Greatest athlete of all time: Top 50

35. Kaylee McKeown, Swimming

Key achievements: Five Olympic gold medals, one silver, three bronze
Australia isn’t short on swimming greats, but for me McKeown, Australia’s double-double champion, is at the top of the list. Not only did she make history in Paris when she defended both her 100-metre and 200m backstroke gold medals, but she also became the first Australian athlete to win four individual Olympic gold medals. – Billie Eder
More about this GOAT: She’s poised to break Thorpe’s world record: Mum says she deserves more recognition

34. Jesse Owens, Athletics

Key achievements: Gold medals in 100m, 200m, long jump and 4x100m relay at the 1936 Berlin Games
Decades before Carl Lewis and Usain Bolt, there was Owens, who won the Lewis treble at the Olympics, including the long jump. He broke three world records and tied a fourth in 45 minutes at a track meeting in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His long jump record stood for 25 years, and his times were remarkable given the less advanced training and technology. Owens’ astounding victories in Berlin demolished Hitler’s Aryan supremacist propaganda. – Jake Niall
More about this GOAT: Race, Netflix

33. Eddy Merckx, Cycling

Key achievements: 5x Tour de France winner, 5x Giro d’Italia winner, Vuelta a Espana winner, winner of all five Monuments, 3x world champion
“The race is won by the rider who can suffer the most.” Belgian Merckx dominated the roads, and cobblestones, of Europe, through the late 1960s into the early 1970s. Nicknamed “the Cannibal” for the way he devoured the opposition, he said he never had a strategy, but simply attacked. Was disqualified three times during his career for testing positive to a banned substance. – Danny Russell
More about this GOAT: Half Man, Half Bike: The Life of Eddy Merckx, Cycling’s Greatest Champion, by William Fotheringham

32. Wayne Carey, AFL

Key achievements: 2x AFL premiership captain, 2x Leigh Matthews Trophy winner, 7x All-Australian
In an era dominated by forwards out of the goal square, the North Melbourne champion was a decade-long match-winner at centre half-forward, the toughest position on the field. Though his tally of 727 goals was well short of Tony Lockett, Jason Dunstall and Gary Ablett, he played higher up the ground and was the centrepiece of Denis Pagan’s successful game plan. Carey’s standing in the game, and Australian sport, is tarred by his offences against women, and the extramarital affair he had with the wife of a teammate, which ended his club’s golden era. – Andrew Wu
More about this GOAT: The Truth Hurts, by Wayne Carey with Charles Happell

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31. Tom Brady, NFL

Key achievements: 7x Super Bowl champion, 5x Super Bowl MVP
While the NFL largely remains US-centric, Brady’s statistical record, longevity and appointment-viewing reputation makes him a global phenomenon. He is the greatest NFL player of all time, having won six championships with the New England Patriots, one with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and numerous individual awards across 23 seasons. He was also centre stage in one of the sport’s greatest games – Super Bowl LI against the Atlanta Falcons, when the Patriots surged from a 28-3 deficit to win 34-28 in overtime. – Jon Pierik
More about this GOAT: The Roast of Tom Brady, Netflix

30. Bill Russell, Basketball

Key Achievements: 11x NBA championships (player), 2x NBA championships (coach), 5x NBA MVP, US Presidential Medal of Freedom, 12x NBA All-Star, Olympic gold medallist
Russell was a groundbreaking player in the NBA in the 1960s and remains the standard for leadership, success and perseverance. He led the Celtics to 11 NBA championships and became the NBA’s first African-American coach when he took over the Celtics in 1966 as player-coach, and the first to win a championship in 1968. His athleticism and strength was rarely matched while his rivalry with Wilt Chamberlain became the stuff of legend. Russell campaigned against racism and was an active part of the civil rights movement. – Roy Ward
More about this GOAT: Second Wind: Memoirs of an Opinionated Man, by Bill Russell and Taylor Branch

29. Edwin Moses, Athletics

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Key achievements: 2x Olympic gold medallist, 2x world championship gold
It takes something special to remain unbeaten for a decade on the world stage, but that’s what legendary American athlete Moses managed in the 400m hurdles between 1977 and 1987. In an incredible stretch, Moses won two gold medals in 1976 and 1984 – and was denied a certain third by the US boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games. By the time American Danny Harris finally beat Moses in 1987, Moses had won 122 consecutive races, set multiple world records, won three World Cup titles, a world championship gold and two Olympic golds. – Iain Payten
More about this GOAT: He’s hurdled into history

