A multi-sport athlete is an athlete who competes or trains two or more different sports. Most of these athletes played two or more sports from a young age – especially in high school – before deciding to usually concentrate on just one sport professionally.
Playing multiple sports appears to improve performance through development of foundational
transferable athletic skills.[1][2] A large majority of elite young adult athletes, such as
NCAA Division I athletes and first-round
NFL draft picks, were multi-sport athletes, even if they specialized in a single sport during their professional career, and many played multiple sports even through the end of high school.[1][3][4][5] Most elite athletes who eventually specialized avoided
early sports specialization, so they did not specialize or begin intensive training until they were older teenagers.[2] Elite athletes in most sports, such as
track and field,
weightlifting,
cycling,
rowing,
swimming,
skiing, are less likely to have done intensive training at a young age than the near-elite athletes.[1] NCAA Division I athletes tended to play multiple sports in high school, and only one in six specialized in a single sport before the age of 12.[3] In the 2015
NFL Scouting Combine, six out of seven invited college athletes were multi-sport athletes in high school.[2]
List of athletes
Below is a list of multi-sport athletes who have played in at least one sport professionally, listed by primary athletic occupation, with notes on their secondary sport or sports.
Arthur Wharton – an all-round sportsman – in 1886, he equalled the amateur world record of 10 seconds for the 100-yard
sprint in the
AAA championship. He was also a keen cyclist and cricketer, playing for local teams in
Yorkshire and
Lancashire. However, Wharton is best remembered for his exploits as a footballer; Wharton was the first mixed-heritage footballer to turn professional.
Luis Enrique – completed three
marathons between 2006 and 2008 and also completed Frankfurt Ironman.
Lev Yashin – played
bandy and
ice hockey internationally for the Soviet Union, a goalkeeper in all three sports.
Knut Anders Fostervold – Had a 12-year-long football career, including playing in the
Champions League, and also participated in the Cycling Road World Championships in 2006
Toni Fritsch – Ex-player for
Rapid Vienna and the Austria national team played in the
NFL as a kicker from 1971 to 1982, and in the
USFL from 1984 to 1985. He won a ring from Super Bowl VI (
Cowboys), became an NFL All-Pro in 1979 (
Oilers) and a USFL All-League in 1984 (
Gamblers).
Madison Bumgarner – the pitcher for the
Arizona Diamondbacks revealed in February 2020 that he has competed in rodeos as a
team roper during his Major League Baseball career under the alias Mason Saunders.[57]
Carroll Hardy – played MLB baseball for eight years and one season in NFL after being a football, baseball and track letterman at
University of Colorado.
Bo Jackson – won the
Heisman Trophy, and was an all-pro in the National Football League and also played on a semi-pro basketball team in Los Angeles before returning to baseball.
Joe Mauer – played
quarterback,
point guard, and
catcher in high school, and was named
USA Today High School Player of the Year twice in the same school year: in 2000 for football and 2001 for baseball.
Kirk McCaskill – played hockey for the
University of Vermont from 1979 to 1983. Drafted in the fourth round (64th overall) by the
Winnipeg Jets in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft. Dressed for one game with the Winnipeg Jets of the NHL but did not play in the game. Pitched for the Angels and the White Sox 1985–1996.
C. Posey – member of both the Baseball and
Basketball Halls of Fame. In baseball, briefly played for the
Homestead Grays of the Negro leagues before retiring to become the team's field manager, general manager, and eventual owner, building one of the Negro leagues' strongest organizations. In basketball, was recognized as the best African American player of the first two decades of the 20th century.
Dave Winfield – drafted by four professional teams in three different sports – basketball, baseball and American football, before deciding to concentrate on his baseball career.[59] Played
baseball and
basketball for the
University of Minnesota.
George Wright – pioneering professional baseball player who started his athletic career as a cricketer in the 1860s. He resumed his cricket career after retiring from professional baseball in 1882.
Harry Wright – the founder and manager of the first professional baseball team, the 1869
Cincinnati Red Stockings, was a professional cricketer before taking up baseball in the late 1850s.
George Wright was his younger brother.
Francis Antetokounmpo – the eldest brother of the famous basketball brothers
Antetokounmpo, in addition to playing semi-pro basketball, he also plays professional association football, he previously played for
Aittitos Sparta in the
third division of Greece.
Scott Burrell – played in
Minor League Baseball for two years before his NBA career. The one of only two athletes in history to have been drafted in the first round in two of the four major professional sports leagues (MLB and NBA).[65]
Wilt Chamberlain – played
volleyball in the
International Volleyball Association (IVA) for the
Seattle Smashers 1974–1979 and was named MVP at the 1975
All Star Game. Went to college on a track and basketball scholarship, competed in high jump, triple jump and shot put as well as running quarter-mile races, and was also offered professional boxing, soccer and American football opportunities.
Elena Delle Donne – 2013
WNBA Rookie of the Year and 2015 WNBA MVP was a top prospect in both basketball and volleyball in high school. She played volleyball in her first year at the
University of Delaware in 2008 before returning to basketball the next year.
