Most Dominant Athletes in Individual Sports
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Many famous athletes perfect their craft in team sports, where teammates and coaches aid their greatness.
But how great would Babe Ruth have been without fellow Bronx Bombers like Lou Gehrig to keep pitchers honest? Would Michael Jordan have won six NBA titles and GOAT recognition in basketball if he had not played with Scottie Pippen or been coached by Zen master Phil Jackson? And would Jerry Rice’s career soared to the same heights without two of football's greatest quarterbacks, Joe Montana and SteveYoung, tossing passes his way?
True dominance in sports can best be measured by athletes who compete alone. While these athletes may owe a debt of gratitude to coaches, trainers and others who help pave their way to glory, they proved their greatness against the best in the world as individuals.
They are the most dominant individual sport athletes of all time.
Note: We're focusing on athletes who dominated in annual events, so this list excludes great Olympians whose dominance was most visible every four years.
30. Miguel Induráin — Cycling
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Miguel Induráin at the 1994 Tour de France.Sport: Cycling
Country: Spain
Years of dominance: 1991-95
Key stats: Only cyclist to win five consecutive Tour de France titles (Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven consecutive titles for doping violations). Also won the Giro d’Italia twice.
Bottom line: Because of Lance Armstrong’s fall from glory, Miguel Induráin reigns as the most dominant cyclist in the sport’s biggest race.
Nicknamed "Big Mig," the Spaniard wore the Tour’s yellow jersey for 60 days during his dominance in the early 1990s.
He won 12 individual stages from 1989 to 1995.
29. George Foreman — Boxing
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George Foreman, right, tags Irish Jack O'Halloran with a hard right in their fight at New York's Madison Square Garden in 1970.Sport: Boxing
Country: United States
Years of dominance: 1969-74
Key stats: Won 37 of his first 40 fights by knockout. Knocked down reigning heavyweight champion Joe Frazier six times during his second-round TKO in 1972. Then defended the title with a first-round knockout of Jose Ramon and second-round TKO of Ken Norton.
Bottom line: George Foreman dominated the heavyweight division from 1969 to 1974 with his devastating punching ability, most notably when he destroyed Joe Frazier to win the heavyweight crown.
He would rank higher on this list if not for the fact he defended his title only twice before Muhammad Ali shocked him in the "Rumble in the Jungle."
28. Earl Anthony — Bowling
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Earl Anthony was a six-time PBA bowler of the year and won 43 professional titles.Sport: Bowling
Country: United States
Years of dominance: 1973-83
Key stats: Won a record three consecutive PBA National Championships twice, from 1973 to 1975 and 1981 to 1983.
Bottom line: Considered by many to be the greatest professional bowler ever, Earl Anthony won 43 Professional Bowlers Association titles during his incredible career and was named PBA Bowler of the Year six times.
He also was the first bowler to top $100,000 in earnings in a year and the first to surpass $1 million in career earnings.
Six of his 10 career major titles came by way of his PBA National Championship three-peats.
27. Bobby Jones — Golf
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Bobby Jones hits a shot out of a sand trap during the 1929 U.S. Open at the Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York.Sport: Golf
Country: United States
Years of dominance: 1923-30
Key stats: As an amateur, won all four major tournaments in 1930 that he was eligible to compete in — the U.S. and Britsh Open and Amateur Championships. Won 34 tournaments during his career, including 13 majors.
Bottom line: Bobby Jones’ grand slam in 1930 capped a seven-year run in which he dominated amateur golf and more than held his own against the top pros of the day.
A lawyer by trade, Jones played golf primarily as a part-time avocation, but that didn’t stop him from building a legacy as one of the sport’s all-time greats.
26. Ralf Schumann — Shooting
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Ralf Schumann shoots during the men's 25-meters rapid fire pistol final round at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.Sport: Shooting
Country: Germany
Years of dominance: 1989-2007
Key stats: Won 13 World Cup finals in 25-meter rapid fire pistol, including eight in a row from 1989 to 1996. Also a three-time Olympic gold medalist and four-time world champion.
Bottom line: One of the most decorated shooters in the sport’s history, Ralf Schumann started his career in 1977 in East Germany.
A precision mechanic, he got plenty of opportunities to hone his craft over the years thanks to his employers giving him a three-month paid leave of absence each year to train.
