Athletics Legends
Track and field legends who rewrote human limits.
The All-Time Greatest Athletics Athletes
Ranked by career honours, records and our FSP GOAT Score.
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All Athletics Athletes
Browse 103 of the greatest athletics athletes of all time.
American
Allyson Felix
Sprinter (200m, 400m)
The most decorated US track and field Olympic athlete in history with eleven medals across five Game…
Ethiopian
Almaz Ayana
Distance (10,000m)
Ethiopian 10,000m Olympic champion from Rio 2016 whose world record-smashing victory by over 14 seco…
Grenadian
Anderson Peters
Javelin
The most powerful javelin thrower of his generation — three World Championship titles.…
Canadian
Andre De Grasse
Sprinter (100m/200m)
Canadian Olympic 200m champion whose smooth acceleration, fluid running style and consistent perform…
Swedish
Armand Duplantis
Pole Vaulter
Mondo — the greatest pole vaulter in history who has broken the world record nine times, currently s…
Jamaican
Asafa Powell
Sprinter (100m)
Former world record holder at 100m who ran sub-9.90 seconds more times than any other athlete in his…
American
Athing Mu
Middle Distance (800m)
American 800m Olympic champion who became the first American woman to win Olympic gold at 800m in ov…
Kenyan
Brigid Kosgei
Marathon
Kenyan marathon world record holder whose stunning Berlin performance in 2019 produced the first sub…
American
Carl Lewis
Sprinter / Long Jumper
Nine-time Olympic gold medallist and winner of four consecutive long jump titles at the Games — wide…
Australian
Cathy Freeman
Sprinter
Carried the Australian flag at the 2000 Sydney Olympics opening ceremony — then won 400m gold.…
American
Christian Coleman
Sprinter (100m)
American sprint champion whose raw acceleration and sub-10-second consistency have made him a domina…
Welsh
Colin Jackson
Hurdler 110m
The greatest 110m hurdler in British history — world record holder for 11 years with 12.91 seconds.…
Dutch
Dafne Schippers
Sprinter (100m, 200m)
Europe's finest sprinter of the 2010s — World Champion at 200m twice, the fastest European woman in …
British
Daley Thompson
Decathlete
Back-to-back Olympic decathlon champion — Daley Thompson's extraordinary all-round ability and compe…
British
Dame Kelly Holmes
Middle Distance Runner
The Athens double — 800m and 1500m gold at Athens 2004, achieved after years of injury and personal …
Kenyan
David Rudisha
Middle Distance
The 800m world record holder who produced the greatest 800m performance in Olympic history at London…
British
Dina Asher-Smith
Sprinter
Britain's fastest woman — World Champion at 200m and the most decorated British female sprinter.…
Canadian
Donovan Bailey
Sprinter
The 1996 Olympic 100m champion who set a world record and unified the 100m title after Ben Johnson.…
American
Ed Moses
Sprinter (400m H)
American 400m hurdles legend who went 122 races without a defeat across ten years between 1977 and 1…
Jamaican
Elaine Thompson-Herah
Sprinter (100m, 200m)
Jamaica's double sprint champion who became the fastest woman in 33 years when she ran 10.…
Kenyan
Eliud Kipchoge
Marathon Runner
The greatest marathon runner in history — sub-two-hour marathon achiever and two-time Olympic champi…
American
Erriyon Knighton
Sprinter (200m)
American teenage sprinting phenomenon who ran the 200m in under 19.5 seconds at just 18, breaking Us…
Kenyan
Faith Kipyegon
Middle Distance
Three Olympic gold medals in the 1500m — the most decorated middle-distance runner in Olympic histor…
British
Fatima Whitbread
Javelin Thrower
Britain's most celebrated field athlete — World Champion in 1987, Olympic bronze and silver medallis…
Dutch
Femke Bol
Hurdler/Sprinter
The most versatile female track athlete of the 2020s — European record holder in the 400m hurdles, W…
