Mikaela Shiffrin Named to ESPN's Top 100 Athletes of 21st Century List

What do sports media companies talk about during the doldrums of summer when most major American sports are in their off seasons? They create controversial lists, of course.

ESPN recently released a list of the Top 100 Athletes since 2000, as voted on by their global contributors. Different from their Top 100 North American Athletes of the 20th century list, this version includes athletes from across the world.

The individual rankings of the Top 5 athletes might be controversial, but it's hard to deny that they belong: 5. Tom Brady; 4. LeBron James; 3. Lionel Messi; 2. Serena Williams; 1. Michael Phelps.

You can read the list in its entirety if you're searching for something to get mad about, but let's focus on what really matters- the disrespect for Mikaela Shiffrin.

Sure, it's somewhat surprising that a skier was included in this list dominated by major North American team sport athletes in the first place, but placing Shiffrin as the 44th best athlete since 2000 feels insulting.

Shiffrin is one of the most dominant athletes of all-time, let alone the 20th century. Her 97 wins on the World Cup circuit place her eleven ahead of Ingemar Stenmark's once-long-standing record. The next closest active alpine skier is Marcel Hirscher, who recently announced his un-retirement , with 67 wins.

All of those World Cup wins have accumulated to an impressive trophy cabinet of Crystal Globes, as well. Shiffrin has eleven discipline and five overall titles to her name.

There are only a few individual athletes that have a legitimate chance at winning every race they compete in. Fans of Shiffrin's know she falls in that shortlist.

On top of her accolades on the snow, Shiffrin won the 2024 ESPY for "Best Athlete – Women’s Sports", was named to TIME's 100 Most Influential People in 2023, and is a champion for spreading skiing and snow sports across the globe.

With all of these accolades to her name, doesn't it feel like Shiffrin should have been placed higher on the list? We certainly have bias as skiers, but it would have been nice to see her crack the Top 25 to ruffle the feathers of football and basketball lovers everywhere.

Apologies if this offends, but based on her individual accomplishments, I would personally place Shiffrin ahead of: Cristiano Ronaldo, Tim Duncan, Diana Turasi, and Kevin Garnett, but that's just one skier's opinion.

In fact, I think the following skiers should have been included for good measure: Candide Thovex, Angel Collinson, Henrik Harlaut, Lindsey Vonn, Mikaël Kingsbury, Eileen Gu, and Sammy Carlson, just to name a few...

Who from the world of skiing do you think should have made the cut?

Related: 10 Surprising Colleges with Ski Resorts Nearby

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