The face-to-face confrontation between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo has been going on for decades. In the latest ranking, the Argentine is significantly ahead of his eternal rival.
The American edition of ESPN has published its own version of the hundred best athletes of the century. The task was not an easy one, as achievements in various sports were evaluated.
Experts took into account the results of athletes since January 1, 2000. ESPN editors from all over the world participated in the nomination and voting process. The result of the hard work was the rating of the hundred best professional athletes of the century.
American swimmer Michael Phelps became the deserved winner. He set 39 world records and became the absolute record holder for victories at the Olympic Games.
Argentina's Leo Messi rounded out the top three, followed by tennis player Serena Williams. Interestingly, the best national team scorer in history, Cristiano Ronaldo, was only in 13th place.
1. Michael Phelps (swimming) - 28-time Olympic medalist (record), 23-time Olympic gold medalist. He won the most gold medals at a single Olympics when he won eight awards in Beijing 2008.
2. Serena Williams (tennis) - 23-time champion of the Grand Slam tournaments in singles (second all-time). The record holder among women for the number of victories in matches at majors - 365. 73 career titles - fifth place among women. Four times champion of the Olympic Games.
3. Lionel Messi (football) - 10-time La Liga champion, seven-time Spanish Cup winner, four-time Champions League winner, six-time Champions League top scorer, 17 times member of the FIFA symbolic team, World Cup winner, two-time Copa America winner, two-time FIFA World Cup winner, eight-time Ballon d'Or winner.
4. LeBron James (basketball) - the best player in the history of the NBA in terms of scoring, a 20-time All-Star, 19-time All-NBA team member, and six-time All-Defensive team member. He was named NBA Finals MVP four times and All-Star Game MVP three times. In total, he won four NBA titles with three different teams, and he won gold twice at the Olympic Games.
5. Tom Brady (American football) - seven-time Super Bowl champion, five-time Super Bowl MVP, three-time NFL MVP.
The top ten also includes Roger Federer (tennis), Simon Biles (gymnastics), Tiger Woods (golf), Usain Bolt (running), and Kobe Bryant (basketball).