | mma | 4,537,240 |
| 9 | Maria Sharapova | Tennis | 4,418,870 |
| 10 | Valentina Shevchenko | mma | 3,617,710 |
| 11 | Megan Rapinoe | Soccer | 3,524,190 |
| 12 | Holly Holm | mma | 3,466,430 |
| 13 | Rose Namjunas | mma | 3,217,310 |
| 14 | Sue Bird | Basketball | 2,934,770 |
| 15 | Caster Semenya | Middle distance race | 2,608,910 |
| 16 | Ellyse Perry | Cricket | 2,530,550 |
| 17 | Mikaela Shiffrin | Ski | 2,450,630 |
| 18 | Laila Ali | Boxing | 2,240,270 |
| 19 | Sarah Fuller | American Football and Soccer | 2,165,910 |
| 20 | Miesha Tate | mma | 2,098,980 |
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POPULAR ATHLETES BY SPORT
Our study represents a wide range of popular sports. That said, so we decided to dig a little deeper to find out the most sought-after personalities in some of our favorite sports right now.
RUNNING
Our SportsShoes brand is renowned for its vast selection of running shoes and equipment. So naturally we sought to rank the most popular runners in the world.
Distance running :
Not surprisingly, Britain’s Mo Farah topped the distance runners’ rankings, as one of the most successful British athletes in recent Olympic Games history. In the women’s rankings, British world marathon, half-marathon and cross-country champion Paula Radcliffe came out on top.
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| MEN | WOMEN | |
| 1 | Mo Farah – 4,598,700 | Paula Radcliffe – 317 380 |
| 2 | Eliud Kipchoge – 1,525,080 | Shalane Flanagan – 117,390 |
| 3 | Kenenisa Bekele – 451,400 | Tirunesh Dibaba – 92,870 |
| 4 | Joshua Cheptegei – 345,740 | Letesenbet Gidey – 61,600 |
| 5 | Galen Rupp – 315,050 | Molly Huddle – 56 370 |
| 6 | Haile Gebrselassie – 268 160 | Gabriela Szabo – 54,690 |
| 7 | Mohammad Ahmed – 104,250 | Karissa Schweizer – 44,840 |
| 8 | Hagos Gebrhiwet – 53,650 | Elvan Abeylegesse – 39,530 |
| 9 | Jacob Kiplimo – 46,960 | Almaz Ayana – 38,550 |
| 10 | Paul Tergat – 43,830 | Derartu Tulu – 33,390 |
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Middle distance race:
Topping the men’s list of middle-distance runners is Jakob Ingebrigtsen, a Norwegian runner who broke the Norwegian national 5000m record and won 2 gold medals at the 2018 European Championships. African Caster Semenya, double Olympic and Commonwealth Games champion, is the most searched sportswoman on the web.
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| MALE | WOMEN | |
| 1 | Jakob Ingebrigtsen – 846 220 | Caster Semenya – 2,608,910 |
| 2 | Hicham el-Guerrouj – 627 880 | Konstanze Klosterhalfen – 290 250 |
| 3 | Jose Luis Gonzalez – 240,100 | Genzebe Dibaba – 242,250 |
| 4 | Steve Ovett – 219,680 | Zola Budd – 195,650 |
| 5 | Steve Scott – 213 820 | Sifan Hassan – 145,810 |
| 6 | Sebastian Coe – 207 130 | Jenny Simpson – 127,400 |
| 7 | Steve Cram – 190 160 | Laura Muir – 106 440 |
| 8 | Fermin Cacho – 167,360 | Elle Purrier – 104,490 |
| 9 | David Rudisha – 149,620 | Jemma Reekie – 82,880 |
| 10 | Alan Webb – 149,150 | Sonia O’Sullivan – 64,060 |
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Sprints:
Jamaican Usain Bolt took the lead in our men’s sprint category, thanks to his legendary Olympic status and his three world records in the 100, 200 and 4 x 100m relay. Among the women, American sprinter Allyson Felix takes first place, thanks to her incredible performances at the Olympic Games and the IAAF World Championships.
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| MEN | WOMEN | |
| 1 | Usain Bolt – 14,851,290 | Allyson Felix – 811 560 |
| 2 | Michael Johnson – 1,362,320 | Florence Griffith-Joyner – 760 580 |
| 3 | Carl Lewis – 1,306,910 | Cathy Freeman – 711 920 |
| 4 | Pietro Mennea – 780 200 | Marion Jones – 695 770 |
| 5 | Justin Gatlin – 630 940 | Dafne Schippers – 426,490 |
| 6 | Yohan Blake – 629 250 | Dina Asher-Smith – 421 270 |
| 7 | Maurice Greene – 456 190 | Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce – 316 560 |
| 8 | Tyson Gay – 415,760 | Sha’Carri Richardson – 259,190 |
| 9 | Noah Lyles – 414 070 | Ana Guevara – 226,740 |
| 10 | Asafa Powell – 413 120 | Merlene Ottey – 169 310 |
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SWIMMING
Michael Phelps is by far the most sought after swimmer in our men’s rankings: yet another accolade to add to his 28 Olympic medals making him the most successful and decorated Games athlete of all time. Meanwhile, Italian freestyle swimmer Federica Pellegrini is diving ahead in the women’s category. Pellegrini was the first woman to break the 4-minute barrier in the 400m freestyle and won several medals at the World Championships, European Championships and Olympic Games.
