Blurred Visions: The 50 Fastest Players in Sports History
Speed is an asset in almost any sport, and the fastest players are usually among the best. But who were the fastest players across all sports?
Comparing players across sports is always a dicey business, and it gets to be downright impossible when, say, speed on the base paths is up against speed on hockey skates.
Nevertheless, the question of who had the most speed in history is great argument fodder. Herein, one highly-subjective look at the fastest athletes in the history of any sport.
50. Wilt Chamberlain, Basketball
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Playing in an era of lead-footed 6’10” hulks, Wilt Chamberlain was arguably the most athletic center in NBA history. Chamberlain starred in track in addition to basketball at Kansas, running the 100-yard dash in 10.9 seconds.
As if Chamberlain wasn’t devastating enough in the half court, he scored plenty of his points by outrunning the opposing center down the floor.
49. Aaron Glenn, Football
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Despite standing just 5’9”, Aaron Glenn was an elite NFL player both at cornerback and as a return specialist. His career-long gains on kick returns (96 yards) and interception returns (100 yards) are a testament to his breakaway speed.
Glenn held on for 14 seasons in the NFL (making three Pro Bowls) largely on the basis of his ability to run with any receiver. His best years were with the Jets and Texans, but he last played for New Orleans in 2008.
48. Sergei Fedorov, Hockey
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The 1996 winner of the NHL’s “Fastest Skater” competition, Sergei Fedorov is the greatest Russian-born player in NHL history. The long-time Red Wing used finesse and stickhandling (plus a fearsome slap shot) rather than raw muscle to become a dominant NHL scorer.
Fedorov’s 1,179 points and 483 goals are both records for a Russian-born NHL player. He’s still active in Russia’s KHL, having last played in the U.S. for the Capitals in 2009.
47. Mickey Mantle, Baseball
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Though better remembered now for his bat, Mickey Mantle started off his long career as one of baseball’s swiftest runners. A top-flight centerfielder, Mantle also stole 153 bases in his career (a number that would doubtless have been higher had the Yankees not been worried about taking the bat out of the hands of the RBI men behind him).
Mantle was so dangerous as a baserunner that the Yankees occasionally used him as a leadoff hitter, in spite of his prodigious power.
46. T.J. Ford, Basketball
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In spite of having an exceptionally weak jump shot for a point guard, T.J. Ford has thrived in the NBA because of his vision as a passer and exceptional speed and skill as a ballhandler.
A career .290 shooter from three-point range, Ford’s 11.4 points per game usually come off the dribble drive.
At Texas, Ford was the first freshman to lead the nation in assists, with 8.3 per game.
45. Gail Devers, Track
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Gail Devers is one of just two women (along with fellow American Wyomia Tyus) to earn Olympic gold in the 100 meters twice. Devers took home top honors at Barcelona in 1992 and again in Atlanta in 1996.
She also holds the women’s world record in the 60-meter hurdles.
44. Raghib "Rocket" Ismail, Football
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A recap of the 1992 NFL Draft, describing Rams pick Steve Israel, praised the Pitt cornerback by noting, “Once caught Rocket Ismail from behind.” Though his professional career never matched the mystique he earned at Notre Dame, Ismail was one of the biggest home-run threats the college game has seen.
Ismail narrowly missed out on both a Heisman Trophy (finishing second to BYU’s Ty Detmer) and a second national title in 1990, when what would have been an Orange Bowl–winning, 91-yard TD on a punt return was called back for a much-debated clipping penalty.
43. Tyrone "Muggsy" Bogues, Basketball
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The shortest player in the history of the NBA, 5’3” Muggsy Bogues made up for his lack of height with blinding speed and quickness. He wasn’t just a novelty act; Bogues holds the Hornets’ career records for assists, steals and minutes played.
Never a serious scoring threat, Bogues thrived on the defensive end. For his career, he averaged 1.5 steals per game and had three separate seasons of 2.0 steals per game or better.
42. Tim Raines, Baseball
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One of the most popular players in Montreal Expos history, Tim Raines was also an all-time great as a leadoff man. He recorded six consecutive seasons of 70 or more steals, leading the N.L. in four of them.
Raines’ 808 career steals rank fifth all-time. In the strike-shortened 1981 season, he stole 71 bases in just 88 games.
