BODY COUNT
All athletes are in shape, but some are more in shape than others. SI searched gyms, playing fields and running trails to find and rank the best-conditioned athletes on earth
MEN
1 CRISTIANO RONALDO
Four-time Ballon d'Or winner
2 LEBRON JAMES
Four-time NBA MVP
3 ROGER FEDERER
Winner of 19 majors
4 MAT FRASER
Fittest CrossFitter on Earth
5 JAMES HARRISON
Five-time Pro Bowl LB
6 ODELL BECKHAM JR.
Three-time Pro Bowl WR
7 RUSSELL WESTBROOK
Reigning NBA MVP
8 WAYDE VAN NIEKERK
South African sprinter
9 CONOR MCGREGOR
UFC lightweight champ
10 JORDAN BURROUGHS
Wrestling gold medalist
11 GENNADY GOLOVKIN
Middleweight boxer
12 CHRIS FROOME
Tour de France winner
13 ALEX HONNOLD
Free-solo rock climber
14 KIERAN READ
New Zealand rugby player
15 DEMETRIOUS JOHNSON
UFC flyweight champion
16 GIANCARLO STANTON
Four-time MLB All-Star
17 CARLIN ISLES
U.S. rugby player
18 JULIO JONES
Four-time Pro Bowl WR
19 MIKE TROUT
Six-time MLB All-Star
20 SCOTT JUREK
American ultrarunner
21 PAUL RABIL
New York lacrosse All-Star
22 CAM NEWTON
2015 NFL MVP QB
23 RAFAEL NADAL
Winner of 16 majors
24 JOHN CENA
16-time WWE champ
25 EVAN JAGER
U.S. steeplechase runner
26 MARQUISE GOODWIN
Long jumper and NFL WR
27 KENDRICK FARRIS
U.S. Olympic weightlifter
28 STEVEN STAMKOS
Two-time NHL All-Star
29 STEVE LANGTON
U.S. bobsledder
30 HASSAN WHITESIDE
Heat center
31 BRAD SNYDER
U.S. Paralympic swimmer
32 SAM MIKULKAK
U.S. gymnast
33 GALEN RUPP
U.S. marathoner
34 JAMES LAWRENCE
Ironman record holder
35 KAWHI LEONARD
2014 NBA Finals MVP
36 CHRIS HOGAN
Patriots receiver
37 AARON JUDGE
2017 MLB All-Star
38 HAMISH BOND
New Zealand Olympic rower
39 JAROMIR JAGR
Second all time, NHL points
40 RUSSELL WILSON
Three-time Pro Bowl QB
41 ROB GRONKOWSKI
Four-time Pro Bowl TE
42 DREW DRECHSEL
American Ninja Warrior
43 JIMMIE JOHNSON
Seven-time NASCAR champ
44 CONNOR BARWIN
Pro Bowl Rams linebacker
45 SAM KENDRICKS
U.S. pole vaulter
46 BLAKE GRIFFIN
Five-time NBA All-Star
47 ELIUD KIPCHOGE
Gold medal marathoner
48 N'GOLO KANTÉ
Chelsea midfielder
49 TONY KANAAN
Brazilian Indy Car driver
50 HUNTER MCINTYRE
Spartan Race athlete
THE EXPERTS
SI's panel included some of the country's top fitness gurus
Dr. Michael Joyner
Human performance expert, Mayo Clinic
David Hesse
Director of athletic and personal development, IMG Academy
Derek Touchette
Sports performance director, Naples, Fla.
Jaimie Lafler
Sports performance coach at EXOS, Dallas
PICTURE THIS: A gold medalist decathlete, an NFL quarterback, a 100-meter sprinter, a Grand Slam tennis champion, an NBA MVP, a world-class rower and an American Ninja Warrior walk into a room. Who is the fittest of them all?
Determining the answer seems impossible, considering the wide range of shapes of elite athletes, as well as the different demands of their sports. Physiques are carved and cut and chiseled with different goals. Take, for example, four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome (No. 12 on the list) and Patriots wide receiver Chris Hogan (No. 36). Though they both are 6'1", Hogan is 63 pounds heavier (210) to be able to take a pounding on the football field, while Froome focuses on staying lithe and strong to pedal Alpine roads. From a boxer's ability to absorb and deliver blows, to the agile and acrobatic movements of a gymnast, fitness is measured in distinct ways from sport to sport. So how do you level the playing field?
With insight from a panel of trainers, strength-and-conditioning coaches and performance experts (left), SI set out to identify the 50 fittest men and women across all sports. Athletes were considered based on their performances over the last 12 months, the demands and risks of their respective sports, their training regimens, their longevity and other physical benchmarks including agility, flexibility, endurance, power, speed and strength.
While all athletes are committed to staying in shape, who stands head and sculpted shoulders above the competition?