25. Jack Nicklaus — Golf
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Jack Nicklaus won the 1971 PGA Championship at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.Sport: Golf
Country: United States
Years of dominance: 1962-86
Key stats: Won a record 18 major championships, including six Masters over a 23-year span. Finished his career with 73 PGA Tour titles.
Bottom line: Widely regarded as the greatest professional golfer ever, Jack Nicklaus dominated his sport for the better part of three decades.
He was the PGA Player of the Year five times and led the PGA Tour in earnings eight times.
At age 26, he became the youngest player to win all four golf majors.
24. Jimmy Wilde — Boxing
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Jimmy Wilde, right, and Pancho Villa, left, in the ring before their boxing bout in 1923.Sport: Boxing
Country: Wales
Years of dominance: 1910-15
Key Stats: Holds the longest unbeaten streak in professional boxing history, winning 103 consecutive fights from 1910-15. Finished his career with 132 victories (99 by knockout) and three losses.
Bottom line: Known as the "Mighty Atom," Jimmy Wilde is recognized by many as the greatest flyweight boxer ever and greatest British boxer in any class.
Raised in poverty, Wilde worked in the coal mines as a youth before he started showing off his fighting prowess at fairground booths where he often took on opponents much larger.
His 103-win streak ended in 1915 when he was knocked out in the 17th round by Tancy Lee. Wilde came back the next year to recapture the British flyweight title.
23. Pete Sampras — Tennis
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Pete Sampras won Wimbledon seven times.Sport: Tennis
Country: United States
Years of dominance: 1993-2000
Key stats: Won seven Wimbledon titles in eight years. Finished career with 14 total Grand Slam titles, including five at the U.S. Open, tied for most in the Open era with Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer.
Bottom line: If not for Roger Federer’s eight Wimbledon crowns, Pete Sampras likely would rank as the greatest men’s champion ever at the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.
His incredible eight-year run is unmatched at the sport’s greatest tournament, marred only by a quarterfinal loss in 1996 to eventual champion Richard Krajicek.
22. Mike Tyson — Boxing
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Mike Tyson beat Trevor Berbick at age 20 to become the youngest heavyweight champion ever.Sport: Boxing
Years: 1985-90
Years of dominance: Won his first 37 professional fights, including 33 by knockout or TKO. Seventeen of those fights ended in the first round. Was the youngest heavyweight champion ever at 20 years old.
Bottom Line: No one ever dominated the heavyweight division quite the way Tyson did during the first five years of his career, regularly pummeling opponents into submission early in his fights. Before his shocking upset loss to Buster Douglas in 1990, Tyson had come as close as any boxer ever of appearing invincible in the ring. His destruction of Michael Spinx 91 seconds into the first round of their 1988 championship bout was the pinnacle of his dominance.
21. A.J. Foyt — Auto Racing
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A.J. Foyt at the Indianapolis 500 in 1964.Sport: Auto racing
Country: United States
Years of dominance: 1960-79
Key stats: Four-time Indy 500 champion. Won the United States Auto Club Championship series an unprecedented seven times, including four times in five years from 1960 to 1965.
Bottom Line: No athlete in racing history dominated in as many disciplines as A.J. Foyt, including both open wheel and stock cars.
He’s the only racer in history to win the Indy 500, Daytona 500, 24 Hours of Daytona, 24 Hours of Le Mans and 12 Hours of Sebring.
He finished his amazing career with a record 159 victories in USAC races.
20. Layne Beachley — Surfing
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Layne Beachley rides a barrel in Teahupoo, Tahiti, on her way to winning the Billabong Women's Pro in 2001.Sport: Surfing
Country: Australia
Years of dominance: 1998-2006
Key stats: A seven-time world champion on the women’s World Surf League Championship Tour. Won her first six titles in succession from 1998 to 2003, adding her final one in 2006.
Bottom line: Layne Beachley is the only surfer in history, man or woman, to win six world championships in a row.
She is tied with fellow Aussie great Stephanie Gilmore for most women’s world titles of all time.
Beachley also made her mark in big-wave surfing during her illustrious career and was the first woman to master tow-in surfing.
