Top 10 athletes who displayed the greatest dominance over their sport
Very rarely have we witnessed one player completely dominate a sport and win all the laurels for himself or his nation over the years. These athletes create several records during their amazing run at the top of their game, records that won’t be broken anytime soon. Many of these legends have become household names as they completely trampled over their competitors at their peak. Here’s a list of the top 10 such dominant athletes in the history of sport:Note: The list contains only those athletes who dominated their sport over a period of four or more years on the trot. So, for instance, Rafael Nadal has not been included as he has been dominant on claycourts for close to a decade, but hasn’t dominated tennis as a whole for more than a couple of years. Similarly, Sachin Tendulkar does not find a place in the list as he has been consistent throughout his career, rather than dominant for a concentrated period of time. Also, while Don Bradman is arguably the greatest cricketer of all time, the sport was played between very few countries at the time for him to be included in this list of ‘world-dominant athletes’.
#10 Usain Bolt
Usain Bolt is the fastest man on the planet. He is the first man to hold both the 100m and 200m records since automatic timing measurements was made compulsory in 1977. He also has the world record in the 4x100m relay with his teammates.
The Lightning Bolt is the first man to win six Olympic gold medals in sprinting. He is also a 10-time World Champion.
The Jamaican’s impressive record is emphasised by the fact that he successfully defended his three gold medals that he won in Beijing (100m, 200m and 4x100m relay) in the 2012 London Olympics.
He set the world record in 100m at the Berlin World Championship in 2009 with a timing of 9.58 seconds. He then went on to the world record in the 200m with a timing of 19.19 seconds.
Bolt was named IAAF World Athlete of the year in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Bolt was also named the Laureus World Sportsman of the year in 2009, 2010 and 2013.