Best 10 sports person of 2025
Online sporty team selected the best 10 sports person of 2025. Here is the selection criteria for those selections
- Global awards and recognition (World Athlete of the Year, Ballon d’Or, AP Athlete of the Year)
- Historic performances and records broken
- Major championship and league success
- Influence within their sport and cultural impact
List of the top 10 sports person
Shohei Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani is among the best 10 sports person of 2025. They were considered the best because of their brilliant performance. The Washington Nationals faced the Los Angeles Dodgers at Nationals Park. (Joe Glorioso/All-Pro Reels for Washington Times Sports)
Japanese baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani closed 2025: his bat and arm making history, grabbing headlines, and collecting awards.
The latest addition to his collection arrived on 9 December, when the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher was named the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for the fourth time, a record he now shares with sporting greats LeBron James and Tiger Woods. “Receiving this award multiple times is something truly special,” he told AP of the honour.
Ohtani earned 29 of the 47 AP ballots after another successful MLB season, in which he posted 55 home runs during the regular season and a postseason performance that many now regard as one of the best ever. In that National League Championship Series game, he hit three home runs and threw six scoreless innings, carrying the Dodgers to a sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers and becoming the only player in league history to hit multiple home runs in a game he also pitched.
“If you think about it in terms of a single game, I’d say that’s probably true,” he said of his achievement.
The latest accolade arrives just weeks after Ohtani secured his fourth National League Most Valuable Player award on 13 November. Even with a taxing Game 7 in the World Series, the Dodgers still claimed a second consecutive title. Manager Dave Roberts shared his thoughts after the game: “Shohei obviously has the weight of the world on his shoulders as far as expectations, being probably the face of baseball, certainly when you’re talking about the world.
“It’s just really special what he’s done. Just a great person and a great competitor.”
Ohtani insists his drive remains untouched. “Last year, I said I wanted to win this award again, and I will work hard so that I can win it again next year as well,” he said.
At 31, he is gearing up to help defending champions Japan at next year’s World Baseball Classic and already has an eye on baseball’s grand return to the Olympic stage at LA28.
Behind Ohtani, the ballot featured Sweden’s double Olympic champion pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis and Spain’s tennis world number one, Carlos Alcaraz.
Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis
Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis is among the best 10 sports person of 2025. Duplantis achieved a lot of success in past years. In 2025 also he got numerous achievements. He flew over the bar at 6 metres and 30 centimetres to break his own world pole vault record at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on 15 September.
With gold already secured, the flying Swede took three attempts to set the new world record, saving the best jump for last after just touching the bar on his previous two at the height.
“I am so happy, I cannot explain it,” he said after winning the competition. “For the past two weeks, I really enjoyed being in Tokyo. I have been enjoying everything so much. I feel the only way to leave Japan was to set the world record. That was my mentality.”
Duplantis’ victory in Japan represents his third consecutive outdoor world championships gold, following his victories in 2023 in Budapest and 2022 in Oregon.
Emmanouil Karalis of Greece jumped valiantly to 6.00m for silver, while Australia’s Kurtis Marschall bravely cleared 5.95m for bronze. But with the floodlights beaming down on him in the stadium, Duplantis’ star once again shone brightest as he took the pole vault to heights never seen before.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone
Be it over hurdles or on the flat, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone proved once again she is irrepressible over one lap of the track.
The US athlete broke a 42-year-old championship record with the second-fastest 400m of all time at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 to win gold (18). This is one of the main reasons she is considered one of the 10 best sports person of 2025.
But it proved far from the time trial some might have anticipated as Olympic champion Mariledy Paulino made her rival work for the win. In doing so, for the first time in history, two women dipped under 48 seconds in a single 400m race.
When McLaughlin-Levrone made the switch to the flat this season, she talked about stepping out of her comfort zone, but she has looked at ease throughout the season in her new event.
And the final was no different. Her time of 47.78 – a North American record – suggests it is now only a matter of time before Marita Koch’s 40-year-old record (47.60) tumbles unless the 26-year-old opts to switch back to the hurdles,s where she is a two-time Olympic champion.
McLaughlin-Levrone admitted she was aware of those doubting her decision to have made the switch in the wake of the Paris Olympics.
“I knew there were a lot of people doubting me about making the switch from 400m hurdles to the flat 400m, but ultimately, I had faith in my training. I knew I had it in me,” she said. “It definitely helped having Mariledy Paulino in the outer lane where I could see her. But I still had to get the work done. My coach told me to get out of the blocks as fast as possible, not to stay in it for long.”