Constantin Herold – played basketball, winning one
Romanian League and playing for
Romania national team, also competing in 13 other sports:
Athletics - school, junior, university and national champion in several events, national junior record breaker (110 metres hurdles, pole, triple jump), national champion in seniors (110 metres hurdles in 1933 and 1934), national decathlon champion (1934), record holder for 14 years in decathlon, member of the national team;
Football - player at B.M.T.E. Brașov, Astra Brașov and Telefon Club București (from the establishment of the club until it reached the
second division);
Handball in 11 - member of the national team and participant at the 1937 World Cup from Germany;
Volleyball - player and captain of the
national team;
Shooting sports - the third place at the national rifle championships, with the performance of 391 points out of 400 possible;
Alpine skiing - champion in the military patrol competition;
Rowing - participant in the city championships of Bucharest as part of the Telefon Club București team;
Water polo -
goalkeeper at Telefon Club București in the city championship;
Table tennis - trade union champion of the Capital in the mixed doubles event from 1946, together with Mariana Bunescu;
Tennis - played in the second category championship and qualifiers of Bucharest for the C.C.A. and Justice team;
Rugby - player at Telefon Club București;
Fencing - university champion of Bucharest at
foil and
sabre in 1934;
Gymnastics - member of the model team of
ANEFS at the demonstrations from the student camp organized on the occasion of the
1936 Summer Olympics in
Berlin.[67][68][69][70][71][72][73]
Kris Humphries – his first success in sports came in competitive swimming, where he was the top 10-year-old in the nation in six events, first, beating young
Michael Phelps in the remaining events. Kris Humphries held the US national record for the 50-meter freestyle for 10 and under boys for 18 years. At age 12 he gave up swimming to pursue a career in basketball.
Allen Iverson – at Bethel High School, Iverson started as quarterback for the school football team while also playing running back, kick returner and defensive back. During his junior year, Iverson led the football team to a Virginia state championship and earned the Associated Press High School Player of the Year award in football.
Nate Robinson – played football at the
University of Washington. Robinson's college football career is most remembered for his interception in the final minutes of regulation of the 2002
Apple Cup against the
Washington State Cougars, who were at the time ranked No. 3 in the AP poll.
Alexey Voyevoda – world heavyweight 5 time world champion armwrestler before switching to bobsleigh. Olympic gold medals in two different bobsleigh categories in the same year.
Eddie Lubanski –
USBC Hall of Fame member, pitched for three seasons for farm clubs of the
St. Louis Browns. He compiled an enviable 50–18
win–loss record, winning 20 games in his second season, but quit baseball entirely after a dispute with the owner of the
Muskogee Reds.[78] He returned to Detroit to become a full-time pro bowler, an occupation he had started at age fifteen.
Walter Ray Williams Jr. – seven-time PBA Player of the Year, Williams has also won six Men's World Horseshoe Pitching titles.
Adam Hollioake – turned professional as a boxer in 2011 having captained the England ODI side in the 1990s. He subsequently turned professional at
MMA.
Roy Jones Jr. – played in one game for the Brevard Blue Ducks of the
USBL basketball league in 1990.
Ray Mercer – had two professional
K-1 kickboxing bouts in 2004 and 2005, losing both.[80] In 2009, Mercer had his first and only bout in pro
MMA, defeating former
UFC heavyweight champion
Tim Sylvia.[81]
Anthony Mundine – Australian winner of multiple boxing titles, who was also the highest-paid
Rugby league player in the
NRL.
Vitali Klitschko – had an extensive decade-long career in kickboxing, both amateur and professional, before becoming heavyweight boxing champion.
Holly Holm – started as a kickboxer winning a national amateur kickboxing title. Went on to fight professionally as a kickboxer and boxer, becoming one of the most highly decorated female boxers and defending titles in three different weightclasses, going both up and down in weight. Due to being a dominant champion for a long time is still ranked as all-time best pound-for-pound by boxrec automated ranking.[82] Started fighting in MMA while boxing and after retiring from boxing became the first athlete to be world champion in both boxing and MMA.
Eric Esch – retired boxer with an impressive 91–10–4 win–loss record who also fought professionally in kickboxing and mixed martial arts, creating a 7–4 and 28–10–1 win–loss record respectively.
Bertrand Clark – association football, cricket, golf, and tennis.
Denis Compton – played for England at both cricket and football (albeit the latter only in wartime matches which did not have full international status).[83]
Andrew Flintoff – played for England in cricket from 1998 to 2009, made his pro boxing debut against Richard Dawson in 2012.
C. B. Fry – played for England at cricket and football, and equalled the world record for the long jump.
W. G. Grace – one of the greatest players in the history of cricket, who dominated the sport in the second half of the nineteenth century. Won the 440 yards hurdles at
Crystal Palace in 1866, captained England at
bowls
Percy Sherwell – captained in every Test he played, and one of the few players to captain, keep wicket and open the batting in the same match. Won the South African Tennis Championships in 1904, and played rugby for Cornwall.
Jimmy Sinclair – scored South Africa's first three Test centuries, and one of only two batsmen to score more than 50% of his team's runs across two all-out innings (
Andy Flower being the other). Also played football and rugby at international level.
Yuvraj Singh - won the National Under-14 Roller Skating Championship.[91]
Rudie van Vuuren – represented Namibia in 2003 in both the Cricket and Rugby World Cups.
Jeff Wilson – played one-day international cricket and international rugby union for New Zealand, and has become commentator for both sports.