28. Steffi Graf, Tennis

Key achievements: 7xWimbledon titles, 6x French Open titles, 5x US Open titles, 4x Australian Open titles, Olympic gold medallist
The German superstar won each grand slam at least four times before retiring aged 30 when ranked No.3 in the world. She completed the golden slam, winning all four grand slam singles titles in a calendar year, plus Olympic gold, in 1988. So dominant was Graf that she added three more single titles in ’89, missing out only in Paris. Graf’s booming forehand, and battles with Monica Seles and Martina Navratilova, were must-watch. – Jon Pierik
More about this GOAT: How Steffi Graf became tennis’ first golden slam winner

27. Babe Ruth, Baseball

Key achievements: 7x World Series champion, 12x American league home run champion, MLB All-Time team, MBL All-Century team, inaugural MLB Hall of Fame
Whether baseball is still the great American pastime, Ruth is the single greatest figure to bestride it (with apologies to Joe DiMaggio). First with the Boston Red Sox, then the New York Yankees, he won seven World Series, hitting at .342 over a lifetime. He was a decent pitcher, too, but gave it away because he wanted to play every day. More than all this, he became the sort of figure that transcended sport and nestled into popular culture, way beyond the shores he never left to play. – Greg Baum
More about this GOAT: Babe Ruth official website

26. Marta, Soccer

Key achievements: 6x FIFA world player of the year, 3x Olympic silver medallist, FIFA World Cup runner-up
Marta is arguably the greatest women’s soccer player ever. She was the first player, man or woman, to score at five FIFA World Cups – and was the first to score at five consecutive Olympics. Her 119 international goals make her Brazil’s top scorer. Her professional career started in 2000; she’s still playing. – Claire Siracusa
More about this GOAT: Superstar, trailblazer, icon: The legacy of Brazil’s Marta

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25. Jahangir Khan, Squash

Key achievements: 6x world championship winner, 10x British Open winner
If you’re looking for an athlete who was considered unbeatable in his time, look no further than Pakistan squash great Khan in the 1980s. During a run in which he won five of his six world championships, Khan was so dominant he won 555 consecutive matches over a five-year stretch from 1981 to 1986 – and it’s in the Guinness World Records as the longest ever winning streak. Khan’s only competitor for sheer dominance is Australian Heather McKay, who is considered the best-ever female squash player. McKay only lost twice in a 20-year career, and won a record 16 British Opens. – Iain Payten
More about this GOAT: Untold story of Jahangir Khan, YouTube

24. Hulk Hogan, Wrestling

Key achievements: 12x world champion for WWE and WCW, back-to-back Royal Rumble titles (1990-91), WWF champion for 1474 days
There weren’t many athletes more famous around the world in the 1980s. With his giant frame and blond hair, Hogan was the main star as wrestling exploded into one of the biggest things in US – and global – culture. Tens of millions watched wrestling on TV, and a billion-dollar industry grew around it. “But is it sport?” I hear you ask. Hogan was on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1985, so that clears up that question, thank you very much. – Iain Payten
More about this GOAT: Hulk Hogan: My life outside the ring

23. LeBron James, Basketball

Key achievements: 4x NBA champion, 4x finals MVP, 4x NBA MVP, 20x NBA All-Star, 3x Olympic gold medallist
James has done it all, and he’s not even finished yet. He has more than 40,500 NBA career points (and counting), is in his 22nd season in the NBA and has four NBA championship titles. Add his three Olympic gold medals to that and the fact that at 39 he’s still one of the best in the NBA, and he is easily eligible to be named one of the greatest athletes of all time. – Billie Eder
More about this GOAT: Starting 5, Netflix

22. Lewis Hamilton, F1

Key achievements: 7x world champion (105 wins, 202 podiums), knighted in 2021
A seven-time world champion whose father worked four jobs to give him a chance in karting, Hamilton has certainly made the hard work worth the while. He has the equal-most Formula 1 championships alongside the great Michael Schumacher, and with a move to Ferrari in 2025, it’s not out of the question for the 39-year-old to win at least one more title before he calls time on his career. – Billie Eder
More about this GOAT: Drive to Survive, Netflix