Of her event’s future after these championships, she said: “We will need to talk about the schedule for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. Maybe I could do both 400m and 400m hurdles. I would need some days off between those events, and there is a tough field in both events.”
Starting in lane five, she nervously bounced off one foot to another as she waited to take her marks while her husband, Andre, a former NFL player, looked ill at ease watching from the stands.
On a much cooler night in Tokyo after the evening rain broke the humidity of the past few days, McLaughlin-Levrone was quickly up on Amber Anning late outside her. And, heading into the home straight, she had the lead and looked set to stretch that advantage to the finishing line.
But Paulino was not to be deterred by her opponent’s reputation as one of the greatest athletes of her generation – arguably in a similar bracket to Mondo Duplantis and Faith Kipyegon, who had shone in their respective events on previous nights in Tokyo.
The Dominican athlete pushed until her last stride, but could not claw back the deficit as she herself clocked what is the third-quickest time in history. Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser, meanwhile, set a season’s best with a 48.19 for the bronze.
But McLaughlin-Levrone – racing on the track where she won Olympic gold in the 400m hurdles in 2021 in a world record time – was just too good, having broken Sanya Richards-Ross’s US record on her way to the final before lowering Jarmila Kratochvilova’s championship best from Helsinki in 1983 by two tenths of a second.
The question now is: what lies in store for her in 2026? In the long term, her eyes are on a home Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028. She has previously made it clear she might yet return to hurdling once more, with Femke Bol having admitted she missed having her as a benchmark to compete against in the discipline.
McLaughlin-Levrone had made a foray into the 400m flat before back in 2023, but injury prevented her from competing at the World Championships that year. On the evidence of this performance – a fourth world title in a third different event – and the fact that another world record is now within touching distance will surely tempt her to stay with her new event.
Ousmane Dembélé
Paris Saint-Germain and France superstar Ousmane Dembele has been voted as The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2025.
The dynamic attacker has been rewarded following an incredible season for PSG. He was a talismanic figure during the club’s run to a maiden UEFA Champions League title, scoring eight times and providing six assists during their triumphant European campaign.
Dembele – who was named as the 2024/25 season’s MVP in both the continental competition and Ligue 1 – was integral as PSG won a domestic treble. The 28-year-old also helped the team reach the final of the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup™.
A’ja Wilson
A’ja Wilson has been named TIME’s 2025 Athlete of the Year, capping a campaign in which the Las Vegas Aces forward achieved a series of milestones unmatched in professional women’s basketball.
Wilson became the first player in either the WNBA or NBA to win a championship, Finals MVP, League MVP, and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season. She also claimed the scoring title and became the fastest player in the history of the North American women’s elite league to reach 5,000 career points. She’s also one of just four players in either league to win four MVP trophies before the age of 30, the others being Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and LeBron James.
Scottie Scheffler
In the 2025 PGA Tour season, Scottie Scheffler won six tournaments — including two major championships (the PGA Championship and The Open Championship) and other key events — making him the tour’s most successful player that year. PGA Tour+1
🏆 Scottie Scheffler’s 2025 Victories
✔ CJ Cup Byron Nelson
✔ Memorial Tournament
✔ PGA Championship (Major)
✔ The Open Championship (Major)
✔ BMW Championship
✔ Procore Championship
➡️ Total wins in 2025: 6 Yahoo Sports+1
He also earned the PGA Tour Player of the Year (Jack Nicklaus Award) for the fourth consecutive season thanks to this remarkable performance. PGA Tour
Akani Simbine
In March 2025, Simbine won bronze at the World Indoor Championships in the 60m race with a time of 6.53s. This was his first global individual medal. He finished behind Lachlan Kennedy and Jeremiah Azu, with the latter taking gold.
On 19 April 2025, Simbine became the only athlete in history to run a sub-10-second over 100m for 11 consecutive years when he won gold over 100m at the Botswana Grand Prix in Gaborone.[26] He won the race by running 9.90s over 100m, a world lead for 2025. The record was previously held by Usain Bolt for 10 years.
In April 2025, Simbine ran 9.99s over 100m to win gold at the first Diamond League of the season in Xiamen, China.
In April 2025, Simbine was selected by Athletics South Africa (ASA), as the men’s athletics team captain for Team SA for the World Athletics Relays championship to be held in Guangzhou, China, on 10 and 11 May 2025.
In May 2025, Simbine anchored South Africa to win gold at the 100mx4 at the World Relays in Guangzhou. He also won the 100m race in Atlanta on 17 May 2025 with a time of 9.86s.