Cycling
Lance Armstrong – began his athletic career at 16 when he became a professional triathlete and national sprint-course triathlon champion in 1989 and 1990.[92] Also well known for winning the
Tour de France race a record seven consecutive times before having his placings voided owing to multiple
doping offenses.
Michael Woods – formerly a successful middle-distance runner at junior level, becoming Canadian national junior record holder for the mile and 3000 metres and the 1500 metre champion at the
2005 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships before becoming a professional cyclist
Max Aaron – US figure skater who started his skating career as a figure skater, he also represented USA in USA Hockey nationals in both 2006 and 2007, and played U18 AA as well as competing in figure skating at amateur level during that time.
Elvis Stojko – Canadian figure skater in the 1990s, also competed in martial arts and motocross racing.
Babe Zaharias – won three Olympic medals (two gold and one silver) in track & field and was also an All-American basketball player before becoming a founding member of the LPGA.[59]
Josh Booty – played in the
Florida Marlins minor league system and played 13 games at the Major League level for the team from 1996 to 1998, including an opening day start at third base.[100]
Jim Brown – All-American in
lacrosse, played basketball, baseball, and ran track at
Syracuse University. In the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Lacrosse Hall of Fame, and College Football Hall of Fame.
Ronald Curry – won the 1998
McDonald's All-American Slam Dunk contest and was the MVP for the 1998 McDonald's All-American basketball game. Was ranked by the Recruiting Services Consensus Index as the No. 6 best high school senior in basketball for 1998. Played basketball for the
University of North Carolina.
Marquise Goodwin – NFL receiver and kickoff returner was an Olympic long jumper and two-time NCAA champion in the sport. He was a four-time All-American in track and field.
Otto Graham – played in the
National Basketball League (NBL) for the
Rochester Royals from 1945 to 1946. One of only two athletes (
Gene Conley) to win a championship in two different major sports: Rochester Royals (NBL) 1946 championship and Cleveland Browns (AAFC) 1946 championship.
Bud Grant – lettered in
baseball and
basketball at the University of Minnesota, and later played two seasons in the NBA, two seasons in the NFL, and four seasons in the
CFL.
Darrell Green – competed as a professional sprinter from 1981 to 1982.
John Lynch – threw the first pitch in the history of the
Erie Sailors minor league baseball team and played in the
Florida Marlins minor league system.
Bradley Marquez – drafted by the
New York Mets in 2011 and played two minor league seasons before turning his attention to football. Returned to the Mets organization in 2019 after four NFL seasons.
Shane Martin - played football and baseball at Minnesota-Morris from 1993-1996
Ollie Matson – won two medals in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.
Banks McFadden – while at
Clemson, he was a 2-time all-American in basketball and named the 1939 Associated Press Athlete of the year.
Matt Moore – drafted in the 22nd round of the 2004 MLB draft by the
Los Angeles Angels and also played in a Southern California semi-pro baseball league.
Johnnie Morton – following his NFL career, he had a brief
MMA career before being banned for testing positive for steroids, lost his only fight by a first-round knockout.
Jan Stenerud – came to
Montana State University from Norway on a ski jumping scholarship and was an All-America selection in football and ski jumping. Played soccer in Norway.
Chris Weinke – played six years of minor league baseball before going to Florida State, where he won the Heisman Trophy and led his team to the
BCS National Championship Game. Later started in the NFL.
Ron Widby – played pro basketball with the New Orleans Buccaneers of the American Basketball Association and was a punter in the National Football League from 1967 to 1973 part of the Super Bowl VI champion Dallas Cowboys.
Jesse Lumsden – played in the
Canadian Football League between 2004 and 2010 for the
Hamilton Tiger-Cats,
Edmonton Eskimos, and
Calgary Stampeders. Was a CFL East All-star in 2007. After retiring from football he became a bobsledder and made the 2010 Canadian Olympic team in both the two-man and four-man bobsled teams. In 2013 was part of the two-man World Cup two-man winning bobsled team.
Red Storey – played six seasons and won the
Grey Cup twice with the
Toronto Argonauts, but also was an all-star in the
Ontario Lacrosse Association and played with the Montreal Royals minor hockey team. Finally, he was a referee in the Canadian Football League (12 years) and in the National Hockey League (9 years).
Luc Tousignant – all-star college football player, he was the first
French Canadian starting QB with the
Montreal Concordes, having previously represented Canada in handball at the 1976 Summer Olympic games in Montreal.
Lionel Conacher – Canada's greatest male athlete in the 1920s, and 1930s, he also excelled in
Canadian football, lacrosse, baseball, boxing and wrestling. He, along with
Carl Voss is one of only two people to have their names on both the Stanley Cup and Grey Cup.
Bill Ezinicki – played professional golf after hockey, winning several tournaments.
Jon Mirasty – nicknamed "Nasty" by teammates and fans, competed professionally as an
MMA fighter. Was provincial and
Golden Gloves champion in 1998 and 1999 in Canadian youth boxing.
Jeremy Yablonski – professional hockey player in Europe and North America, he has fought professionally in
MMA XFS (Extreme Fight Series). He was also a one-time, novice
Golden Gloves boxing champion.
