Most Famous American Athletes
United States has produced 5,845 notable athletes throughout history, led by Muhammad Ali. Rankings are drawn from a cross-verified academic dataset of 152,953 people.
Top Ranked
- Muhammad Ali — American Boxer (1942–2016) , ranked #61
- Magic Johnson — American Basket (Born 1959) , ranked #549
- Lance Armstrong — American Sport (Born 1971) , ranked #584
- Jesse Owens — American Sprint (1913–1980) , ranked #1135
- Tiger Woods — American Golf (Born 1975) , ranked #1270
- Jackie Robinson — American Baseball (1919–1972) , ranked #1505
- Joe Frazier — American Boxer (1944–2011) , ranked #1543
- Charles Barkley — American Basket (Born 1963) , ranked #1728
- Dennis Rodman — American Basket (Born 1961) , ranked #1822
- Johnny Weissmuller — American Swimmer (1904–1984) , ranked #1851
- Caitlyn Jenner — American Olympic (Born 1949) , ranked #1923
- LeBron James — American Basket (Born 1984) , ranked #2102
- Kurt Angle — American Wrestler (Born 1968) , ranked #2498
- Joe DiMaggio — American Baseball (1914–1999) , ranked #2539
- Chris Evert — American Player (Born 1954) , ranked #2625
- Joe Louis — American Boxer (1914–1981) , ranked #2631
- Jim Thorpe — American Baseball (1887–1953) , ranked #2992
- Arnold Palmer — American Golf (1929–2016) , ranked #3201
- George Foreman — American Boxer (Born 1949) , ranked #3307
- Hank Aaron — American Baseball (Born 1934) , ranked #3489