ESPN The Magazine released its 20 most dominant athletes of 2018 list on Tuesday, and it sparked a ton of reactions on social media.
US Olympic gymnast, Simone Biles, took the top spot, with Kenyan long distance runner Eliud Kipchoge taking the No. 2 spot, MMA star Daniel Cormier landing the No. 3 spot, Thai golfer Ariya Jutanugarn coming in at No. 4 and US Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky rounding out the top five.
The @Simone_Biles we saw in 2016 was great.
But the Simone Biles of 2018? Unprecedented.Here's why she's ESPN the Magazine's most dominant athlete: https://t.co/9oZ8nwKZSn pic.twitter.com/O6659hH5UY
— ESPN (@espn) December 11, 2018
.@Simone_Biles is gracing the cover of "@espn The Magazine"! Her pose is FIERCE! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/9AvXVdKddX
— Good Morning America (@GMA) December 11, 2018
Here’s a full list of the top 20, and an explanation from ESPN about how the athletes (yes, a horse is apparently considered an athlete here) were ranked.
The method to the madness per a ESPN release. pic.twitter.com/2SuLrGZoXW
— Mark J. Burns (@markjburns88) December 11, 2018
Biles landing the top spot generated a ton of positive responses on Twitter.
So many salty men replying to this tweet are so mad about a woman being named most dominant athlete of 2018. Simone Biles is a legend and an icon for the sports world. The most dominant athlete across all sports. She is just amazing. She's not done yet
— Miss Courtney. (@C_Lynn_osen) December 12, 2018
Love reading the responses from all the salty men replying to ESPN’s tweet because they can’t fathom that a women is being named the most dominant athlete of the year. Do your research boys, Simone Biles is a living legend. pic.twitter.com/3jtSMDNVc5
— TripleTwist (@TripleTwistGym) December 11, 2018
Congratulations @Simone_Biles Well deserved💜 pic.twitter.com/y7C6QLLnj2
— Nadia Comaneci (@nadiacomaneci10) December 11, 2018
Though, some of the other stuff on the list didn’t quite generate the same type of positive response. Especially the part about … you know, the horse.
This is honestly the worst sports list I’ve ever seen in my entire life. https://t.co/FdJvEVaom5
— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) December 11, 2018
https://twitter.com/BKM_HEEL/status/1072491024365355008
ESPN's list of top 20 dominant athletes in 2018 is questionable at best. Glaring omissions include…
Brooks Koepka
Mo Salah
Aaron Donald
Kyler Murray
Tua Tagovailoa https://t.co/uoiMfR7gaD— John Hayes (@JohnHayesOnAir) December 11, 2018
Koepka gets no respect.
ESPN released its list of the top 20 most dominant athletes of 2018. On a list that included Olympic gymnast Simone Biles (No. 1), NBA superstar LeBron James (No. 13) and LPGA golfer Ariya Jutanugarn (No. 4), Koepka was notably absent.#golfingreport pic.twitter.com/3Op3X2cwLx
— golfingreport (@golfingreport) December 12, 2018
Are my eyes looking at this correctly? @espn literally put a horse in the top 20. An animal is now considered an athlete. https://t.co/A9582jn5lb
— Front Porch Football (@frontporchfbll) December 11, 2018
— Jesse Reed (@JesseReed78) December 12, 2018