Jenny Williams –
World Cup winning (1986) and team captain (1989–92) lacrosse player for Australia who represented South Australia in six sports (lacrosse, indoor lacrosse, touch football, soccer, cricket and Australian football).
Mixed martial arts
Dave Bautista – was a
WWE wrestler before becoming an
MMA Fighter, returned to the WWE in 2014 and 2019.
Aaron Chalmers – competes in both MMA and boxing events.
Nick Diaz – turned pro in MMA in 2001, then made his pro boxing debut in 2005.[114]
Fedor Emelianenko – four-time world heavyweight champion in combat sambo while being No. 1 ranked heavyweight in MMA from 2003 till 2010. Also medaled in judo at national level.
Dan Severn –
UFC Hall of Famer, former All-American collegiate wrestler and former professional wrestler.[115]
Adam Hollioake – turned pro in 2011 having already captained the England ODI side and having already fought as a professional boxer.
Holly Holm – started as a kickboxer winning a national amateur kickboxing title. Went on to fight professionally as a kickboxer and boxer, becoming one of the most highly decorated female boxers and defending titles in three different weightclasses, going both up and down in weight. Due to being a dominant champion for a long time is still ranked as all-time best pound-for-pound by boxrec automated ranking.[82] Started fighting in MMA while boxing and after retiring from boxing became the first athlete to be world champion in both boxing and MMA.
Keith Jardine – turned pro in MMA in 2001, then made his pro boxing debut in 2003.[116]
Jackie Stewart – 1969, 1971, and 1973 F1 champion and international smoothbore shooter.
Brandon Semenuk – professional rally car racer; he is also a legend in
Freeride (mountain biking), having won a
X-Games MTB Gold Medalist (2021), and X-Games Silver medalist (2013) in the Mountain Bike Slopestyle event.
John Surtees – only man to be a Formula 1 and MotoGP World Champion.
Paul Tracy – professional automobile racer who has competed in
CART, the
Champ Car World Series and the
IndyCar Series. He won the Champ Car World Series in
2003. Paul also raced downhill mountain bikes professionally for Yeti Cycles in 1994.
Laia Sanz – Women's World Trial Champion and Women's Enduro World Champion, has also won the
Dakar Rally in the Female Class and finished 9th in the overall classification.
Tove Alexandersson – seventeen times world champion in
Orienteering (July 2022). She also has ten world championships in
Ski orienteering. In 2018 Alexandersson won the world championships in
Sky running after her second skyrunning race ever. In 2020 she took up racing in
Ski mountaineering after having trained that for some time (pausing ski orienteering but racing orienteering during the summer). In 2021 she won two world cup races and the combined class of the world championships in ski mountaineering. This made her having world championships gold in four sports.
John Hopoate – after multiple suspensions forced him to retire from rugby league, he pursued a career in
boxing, eventually becoming the Australian heavyweight champion.[123]
Graeme Hughes – played 116 First-Grade Games for Canterbury-Bankstown, as well as 20 First-Class Cricket Matches for New South Wales. He is the last man to have played both rugby league and cricket for New South Wales.
Michael O'Connor – represented Australia in rugby league and rugby union. Played for the
Wallabies in 13 Tests from 1979 to 1982 and then the
Kangaroos in 17 Tests from 1985 to 1990.
Rob Waddell – retired rower, 2000 Olympic gold medalist in single sculls
rowing who is a current
Team New Zealand crewman as a grinder, he also played rugby union as a lock. He still holds world indoor
rowing machine record time over 2000 m and 5000 m.
Hayley Holt – New Zealand former snowboarder and
ballroom dancer. Currently a sports anchor and Radio DJ.
Shaun Palmer – is an American professional snowboarder, skier, mountain biker, and motocross rider. "Palm Daddy" is known as one of the forefathers of extreme sports.
Shaun White – was a two time X-Games Skateboard Vert gold medalist along with two silvers, and one bronze medal in his skateboard career. Having been one of the few athletes to compete in both summer and winter X-Games.
Vanessa Johansen (née Lohrisch) – selected for Australia in the 1989 Pan Pacific and 1990 Commonwealth Games teams for breaststroke and played in the 1993 tennis Australian Open.
Gael Monfils – with 10 ATP titles by his side, the Frenchman won a
Paddle tennis title in Las Vegas 2006, also beating the world number 1 back then, Scott Freedman.
Mary Decker – three time Olympian; won gold medals in the 1500 meters and 3000 meters at the 1983 World Championships; placed 2nd and 3rd at the 2012 and 2013
ElliptiGO World Championships.[138]
Gary Gubner – world shot put records and weightlifter.
Caitlyn Jenner – Olympic gold medalist and record holder who also raced in
IMSA and
Trans-Am for Roush Racing.
Lolo Jones – World Champion in the 100m Hurdles and competed at the
2008 and
2012 Olympics. Also won a medal in the 2 woman bobsleigh at the 2012 World Cup.
Carl Lewis – drafted in the 10th round of the 1984 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls (the draft where the Bulls selected Michael Jordan with the number 3 pick), but did not play a game in the NBA. He was also drafted in the 12th round of the 1984 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys as a wide receiver, but was not signed.
^Scott, Nikki.
