Famous Athletes a to z

Considered one of the best baseball players of all time, Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's home run record when he hit his 715th home run in 1974, before setting a new Major League Record with 755 home runs in the same year.

Hall of Fame basketball center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA's all-time leading scorer. He won six NBA titles, five with the Los Angeles Lakers, over 20 years.

Nathan Adrian is an American swimmer and three-time Olympic gold medalist. At the London Games in 2012, he won two gold medals and one silver.

Andre Agassi is best known for his strong, smart playing style, which helped him win tennis championships throughout the 1990s.

Lou Albano was a professional wrestler-turned-wrestling personality in the hugely popular World Wrestling Federation of the 1980s.

Shaun Alexander is a former running back for the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins who’s one of the leading touchdown scorers in NFL history.

American athlete Laila Ali, daughter of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, has established her own reputation as a boxing champion and television personality.

Muhammad Ali is considered one of the greatest athletes in boxing history, winning both the coveted Golden Gloves title and an Olympic gold medal, among several other honors.

Robert Alomar is an American baseball player best known as one of the best second basemen in Major League Baseball.

Mario Andretti is best known as one of car racing's most successful drivers.

Forward Carmelo Anthony is one of the most prolific scorers in the NBA. Drafted by the Denver Nuggets in 2003, he was traded to the New York Knicks in 2011.

Henry Armstrong was a U.S. pro boxer who held three championship titles simultaneously. He later became a minister and champion for at-risk youth.

Lance Armstrong is a professional American cyclist and testicular cancer survivor who, in 2012, was stripped of the seven Tour de France titles he won from 1999 to 2005 due to evidence of performance-enhancing drug use.

Arthur Ashe is the first African American to win the men's singles at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, and the first black American to be ranked No. 1 in the world.

Sprinter Evelyn Ashford is a five-time Olympian who became the first woman to run 100 meters in under 11 seconds and the oldest American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in track and field in 1992.

Italian-American bodybuilder Charles Atlas founded a highly successful mail-order business from his patented "Dynamic-Tension" exercise program.

Steve Austin, also known as “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, is best known as a Championship-winning professional wrestler in the WWF. After retirement, Austin pursued acting with roles on TV and film.

Alan Autry is best known for his role as Captain "Bubba" Skinner on the television series In the Heat of the Night. In later life, he was a successful mayor of Fresno, California.

Victoria Azarenka is a Belarusian tennis player and Olympic gold medalist. She is known for the loud grunting noise she makes when hitting the ball.

Retired NBA player Charles Barkley was part of the 1992 U.S. Olympic "Dream Team" and was named one of the league's 50 greatest players in 1996.

Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner made a record-breaking, supersonic skydive from 24 miles above the earth in October 2012.

Hall of Fame NBA forward Elgin Baylor was a prolific scorer and rebounder for the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers.

Billy Beane is a Major League Baseball executive known for his revolutionary style of management and the film based on his exploits, Moneyball.

Swimmer Amanda Beard competed in four Olympic Games, the first in 1996 when she was just 14 years old. She appeared on the cover of Playboy in 2007.

Soccer great David Beckham has played for Manchester United, England, Real Madrid and the L.A. Galaxy. He is married to Victoria Beckham, also known as Posh from the Spice Girls.

Chris Benoit was a popular professional wrestler who, in 2007, killed his wife and son and then committed suicide.

Yogi Berra is best known as a Yankees player who was widely considered one of the best catchers of all-time. Later in life, he managed the team, becoming only one of six managers to lead both National and American League teams to the World Series.

Athlete George Best played for Manchester United and was named European Footballer of the Year in 1968. His brief career ended by the time he was 25.

Larry Bird is a retired professional basketball player known for his years with the Boston Celtics and his deceptively nimble skills on the court.

Jamaican sprinter Yohan Blake holds the world record for the 4-by-100-meter relay. In 2012, he won a silver medal in both the 100-meter and 200-meter races, losing to rival and fellow Jamaican Usain Bolt in both events.

Quarterback Drew Bledsoe was a starter with the New England Patriots for nearly eight years, before moving on to lead the Buffalo Bills and the Dallas Cowboys.

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 competition.

James J. Braddock the American world heavyweight boxing champion from 1935 until 1937. His astonishing comeback in 1934 earned him the nickname, "The Cinderella Man."

Timothy Bradley is an American boxing champion, who has won WBO and WBC titles. In June 2012,  Bradley won a bout against multi-title champion Manny Pacquia, spurring disbelief among thousands of fans and wide media speculation. 