120
Miles of swimming, 5,600 miles of biking, 1,310 miles of running completed byJAMES LAWRENCEin a 50-day stretch
WEIGHT
MEN
[This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]
UNDER 100 | 0 |
101--150 | 8 |
151--200 | 22 |
201--250 | 14 |
251--300 | 6 |
WOMEN
[This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]
UNDER 100 | 3 |
101--150 | 28 |
151--200 | 19 |
201--250 | 0 |
251--300 | 0 |
BY THE NUMBERS
295
Number of pounds MATTIE ROGERS clean-and-jerked to set an American record at the 2017 USAW Nationals
3000
Feet climbed without a rope byALEX HONNOLDat El Capitan in Yosemite
43.03
Seconds it took WAYDE VAN NIEKERK to run the 400 meters at the Rio Games, a world record
[The following text appears within a chart. Please see hardcopy or PDF for actual chart.]
7'0"
6'9"
6'6"
6'3"
6'0"
5'9"
5'6"
5'3"
5'0"
4'9"
4'6"
4'3"
4'0"
4'9"
SIMONE BILES
5'3"
DEMETRIOUS JOHNSON
6'5"
ELENA DELLE DONNE
7'0"
HASSAN WHITESIDE
AGE
YOUNGEST
ODELL BECKHAM JR. 24 [20s]
ASHIMA SHIRAISHI 16 [Teens]
OLDEST
JAROMIR JAGR 45 [40s]
KRISTIN ARMSTRONG 44 [40s]
Teens
20s
40s
OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC MEDALS
[This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]
Medal | Men | Women |
Gold | 16 | 60 |
Silver | 7 | 19 |
Bronze | 8 | 10 |
[The following text appears within a chart. Please see hardcopy or PDF for actual chart.]
Men
Women
WOMEN
1 SIMONE BILES
Gold medal gymnast
2 ALLYSON FELIX
U.S. gold medal sprinter
3 KATIE LEDECKY
U.S. gold medal swimmer
4 MAGGIE STEFFENS
Olympic water polo champ
5 TIA-CLAIR TOOMEY
CrossFit's "Fittest on Earth"
6 CLARESSA SHIELDS
U.S. gold medal boxer
7 NAFISSATOU THIAM
Belgian heptathlete
8 HELEN GLOVER
British rowing great
9 SERENA WILLIAMS
23-time major champion
10 LINDSEY VONN
U.S. ski champion
11 GWEN JORGENSEN
World champion triathlete
12 HOLLY HOLM
UFC bantamweight champ
13 MIKAELA SHIFFRIN
Slalom world champion
14 JULIE ERTZ
U.S. World Cup champ
15 MISTY COPELAND
American ballerina
16 MAYA MOORE
2014 WNBA MVP
17 SANDI MORRIS
U.S. pole vault record holder
18 KERRI WALSH JENNINGS
Beach volleyball legend
19 CANDACE PARKER
2016 WNBA Finals MVP
20 MEGHAN DUGGAN
Hockey silver medalist
21 SALLY FITZGIBBONS
Australian surfer
22 KAROLINA KOWALKIEWICZ
Polish UFC flyweight
23 KARA WEBB
CrossFit Games athlete
24 TORI BOWIE
U.S. gold medal sprinter
25 SKYLAR DIGGINS-SMITH
2014 WNBA All-Star
26 CRISTIANE JUSTINO
UFC featherweight champ
27 ASHIMA SHIRAISHI
U.S. rock climber
28 MARIANA PAJÓN
Colombian BMX champ
29 CHARLOTTE FLAIR
WWE champion
30 KAYLA HARRISON
U.S. judo gold medalist
31 KATARINA JOHNSON-THOMPSON
English heptathlete
32 KRISTIN ARMSTRONG
U.S. gold medal cyclist
33 COURTNEY CONLOGUE
American WSL surfer
34 EMMA COBURN
Steeplechase world champ
35 GARBIÑE MUGURUZA
2017 Wimbledon winner
36 HANNAH TETER
Halfpipe snowboarder
37 TATYANA MCFADDEN
Paralympic runner and skier
38 DANICA PATRICK
NASCAR driver
39 MATTIE ROGERS
U.S. weightlifter
40 SLOANE STEPHENS
2017 U.S. Open champion
41 JENNY SIMPSON
U.S. 1,500-meter runner
42 MARY JEPKOSGEI KEITANY
Kenyan marathoner
43 KACY CATANZARO
American Ninja Warrior
44 CASTER SEMENYA
800-meter gold medalist
45 ELENA DELLE DONNE
2015 WNBA MVP
46 CATERINE IBARGÜEN
Colombian triple jumper
47 SASHA DIGIULIAN
U.S. rock-climbing champ
48 IREEN WÜST
Dutch speedskating phenom
49 LOLO JONES
U.S. hurdler and bobsledder
50 JESSIE GRAFF
American Ninja Warrior
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