"Reece "Goose" Tatum (1921–1967)". encyclopediaofarkansas.net. The Central Arkansas Library System. Archived from
the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
A multi-sport athlete is an athlete who competes or trains two or more different sports. Most of these athletes played two or more sports from a young age – especially in high school – before deciding to usually concentrate on just one sport professionally.
Playing multiple sports appears to improve performance through development of foundational
transferable athletic skills.[1][2] A large majority of elite young adult athletes, such as
NCAA Division I athletes and first-round
NFL draft picks, were multi-sport athletes, even if they specialized in a single sport during their professional career, and many played multiple sports even through the end of high school.[1][3][4][5] Most elite athletes who eventually specialized avoided
early sports specialization, so they did not specialize or begin intensive training until they were older teenagers.[2] Elite athletes in most sports, such as
track and field,
weightlifting,
cycling,
rowing,
swimming,
skiing, are less likely to have done intensive training at a young age than the near-elite athletes.[1] NCAA Division I athletes tended to play multiple sports in high school, and only one in six specialized in a single sport before the age of 12.[3] In the 2015
NFL Scouting Combine, six out of seven invited college athletes were multi-sport athletes in high school.[2]
List of athletes
Below is a list of multi-sport athletes who have played in at least one sport professionally, listed by primary athletic occupation, with notes on their secondary sport or sports.
Arthur Wharton – an all-round sportsman – in 1886, he equalled the amateur world record of 10 seconds for the 100-yard
sprint in the
AAA championship. He was also a keen cyclist and cricketer, playing for local teams in
Yorkshire and
Lancashire. However, Wharton is best remembered for his exploits as a footballer; Wharton was the first mixed-heritage footballer to turn professional.
Luis Enrique – completed three
marathons between 2006 and 2008 and also completed Frankfurt Ironman.
Lev Yashin – played
bandy and
ice hockey internationally for the Soviet Union, a goalkeeper in all three sports.
Knut Anders Fostervold – Had a 12-year-long football career, including playing in the
Champions League, and also participated in the Cycling Road World Championships in 2006
Toni Fritsch – Ex-player for
Rapid Vienna and the Austria national team played in the
NFL as a kicker from 1971 to 1982, and in the
USFL from 1984 to 1985. He won a ring from Super Bowl VI (
Cowboys), became an NFL All-Pro in 1979 (
Oilers) and a USFL All-League in 1984 (
Gamblers).
Madison Bumgarner – the pitcher for the
Arizona Diamondbacks revealed in February 2020 that he has competed in rodeos as a
team roper during his Major League Baseball career under the alias Mason Saunders.[57]
Carroll Hardy – played MLB baseball for eight years and one season in NFL after being a football, baseball and track letterman at
University of Colorado.
Bo Jackson – won the
Heisman Trophy, and was an all-pro in the National Football League and also played on a semi-pro basketball team in Los Angeles before returning to baseball.
Joe Mauer – played
quarterback,
point guard, and
catcher in high school, and was named
USA Today High School Player of the Year twice in the same school year: in 2000 for football and 2001 for baseball.
Kirk McCaskill – played hockey for the
University of Vermont from 1979 to 1983. Drafted in the fourth round (64th overall) by the
Winnipeg Jets in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft. Dressed for one game with the Winnipeg Jets of the NHL but did not play in the game. Pitched for the Angels and the White Sox 1985–1996.
C. Posey – member of both the Baseball and
Basketball Halls of Fame. In baseball, briefly played for the
Homestead Grays of the Negro leagues before retiring to become the team's field manager, general manager, and eventual owner, building one of the Negro leagues' strongest organizations. In basketball, was recognized as the best African American player of the first two decades of the 20th century.
Dave Winfield – drafted by four professional teams in three different sports – basketball, baseball and American football, before deciding to concentrate on his baseball career.[59] Played
baseball and
basketball for the
University of Minnesota.
George Wright – pioneering professional baseball player who started his athletic career as a cricketer in the 1860s. He resumed his cricket career after retiring from professional baseball in 1882.
Harry Wright – the founder and manager of the first professional baseball team, the 1869
Cincinnati Red Stockings, was a professional cricketer before taking up baseball in the late 1850s.
George Wright was his younger brother.
Francis Antetokounmpo – the eldest brother of the famous basketball brothers
Antetokounmpo, in addition to playing semi-pro basketball, he also plays professional association football, he previously played for
Aittitos Sparta in the
third division of Greece.
Scott Burrell – played in
Minor League Baseball for two years before his NBA career. The one of only two athletes in history to have been drafted in the first round in two of the four major professional sports leagues (MLB and NBA).[65]
Wilt Chamberlain – played
volleyball in the
International Volleyball Association (IVA) for the
Seattle Smashers 1974–1979 and was named MVP at the 1975
All Star Game. Went to college on a track and basketball scholarship, competed in high jump, triple jump and shot put as well as running quarter-mile races, and was also offered professional boxing, soccer and American football opportunities.
Elena Delle Donne – 2013
WNBA Rookie of the Year and 2015 WNBA MVP was a top prospect in both basketball and volleyball in high school. She played volleyball in her first year at the
University of Delaware in 2008 before returning to basketball the next year.