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21. Winx, Racing

Key achievements: 4x Australian Horse of the Year, World’s Best Racehorse (2018), 4x Cox Plate winner, 25x group 1 winner
If Bradman is defined by 99.94, then for Winx it’s four and 33, the number of Cox Plate victories and consecutive wins to finish her career. Racing may not hold the place in Australian life that it used to, but few things in sport unite the country more than a champion horse. She brought the masses back to the track, introducing a new generation to the sport of kings. They could race for another 100 years, and we’ll never see one like her again. The best thing about Winx? She never disappointed on the track, or let down fans with poor off-field behaviour. – Andrew Wu
More about this GOAT: The full story of the world’s best racehorse, by Andrew Rule

20. Eliud Kipchoge, Athletics

Key achievements: 3x Olympic gold medals, 11x World Marathon major winner
They don’t come much GOATier than Kipchoge. The slender Kenyan is considered the greatest marathon runner for a number of reasons, including back-to-back Olympic golds in 2016 and 2020 and 11 major marathon wins – not to mentioned he broke the world record twice, in 2018 and 2022. Between 2013 and 2023, he won a staggering 16 of 19 marathons he entered. But his most incredible feat was becoming the first man to run under two hours for the 42.195-kilometre event, in 2019. It wasn’t a world record because it was set up with pacers and a closed field, but still – a man ran under two hours for a marathon. Incredible. – Iain Payten
More about this GOAT: Kipchoge: The Last Milestone, Stan

19. Shohei Ohtani, Baseball

Key achievements: 4x MLB All-Star, 3x MLB league MVP, World Series winner, World Baseball Classic MVP, World Baseball Classic winner
Ohtani pitches to an exceptional level – not unusual. What is unusual is that he is also an exceptional batter. He’s a superstar in the US and his native Japan; Major League Baseball was so keen to keep him in the line-up, it changed its own rules. This past season, a serious arm injury kept him from being able to pitch. No matter – he became the first and only player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season (base stealing had never been a strength), was named MVP of the National league and won the World Series. – Claire Siracusa
More about this GOAT: Greatest game ever, YouTube

18. Carl Lewis, Athletics

Key achievements: 9x Olympic gold medals, 10x world championship medals
Lewis, with his infectious smile, flat-top hairstyle and poise, was international athletics through the 1980s and early ’90s, breaking records at will. Long before social media, the star sprinter and long jumper was a household name worldwide, his last Olympic gold coming in the long jump of the ’96 Olympics. That he was named the world athlete of the 20th century by the International Association of Athletics Federations told the tale. – Jon Pierik
More about this GOAT: Inside Track: Carl Lewis, with Jeffrey Marx.

17. Kelly Slater, Surfing

Key achievements:11x men’s World Surf League champion (record), 56x WSL Championship Tour wins, 2x X-Games gold medals
The single most recognisable figure with wax beneath their feet, Slater’s world title haul is streets ahead of the next best in men’s surfing history;so too his 56 tour event wins. Slater redefined competitive surfing when it exploded in the 1990s. He was the youngest men’s world champion in history (age 20 in 1992) and oldest (39 in 2011) and only just retired, memorably claiming the 2022 Pipeline Masters a week before his 50th birthday. – Dan Walsh
More about the GOAT: Jack Johnson’s early surf films Thicker than Water (2000) and The September Sessions (2002)

16. Jack Nicklaus, Golf

Key achievements: 18x major titles (6x US Masters, 5x PGA Championship, 4x US Open, 3x British Open), 73x PGA Tour event wins, 19x runner-up in majors
Tiger Woods (15 majors) might have eclipsed the “Golden Bear” if not for his meteoric fall, but he didn’t go the distance. Nicklaus’ 19 second-placings in majors means he finished top two in those defining events 37 times and, lest Australians forget, he stormed to victory in 1986 when Greg Norman faltered at Augusta on the back nine. – Jake Niall
More about this GOAT: Jack Nicklaus, Simply the Best, by Dan Jenkins, Martin Davis, Dave Anderson