American
Florence Griffith-Joyner
Sprinter
Flo-Jo — the fastest woman in history whose world records of 10.49s (100m) and 21.34s (200m) have st…
American
Fred Kerley
Sprinter (100m)
American sprint champion who won the 100m at both the Tokyo and Paris Olympics, combining devastatin…
American
Gabby Thomas
Sprinter (200m)
American multiple Olympic medallist in the 200m and 4x100m relay whose elegant running style, consis…
American
Gail Devers
Sprinter (100m H)
American sprinting legend and Olympic champion who overcame Graves' disease to win Olympic gold at t…
Ethiopian
Genzebe Dibaba
Middle/Long Distance (1500m)
The world record holder in the 1500m and indoor mile — Tirunesh's younger sister who carved out her …
American
Grant Holloway
Hurdler
The world record holder in the 60m hurdles — the most dominant indoor hurdler of his era.…
Ethiopian
Haile Gebrselassie
Long Distance Runner
The greatest runner of the 1990s and 2000s — 27 world records including multiple marathon and 10,000…
Moroccan
Hicham El Guerrouj
Middle Distance Runner
Mile and 1500m world record holder — the finest middle-distance runner since Coe and Ovett.…
American
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Heptathlon
American Hall of Famer who is widely considered the greatest female multi-event athlete of all time,…
Ugandan
Jacob Kiplimo
Distance (Half Marathon)
Ugandan half marathon world record holder and rising force in long-distance running whose smooth str…
Norwegian
Jakob Ingebrigtsen
Middle Distance
The teenage prodigy who became Olympic champion at 21 — Norway's generational middle-distance talent…
Cuban
Javier Sotomayor
High Jump
Cuban high jump world record holder whose 2.45 metre leap in 1993 remains the world record, an extra…
American
Jesse Owens
Sprinter / Long Jumper
The hero of the 1936 Berlin Olympics — won four gold medals in front of Adolf Hitler, directly chall…
British
Jessica Ennis-Hill
Heptathlete
The face of London 2012 — her heptathlon gold was the defining moment of Britain's greatest sporting…
American
Joe Kovacs
Shot Put
American shot put world champion whose powerful throwing and consistent performance at the top level…
British
Jonathan Edwards
Triple Jumper
World record in triple jump — 18.29m that has stood since 1995.…
Ugandan
Joshua Cheptegei
Distance (10,000m)
Ugandan distance running legend who holds the 10,000m world record and won Olympic gold in Tokyo, a …
Saint Lucian
Julien Alfred
Sprinter (100m)
Saint Lucian sprint champion who became the first athlete from her country to win Olympic gold when …
American
JuVaughn Harrison
High Jump / Long Jump
American double jumper who competes in both the high jump and long jump, becoming the first athlete …
Norwegian
Karsten Warholm
Hurdles
The 400m hurdles world record holder — his Tokyo 2020 performance is the greatest single track perfo…
British
Keely Hodgkinson
Middle Distance (800m)
British two-time Olympic 800m champion whose smooth running style, exceptional front-running ability…
Kenyan
Kelvin Kiptum
Marathon Runner
The marathon world record holder at 2:00:35 — set in Chicago 2023 at just 23 years old, breaking Kip…
Ethiopian
Kenenisa Bekele
Distance Runner
Ethiopia's most decorated male athlete — world record holder at 5,000m and 10,000m and marathon runn…
American
Kevin Young
Sprinter (400m H)
American 400m hurdles Olympic champion who set a world record of 46.78 seconds at the Barcelona 1992…
Jamaican
Kishane Thompson
Sprinter (100m/200m)
Jamaican sprint sensation who produced one of 2024's most electrifying runs with a blistering 200m p…
Ethiopian
Letesenbet Gidey
Distance (10,000m)
Ethiopian distance running sensation who broke the women's 10,000m world record and has produced stu…
Botswanan
Letsile Tebogo
Sprinter (200m)
