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The Fittest 50 Men (Sports Illustrated, 2016)

Who is the fittest male athlete in sports? A panel of experts was recruited by the magazine Sports Illustrated to list who they consider the current fittest athletes in sports in 2016 - what they called the "Fittest 50".

Athletes were considered based on the previous last 12 months. Athletes were assessed based on characteristics that define fitness and conditioning: strength, speed, endurance, agility, flexibility and skill in his respective sport.



In the male category, decathlete Ashton Eaton was considered the fittest. For the females, it was another multi-event track and field athlete, Jessica Ennis-Hill. Sports Illustrated have also created similar lists in 2014, 2017 and 2019. See more about rating the World's Fittest Athletes.

The Top 20 Fittest Men

Here are the top-20 of the SI Fittest 50 men.

rank Name Sport
1 Ashton Eaton Track and Field (Decathlon)
2 LeBron James Basketball
3 Ben Smith CrossFit
4 Jon Jones MMA
5 Usain Bolt Track and Field (Sprints)
6 Cristiano Ronaldo Football (Soccer)
7 Russell Westbrook Basketball
8 Jordan Burroughs Wrestling
9 Novak Djokovic Tennis
10 Renaud Lavillenie Track and Field (Pole Vault)
11 Dwyane Wade Basketball
12 Gennady Golovkin Boxing
13 J.J. Watt American Football
14 Kam Chancellor American Football
15 Paul Rabil Lacrosse
16 Kieran Read Rugby
17 Demetrious Johnson MMA
18 Marquise Goodwin American Football / Track and Field (Long Jump)
19 Donnell Whittenburg Gymnastics
20 Vernon Davis American Football

Source: Sports Illustrated online, https://www.si.com/specials/fittest50/index.html



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Lists Extra

Football/Soccer is clearly the world's most popular sport, and has the most popular athletes, but which sport has the fittest players (but not necessarily the greatest athlete). These players do not always earn the most. The best of the best have made it to our 7 Sporting Wonders Lists.

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