On 25 May 2025, Simbine took gold in 100m at the Rabat Diamond League by running 9.95s. Making it his 3rd Diamond League win of the session.
D. Gukesh
On 17 January, Gukesh received the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award from President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan for his World Championship accomplishment. He was 18 years, 7 months, and 20 days old when he received the award. He was also the youngest ever recipient of the award, breaking the record previously held by Abhinav Bindra.
In January, Gukesh tied for first with R Praggnanandhaa in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2025 with a score of 8½ in 13 rounds. He lost 2–1 in the blitz tiebreaker.
Gukesh participated in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, a series of Chess960 tournaments. In February, he finished in eighth place in the first leg in Weissenhaus. In April, he finished eleventh in the second leg in Paris.
In May, Gukesh participated in the second leg of the Grand Chess Tour 2025 in Romania, where he finished in a four-way tie for sixth.
At Norway Chess 2025, Gukesh finished 3rd, scoring 14.5 points. He had two notable victories: on his 19th birthday, Gukesh scored a notable victory over World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura during the third round. After suffering defeats in the opening two rounds against World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and compatriot Arjun Erigaisi, Gukesh bounced back by defeating Nakamura in 42 moves. The game marked his first win of the tournament and was particularly significant as he managed to put Nakamura, known for his rapid and blitz prowess, under considerable time pressure. Speaking after the game, Gukesh credited improved time management for the win and described the result as a fresh start to the event.[58] On 1 June, Gukesh defeated Carlsen in the 6th round.[59]
In the Grand Swiss tournament 2025, he finished in 41st place, winning four games against Etienne Bacrot, Danil Yuffa, Gabriel Sargissian, and Andrei Volokitin, losing to Abhimanyu Mishra, Nikolas Theodorou, and Ediz Gurel, and drawing with Arjun Erigaisi, Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, Robert Hovhannisyan, and Divya Deshmukh.
In October, he participated in the 41st European Chess Club Cup, where he got an individual gold medal for board one.
Later the same month, he finished last in the inaugural Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown among a field of 4 players.
As the reigning World Chess Champion, Gukesh played in the Chess World Cup in November 2025 as the first seed. There, he was eliminated by Frederik Svane in the third round.
Josh Allen
On March 9, 2025, Allen signed a six-year contract extension with the Bills worth $330 million, of which $250 million was guaranteed, the largest guaranteed money ever given to an NFL player at the time of signing.
In a Week 1 41–40 win against the Baltimore Ravens, Allen put up 394 passing yards with two passing touchdowns and 30 rushing yards with two rushing touchdowns. He also put up his 66th career rushing touchdown, surpassing Thurman Thomas’s previous record of 65 for the most rushing touchdowns in Bills franchise history. During the season, Allen continued to break records with his play; on October 26, Allen had a rushing and passing touchdown for the 46th game in his career to pass Cam Newton for most games with a rushing and passing touchdown in NFL history on November 16, Allen had three passing and three rushing touchdowns against Tampa Bay to tie Newton for rushing touchdowns and become the only player with multiple games of 3 passing/rushing touchdowns in NFL history. Allen then claimed sole possession of the rushing touchdowns record with an 8-yard score on November 30 against Pittsburgh.[211]
However, Buffalo’s offense was noted to have regressed during the season, with widespread criticism of the Bills’ receivers and offensive coordinator Joe Brady, as the offense struggled in upset losses against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 6 and the Miami Dolphins in Week 10. In particular, Allen’s time-to-throw against the Dolphins was 3.53 seconds, the longest of his career since his rookie year.[ In Week 12, Allen was sacked a career-high 8 times and was shut out of the endzone in a 23–19 loss to the Houston Texans.
In Week 14, Allen completed 22 of 28 passes for 251 yards and three touchdowns, plus a 40-yard rushing touchdown, in a 39–34 comeback win over the Cincinnati Bengals, earning AFC Offensive Player of the Week.
In Week 17 against the Philadelphia Eagles, Allen completed 23 of 35 passes for 262 yards and ran for 2 touchdowns on the ground. His performance in the 13–12 loss came under scrutiny due to in-game mistakes committed by Allen in a game that, if won, would have kept them in contention for the AFC East in a late-season division race. These mistakes included a lost fumble and a missed two-point conversion to a wide-open Khalil Shakir within the last few seconds of the game that would have given them the win
Carlos Alcaraz
Alcaraz began his 2025 season at the Australian Open, vying to become the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam.He was defeated by Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals in four sets.[199] In February, Alcaraz won his first title of the season and first indoor hardcourt title of his career at the Rotterdam Open, defeating Alex de Minaur in the final.[200] Alcaraz then played the Qatar Open, where he lost in the quarterfinals to Jiří Lehečka.
