By: Jaylen L. Smith

TOP TEN ATHLETES OF ALL TIME

#10Tyrann Mathieu

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#9Tiger Woods1. Woods won the U.S. Masters at Augusta in 1997 with a record score at the age of 21. He was the youngest man and first African American to earn the title.

2. In his first appearance at the British Open later that year, Woods tied the course record of 64. The next few years brought even more successes, including four US PGA titles, three U.S. Open wins, three Open Championship wins, and three U.S. Masters wins.

3. He was named Player of the Year by the other participants in the PGA Tour and won his eighth Arnold Palmer Award for being the lead money earner on the tour.

#8Tyson Gay

1. Tyson Gay has been ranked No. 1 in the world in the 100-meter dash twice in his career.

2. In 2007, Gay won the 100- and 200-meter sprints at the World Championships in Osaka, Japan, and took gold as a part of the 4-by-100 relay (he became only the third man to win three gold medals at a single world championships meet)

3. At the 2009 World Championships, Gay ran a new American record of 9.71 seconds in the 100-meter, the third-fastest time ever.

#7Bo Jackson

“Bo”1. Bo Jackson played both football and baseball.

2. He won Heisman Trophy in 1985 and MVP of baseball All-Star Game in 1989.

3. He also qualified for the U.S. Olympic track and field team

#6Michael Phelps

“Flying Fish”1. In 2001, at age 15, Michael became the youngest world record holder in swimming’s modern history. 2. At the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, Michael won the 200-meter freestyle, 100-meter butterfly, 200-meter butterfly, 200-meter individual medley, and finished second in the 400-meter individual medley.3. He broke Russians record with 18 gold medals .

#5 Tom Brady

“Tom Terrific”1. Brady is the only quarterback in NFL history to start and win three Super Bowls before his 28th birthday.

2. In 2009, Tom set an NFL record when he threw five TD passes in the second quarter against the Tennessee Titans and a Super Bowl record for completing 32 passes.

3. He reached 100 wins faster than any quarterback in NFL history

#4Lebron James

“King James”1. Lebron James has won 3 MVP trophies since he came into the league.

2. In 2009-10, LeBron became the youngest player to score 15,000 points, breaking Kobe Bryant’s record.

3. LeBron had a 50-point, 10-assist game against the New York Knicks in 2008. He joined Michael Jordan and Stephon Marbury as the only players to do this since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976.

#3Michael Jordan

“ Air Jordan”1. Michael Jordan holds the NBA records for highest career regular season scoring average (30.12 points per game) and highest career playoff scoring average (33.45 points per game).

2. He won Rookie of the Year, 6 NBA championships, 5 regular season MVP awards, 6 NBA finals MVP awards, 3 All-Star game MVP awards, and 1 defensive player of the year award.

3. In 1999, he was named the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century by ESPN

#2Deion Sanders

“Prime Time”1. Deion Sanders became the only athlete ever to hit a home run and get a touchdown in the same seven-day period. He is also the only athlete to ever compete in the World Series and a Super Bowl.

2. Deion tied the 49ers franchise record with interception returns for touchdowns, collected Defensive Player of the Year honors, and led the club to a Super Bowl title.

3. Deion Sanders won two super bowls back to back with the 49ers and the Cowboys.

#1Usain Bolt

“Lightning Bolt”1. Usain Bolts break the world

record in the 100 and 200 meter dash

2. The fastest man in the world running a 9.58 in the 100 meter dash and a 19.19 in the 200 meter dash..

3. Usain Bolt became the first man in Olympic history to win both the 100-meter and 200-meter races in world record times in 2008. Four years later, at the London Olympics, he became the first man to win gold medals in both the 100 and 200 at consecutive Olympic Games and the first man in history to set three world records in a single Olympic Games.