19. Marit Bjoergen — Cross-Country Skiing
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Marit Bjoergen during the women's qualifying of the 2017 Sprint Classic in Ruka, Kuusamo, Finland.Sport: Cross-country skiing
Country: Norway
Years of dominance: 2000-18
Key stats: 114 individual World Cup wins. Four overall World Cup titles. Eight World Cup discipline titles (five sprint, three distance).
Bottom line: Bjoergen is the most decorated World Cup cross-country skier in history, excelling in both the sprint and distance events during her two-decade-long career.
The Norwegian’s dominance also carried over to the Olympics (15 medals) and world championships (18 gold medals).
18. Rocky Marciano — Boxing
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Rocky Marciano, right, delivers a blow to Joe Louis during their non-title bout at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1951.Sport: Boxing
Country: United States
Years of dominance: 1947-55
Key stats: Compiled a 49-0 record during his heavyweight boxing career, including 43 by knockout. Held the world heavyweight title from 1952 to 1956.
Bottom line: Rocky Marciano stands alone among the great heavyweights of all time as the only champion to retire undefeated.
His dominance of the heavyweight class was illustrated by his ability to stop opponents, winning nearly 88 percent of his matches by knockout.
His ledger includes wins over such heavyweight greats as Jersey Joe Walcott, Ezzard Charles and Archie Moore.
17. Michael Schumaker — Auto Racing
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Michael Schumacher of Ferrari celebrates after winning the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix, Sunday April 4, 2004.Sport: Auto racing
Country: Germany
Years of dominance: 1994-2004
Key stats: Won seven Formula One world championships, including five consecutively from 2000 to 2004. Finished Formula One career with 91 wins.
Bottom line: The most dominant driver in the history of Formula One racing, Michael Schumacher holds records for most world titles, Grand Prix wins, fastest laps and most races won in a single season.
The German legend saved his best for last, winning 12 of the first 13 races in 2004 en route to his final world title.
16. Sugar Ray Robinson — Boxing
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Sugar Ray Robinson, right, bounces a right off the jaw of Charlie Fusari in their 1950 welterweight title bout at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, New Jersey.Sport: Boxing
Country: United States
Years of dominance: 1943-51
Key stats: Went on an incredible 91-match unbeaten streak during this eight-year period. Finished his career with 173 victories (108 by knockout) and only 19 losses.
Bottom line: Sugar Ray Robinson’s incredible winning streak helped cement his legacy as "pound for pound" the best boxer ever.
He was one of the first true superstars of the sport outside the heavyweight division, dominating both the welterweight (where he was champ from 1946-51) and middleweight (five-time champion) classes.
In 2002, Robinson was ranked No. 1 in Ring Magazine’s list of Top 80 fighters of the past 80 years.
15. Richard Petty — Auto Racing
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Richard Petty at Daytona Speedway in Daytona, Florida, in 1975.Sport: Auto Racing
Country: United States
Years of dominance: 1958-92
Key stats: Won the Daytona 500 a record seven times and was the first driver to win the NASCAR Cup Championship seven times. Won a record 200 races during his career. Over 700 top 10 finishes among his record 1,184 starts.
Bottom line: Considered by most the greatest NASCAR driver ever, Richard Petty was the face of the sport for the better part of four decades.
His nickname of"The King" was well-deserved, and his legacy was recognized with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992.
14. Harry Vardon — Golf
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Harry Vardon in 1900.Sport: Golf
Country: Jersey (Channel Islands, a self-governing dependency of United Kingdom)
Years of dominance: 1896-1914
Key Stats: Won the Open Championship a record six times, including three times in four years from 1896 to 1899. Also won the 1900 U.S. Open.
Bottom line: Harry Vardon’s dominance of the British Open in the late 1800s and early 1900s cements his place as one of the greatest golfers ever.
He was known for his great rivalries with James Braid and J.H. Taylor, who both won the Open five times.
13. Eddie Arcaro — Horse Racing
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Whirlaway is draped with the floral tribute in the winner's circle at Belmont Park, N.Y., on June 7, 1941 after winning the Belmont Stakes race of the Triple Crown with jockey Eddie Arcaro.Sport: Horse racing
Country: United States
Years of dominance: 1938-57
Key stats: Won the Kentucky Derby five times and the Belmont and Preakness Stakes six times each. Captured the Triple Crown in 1941 and 1948. Rode Citation to 16 consecutive first-place finishes in 1948 en route to his second Triple Crown.