One of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, Terry Bradshaw has spent much of his life playing, reporting, and commenting on football.

The winner of three Super Bowls, Tom Brady is one of the top players in the NFL. He is married to model Gisele Bündchen.

NFL quarterback Drew Brees plays for the New Orleans Saints. In 2009 he led the franchise to victory in Super Bowl XLIV, earning the game's MVP honors.

Jim Brown is a record-holding, former NFL fullback who's been elected to his sport's Hall of Fame and who's also worked as a model and film actor.

Kobe Bryant is an NBA athlete who's one of the leading players in career points, having earned multiple championship rings. He has also won two Olympic gold medals with the U.S. basketball team.

African-American jockey Isaac Burns Murphy repeatedly won the Kentucky Derby and was posthumously inducted into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame.

Plaxico Burress is an American football wide receiver who has played in the NFL for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the New York Giants and the New York Jets.

In less than two years Kyle Busch has already become the youngest race winner in NASCAR's six-decade history of Cup racing, shortly after turning 20 years old.

Susan Butcher was a champion American dog musher and four-time winner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Veronica Campbell-Brown is the youngest Jamaican woman to win an Olympic medal. At the 2012 Olympic Games, she became a six-time Olympic medalist.

Jose Canseco is best known for his record-breaking Major League Baseball career.

Former pro-tennis player Jennifer Capriati is known for her incredible comeback after several personal struggles. In 1990 she was the youngest player to ever be ranked in the Women's Tennis Association top ten.

Rod Carew is a former Major League Baseball first baseman, second baseman and coach who played for the Minnesota Twins and the California Angels. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.

At the height of his career, boxer Rubin Carter was twice wrongly convicted of a triple murder and was imprisoned for nearly two decades.

Brazilian racecar driver Helio Castroneves won the Indianapolis 500 three times, and finished first on the television dance competition show Dancing with the Stars.

Wilt Chamberlain was the first NBA player to score more than 30,000 cumulative points over his career, and the first and only player to score 100 points in a single game.

Actor/director/producer Jackie Chan's unique blend of impressive martial arts and screwball physical comedy has helped make him an international film star.

Bobby Charlton is best known for being one of England's most accomplished soccer player of all time.

Julio César Chávez is a retired Mexican professional boxer and world lightweight champion who, for many years, was one of Mexico's most popular sports figures.

The son of famed Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez, Julio César Chávez Jr. won the World Boxing Council's middleweight title in 2011, then lost the title to Sergio Martinez in 2012.

Darren Clarke is a professional golfer known for his eccentricity and for playing through adversity to great success.

Former Major League Baseball player Roger Clemens, of the Red Sox, won 7 Cy Young Awards and recorded 4,672 strikeouts. He was indicted for perjury in 2010.

Outfielder Roberto Clemente broke National League batting records while playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1960s.

Kim Clijsters is a professional tennis player who has won multiple Grand Slam titles, including some at the U.S. Open. She married American basketball player Brian Lynch.

Mickey Cohen became the West Coast racket boss in 1947, after his mentor and predecessor, Bugsy Siegel, was assassinated.

American professional basketball player Jason Collins became the first active openly gay male athlete in the four major North American professional sports.

Connie Mack was manager of the Milwaukee Brewers and the Philadelphia Athletics, and owner of the Athletics. He helped establish the American League.

In 2004, athlete Maritza Correia made history as the first African-American woman to earn a place on the U.S. Olympic Swim Team. She later became the first African-American woman to break an American record.

Swimmer Natalie Coughlin has won more than 10 Olympic medals in her career, including two gold medals at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

Randy Couture is best known as a mixed martial arts fighter and heavyweight champion. He is one of the first members of the UFC Hall of Fame.

In 1997 Erin Crocker became the youngest race car driver to win a feature at Whip City Speedway en route to Rookie-of-the-Year honors.

Sidney Crosby is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Pittsburgh Penguins. In 2007, he became the youngest captain of a National Hockey League team.

Diane Crump was a professional jockey who racked up more than 230 victories in her career.

Scottish soccer legend Kenny Dalglish was a star striker for Celtic and Liverpool before becoming a successful manager.

Willie Davenport was an Olympic athlete and medal winner and one of only a few Americans to compete in both the Summer and Winter games.

Ernie Davis became the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy before his life was tragically cut short by leukemia at the age of 23.

Glenn Woodward Davis won the 1946 Heisman Trophy as a halfback at Army, setting single season records for average yards per carry, 11.5 in 1945.