AMERICAN media outlet TheSkinny365 have included an Irishman in their top 15 greatest athletes of all-time list, and the name might take you by surprise.
Cavan native Paul Brady is the man in question, with the dominant handball player making the grade alongside the likes of Jesse Owens, Muhammad Ali and Michael Phelps.
At 14 on the list, he’s placed even higher than Serena Williams, but the reason for his inclusion is well founded given the incredibly well researched nature of the results.
Putting the global profile of each sport to one side, list compiler Michael Ewing used key criteria such as accomplishments, period of dominance, strength of the sport in their era and level of respect apparent from their contemporaries.
Describing Brady’s inclusion, Ewing writes: “Brady is the greatest and most accomplished handball player of all time… his ability to generate elite level power and his all-time great attention to detail have enabled Brady to dominate the game for the past 15 years, with no sign of stopping.”
Indeed, former Gaelic footballer Brady boasts an unprecedented five World Handball titles, 11 All-Ireland Senior titles – nine of which were consecutive – and 10 US National Championship titles to his name.
Here’s TheSkinny365’s list of top 15 athletes of all-time’ in full:
15. Serena Williams (Tennis)
14. Paul Brady (Handball)
13. Bruce Lee (Martial Arts)
12. Pele (football)
11. Babe Didrickson Zaharias (Track and field)
10. Dion Sanders (American Football and Baseball)
9. Michael Phelps (Swimming)
8. Jesse Owens (Athletics)
7. Jackie Robinson (Baseball and Track and Field)
6. Jim Thorpe (American Football, Baseball, and Olympic athletics)
5. Jim Brown (American football)
4. Michael Jordan (Basketball)
3. Bo Jackson (Baseball and American Football)
2. Muhammad Ali (Boxing)
1. LeBron James (Basketball)