41. Willie Wilson, Baseball
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Playing on a Royals team that would become one of the slowest in baseball by the late 1980s, Willie Wilson was a stark contrast. Wilson was one of baseball’s fastest players, though his career’s overlap with that of Rickey Henderson meant that he led the league in steals just once, in 1983.
Wilson ranks 12th on baseball’s all-time list with 668 career steals. He also led the A.L. in triples five times, including a 21-triple season in 1985.
40. Raymond Felton, Basketball
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North Carolina coach Roy Williams loves the fast-break offense, and few point guards have thrived in Williams’ system like Raymond Felton. One of the fastest players with the ball in his hands that basketball has ever seen, Felton is a threat to get to the rim on any transition opportunity.
Felton’s 8.3 assists per game this season (split between the Knicks and Nuggets thanks to the Carmelo Anthony trade) were a career best.
39. Richie Ashburn, Baseball
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One of the leaders of the Phillies’ Whiz Kids team that won the 1950 pennant, Richie Ashburn is one of history’s top leadoff men. A brilliant defensive center fielder (in spite of a sub-par arm), Ashburn recorded 234 career steals in one of baseball’s most conservative baserunning eras.
Ashburn led the majors in steals with 32 as a rookie in 1948 and also led in triples twice in his Hall of Fame career.
38. Carl Crawford, Baseball
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Perhaps the top pure athlete in the major leagues today, Carl Crawford is one of the few elite base stealers left in the game. The Boston center fielder has led the A.L. in steals four times, with a career high of 60 steals in 2009.
The long-time Tampa Bay standout also has four seasons of leading the league in triples, topping out at 19 in 2004.
37. Michael Owen, Soccer
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Sometimes to the chagrin of England fans, Michael Owen’s speed earned him a place on the national team well before the rest of his game had matured. He was the youngest player ever to appear in a match for England, and the youngest to score, when he debuted in 1998.
One of the great strikers England has ever produced, Owen is fourth on that nation’s all-time list with 40 goals in his international career. A longtime star for Liverpool in the Premier League, Owen currently plays for Manchester United, though he’s scored just four goals this season.
36. James Lofton, Football
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James Lofton was the primary deep threat for Jim Kelly and the Bills through the first three of their four-consecutive AFC titles. He stretched the field so Andre Reed and Thurman Thomas could operate underneath.
He was also 33 years old when he joined the Bills in 1989.
In his prime, Lofton made seven Pro Bowls as a Packer, twice leading the league in yards per reception.
35. Hugh McElhenny, Football
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Playing in an era when 1,000-yard rushers were still a novelty, Hugh McElhenny was one of football’s great home-run threats. He won Rookie of the Year honors in 1952 for San Francisco by averaging a ridiculous 7.0 yards per carry while recording the league’s longest return (94 yards) and longest run from scrimmage (89 yards).
The back they called “The King” would go on to a Hall of Fame career, mostly in San Francisco, in which he totaled 11,375 all-purpose yards.
34. Nate Robinson, Basketball
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Renowned for his amazing leaping ability, Nate Robinson is also one of the NBA’s fastest players. The 5’9” point guard has an exceptional ability to separate from defenders thanks to his blazing speed.
Robinson has been a career bench player, but still has managed to average double figures in scoring in four of his six NBA seasons.
33. Kenny Lofton, Baseball
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In his prime with the Indians, Kenny Lofton was the most feared leadoff hitter in baseball. Lofton, who finished his career with 622 steals, led the AL in the category for five-consecutive years, starting with his rookie season in 1992.
Even in his final season at age 40, Lofton recorded 23 steals and was caught just seven times.
32. Pavel Bure, Hockey
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One of the dominant goal scorers of the 1990s, Pavel Bure was one of hockey’s most dangerous breakaway threats. His acceleration and speed earned him the nickname “The Russian Rocket.”
Bure’s best NHL years came with the Canucks, though he also played for the Panthers and Rangers. He finished his career with 437 goals and 779 total points.
31. Vince Coleman, Baseball
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Though his legacy was tarnished by off-the-field stupidity like throwing a lit firecracker at a crowd of Dodger Stadium autograph seekers, Vince Coleman was one of the dominant leadoff men of his era.