Botswanan sprint champion who became the first athlete from his country to win an Olympic gold medal…
British
Linford Christie
Sprinter 100m
Britain's greatest male sprinter — Olympic 100m champion at 32, the oldest man ever to win the Olymp…
Italian
Marcell Jacobs
Sprints
The unexpected 100m Olympic champion at Tokyo 2020 — Italy's most celebrated athletics story.…
American
Marion Jones
Sprinter (100m/200m)
American sprint queen who won five Olympic gold medals in Sydney 2000 before voluntarily returning t…
Kenyan
Mary Moraa
Middle Distance (800m)
Kenyan 800m world champion whose astonishing finishing speed and racing intelligence have produced c…
American
Mary Slaney
Middle Distance Runner
America's greatest middle-distance runner — and the fall that defined the 1984 Olympics.…
British
Matthew Hudson-Smith
Sprinter (400m)
British 400m champion whose smooth stride and consistent sub-44-second performances have made him on…
American
Maurice Greene
Sprinter
The world's fastest man 1997-2002 — two Olympic sprint golds from the most physical 100m style.…
American
Melissa Jefferson
Sprinter (100m)
American 100m world champion whose electric acceleration and consistent sub-11-second performances l…
Jamaican
Merlene Ottey
Sprinter (100m, 200m)
The Queen of the Track — the most prolific medallist in World Athletics Championship history with 14…
American
Michael Johnson
Sprinter 200m/400m
The most dominant 200m and 400m runner in history — the unprecedented 200m/400m Olympic double at At…
Greek
Miltiadis Tentoglou
Long Jump
Greek long jump world and Olympic champion whose effortless jumping ability and relaxed approach hav…
Swedish
Mondo Duplantis
Pole Vaulter
World record holder in pole vault — 6.26m and the only man who breaks his own world records at every…
Kenyan
Moses Kiptanui
Steeplechase/Middle Distance
Moses Kiptanui — the first man to run the 3000m steeplechase in under eight minutes and one of Kenya…
Qatari
Mutaz Essa Barshim
High Jumper
Shared the Olympic gold with Tamberi — the moment of sportmanship that defined Paris 2020.…
Indian
Neeraj Chopra
Javelin
India's golden boy — Olympic champion, world record holder and the man who gave India its first trac…
American
Noah Lyles
Sprinter
World 100m champion and the most charismatic sprinter since Usain Bolt — anime, advocacy and gold.…
Algerian
Noureddine Morceli
Middle Distance (1,500m)
Algerian mile world record holder from the 1990s who set the then-fastest mile time in history and b…
Jamaican
Oblique Seville
Sprinter (100m)
Jamaican sprinter whose consistent sub-10-second times and exciting domestic rivalry with Kishane Th…
British
Paula Radcliffe
Marathon Runner
The women's marathon world record holder — Paula Radcliffe's 2:15:25 in London 2003 stood for 16 yea…
American
Quincy Hall
Sprinter (400m)
American 400m world champion whose stunning late surge in the Paris 2024 final produced one of athle…
American
Rai Benjamin
Sprinter (400m H)
American 400m hurdles silver medallist whose blistering speed, technical hurdling and rivalry with K…
French
Renaud Lavillenie
Pole Vault
French pole vault world record holder and Olympic champion who cleared 6.16 metres to break Sergey B…
Polish
Robert Korzeniowski
Race Walking
Polish four-time Olympic gold medallist in race walking whose extraordinary longevity, technical mas…
Kenyan
Ruth Chepngetich
Marathon
Kenyan marathon world record holder and Chicago Marathon specialist whose blistering pace and extrao…
American
Ryan Crouser
Shot Put
American two-time Olympic shot put champion and multiple world record holder whose enormous power an…
Moroccan
Said Aouita
Middle Distance (1,500m)
Moroccan middle-distance legend who was the first man to hold world records simultaneously at 1,500m…
Croatian
Sandra Perković