| MALE | WOMEN | |
| 1 | Michael Phelps – 7,068,970 | Federica Pellegrini – 1,794,150 |
| 2 | Tom Daley – 2,033,870 | Alexandra Paul – 1,132,780 |
| 3 | Ryan Lochte – 1,042,530 | Laure Manaudou – 968,740 |
| 4 | Johnny Weissmuller – 797 920 | Esther Williams – 739,440 |
| 5 | Camille Lacourt – 615 070 | Inge de Brujin – 312 490 |
| 6 | Mark Spitz – 602 180 | Franziska van Almsick – 287 430 |
| 7 | Ian Thorpe – 564 230 | Annette Kellerman – 272 030 |
| 8 | John Marshall – 487 820 | Charlene Wittstock – 233 150 |
| 9 | Nathan Adrian – 224,890 | Natalie Coughlin – 203 090 |
| 10 | Duke Kahanamoku – 166,460 | Erica Terpstra – 195 310 |
CYCLING
The most wanted man in cycling is American road racer Lance Armstrong, a cancer victor who rose to fame by winning the Tour de France seven times in a row between 1999 and 2005, before being stripped of his titles following to a doping scandal. The Dutch Annemiek van Vleuten, former world champion in road cycling, is at the top of our women’s ranking.
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| MEN | WOMEN | |
| 1 | Lance Armstrong – 5,103,000 | Annemiek van Vleuten – 319 790 |
| 2 | Peter Sagan – 2,851,910 | Anna van der Breggen – 276,630 |
| 3 | Nairo Quintana – 2,092,860 | Marianne Vos – 225 740 |
| 4 | Eddy Merckx – 1,734,860 | Jeannie Longo – 196 070 |
| 5 | Chris Froome – 1,574,150 | Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig – 132 170 |
| 6 | Jan Ullrich – 1,215,410 | Alison Jackson – 110,870 |
| 7 | Primoz Roglic – 1,093,230 | Alfonsina Strada – 83,170 |
| 8 | Marco Pantani – 1,042,780 | Leontien Van Moorsel – 79,200 |
| 9 | Alberto Contador – 812 350 | Hannah Barnes – 72,760 |
| 10 | Bradley Wiggins – 631 510 | Sarah Roy – 65,530 |
SOCCER
World famous Portuguese football player Cristiano Ronaldo is the most popular male sportsman in the world, as well as the most searched male footballer. The striker has won five Ballons d’Or and four Golden Boots, setting two European records in the process. Among women, American soccer player Alex Morgan leads the search. Morgan currently plays for Orlando Pride and was named the 2012 and 2018 American Football Player of the Year. She was one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2019.
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| MEN | WOMEN | |
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo – 99,207,840 | Alex Morgan – 8,446,340 |
| 2 | Neymar- 76,622,600 | Megan Rapinoe – 3,524,190 |
| 3 | Lionel Messi – 38,967,190 | Hope Solo – 1,710,930 |
| 4 | Diego Maradona – 31,146,240 | Formiga – 1,532,260 |
| 5 | Ronaldinho – 30,366,410 | Abby Wambach – 1,223,190 |
| 6 | Pele – 23,486,730 | Tobin Heath – 998 120 |
| 7 | David Beckham – 20,279,640 | Julie Ertz – 818 840 |
| 8 | Luis Suárez – 16,879,330 | Pernille Harder – 792 370 |
| 9 | Sergio Ramos – 15,094,540 | Lieke Martens – 750 880 |
| 10 | Gareth Bale – 13,519,820 | Mia Hamm – 726 650 |
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TENNIS
The most searched male tennis star is Rafael Nadal, currently ranked number 3 in the world by the ATP, having held the top of the rankings five times. The Spaniard has won 20 Grand Slam singles titles, a record that only Roger Federer, fourth on our list, could equal. The names of two former tennis players famous in the fashion world are among our top 10: Fred Perry, creator of an eponymous clothing brand in the 1940s, and Stan Smith, to whom the iconic adidas shoes pay homage . Serena Williams ranks first in searches for female tennis players and third as the most popular sportswoman in all sports. She has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, a record in the Open era.