He reached 500-career steals faster than anyone in baseball history (804 games) and finished his career with 752 steals in all.
Coleman led the NL in steals in each of his first six seasons (all as a Cardinal), topping out in his Rookie of the Year season with 110.
30. Thierry Henry, Soccer
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Twice a nominee for FIFA’s World Player of the Year award, Thierry Henry has been one of the most devastating strikers in soccer over the last two decades. He’s never been a top threat on balls in the air, but makes up for it with his ability to outdribble and outrun defenders.
The leading scorer in French national team history, Henry also dominated in the Premiership for Arsenal, scoring 174 goals from 1999-2007.
29. Randy Moss, Football
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At 6’4”, 210 lbs, Randy Moss is extraordinary among big receivers for his lack of physicality. Long dogged by a reputation for being unwilling to go over the middle, Moss doesn’t out-muscle many corners.
He just outruns them.
Moss’ single-season NFL records for receiving TDs (23) and receiving TDs by a rookie (17) relied heavily on his breakaway speed. He averaged better than 17 yards per catch in each of his first three NFL seasons.
28. Nate "Tiny" Archibald, Basketball
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One of the best scoring point guards in NBA history, Tiny Archibald made the most of his 6’1” height. At his peak, Archibald averaged 34.0 points and 11.4 assists per game in 1972-73.
Archibald spent most of his Hall of Fame career with the Kings franchise (in Cincinnati and Kansas City), though he also contributed to some of the Celtics’ playoff teams of the early 1980s.
27. Maury Wills, Baseball
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One of the stars of the base-stealing revolution of the 1960s, Maury Wills was one of the great small-ball players in baseball history (at 5’11”, he was one of the better small players, too).
Wills was the first modern player to steal 100 bases in a season, notching 104 in 1962. For his career, he stole 586 bags, leading the NL five-straight times starting in 1960.
26. Chris Johnson, Football
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Coming out of East Carolina, the question for Chris Johnson was whether he could convert his remarkable athletic ability into on-field production at the NFL level. As for the athletic ability, his show-stopping 4.24 40 time at the combine left little doubt about it.
Johnson’s record-setting 2009 season, in which he amassed 2,509 yards from scrimmage, left equally little doubt about his ability to perform in the NFL.
25. Calvin Murphy, Basketball
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Though perhaps best remembered for his accomplishments while standing still at the free-throw line (career .892 shooter), Calvin Murphy was one of the fastest guards the NBA has ever seen. Standing just 5’9”, the Rockets star averaged as many as 25.6 points and 7.4 assists in a season.
Murphy is the shortest player in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
24. Willie Mays, Baseball
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Sportswriting great Jim Murray called Willie Mays’ glove “where triples go to die.” His legendary catch in the 1954 World Series is just one example of his ability to patrol center field at the Polo Grounds, where the wall was an infamous 483 feet from home plate.
Mays also used his legs to great advantage on the base paths, stealing 338 bases in his career and leading the league in steals four times in a row starting in 1956.
23. Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch, Football
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One of the NFL’s first game-breaking wide receivers, Crazylegs Hirsch was the heart and soul of the Rams offense in the 1950s. In 1951, Hirsch led the league in receptions (by seven), receiving yards (by 669), receiving TDs (by five), yards per catch (by 2.3) and longest reception (by six).
Hirsch helped carry the Rams to four NFL championship games, though they won just once.
22. Jim Brown, Football
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The most dominant running back in NFL history, Jim Brown was unmatched in either power or speed during his brilliant career. Brown’s 5.2 yards-per-carry average for his career is the highest ever for a player with more than 1,000 attempts.
Legend has it that the lacrosse rule requiring players to rotate their sticks while running with the ball was invented to slow Brown down enough to give opponents a fighting chance.
21. Ronaldo, Soccer
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The three-time FIFA player of the year, Brazilian superstar Ronaldo is on the short list of soccer’s all-time great players. Though he would battle weight issues later in his career, in his prime he had as much speed as any player in soccer history.
Ronaldo will be given a farewell match for the Brazilian side in June, in a friendly against Romania.
20. Bobby Hull, Hockey
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One of the fastest skaters hockey had ever seen, Bobby Hull earned the nickname “The Golden Jet.” His devastating breakaway ability helped him become the first NHL player to score over 50 goals in a season, a feat he accomplished three times.
