ESPN World Fame 100 is an annual list of the most famous athletes on the planet. This years list has been topped by the Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and was followed by former Basketball player Lebron James and FC Barcelona captain Lionel Messi. Indian skipper, Virat Kohli, stands on the seventh position and is the only Indian athlete in the top 10, whereas Dhoni is placed on the 13th position.
The list was prepared by keeping in mind three aspects, namely- Search Score, Endorsements and Social Following. The ranks of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lebron James and Lionel Messi remained unchanged. Kohli jumped from last year 11th position to 7th.
Among Indian athletes, Indian cricket team Captain Virat Kohli, former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni were among eight Indian cricketers who found a place in the list. Others include, Yuvraj Singh (18), Suresh Raina (22), R Ashwin (42), Rohit Sharma (46), Harbhajan Singh (74) and Shikhar Dhawan (94). Interestingly, all Indian men mentioned in this list were from the cricketing fraternity only.
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There were only three women in the list: Serena Williams (17), Maria Sharapova (37) and Sania Mirza (93). This made Sania Mirza the only Indian woman athlete to feature in the list.
Top 10 athletes: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lebron James, Lionel Messi, Neymar, Conor McGregor, Roger Federer, Virat Kohli, Rafael Nadal, Stephen Curry, Tiger Woods.