The 23 Greatest Track and Field Athletes of All Time

Sprinters, throwers and marathoners are measured here against each other, which is exactly the comparison their stopwatches can't make.

1. 1
   Al Oerter

   American discus thrower who won four Olympics in a row from 1956 to 1968.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Michael Johnson

   American who won the 200 m and 400 m double at the 1996 Olympics in gold spikes.
   810pts
3. 3
   Usain Bolt

   Jamaican sprinter who still holds the 100 m and 200 m world records set in 2009.
   783pts
4. 4
   Florence Griffith Joyner

   Flo-Jo, whose 1988 world records in the 100 m and 200 m still stand.
   762pts
5. 5
   Allyson Felix

   American sprinter with more Olympic track medals than any other woman.
   724pts
6. 6
   Sergey Bubka

   Ukrainian pole vaulter who set 35 world records and was the first to clear six metres, in 1985.
   707pts
7. 7
   Eliud Kipchoge

   Kenyan marathoner and two-time Olympic champion who ran the first sub-two-hour marathon, in an unofficial race.
   656pts
8. 8
   Mondo Duplantis

   Swedish pole vaulter who broke Bubka's 26-year-old outdoor record in 2020 and keeps raising the world record a centimetre at a time.
   656pts
9. 9
   Paavo Nurmi

   The Flying Finn, winner of nine Olympic golds in distance running in the 1920s.
   647pts
10. 10
    Bob Beamon

    His 8.90 m long jump at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics beat the world record by 55 cm.
    647pts
11. 11
    Yelena Isinbayeva

    Pole vaulter who was the first woman to clear five metres, in 2005.
    647pts
12. 12
    Edwin Moses

    400 m hurdler who went nearly ten years unbeaten in the event.
    579pts
13. 13
    Kenenisa Bekele

    Ethiopian who held the 5,000 m and 10,000 m world records for more than 15 years.
    579pts
14. 14
    Jesse Owens

    Won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
    502pts
15. 15
    Jackie Joyner-Kersee

    American heptathlete and long jumper whose heptathlon world record has stood since 1988.
    502pts
16. 16
    Jan Železný

    Czech javelin thrower with three Olympic golds and a world record from 1996.
    413pts
17. 17
    Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone

    American hurdler who has broken the 400 m hurdles world record again and again.
    413pts
18. 18
    Haile Gebrselassie

    Ethiopian distance runner who broke more than 20 world records from 5,000 m to the marathon.
    312pts
19. 19
    Carl Lewis

    American sprinter and long jumper with nine Olympic gold medals.
    312pts
20. 20
    Faith Kipyegon

    Kenyan middle-distance runner with three straight Olympic 1,500 m titles.
    312pts
21. 21
    Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce

    Jamaican sprinter with two Olympic 100 m titles and five world titles in the event.
    193pts
22. 22
    Emil Zátopek

    Czech runner who won the 5,000 m, 10,000 m and marathon at the 1952 Olympics.
    193pts
23. 23
    Hicham El Guerrouj

    Moroccan middle-distance runner whose 1,500 m and mile world records date from the late 1990s.
    193pts

Comments