Hull would finish his Hall of Fame career (the great majority of it with the Blackhawks) with 610 goals and 1,170 total points.
19. Herschel Walker, Football
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One of history’s most versatile athletes, Herschel Walker made his name in football, where he had one of the great college careers of all-time at Georgia before earning a pair of Pro Bowl berths with the Cowboys.
He was also an All-American in track at Georgia, running the 60-yard dash in 6.15 seconds.
Walker’s combination of speed and strength would help him earn a spot in the 1992 Olympics on the U.S. bobsled team (he finished seventh), and he’s currently trying to make still another career for himself as an MMA fighter.
18. Ty Cobb, Baseball
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Few players in baseball history have received (or cultivated) as much enmity as Hall of Famer Ty Cobb, but equally few could match his speed on the field. In addition to giving him outstanding range in center field, Cobb’s wheels helped make him one of the all-time great base stealers.
He’s fourth on the career list with 897 steals. Of course, his habit of sharpening his spikes before games also contributed to the difficulty of stopping him on the base paths.
17. Allen Iverson, Basketball
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One of the most dominant scorers in NBA history, Allen Iverson played far bigger than his 6’0” frame. Iverson looks like a lock for the Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible, having won four scoring titles in his dazzling career.
Iverson’s blazing speed didn’t just get him to the rim. He also led the league in steals twice in his career.
16. Champ Bailey, Football
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Coming out of Georgia in 1999, it wasn’t just Champ Bailey’s skill as a corner that caught scouts’ eyes. His dazzling 4.28 40 time at the scouting combine turned more than a few heads, too.
Bailey has established himself as one of the most dominant corners in the league for more than a decade now. His 10 Pro Bowl appearances are a record for the position.
15. Jim Thorpe, Track/Football/Baseball
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Widely regarded as one of the greatest all-around athletes of all-time, Jim Thorpe won Olympic gold in the pentathlon and decathlon with victories in eight of the 15 individual events.
His speed on the football field helped convince Pop Warner, his coach at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, to invent the single-wing offense that would dominate football for decades.
In addition to his Hall of Fame NFL career, Thorpe played six seasons of Major League Baseball, mostly as a Giant.
14. DeAngelo Hall, Football
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The winner of the 2005 NFL’s Fastest Man competition, DeAngelo Hall has been dazzling fans with his speed throughout his football career. At Virginia Tech, Hall set a school record in the 40-yard dash with a jaw-dropping 4.15 seconds.
Hall also shares the NFL record with four interceptions in one game (last season against Chicago). He took one of the interceptions 92 yards for a TD.
13. Lou Brock, Baseball
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There have been plenty of great leadoff men who have come after him, but Lou Brock still stands as one of the most dominant in baseball history. His 118 steals in 1974 are still the NL record for a season, and his 938 steals rank second in major-league history.
Brock wasn’t any slouch with the bat, either, finishing his career with 3,023 base hits.
12. Deion Sanders, Football/Baseball
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At Florida State, Deion Sanders set the standard for Seminoles football with a 4.23 40 time. He didn’t slow down after leaving Tallahassee, using his superior speed to dominate as an NFL corner while also having a solid baseball career.
Sanders was a notoriously poor tackler, but the newly-minted Hall of Famer made so many plays on defense and as a returner that coaches tended to overlook his shortcomings.
11. Willie Gault, Track/Football
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An Olympic-caliber sprinter who lost out to the U.S. boycott in 1980, Willie Gault turned to his “other” sport. The All-America wideout went from Tennessee to the Chicago Bears in the 1983 draft.
Though Gault never topped 50 catches in a season, he averaged better than 20 yards per reception five times in his NFL career.
He earned a Super Bowl ring as a member of the 1985 Bears.
10. Florence Griffith-Joyner, Track
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With her long fingernails and equally outsized personality, Florence Griffith-Joyner became one of the biggest celebrities in the history of women’s athletics. Flo-Jo backed up her style with substance on the track, where she earned the title of world’s fastest woman.
Flo-Jo still holds the women’s world records in both the 100 and 200 meters. Her Olympic record 10.54-second 100 meter sprint in 1988 gave her the win by a full 0.3 seconds.