Constantin Herold – played basketball, winning one
Romanian League and playing for
Romania national team, also competing in 13 other sports:
Athletics - school, junior, university and national champion in several events, national junior record breaker (110 metres hurdles, pole, triple jump), national champion in seniors (110 metres hurdles in 1933 and 1934), national decathlon champion (1934), record holder for 14 years in decathlon, member of the national team;
Football - player at B.M.T.E. Brașov, Astra Brașov and Telefon Club București (from the establishment of the club until it reached the
second division);
Handball in 11 - member of the national team and participant at the 1937 World Cup from Germany;
Volleyball - player and captain of the
national team;
Shooting sports - the third place at the national rifle championships, with the performance of 391 points out of 400 possible;
Alpine skiing - champion in the military patrol competition;
Rowing - participant in the city championships of Bucharest as part of the Telefon Club București team;
Water polo -
goalkeeper at Telefon Club București in the city championship;
Table tennis - trade union champion of the Capital in the mixed doubles event from 1946, together with Mariana Bunescu;
Tennis - played in the second category championship and qualifiers of Bucharest for the C.C.A. and Justice team;
Rugby - player at Telefon Club București;
Fencing - university champion of Bucharest at
foil and
sabre in 1934;
Gymnastics - member of the model team of
ANEFS at the demonstrations from the student camp organized on the occasion of the
1936 Summer Olympics in
Berlin.[67][68][69][70][71][72][73]
Kris Humphries – his first success in sports came in competitive swimming, where he was the top 10-year-old in the nation in six events, first, beating young
Michael Phelps in the remaining events. Kris Humphries held the US national record for the 50-meter freestyle for 10 and under boys for 18 years. At age 12 he gave up swimming to pursue a career in basketball.
Allen Iverson – at Bethel High School, Iverson started as quarterback for the school football team while also playing running back, kick returner and defensive back. During his junior year, Iverson led the football team to a Virginia state championship and earned the Associated Press High School Player of the Year award in football.
Nate Robinson – played football at the
University of Washington. Robinson's college football career is most remembered for his interception in the final minutes of regulation of the 2002
Apple Cup against the
Washington State Cougars, who were at the time ranked No. 3 in the AP poll.
Alexey Voyevoda – world heavyweight 5 time world champion armwrestler before switching to bobsleigh. Olympic gold medals in two different bobsleigh categories in the same year.
Eddie Lubanski –
USBC Hall of Fame member, pitched for three seasons for farm clubs of the
St. Louis Browns. He compiled an enviable 50–18
win–loss record, winning 20 games in his second season, but quit baseball entirely after a dispute with the owner of the
Muskogee Reds.[78] He returned to Detroit to become a full-time pro bowler, an occupation he had started at age fifteen.
Walter Ray Williams Jr. – seven-time PBA Player of the Year, Williams has also won six Men's World Horseshoe Pitching titles.
Adam Hollioake – turned professional as a boxer in 2011 having captained the England ODI side in the 1990s. He subsequently turned professional at
MMA.
Roy Jones Jr. – played in one game for the Brevard Blue Ducks of the
USBL basketball league in 1990.
Ray Mercer – had two professional
K-1 kickboxing bouts in 2004 and 2005, losing both.[80] In 2009, Mercer had his first and only bout in pro
MMA, defeating former
UFC heavyweight champion
Tim Sylvia.[81]
Anthony Mundine – Australian winner of multiple boxing titles, who was also the highest-paid
Rugby league player in the
NRL.
Vitali Klitschko – had an extensive decade-long career in kickboxing, both amateur and professional, before becoming heavyweight boxing champion.
Holly Holm – started as a kickboxer winning a national amateur kickboxing title. Went on to fight professionally as a kickboxer and boxer, becoming one of the most highly decorated female boxers and defending titles in three different weightclasses, going both up and down in weight. Due to being a dominant champion for a long time is still ranked as all-time best pound-for-pound by boxrec automated ranking.[82] Started fighting in MMA while boxing and after retiring from boxing became the first athlete to be world champion in both boxing and MMA.
Eric Esch – retired boxer with an impressive 91–10–4 win–loss record who also fought professionally in kickboxing and mixed martial arts, creating a 7–4 and 28–10–1 win–loss record respectively.
Bertrand Clark – association football, cricket, golf, and tennis.
Denis Compton – played for England at both cricket and football (albeit the latter only in wartime matches which did not have full international status).[83]
Andrew Flintoff – played for England in cricket from 1998 to 2009, made his pro boxing debut against Richard Dawson in 2012.
C. B. Fry – played for England at cricket and football, and equalled the world record for the long jump.
W. G. Grace – one of the greatest players in the history of cricket, who dominated the sport in the second half of the nineteenth century. Won the 440 yards hurdles at
Crystal Palace in 1866, captained England at
bowls
Percy Sherwell – captained in every Test he played, and one of the few players to captain, keep wicket and open the batting in the same match. Won the South African Tennis Championships in 1904, and played rugby for Cornwall.
Jimmy Sinclair – scored South Africa's first three Test centuries, and one of only two batsmen to score more than 50% of his team's runs across two all-out innings (
Andy Flower being the other). Also played football and rugby at international level.
Yuvraj Singh - won the National Under-14 Roller Skating Championship.[91]
Rudie van Vuuren – represented Namibia in 2003 in both the Cricket and Rugby World Cups.
Jeff Wilson – played one-day international cricket and international rugby union for New Zealand, and has become commentator for both sports.