Discus
Croatian discus throw six-time world champion and two-time Olympic champion whose extraordinary cons…
British
Sebastian Coe
Middle Distance Runner
Sebastian Newbold Coe — later Baron Coe — was born in Chiswick in 1956 and became, alongside Steve O…
Ethiopian
Selemon Barega
Distance (10,000m)
Ethiopian Tokyo Olympic 10,000m champion whose smooth acceleration and ability to sustain sub-60-sec…
American
Sha'Carri Richardson
Sprinter
The orange hair, the longest nails in sprinting — and the 100m World Champion who came back from a b…
Jamaican
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce
Sprints
The Pocket Rocket — four Olympic gold medals and the most decorated female sprinter in history.…
Jamaican
Shericka Jackson
Sprinter (100m/200m)
Jamaican sprint star whose blazing speed and powerful running mechanics have produced some of the fa…
Dutch
Sifan Hassan
Distance/Marathon
The most versatile distance runner in Olympic history — golds across 1500m, 5000m and 10000m.…
British
Sir Mo Farah
Distance Runner
Britain's greatest ever distance runner — four Olympic golds in the 5000m and 10000m and one of spor…
British
Steve Ovett
Middle Distance Runner
Half of the greatest rivalry in British athletics — his decade-long battle with Sebastian Coe produc…
American
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone
Hurdles/Sprints
Four consecutive world records in the 400m hurdles — the most technically improving event in modern …
Kenyan
Tegla Loroupe
Marathon/Long Distance
Africa's first female marathon world record holder and a global ambassador for peace — three-time wo…
Brazilian
Thiago Braz
Pole Vault
Brazilian pole vault Olympic champion who produced a stunning world record-equalling performance to …
Ethiopian
Tigst Assefa
Marathon
Ethiopian marathon world record holder whose stunning Berlin performance in 2023 smashed the women's…
Kenyan
Timothy Cheruiyot
Middle Distance (1,500m)
Kenyan 1,500m world champion whose devastating finishing kick and tactical running intelligence have…
Ethiopian
Tirunesh Dibaba
Distance Runner (5000m, 10000m)
The Baby-Faced Destroyer — three Olympic gold medals in the 5,000m and 10,000m and the most dominant…
New Zealander
Tom Walsh
Shot Put
New Zealand shot put world champion and three-time World Athletics Championship medallist whose powe…
American
Tommie Smith
Sprinter
The Black Power salute — the most politically significant individual gesture in Olympic history.…
American
Trayvon Bromell
Sprinter (200m)
American teenage sprint sensation who turned professional at 16 and broke Usain Bolt's age records, …
Jamaican
Usain Bolt
Sprinter (100m, 200m)
The fastest human in recorded history — world record holder at 100m (9.58s) and 200m (19.19s) and ei…
American
Valarie Allman
Discus
American discus throw Olympic champion whose consistent performances and powerful throwing have prod…
South African
Wayde van Niekerk
Sprinter (400m)
South African world record holder in the 400m whose stunning sub-43-second run in Rio 2016 shattered…
Kenyan
Wilson Kipketer
Middle Distance (800m)
Kenyan-born Danish 800m world record holder who dominated the event throughout the 1990s and broke S…
Ukrainian
Yaroslava Mahuchikh
High Jumper
The world record holder in women's high jump — and the Ukrainian athlete who competed through war.…
Ethiopian
Yomif Kejelcha
Distance (5,000m)
Ethiopian distance runner whose extraordinary finishing speed and consistent podium performances at …
Venezuelan
Yulimar Rojas
Triple Jump
Venezuelan triple jump world record holder and two-time Olympic champion whose extraordinary leaping…
Athletics Nations
American
30
athletes
British
14
athletes
Kenyan
11
athletes
Ethiopian
9
athletes
Jamaican
8
athletes
Dutch
3
athletes
Canadian
2
athletes
Swedish
2
athletes