British Formula One driver, Lewis Hamilton, won his seventh World Championship last week, equaling Michael Schumacher’s record.
After his recent success and being recognised as a sporting idol, here is our top 10 greatest British athletes of the 21stcentury.
The ranking of athletes is based on their achievements and performance within their sport, as well as the impact they’ve had on our nation.
Sarah Storey
Sport: Cycling and swimming
Storey has won 14 gold medals at the Paralympic Games. She was born without a properly functioning left hand. She has also claimed 29 World Championships and 21 European Championships. This woman is super human!
Fun fact- Storey boasts 75 world records across several disciplines of cycling.
Bradley Wiggins
Sport: Cycling
Wiggins was the first ever Briton to win the Tour de France in 2012. He also has eight Olympic medals, with five of them being gold.
The Brit earned himself a Guinness World Record for being the only cyclist to win the Tour de France and an Olympic gold medal in the same year.
Fun Fact- Wiggins was born in Ghent, Belgium because his father, Gary Wiggins, was a professional cyclist there.
Chris Hoy
Sport: Cycling
Hoy is often forgotten as one of the nations greatest athletes- he goes in and gets the job done.
But he has six Olympic gold medals- more than any other British athlete. The cyclist is also an 11 time World Champion.
Fun fact- He was inspired to start cycling when he watched the film E.T. as a young boy.
Lewis Hamilton
Sport: F1
Hamilton lives the Hollywood lifestyle but his recent success more than justifies it.
He has claimed seven World Championships, the most ever tied with German driver, Michael Schumacher. The Brit has dominated the sport as of recent, winning four of his titles consecutively.
He also has the record for most race wins, pole positions, podium finishes, points finishes, career points and points in a season. Wow.
Fun fact- Hamilton was the first and remains to be the only black F1 driver.
Andy Murray
Sport: Tennis
Love or hate the fiery Scotsman, Murray has 46 titles, with a career record of 676 wins and 200 losses, while being in and around the world’s top ten for a decade.
His best season came in 2016 as he claimed the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the World Tour Finals- seeing him ranked no.1.
Murray also won gold medals at the London 2012 Olympics and the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Fun fact- In 2013, he brought a Victorian mansion and transformed it into a five-star hotel.
Mo Farah
Sport: long distance running
The Somali-British runner captured the souls and minds of our nation as he ‘ran for his life’ in the 5k and 10k races at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, claiming two gold medals at each.
Farah is only the second athlete, after Lasse Viren, to win both the 5k and 10k races at successive modern Olympic Games.
He also has eight medals at the World Finals, with six of them being gold.
Fun fact- As his career began, Paula Radcliffe paid for his driving lessons to support him financially.
Jonny Wilkinson
Sport: Rugby
It doesn’t matter if you know absolutely nothing about rugby, you know about Jonny Wilkinson. In 2003, the fly-half famously scored a drop-kick in the last minute of the final to win the Rugby World Cup for the first time in England’s history.
He also has 91 appearances and nearly 1,200 points for his country, being recognised as one of the best rugby union players of all time.
Fun fact- During his career, Wilkinson learnt how to play the guitar. When on tour, he would leave his guitar’s in his hotel because it was ‘too much hassle’ to take them home.
Paula Radcliffe
Sport: Marathon
Radcliffe has won the London Marathon and New York marathon three times each, as well as the Chicago Marathon once. She almost won a marathon every year for first ten years of this decade.
Fun fact- The Brit previously held the women’s marathon world record for an impressive 16 years with a time of 2:15:25.
Alistair Brownlee
Sport: Triathlon
Arguably Britain’s best every triathlete, Brownlee is a two time Olympic champion, two time World Champion and a four time European Champion. Crazy!
Fun fact- The triathlete also has a younger brother, Jonathan Brownlee, who won bronze and silver medal in the triathlon at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.
Anthony Joshua
Sport: Boxing
Joshua has fought in 24 professional boxing matches, with 23 wins and 21 of them coming by way of knock-out. He is the current unified heavyweight champion, holding the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO titles.
He has been the ‘poster boy’ of British boxing, popularising the sport across the country. He is set to become the undisputed heavyweight champion in the near future.
Fun fact- The boxer didn’t start the sport until he was 18-years-old in 2007 and then won a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics.
Verdict
As you can see, Britain has a number of great athletes in the 21st century, all making a case to be the very greatest.
However, the greatest has to be Sarah Storey because she has completely dominated her sports.
Everyone on the list has great achievements, and then there’s Storey. 14 Paralympic gold medals, 29 World Championships and 21 European Championships…need I say anymore?
By Harry Hughes