Cycling
Lance Armstrong – began his athletic career at 16 when he became a professional triathlete and national sprint-course triathlon champion in 1989 and 1990.[92] Also well known for winning the
Tour de France race a record seven consecutive times before having his placings voided owing to multiple
doping offenses.
Michael Woods – formerly a successful middle-distance runner at junior level, becoming Canadian national junior record holder for the mile and 3000 metres and the 1500 metre champion at the
2005 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships before becoming a professional cyclist
Max Aaron – US figure skater who started his skating career as a figure skater, he also represented USA in USA Hockey nationals in both 2006 and 2007, and played U18 AA as well as competing in figure skating at amateur level during that time.
Elvis Stojko – Canadian figure skater in the 1990s, also competed in martial arts and motocross racing.
Babe Zaharias – won three Olympic medals (two gold and one silver) in track & field and was also an All-American basketball player before becoming a founding member of the LPGA.[59]
Josh Booty – played in the
Florida Marlins minor league system and played 13 games at the Major League level for the team from 1996 to 1998, including an opening day start at third base.[100]
Jim Brown – All-American in
lacrosse, played basketball, baseball, and ran track at
Syracuse University. In the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Lacrosse Hall of Fame, and College Football Hall of Fame.
Ronald Curry – won the 1998
McDonald's All-American Slam Dunk contest and was the MVP for the 1998 McDonald's All-American basketball game. Was ranked by the Recruiting Services Consensus Index as the No. 6 best high school senior in basketball for 1998. Played basketball for the
University of North Carolina.
Marquise Goodwin – NFL receiver and kickoff returner was an Olympic long jumper and two-time NCAA champion in the sport. He was a four-time All-American in track and field.
Otto Graham – played in the
National Basketball League (NBL) for the
Rochester Royals from 1945 to 1946. One of only two athletes (
Gene Conley) to win a championship in two different major sports: Rochester Royals (NBL) 1946 championship and Cleveland Browns (AAFC) 1946 championship.
Bud Grant – lettered in
baseball and
basketball at the University of Minnesota, and later played two seasons in the NBA, two seasons in the NFL, and four seasons in the
CFL.
Darrell Green – competed as a professional sprinter from 1981 to 1982.
John Lynch – threw the first pitch in the history of the
Erie Sailors minor league baseball team and played in the
Florida Marlins minor league system.
Bradley Marquez – drafted by the
New York Mets in 2011 and played two minor league seasons before turning his attention to football. Returned to the Mets organization in 2019 after four NFL seasons.
Shane Martin - played football and baseball at Minnesota-Morris from 1993-1996
Ollie Matson – won two medals in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.
Banks McFadden – while at
Clemson, he was a 2-time all-American in basketball and named the 1939 Associated Press Athlete of the year.
Matt Moore – drafted in the 22nd round of the 2004 MLB draft by the
Los Angeles Angels and also played in a Southern California semi-pro baseball league.
Johnnie Morton – following his NFL career, he had a brief
MMA career before being banned for testing positive for steroids, lost his only fight by a first-round knockout.
Jan Stenerud – came to
Montana State University from Norway on a ski jumping scholarship and was an All-America selection in football and ski jumping. Played soccer in Norway.
Chris Weinke – played six years of minor league baseball before going to Florida State, where he won the Heisman Trophy and led his team to the
BCS National Championship Game. Later started in the NFL.
Ron Widby – played pro basketball with the New Orleans Buccaneers of the American Basketball Association and was a punter in the National Football League from 1967 to 1973 part of the Super Bowl VI champion Dallas Cowboys.
Jesse Lumsden – played in the
Canadian Football League between 2004 and 2010 for the
Hamilton Tiger-Cats,
Edmonton Eskimos, and
Calgary Stampeders. Was a CFL East All-star in 2007. After retiring from football he became a bobsledder and made the 2010 Canadian Olympic team in both the two-man and four-man bobsled teams. In 2013 was part of the two-man World Cup two-man winning bobsled team.
Red Storey – played six seasons and won the
Grey Cup twice with the
Toronto Argonauts, but also was an all-star in the
Ontario Lacrosse Association and played with the Montreal Royals minor hockey team. Finally, he was a referee in the Canadian Football League (12 years) and in the National Hockey League (9 years).
Luc Tousignant – all-star college football player, he was the first
French Canadian starting QB with the
Montreal Concordes, having previously represented Canada in handball at the 1976 Summer Olympic games in Montreal.
Lionel Conacher – Canada's greatest male athlete in the 1920s, and 1930s, he also excelled in
Canadian football, lacrosse, baseball, boxing and wrestling. He, along with
Carl Voss is one of only two people to have their names on both the Stanley Cup and Grey Cup.
Bill Ezinicki – played professional golf after hockey, winning several tournaments.
Jon Mirasty – nicknamed "Nasty" by teammates and fans, competed professionally as an
MMA fighter. Was provincial and
Golden Gloves champion in 1998 and 1999 in Canadian youth boxing.
Jeremy Yablonski – professional hockey player in Europe and North America, he has fought professionally in
MMA XFS (Extreme Fight Series). He was also a one-time, novice
Golden Gloves boxing champion.