Bottom Line: Dubbed "The Master" by sportswriters, Eddie Acaro dominated horse racing in the 1940s and 1950s and is widely considered the greatest jockey ever.
He remains the only jockey to win the Triple Crown more than once. His final Triple Crown race victory came in 1957 at the Preakness Stakes.
He finished his career with 549 wins in stakes events and tallied $30 million in purses.
12. Walter Hagen — Golf
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Walter Hagen, known as "the Haig," in 1930.Sport: Golf
Country: United States
Years of dominance: 1921-29
Key stats: Won the PGA Championship a record-tying five times, including three in a row from 1924 to 1926. Also won the British Open four times in seven years from 1922 to 1929.
Bottom line: Walter Hagen’s 11 professional majors place him third all-time behind Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
Hagen's total likely would have been greater, but the Masters were established after his prime.
He is considered among the greatest players in the history of the sport.
11. Roger Federer — Tennis
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Roger Federer has won Wimbledon eight times.Sport: Tennis
Country: Switzerland
Years of dominance: 2003-2017
Key Stats: Has won a record eight Wimbledon men’s singles titles, including five in a row from 2003 to 2007. Only men’s player to win two different Grand Slam tournaments six times (the other being the Australian Open). Owns a record 20 Grand Slam men’s singles titles.
Bottom Line: The most decorated men’s tennis player in history, Roger Federer has shone brightest on Centre Court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. He and Bjorn Borg are the only men to win Wimbledon five consecutive times.
Federer also has lost four times in the Wimbledon final — once to Rafael Nadal and three times to Novak Djokovic, two of the sport’s other all-time greats — or Fed's Wimbledon haul would be even higher.
10. Marcel Hirscher — Alpine Skiing
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Marcel Hirscher speeds down the course during a 2019 Alpine Skiing World Cup men's slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.Sport: Alpine skiing
Country: Austria
Years of dominance: 2008-present
Key stats: Eight consecutive World Cup overall titles from 2012 to 2019, in addition to six discipline titles each in slalom and giant slalom. Has 67 career World Cup first-place finishes and seven World Championships gold medals through 2019. Two-time Olympic gold medalist.
Bottom line: Marcel Hirscher’s run of World Cup overall titles is unprecedented in the history of the sport and has led many to rank him the greatest alpine skier ever.
He has dominated the slalom and giant slalom disciplines at major events for over a decade.
9. Joey Chestnut — Competitive Eating
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Joey Chestnut during the weigh-in news conference for the 2008 Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest in New York.Sport: Competitive eating
Country: United States
Years of dominance: 2007-present
Key stats: Has won the annual Fourth of July hot dog eating contest 12 times since 2007, coming up short only in 2015. Has set the world record numerous times, most recently in 2018 when he downed 74 dogs in 10 minutes.
Bottom line: The only question in putting Joey Chestnut on this list is whether competitive eating qualifies as a legitimate sport.
Not only has Chestnut put together an incredible winning streak in the Nathan’s July 4 spectacle, but his dominance over the field has only grown with the passing of time.
Now, the suspense is not whether he will win but whether he will break his own world record in the process.
8. Martina Navratilova — Tennis
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Martina Navratilova celebrates her fifth consecutive Wimbledon win in 1986.Sport: Tennis
Country: Czech Republic
Years of dominance: 1978-90
Key stats: Won a record nine Wimbledon singles titles in 12 years, including six in a row from 1982 to 1987. Won 177 career WTA titles. Retired in 2006 after turning pro in 1975.
Bottom line: Half of Martina Navratilova’s 18 Grand Slam titles came at Wimbledon, where she dominated for most of the 1980s.
Counting titles in doubles and mixed doubles, she finished her career with 20 Wimbledon crowns, tied with Billie Jean King for most ever.
7. Tiger Woods — Golf
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Tiger Woods in 2005.Sport: Golf
Country: United States
Years of dominance: 1997-2008
Key stats: Won 14 of his 15 majors over an 11-year period. Won the 1997 Masters by nine strokes and the 2000 U.S. Open by 15 strokes. Won three of the four majors in 2000, missing out only at the Masters.
Bottom line: Tiger Woods put together the most dominant run in the history of golf from 1997 to 2008, before injuries and personal problems sidelined what looked destined to be the most decorated golf career ever.
After an 11-year drought, he captured his 15th career major at the 2019 Masters.
