To answer the question of who is the greatest athlete of all time (GOAT), Sky Bet held a vote with 32 candidates from many sports. According to Sky Bet’s voting format, the 32 athletes are divided into 8 groups, the winner of each group will advance to the quarter-finals. From the quarter-finals, the athletes will be divided into pairs, so that fans can vote to find the winner to advance to the semi-finals and finals.

Winning the 2022 World Cup helped Messi dominate the vote. Photo: Getty

In group 1, famous boxer Muhammad Ali easily won with 65% of the vote. The next positions were Tom Brady (14%), Ayrton Senna (11%), Rafael Nadal (10%).

In Group 2, Formula 1 racing driver Lewis Hamilton won with 56% of the vote. Golfer Tiger Woods came in second with 37%; Don Bradman came in third with 5%; and tennis player Venus Williams came in last with 2%.

In Group 3, Lionel Messi and Michael Jordan unsurprisingly received the most votes. However, Lionel Messi’s easy victory (65%), compared to Michael Jordan’s (19%) surprised many. Australian baseball player Shane Warne came in third with 3%, while England’s 2003 Rugby World Cup hero Jonny Wilkinson received just 1%.

Pot 4 was the closest group – with 1986 World Cup winner Diego Maradona narrowly beating tennis legend Roger Federer. After the voting closed, Maradona won with 35% of the vote, with Federer just behind on 34%. Seven-time world snooker champion Ronnie O’Sullivan was third with 17%, and 16-time PDC world darts champion Phil Taylor was fourth with 14%.

The results of the remaining four groups will be announced by Sky Bet as soon as possible. Group 5 is a competition between Usain Bolt, Novak Djokovic, Mike Tyson and Jack Nicklaus. Group 6 brings together Serena Williams, Michael Schumacher, Mark Spitz, LeBron James.

Group 7 includes “King of Soccer” Pele, Simone Biles, Laura Kenny and Carl Lewis.

In group 8, Cristiano Ronaldo competes with swimming legend Michael Phelps, along with athletes Frankie Dettori and Tanni Grey-Thompson.