9. Darrell Green, Football
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Darrell Green was widely considered the NFL’s fastest man, even before winning the competition of that name (in which he had a 4-0 career record).
A track All-American at what is now Texas A&M-Kingsville, Green had one of the longest and most successful careers of any corner in history. He intercepted a pass in an NFL-record 19 consecutive seasons, all of them with the Redskins.
Last February, Green was clocked at 4.43 seconds in the 40…on his 50th birthday.
8. Bob Hayes, Track/Football
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Bob Hayes was already an international star when he entered the NFL, having won gold in the 100 meters (in which he already held the world record) in the 1964 Olympics. “Bullet Bob” had minimal football experience when the Cowboys drafted him in 1964 as a wide receiver.
Hayes would be one of the rare success stories of the track-to-football conversion, setting a Dallas record for receiving TDs (12) in his first season of pro football. He would play all but four games of his Hall of Fame career in a Dallas uniform and amassed 371 career catches for 7,414 yards.
He averaged 20 yards or better per catch four times, leading the league twice (including a career-high 26.1 in 1970).
7. Asafa Powell, Track
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In a sport dogged by repeated performance-enhancing drug scandals, Asafa Powell has been one of the cleanest and most consistent competitors. He set a world record in the 100 meters with a time of 9.77 seconds in 2005, equaled it twice the next year, then topped it with a 9.74-second performance in 2007.
Though Powell has been plagued by injuries in recent years, he did find time in 2010 to break the world record in the 100 yards, setting the new mark at 9.07 seconds.
6. Rickey Henderson, Baseball
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When it comes to the value of speed in baseball, Exhibit A is Rickey Henderson. The career leader in steals by more than 300, Henderson used his base-running dominance to become one of the most potent offensive weapons in the game.
Henderson also holds the major league record for steals in a season, with 130 in 1982. He made his steals count, too, breaking Ty Cobb’s all-time record with 2,295 runs scored in his career.
5. Bo Jackson, Football/Baseball
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Cut down too soon by a hip injury, Bo Jackson was one of the fastest and most exciting runners in football history. Coming out of Auburn, he was timed at 4.13 seconds in the 40 at the combine, and few who saw him on the field doubted that he really was that fast.
In Jackson’s four NFL seasons, he had long runs of 91, 92 and 88 yards, and averaged as many as 6.8 yards per carry while never recording fewer than 500 yards in a season.
Bo would’ve gotten a lot more good out of his speed on the baseball field if it hadn’t been for his dismal .309 career OBP.
4. Carl Lewis, Track
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One of America’s most accomplished and most beloved sprinters, Carl Lewis won nine gold medals (10 medals total) over the course of four Olympic appearances. Lewis tied or broke the world record in the 100 meters three times in his career, with his best performance coming in 1991 at 9.86 seconds.
Lewis was also one of the top long-jumpers in history, and his 8.87-meter effort in 1991 is the second-best low-altitude performance of all-time.
3. Jesse Owens, Track
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As brilliant as Jesse Owens was at the Berlin Olympics in 1936, his greatest performance may have come a year earlier.
At the 1935 Big Ten track championships, Owens (competing for Ohio State) tied the world record in the 100 yards and set world records in the long jump, 220 yards, and 220-yard low hurdles…in the space of an hour.
His four gold medals in Berlin were a bitter pill to swallow for a Nazi German government that was trying to claim all black people were inferior in all things.
2. Jackie Robinson, Baseball
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Jackie Robinson is revered as one of the greatest players in baseball history, but those who saw him at UCLA say that baseball wasn’t nearly the strongest of the four sports he lettered in.
A track and football star who thrived on speed and explosiveness, Robinson channeled his talents into becoming the most exciting runner baseball had ever seen.
Robinson led the NL in steals twice, and famously recorded 19 steals of home. Legend has it that television producers invented the split screen so viewers could watch Robinson toy with pitchers on the base paths.
1. Usain Bolt, Track
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The undisputed fastest man in the world, Usain Bolt shattered his own world record in the 100 meters with a time of 9.58 seconds in 2009. Bolt has set the last three world records in the event, and his current record is 0.16 seconds faster than Asafa Powell’s previous mark.
For the football fans out there, a very rough estimate from Bolt’s 9.58 time puts his 40-yard dash time at 3.83.
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