Only ONE US driver makes 100 best athletes of 21st century list

Just one driver from NASCAR and IndyCar has made ESPN's list of the top 100 professional athletes of the 21st century.

The list has been raising eyebrows on social media for several notable omissions and questionable inclusions.

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Perhaps that is the nature of any list of this kind, though international sports fans noted that 56 of the athletes were from the United States, and hugely popular sports such as cricket were only represented by one player.

Auto racing was graced with three entries, but only one of those raced in US series full-time.

Jimmie Johnson the sole US entry on ESPN list

Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson came in at 47th on ESPN's list of the top sportspeople of the 21st century.

Reporter Ryan McGee said: “Johnson's most mind-bending accomplishment is that he won those Cups even as the system that awarded them was seemingly and repeatedly rigged against him.

“The paddock called it 'Jimmie Proofing' as his septet of titles were earned via three different points systems and four postseason format variations, all while steering three wildly different generations of race cars.

“Meanwhile, he somehow has remained true to his SoCal desert town, trailer park roots -- as kind and humble as he was fast and unbeatable.”

Fans were quick to question where other seven-time world champions ranked.

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Interesting to see Jimmie Johnson 47th on ESPN’s 21st century athletes list. For a 7-time champ, you wonder if that’s the respect he deserves. How would other sports’ 7-time champs rank?

— Latonya Allport (@AllportLat59360) July 23, 2024

Indeed, F1's Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton made the list, but only in 29th and 19th respectively.

The omission of IndyCar six-time champion Scott Dixon was described by racing fans on X as 'negligence' and 'pretty tragic'.

Ranked in the spaces immediately ahead of Johnson are baseball stars Max Scherzer and David Ortiz. He is marginally ahead of soccer icons Thierry Henry and Zinedine Zidane.

Swimming's Michael Phelps, tennis' Serena Williams, and soccer GOAT Lionel Messi made up the top three.

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