Who is the most famous male and female sports figure of all time?

i dunno who Pele is. honestly i dunno.

jenner wrote:

i dunno who Pele is. honestly i dunno.

He is the most famous soccer player of all time. He is from Brazil. I'm guessing you are from the U.S. No?

depends on what era and what country

here are two good LD candidates

Frank Shorter

Bill Rodgers

According to this it is either Pele or Yao Ming.

I'd say only three gods reside at Mt. Olympus today:

Muhammad Ali, Pele and Diego Maradona.

Globally, these three are to international sport what Michael Jackson was to music fans worldwide and Elvis Presley was to Americans.

Then we can start talking about the more fathomable fame of Michael Jordan, Mike Tyson, Zenadine Zidane, Tiger Woods, the Williams Sisters, Christiano Ronaldo, David Beckham, Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis and Michael Schumacher.

OJ

So Zaharias held 5 world records. Could not be beaten in any athletic competition that she competed in. Olympic gold in Jav, HJ and hurdles. Put on a show against major league all stars (earning her the nickname "Babe") Bowled professionally and was the standard bearer for women's professional golf. Played in a women's pro basketball league. And some of you are saying Sharapova??????????? I'll tell you this I couldn't point her out in a room and I've never seen her play.

aigle wrote:

You US posters must realise that US sports are minority activities and interests.

You've no idea how popular soccer is. Beckham, for example, is an 'international brand' known by billions. Latin players are also known by billions.

And what prey is the population of China? What of their stars?

What also is the average age in most nations?

BTW only a couple of tennis players have been mentioned so far. I reckon that several more are very well known - and I don't follow the sport.

No Formula One drivers mentioned?

And did I miss Jesse Owen? David? (and Goliath)

You make some interesting points. I did mention Jesse Owens. But we can't forget that the question is most famous, not greatest. All fame means is that the person was widely and well known.

With that in mind, you can scrap Formula 1. The sport has almost no following in Asian, African, and North American countries.

We generally know who Beckham is (most don't know who Pele is) but I can guarantee you that even less know who he is in Canada and Africa.

Soccer should not be considered the most popular sport in the world. It is the most popular sport in Europe and parts of South America. Pro soccer means very little in Africa, Asia, Australia, and North America. The name Pele means even less in Russia than the name Gretsky does in Brazil.

Tennis is fairly popular in North America, Europe, Australia, and parts of Asia, but it does not extend into the third world, and it is not THE sport anywhere, like baseball or basketball or even track and field.

Ice hockey is popular in all of Europe, all of Asia, and all of North America. Gretsky should really be considered.

The 1 man I keep hearing of is Kobe Bryant, the greatest NBA and basketball player, and most famous sports star ever.

johnny langenwanker wrote:

[quote]aigle wrote:

Pro soccer means very little in Africa, Asia, Australia, and North America. The name Pele means even less in Russia than the name Gretsky does in Brazil.

Ice hockey is popular in all of Europe, all of Asia, and all of North America. Gretsky should really be considered.

Everything in your post is wrong:

1). Pro soccer's following in Africa is fanatical.

2.) Pele is famous worldwide, including Russia. Gretzky is unknown.

3.Ice Hockey may be popular in parts of Europe but still not in the same universe as soccer. Ice hockey is not big in western europe, Europe's richest countries, UK,France, Spain, Italy, Germany.

4. To know just how big soccer is, just visit a foreign country during the month of the world cup. I not sure how to explain it to an American, but try imagining superbowl sunday continuously for a whole month. Now try tripling the intensity. People will commit suicide because their team lost.

There\'s plenty of niche sports. All you need is one person to kick a soccer ball around or play basketball. Kobe Byrant is the man.

Few people outside of the United States know who Kobe is

All Sports Male: Danny Almonte (pitcher)

All Sports Female:Anna Kournikova

Track Male: Oto Bolden/Dwight Stones/NOONE

Female Track: Marion Jones

Distance Male: Don Sage

Female: Regina Jacobs

my take on this wrote:

depends on what era and what country

here are two good LD candidates

Frank Shorter

Bill Rodgers

Yet again, your thinking US.

Worldwide, Shorter has a reasonable top 10 bid, behind Zatopek, Nurmi, those two other dualling Scando's Koehlemine (sp?) and Arnessen (sp?)Clarke, Ryun, Abebe Bekele etc. All these were much higher profile in their day (and will be remembered) than anyone in the last 30 yrs. Rodgers has already been forgotten outside Beantown and Big Apple, and never was a factor in world terms.

And before anyone bleats 'what about Geb and todays Bekele' remember wer're talking about fame, not necessarily absolute talent. G and B had the misfortune to come along in an era of African crowding that pissed many people off.

Time is the only test. Can't tell who the public will remember in say 50 yrs but....

Women : - Sonia Henie (Look 'er up. Segwayed iconic ice skating into movie stardom))

Womens Track : Fanny Blankers-Koen.

Men: Pele. Ali. Jesse Owens. Bannister. Johnny Weismuller (Tarzan) Bob Mathias.

World Wide- PELE (hands down, sorry Ali) and Nadia Comaneci

Track- Jackie Joyner Kersey and Usain Bolt

---------------------------------------------

In US - Michael Jordan and Mia Hamm/Serena Williams

end of thread...

Ka Mate wrote:

Overall - . . . Princess Anne? (Queen's sister, olympic medalist, most people know her)

Sorry if this has already been corrected, but

a) she's the Queen's daughter, not sister, and

b) she never won an Olympic medal IIRC.

I keep seeing athletes from the past, Pele, Olga Korbut, Ali, etc.

I think these are all wrong. Communications are so much better around the world now then they where when these athletes where in their prime that I think it's likely a current athlete. I doubt very many Indians, Chiniese, SE Asians or Africans have heard of any of these past athletes. Remember, Ali stopped fighting almost 30 years ago, Olga Korbut was a star in 1972 (37 years-ago) and retired in '77 and Pele also retired in '77. Since the median world wide age is under 30 (in other words, more than half the population of the world is under 30) I doubt anywhere near half the world population has heard of any of those old timers.

I bet the athlete with the best name recognition of all time is Usain Bolt. Marion Jones might just be the most famous woman athlete. Beckham might be up there as he is popular in both the West and third-world countries. Micheal Jordan may have wide reach as he was used in advertising around the world.