Cristiano Ronaldo is the most famous athlete in the world

Cristiano Ronaldo is the most famous athlete in the world, according to a study by broadcaster ESPN.

The Real Madrid forward has beaten off competition from NBA superstar LeBron James and arch-nemesis Lionel Messi to sit top of the rankings, which are compiled using a tailored algorithm.

Eight British athletes make the top 100 of the ESPN World Fame 100, with Theo Walcott sitting in 79th – five ahead of 84th-placed Lewis Hamilton.

And stars from the world of football, golf, basketball, cricket, NFL, tennis, athletics and many other sports were also featured.

ESPN director of analytics Ben Alamar came up with the formula which controls the outcome of the list, with earnings, social media influence and Google search popularity; all taken into account.

Joining Ronaldo, James and Messi in the top 10 are tennis ace Roger Federer, veteran golfer Phil Mickelson, Brazilian icon Neymar, world-record sprinter Usain Bolt, another NBA star in the shape of Kevin Durant and multiple Grand Slam champion Rafa Nadal.

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ABOUT: Nana Kwesi Coomson

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An Entrepreneur, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Communications Executive and Philanthropist. Editor-in-Chief of www.233times.com. A Senior Journalist with Ghanaian Chronicle Newspaper. An alumnus of Adisadel College where he read General Arts. His first degree is in Bachelor of Arts - Political Science (major) and History (minor) from the University of Ghana. He holds MSc in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Energy with Public Relations (PR) from the Robert Gordon University in the United Kingdom. He is a 2018 Mandela Washington Fellow who studied at Clark Atlanta University in USA on the Business and Entrepreneurship track.

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