Track and field legend Usain Bolt finished third behind basketballer LeBron James as Associated Press male athlete of the decade
Track and field legend Usain Bolt finished third behind basketballer LeBron James as Associated Press male athlete of the decade

Track and field legend Usain Bolt finished third behind basketballer LeBron James as Associated Press Male Athlete of the Decade.

The 35-year-old basketball player was a runaway winner in a vote of AP sports editors and writers. Tom Brady of the New England Patriots was second and Bolt, the world 100m and 200m record holder, finished third in the voting.

James, who won three NBA titles from eight straight finals, joined the list of winners that included Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, and Arnold Palmer.

Bolt got in the top three for dominating at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

Footballer Lionel Messi ended fourth and Michael Phelps, the retired US swimmer and the most decorated Olympian with 28 medals, 23 gold, got fifth.

Serena Williams was named as the AP’s female athlete of the decade.


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Anthony Foster is a renowned Jamaican sports journalist, honored twice as the Jamaica sports journalist of the year (in 2004 and 2005). His journalistic achievements are globally recognized. Notably, he authored an award-winning article on Usain Bolt, the iconic 6-time Olympic champion, 11-time World champion, and record holder for the sprint double. This significant piece was published in the Jamaica Gleaner in 2004. Anthony's extensive coverage includes prestigious events such as the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008, London 2012, and Rio 2016. He has also provided coverage for seven (7) World Athletics Championships held between 2007 and 2022, alongside various other international sporting events. Noteworthy mentions comprise his coverage of the 2007 World Cup of cricket and his cherished experience reporting on the 2004 clash between his favorite football team, Argentina, and the USA.

36 COMMENTS

  1. Bolt is the man with all his multiple gold medals spanning over 3 Olympics . It’s a no brainer. world champion outranks national champion . And Tom Shady his legacy will be the only QB to be caught cheating in the super bowl.

  2. Bolt is the man with all his multiple gold medals spanning over 3 Olympics . It’s a no brainer. world champion outranks national champion

  3. I personally think’s that Usain Bolt is the best ,without any doubts. I mean come on he dominated track and field from his inception And became globally known from 2008 to 2016..he is the greatest of all time..my legend.

  4. Of course Bolt played on the World Stage. The NBA and the NFL are American stages. Bolt is number one . What about Phelps’ gold medals? Individual achievements. Not team sport. #1 and #2 couldn’t do it without the rest of the team.

  5. LeBron WORLD championship? He plays in America only. Usain has taken on the world and battered them. That’s a WORLD champion. Nuf said.

  6. More.like joke of the century. The NFL have their own world leagues. I wonder how many people even knows lebron James an tom brady outside USA. Again USA calls the shots.. i make a billion dollars easily for every person who dont even know them dollar.

  7. LBJ was by far the best Athlete of the decade! Perfect award for his many accomplishments
    throughout the years. He is King James all over the world.

  8. Well, if the Patriots are the NFL champions of the world, and who ever wins the baseball “World Series”, and when the Lakers were on a winning streak being NBA champs of the ?. Why can’t Lebron be the world champ?

  9. Lebron is great maybe the greatest basketball player of all time heplys bsketball in the NBA in USA with americans. Tom Brady plays NFL in which half the world does not know about. Usain Bolt is a World champion running from 2008-2016 unbeaten against the world greatest sprinter so for me Usain Bolt is #1

  10. This shouldn’t have been a discussion. Bolt is the clear winner. Having world records and impacting the sport in such an unprecedented level, bolt is the clear winner. LJ only builds dream team to win.

  11. LeBron is great but didn’t win those titles on his own. He had good players around him. Bolt achievements were done on his own so he is the greatest. A very partial win for LeBron

  12. I could agree James is a great athlete,
    But no doubt their cannot be another person like bolt.
    Who has achieved the impossible in Olympics.
    And world championships.
    His records cannot be beaten for the next 3-4 decades.

  13. If this is a global title ,Mr Bolt is way ahead , sir bolt has won back to back to back olympic gold medals , from 2008 to 2016 who has ever done that . What are these guys thinking

  14. Bolt is easily the best of the decade with his two Olympics in which he was undefeated against world wide competition. He is arguably the best athlete in history. His records will stand for 50 years.

  15. So what? It don’t trouble me at all, everyone wants to take a hit at Usain but this doesn’t look like a deliberate swipe.

  16. Bolt has retired .Its easy to put him out of the picture therefore its not a shock that he did not win. Messi could have won but the man has won a lot in football. It seems fair that Lebron won there has to be polarity when recognizing athletes?

  17. In all reality this is bogus, track and field and football are more watched worldwide than basketball and I’ll even go out on a limb and say Bolt and Messi are more well known also.

  18. For me, great performances by an individual athlete in an individual sport trumps great performances by individual athlete in a team sport. That’s why Usain Bolt and Serena Williams is tops for me.

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