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| MEN | WOMEN | |
| 1 | Rafael Nadal – 12,561,660 | Serena Williams – 7,462,710 |
| 2 | Novak Djokovic – 11,104,750 | Maria Sharapova – 4,418,870 |
| 3 | Dominic Thiem – 8,096,720 | Ana Ivanovic – 1,740,970 |
| 4 | Roger Federer – 7,834,120 | Simona Halep – 1,704,650 |
| 5 | Fred Perry – 4,678,780 | Gabriela Sabatini – 1,528,930 |
| 6 | Stan Smith – 4,139,700 | Venus Williams – 1,415,270 |
| 7 | Alexander Zverev – 3,332,480 | Monica Seles – 877 120 |
| 8 | Boris Becker – 2,630,560 | Kim Clijsters – 795 510 |
| 9 | Yannick Noah – 1 822 230 | Martina Hingis – 790 110 |
| 10 | Andy Murray – 1,667,340 | Angelique Kerber – 665 920 |
FOOTBALL
American quarterback Tom Brady is the most searched player in American football and is considered by many to be the best quarterback of all time. Brady holds the records for passing yards (the number of yards gained by an offensive team on passes received), assists and the number of games played as a quarterback, not to mention his five Super Bowl MVP trophies. He’s also the only quarterback to win Super Bowls in three separate decades. Sarah Fuller is America’s most searched kicker, especially after making history by becoming the first woman to score in a Power 5 conference game in 2020.
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| MEN | WOMEN | |
| 1 | Tom Brady – 63,573,750 | Sarah Fuller – 2,165,910 |
| 2 | Aaron Rodgers – 18,463,760 | Katie Sowers – 282 760 |
| 3 | Drew Brees – 15 318 020 | Callie Brownson – 189,840 |
| 4 | Russell Wilson – 11,117,700 | Katie Hnida – 100 240 |
| 5 | Lamar Jackson – 10,731,050 | Ashley Martin – 70,070 |
| 6 | Rob Gronkowski – 9,983,330 | Samantha Gordon – 34,740 |
| 7 | Odell Beckham Jr. – 8,498,340 | Jennifer Welter – 31,630 |
| 8 | Peyton Manning – 5,458,200 | April Goss – 18,530 |
| 9 | DeAndre Hopkins – 5,084,900 | Liz Easton – 11,090 |
| 10 | Deion Sanders- 4,577,930 | Julie Harshbarger – 4,530 |
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mma
The most sought after mixed martial arts fighter is Conor McGregor, known for his provocative remarks as a former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion. The Irishman also holds the record for winning the fastest in UFC history, making five of the six best-selling UFC fights on pay-per-view. Ronda Rousey holds the No. 1 spot on the women’s side, known for setting records in women’s judo, UFC and WWE. Rousey is the only woman to have held titles in both the UFC and WWE, while pursuing an acting career, appearing in films such as The Expendables 3, Furious 7 and Mile 22.
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| MEN | WOMEN | |
| 1 | Conor McGregor – 62 375 910 | Ronda Rousey – 21,666,500 |
| 2 | Khabib Nurmagomedov – 21 874 320 | Paige Vanzant – 6,330,600 |
| 3 | Jon Jones – 15,031,500 | Joanna Jedrzejczyk – 5,595,360 |
| 4 | Israel Adesanya – 14,504,780 | Amanda Nunes – 4,537,240 |
| 5 | Tony Ferguson – 12,115,400 | Valentina Shevchenko – 3,617,710 |
| 6 | Anderson Silva – 8,357,070 | Holly Holm – 3,466,430 |
| 7 | Nate Diaz – 4,363,600 | Rose Namajunas – 3,217,310 |
| 8 | Daniel Cormier – 3,980,170 | Miesha Tate – 2,098,980 |
| 9 | Donald Cerrone – 3,962,400 | Michelle Waterson – 1,545,750 |
| 10 | Stipe Miocic – 3,591,870 | Karolina Kowalkiewicz – 777,600 |
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BASKETBALL
American LeBron James is considered by many to be the greatest NBA player of all time, which arguably explains his presence at the top of our list of most wanted basketball players. James is the only player to have been named Finals MVP with three different franchises, and to win two Olympic gold medals. Sue Bird turns out to be the most wanted woman on our list. The Israeli-American WNBA player has the most assists in league history, and is one of eleven women in history to have won the WNBA championship 4 times, 4 Olympic medals, 2 NCAA championships and 4 FIBA World Cups.
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| MEN | WOMEN | |
| 1 | LeBron James – 77,564,570 | Sue Bird – 2,934,770 |
| 2 | Michael Jordan – 75 210 140 | Candace Parker – 2,053,930 |
| 3 | Stephen Curry – 30,281,390 | Maya Moore – 1,361,600 |
| 4 | Dennis Rodman – 20,482,780 | Diana Taurasi – 1 314 210 |
| 5 | Giannis Antetokounmpo – 20,448,480 | Lisa Leslie – 1,283,680 |
| 6 | Kevin Durant – 20,395,370 | Liz Cambage – 1 272 020 |
| 7 | James Harden – 19,932,280 | Tina Charles – 1,166,930 |
| 8 | Anthony Davis – 18,727,320 | Brittney Griner – 1,050,000 |
| 9 | Scottie Pippen – 16 805 230 | Becky Hammon – 852,600 |
| 10 | Shaquille O’Neal – 15,366,090 | Elena Delle Donne – 807 290 |