Alcaraz entered Indian Wells as the two-time defending champion. He reached the semifinals, where he lost to the 13th seed and eventual champion Jack Draper despite bagelling him in the second set. This was Alcaraz’s first loss after the quarterfinal stage of a tournament in over a year, and snapped his sixteen-match winning streak at Indian Wells. In dire form, Alcaraz then lost his first match in Miami to David Goffin. This marked just his third career opening-round defeat at a Masters tournament.
Alcaraz’s clay season was historically successful. He began it at the Monte-Carlo Masters, a tournament where he had previously never won a match. Still in shaky form at first, Alcaraz came through a tight three-setter with Arthur Fils in the quarterfinals. He reached the final and defeated Lorenzo Musetti to claim his sixth career Masters 1000 title. Alcaraz comfortably reached the final of the Barcelona Open, where he lost to Holger Rune. Following the final, he announced his withdrawal from the Madrid Open, with injuries to both legs. Alcaraz returned in Rome, where he defeated world No. 1 Jannik Sinner to claim his first Italian Open title. He became the third man to win every modern big title on clay (French Open, Monte-Carlo, Madrid, and Rome) after Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Alcaraz met Sinner for a second consecutive big final at the French Open. Sinner held three championship points on Alcaraz’s serve in the fourth set. Alcaraz held from 0–40 and came back to force a fifth set, which he claimed in a dominant super tiebreak. Alcaraz claimed his fifth major title. At five hours and twenty-nine minutes, this was the longest-ever final at Roland Garros, and the second-longest major final of all time. It was also the first time Alcaraz had ever made a comeback from two sets to love down. Many commentators immediately declared it one of the greatest matches of all time.
Alcaraz began his grass season at the Queen’s Club Championships. His semifinal win against Roberto Bautista Agut was his 250th ATP victory; he became the third-fastest man to achieve this milestone in the Open Era. Alcaraz defeated Jiří Lehečka in the final to claim his third consecutive title and fifth title of the season.
In the first round of Wimbledon, Alcaraz was unexpectedly taken to five sets by Fabio Fognini, who had already announced his retirement and had not won a match all season.[219] Alcaraz dropped a set each to Jan-Lennard Struff, Andrey Rublev, and Taylor Fritz, but ultimately was able to reach his sixth consecutive final. He lost to Jannik Sinner in four sets, his first loss in a slam final and his first loss to Sinner since 2023. This also ended Alcaraz’s 24-match win streak, the longest of his career.
Alcaraz reached his seventh consecutive final at the Cincinnati Open, where he once again faced Jannik Sinner. Sinner struggled physically and retired while Alcaraz was leading 5–0 in the first set. Alcaraz therefore claimed his third Masters title of the season.
At the US Open, Alcaraz swept through the first six rounds of singles competition, bageling both Mattia Bellucci and Luciano Darderi on the way. In the semifinal, Alcaraz recorded his first win over Novak Djokovic on hardcourt.[222] Alcaraz reached the final without dropping a single set, the first man to do so at the US Open since Roger Federer in 2015. This was his eighth consecutive tour-level final, and for a third consecutive slam final, he faced Jannik Sinner. Alcaraz defeated him in four sets to claim his sixth major in one of the most dominant runs of all time. He became the fourth and youngest man in the Open Era to win multiple slam titles on each surface. With this victory, Alcaraz also regained the world No. 1 ranking for the first time in two years.
Alcaraz then made his debut at the Japan Open. In the first set of his first-round match against Sebastián Báez, Alcaraz twisted his ankle. Despite the injury, he kept playing to reach his ninth consecutive final, where he faced Taylor Fritz. Having lost to Fritz at the Laver Cup just 10 days prior, Alcaraz swept past him in straight sets to secure his eighth title of the year.[228] Alcaraz then announced his withdrawal from the Shanghai Open.
Alcaraz lost his first match at the Paris Masters to Cameron Norrie in three sets, snapping his streak of consecutive finals.[230] At the ATP Finals, Alcaraz defeated Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz, and Lorenzo Musetti to top his round robin group. With the win against Musetti, he clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking for the second time. Alcaraz defeated Félix Auger-Aliassime in the semifinal, making only three unforced errors in the first set. He progressed to yet another final against Jannik Sinner, which he lost in straight sets.[231] Alcaraz then announced his withdrawal from the Davis Cup due to a hamstring injury, ending his season.