A lot of us are fans of many sports. So off the top of my head here is my list of what I think are near unanimous GOAT per sport per gender. Note that proven PED cheats are disqualified. Female Golf: Annika Sorenstam Tennis: Serena Williams Male: Golf: Jack Nicklaus NBA: Michael Jordan NHL: Wayne Gretzky Soccer: Pele Swimming: Michael Phelps Tennis: Roger Federer MLB and NFL will be hard as it is too specialized by position. So it would have to be position by position I think. Concur? Anyone else to add in other sports?
Football (skill): Jerry Rice, Skating (Vert): Tony Hawk, Skating (street): Rodney Mullen, Tennis: Serena, Surfing: Kelly Slater, MMA: St. Pierre, Boxing (Prime): Roy Jones Jr.
You can't be GOAT of soccer without leading your team to a World Cup championship. His first World Cup win: [Pele] was the youngest player of that tournament [17], and at the time the youngest ever to play in the World Cup.[note 2][38] Against France in the semifinal, Brazil was leading 2–1 at halftime, and then Pelé scored a hat-trick, becoming the youngest in World Cup history to do so.[43] On 29 June 1958, Pelé became the youngest player to play in a World Cup final match at 17 years and 249 days. He scored two goals in that final as Brazil beat Sweden 5–2 in Stockholm, the capital. His first goal where he flicked the ball over a defender before volleying into the corner of the net, was selected as one of the best goals in the history of the World Cup.[44]
golf: tiger woods boxing: mike tyson f1: michael schumacher nascar: ricky bobby ping ping: forrest gump streetball: professor poker: the breh who keeps getting pissed wrestling: hulk hogan martial arts: bruce lee sprinting: usain bolt
Sachin is great but Bradman's test average is still widely considered the greatest individual achievement across all sports.
MLB: Babe Ruth NFL: Definitely more specialized, but I bet you'd find agreement on Jerry Rice, Jim Brown and Tom Brady.
Deng Yaping is the best example I can think of. Her dominance in ping pong is something unequaled in any other sport and started when she was just 17. Never getting less than Gold in any singles event, 4 Olympic gold medals, and was only 4'11". One of the first Chinese to use shakehand grip Spoiler
Babe Ruth Mike Tyson Tom Brady Jim Brown and Bo Jackson and Carl Lewis get special mention as best athletes ever.