Jenny Williams –
World Cup winning (1986) and team captain (1989–92) lacrosse player for Australia who represented South Australia in six sports (lacrosse, indoor lacrosse, touch football, soccer, cricket and Australian football).
Mixed martial arts
Dave Bautista – was a
WWE wrestler before becoming an
MMA Fighter, returned to the WWE in 2014 and 2019.
Aaron Chalmers – competes in both MMA and boxing events.
Nick Diaz – turned pro in MMA in 2001, then made his pro boxing debut in 2005.[114]
Fedor Emelianenko – four-time world heavyweight champion in combat sambo while being No. 1 ranked heavyweight in MMA from 2003 till 2010. Also medaled in judo at national level.
Dan Severn –
UFC Hall of Famer, former All-American collegiate wrestler and former professional wrestler.[115]
Adam Hollioake – turned pro in 2011 having already captained the England ODI side and having already fought as a professional boxer.
Holly Holm – started as a kickboxer winning a national amateur kickboxing title. Went on to fight professionally as a kickboxer and boxer, becoming one of the most highly decorated female boxers and defending titles in three different weightclasses, going both up and down in weight. Due to being a dominant champion for a long time is still ranked as all-time best pound-for-pound by boxrec automated ranking.[82] Started fighting in MMA while boxing and after retiring from boxing became the first athlete to be world champion in both boxing and MMA.
Keith Jardine – turned pro in MMA in 2001, then made his pro boxing debut in 2003.[116]
Jackie Stewart – 1969, 1971, and 1973 F1 champion and international smoothbore shooter.
Brandon Semenuk – professional rally car racer; he is also a legend in
Freeride (mountain biking), having won a
X-Games MTB Gold Medalist (2021), and X-Games Silver medalist (2013) in the Mountain Bike Slopestyle event.
John Surtees – only man to be a Formula 1 and MotoGP World Champion.
Paul Tracy – professional automobile racer who has competed in
CART, the
Champ Car World Series and the
IndyCar Series. He won the Champ Car World Series in
2003. Paul also raced downhill mountain bikes professionally for Yeti Cycles in 1994.
Laia Sanz – Women's World Trial Champion and Women's Enduro World Champion, has also won the
Dakar Rally in the Female Class and finished 9th in the overall classification.
Tove Alexandersson – seventeen times world champion in
Orienteering (July 2022). She also has ten world championships in
Ski orienteering. In 2018 Alexandersson won the world championships in
Sky running after her second skyrunning race ever. In 2020 she took up racing in
Ski mountaineering after having trained that for some time (pausing ski orienteering but racing orienteering during the summer). In 2021 she won two world cup races and the combined class of the world championships in ski mountaineering. This made her having world championships gold in four sports.
John Hopoate – after multiple suspensions forced him to retire from rugby league, he pursued a career in
boxing, eventually becoming the Australian heavyweight champion.[123]
Graeme Hughes – played 116 First-Grade Games for Canterbury-Bankstown, as well as 20 First-Class Cricket Matches for New South Wales. He is the last man to have played both rugby league and cricket for New South Wales.
Michael O'Connor – represented Australia in rugby league and rugby union. Played for the
Wallabies in 13 Tests from 1979 to 1982 and then the
Kangaroos in 17 Tests from 1985 to 1990.
Rob Waddell – retired rower, 2000 Olympic gold medalist in single sculls
rowing who is a current
Team New Zealand crewman as a grinder, he also played rugby union as a lock. He still holds world indoor
rowing machine record time over 2000 m and 5000 m.
Hayley Holt – New Zealand former snowboarder and
ballroom dancer. Currently a sports anchor and Radio DJ.
Shaun Palmer – is an American professional snowboarder, skier, mountain biker, and motocross rider. "Palm Daddy" is known as one of the forefathers of extreme sports.
Shaun White – was a two time X-Games Skateboard Vert gold medalist along with two silvers, and one bronze medal in his skateboard career. Having been one of the few athletes to compete in both summer and winter X-Games.
Vanessa Johansen (née Lohrisch) – selected for Australia in the 1989 Pan Pacific and 1990 Commonwealth Games teams for breaststroke and played in the 1993 tennis Australian Open.
Gael Monfils – with 10 ATP titles by his side, the Frenchman won a
Paddle tennis title in Las Vegas 2006, also beating the world number 1 back then, Scott Freedman.
Mary Decker – three time Olympian; won gold medals in the 1500 meters and 3000 meters at the 1983 World Championships; placed 2nd and 3rd at the 2012 and 2013
ElliptiGO World Championships.[138]
Gary Gubner – world shot put records and weightlifter.
Caitlyn Jenner – Olympic gold medalist and record holder who also raced in
IMSA and
Trans-Am for Roush Racing.
Lolo Jones – World Champion in the 100m Hurdles and competed at the
2008 and
2012 Olympics. Also won a medal in the 2 woman bobsleigh at the 2012 World Cup.
Carl Lewis – drafted in the 10th round of the 1984 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls (the draft where the Bulls selected Michael Jordan with the number 3 pick), but did not play a game in the NBA. He was also drafted in the 12th round of the 1984 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys as a wide receiver, but was not signed.
^Scott, Nikki.
"Reece "Goose" Tatum (1921–1967)". encyclopediaofarkansas.net. The Central Arkansas Library System. Archived from
the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2018.