6. Secretariat — Horse Racing
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Secretariat won the Triple Crown in 1973.Sport: Horse racing
Country: United States
Years of dominance: 1973
Key stats: Won the 1973 Triple Crown with perhaps the most dominant performance in horse racing history, capturing the Belmont Stakes by an incredible 31 lengths. Won five Eclipse Awards, including horse of the year at ages 2 and 3. Set speed records in all three races of the 1973 Triple Crown.
Bottom line: Secretariat’s Triple Crown run in 1973 stands alone in the annals of horse racing greatness.
His Kentucky Derby time still stands as the Churchill Downs track record for 1 1/4 miles, and his Belmont Stakes time of 2:24 flat remains the American dirt record at 1 1/2 miles.
5. Margaret Court — Tennis
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Margaret Court won 24 women's singles titles.Sport: Tennis
Country: Australia
Years of dominance: 1960-1973
Key stats: 11 of her record 24 women’s singles championships came at the Australian Open in her home country. Compiled a 61-3 career record at the Australian Open. Also won 19 women’s doubles and 21 mixed doubles Grand Slam titles.
Bottom line: The most decorated women’s tennis player in history, Margaret Court amassed more Grand Slam titles than any player, man or woman, in tennis history.
Her record for most single titles in a Grand Slam event (11) stood for nearly a half-century.
During the Open era, she was 11-1 in Grand Slam finals and won more than 91 percent of her singles matches, both record winning percentages.
4. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. — Boxing
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Floyd Mayweather Jr. went 50-0 in his career.Sport: Boxing
Country: United States
Years of dominance: 1996-2017
Key stats: Compiled a 50-0 career record, winning world titles in five weight classes. Strung together 26 consecutive wins in world title fights.
Bottom line: Is Floyd Mayweather Jr. the best pound-for-pound fighter in boxing history? It's debatable. But no one can match the dominance he displayed during his career in the ring.
One of the few champions to finish his career undefeated, Mayweather never lost again after dropping his semifinal bout at the 1996 Olympics.
Considered by many the greatest welterweight in history, he stymied opponents for over two decades with his pinpoint punching accuracy and defensive prowess.
3. Helen Wills Moody — Tennis
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Helen Wills Moody at Wimbledon in 1930.Sport: Tennis
Country: United States
Years of dominance: 1927-1933
Key stats: Won the Wimbledon ladies singles championship six consecutive times during a six-year stretch in which she won 180 consecutive matches without losing a set. Won 14 of her 19 major women’s singles championships during this time.
Bottom line: Helen Wills Moody’s incredible six-year winning streak stands as one of the most enduring and unbreakable records in sports.
She was the first true American women’s sports star, ranking No. 1 in the world nine times during the 1920s and 1930s.
2. Kelly Slater — Surfing
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Kelly Slater is a surfing legend and pioneer.Sport: Surfing
Country: United States
Years of dominance: 1992-2011
Key Stats: Won 11 world championships, including five straight from 1994 and 1998, and finished with 55 career victories. Was both the youngest and oldest world champion in men’s surfing history, capturing his first title at age 20 and last at 39.
Bottom line: Perhaps no athlete is more synonymous with his sport than Kelly Slater is with surfing.
He is indisputably the greatest competitive surfer of all time, credited with revolutionizing the sport and taking it to a new level of excellence.
He also pioneered wave pool technology, ushering in a new era for the sport in which waves can be manufactured in a controlled setting.
1. Rafael Nadal — Tennis
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Rafael is the best clay-court player in tennis history.Sport: Tennis
Country: Spain
Years of dominance: 2005-present
Key stats: 13 French Open men’s singles championships. Won the tournament nine times in his first 10 attempts, compiling a 66-1 record along the way. Third all-time with 21 Grand Slam men’s singles titles behind Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
Bottom line: No athlete has ever dominated a single sporting event the way the "King of Clay" has dominated the French Open during his illustrious career.
With his 12th title in 2019, Nadal passed Margaret Court for the record of most singles championships in a single Grand Slam event, and he looks likely to add to that total in the years ahead.
His career record at Roland Garros stands at 93-2. His only losses came against Robin Soderling in the fourth round in 2009 and against Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals in 2015.
Related:Greatest Surfers of All Time I Best Women Surfers in the World