A pair of swimmers have finished in the top 5 of the Associate Press Athlete of the Decade voting.
In the battle for the men’s honor, Michael Phelps finished 5th in the voting, while in the women’s competition, Katie Ledecky was 3rd.
Top 5, Male AP Athlete of the Decade
- Lebron James, basketball
- Tom Brady, football
- Usain Bolt, track & field
- Lionel Messi, soccer
- Michael Phelps, swimming
Top 5, Female AP Athlete of the Decade
- Serena Williams, tennis
- Simone Biles, gymnastics
- Katie Ledecky, swimming
- Lindsey Vonn, skiing
- Mikaela Shiffrin, skiing
Phelps won 12 of his record 28 Olympic medals in the 2010s, so he earned enough votes to finish 5th in spite of the peak of his career coming in the prior decade. Phelps retired after the 2012 Olympic Games, returned in 2014, was subsequently suspended after a DUI arrest, and bounced back to win 5 more gold medals in Rio at the 2016 Olympics. Phelps also won 4 World Championships in the decade, though because of retirement and suspension, his last World Championship meet was in 2011.
He was named the Associated Press Male Athelete of the Year in 2008 and 2012.
Ledecky, meanwhile, has had her entire elite swimming career in the 2010s, which includes 5 Olympic gold medals and 15 World Championship gold medals. She is the current World Record holder in the 400, 800, and 1500 meter freestyles in long course. Ledecky was named the 2017 Associated Press Athlete of the Year.
The male award winner, 35-year old Lebron James, won 3 NBA Championships in the 2010s (2012, 2013, 2016). He played in 8 of the 10 NBA Finals on offer in the decade, consecutively from 2011 through 2018. He won All-NBA First Team honors every year from 2008-2018, was an NBA All-Star in every year of the decade, and won 3 of his 4 MVP awards in the 2010s (2010, 2012, 2013).
He’s also a 3-time Olympic medalist, including gold medals in 2008 and 2012.
Serena Williams is the most decorated female tennis player of all-time. Her 23 Grand Slam singles titles are the most in the open era, and she has also won 14 Grand Slam titles in doubles playing with her sister Venus Williams. 12 of her Grand Slam singles titles came in the 2010s Serena won the Olympic gold medal in singles in 2012 and in doubles in 2000, 2008, and 2012.
In the 2010s, Williams reached the finals at 52.7% of tournaments in which she played; the next-best on that list is Maria Sharapova at 29.2%. Williams reached finals at an even higher rate – 19 of 33 (57.6%) – at Grand Slam tournaments in the 2010s. She was the world’s #1 ranked player for 196 weeks, which is more than the next two best players in the decade combined. In total, she won 89.3% of her matches (377-45). She even won the Australian Open title while pregnant without losing a single set.
The awards are voted on by sports writers and sports editors of the Associated Press, which is an American-based enterprise.
Think they missed out on Ronaldo, easily above most on that list.
Also people need to keep Cr7 and Messi never won the most prestigious competition of their sports which is the FIFA World Cup, same during the summer olympics. They rarely emerge
Lewis Hamilton
Ha, isn’t he a driver? I’m not exactly going to count that as being an “athlete”. In horse racing, who gets the credit? Horse or Jockey? Anyone remember who actually rode Secretariat? I dont.
The list has some in built bias, they almost always do, no matter the source. British and Australian lists of this kind will often feature cricketers. They often have Sir Donald Bradman in the top 5 athletes of all time. Whereas these athletes pretty much never feature in such lists in media from non cricket playing countries.
Alex Honnold
These lists are way sooo subjective and stupid. Quite frankly pointless.
No way LeBron (or Brady) should have been ahead of Usain Bolt. Bolt was 6 for 6 Olympic golds during the decade and another 3 for 3 in 2008. Plus the dozens of golds in Worlds. Dude was electric and must see TV when on the track.
You forgot to mention one of his team gold got revoked because of the doping incident involving his teammates who took part in The relays. which is a big stain.
A big stain on the teammate not Bolt. That was 2008 relay. He was still 6 for 6 golds in this decade.
All superb athletes, but other countries do exist. If any skier deserves their name on this list, it’s Marcel Hirscher. Far more dominant than Vonn or Shiffrin.
Shiffrin is more dominant than either Hirscher or Vonn. The stats and data back it up. Even most Austrian fans concede this.
When Shiffrin is the best Skier in the Worlds 8 years on the bounce, I’ll agree. Hirscher longevity was remarkable in such a brutal sport. No disrespect meant to Shiffrin, but 8x Overall WC champ on the bounce is incredible.
Well I was talking about dominance. But I agree on longevity and career accomplishments (thus far) re: Hirscher.
AP is so American-centred. That’s hilarious. I don’t say he doesn’t deserve any recognition but if you ask the same question outside of USA then Brady would never be mentioned in a top 5. LOL
Djokovic, Federer and Nadal fans will not be happy.
For the rest I would add Marit Bjoergen in a top 6 for women. Greatest cross-country skier ever. Most decorated athlete ever at Winter Olympic Games.
Marit Bjoergen should be above the 2 included skiers for sure. This list is basically “Top 5 American Athletes of The Decade” with a couple of non-Americans thrown in who were too famous to be ignored without looking silly.
She should be on it for her biceps alone.
Yeah, LeBron I can get, given basketball has a somewhat global footprint, but Brady is a different story.
Along with tennis Big 3, Cristiano would have been a better option too
Yeah Basketball has a somewhat global footprint, but football is the no 1 sport in about 90% of the countries in the world & Messi & Ronaldo have greater competition then Lebron. Only Bolt can match Messi & Ronaldo, everyone runs.
Lebron is the first. Hands down. Messi and Ronaldo comes close. But not eclipse him. Football is the most popular sport in the world. But Basketball has huge following in East Europe and Asia. In China, Lebron is massive. Lebron is the second most popular athlete in the world behind CR7.
But the thing that put Lebron ahead of Messi and CR7 is actually the rivalry of the both players. If there was only Messi then he would be the Greatest of this decade may be all time. Same goes with CR7. I think the rivalry of those two has cancelled out the greatness of their by somewhat.
Also people need to keep Cr7 and Messi never won the most prestigious competition of their sports which is the FIFA World Cup, same during the summer olympics. They rarely emerge
The AP is headquartered in NY, so give me the French press top 10 and lets compare the lists.
Here’s a British poll…
https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/lewis-hamilton-british-sport-star-decade-djokovic-ledecky-and-kunieda-a4325511.html