The Most Famous

ATHLETES from United Kingdom

This page contains a list of the greatest British Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 526 of which were born in United Kingdom. This makes United Kingdom the birth place of the 4th most number of Athletes behind Germany, and Russia.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary British Athletes of all time. This list of famous British Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of British Athletes.

1. Robert Hichens (1882 - 1940)

With an HPI of 67.59, Robert Hichens is the most famous British Athlete. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages on wikipedia.

Robert Hichens (16 September 1882 – 23 September 1940) was a British sailor who was part of the deck crew on board the RMS Titanic when she sank on her maiden voyage on 15 April 1912. He was one of seven quartermasters on board the vessel and was at the ship's wheel when the Titanic struck the iceberg. He was in charge of Lifeboat No. 6, where he refused to return to rescue people from the water due to fear of the boat being sucked into the ocean with the huge suction created by the Titanic, or swamped by other floating passengers. According to several accounts of those on the boat, including Margaret Brown, who argued with him throughout the early morning, Lifeboat 6 did not return to save other passengers from the waters. In 1906, he married Florence Mortimore in Devon, England; when he registered for duty aboard the Titanic, his listed address was in Southampton, where he lived with his wife and two children.

2. Bruno (b. 0)

With an HPI of 66.79, Bruno is the 2nd most famous British Athlete. Their biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Bruno may refer to:

3. Jonathan Edwards (b. 1966)

With an HPI of 65.48, Jonathan Edwards is the 3rd most famous British Athlete. His biography has been translated into 38 different languages.

Jonathan David Edwards, (born 10 May 1966) is a British former triple jumper. He is an Olympic, double World, European, European indoor and Commonwealth champion, and has held the world record in the event since 1995. Edwards is widely regarded as the greatest triple-jumper in history. Following his retirement as an athlete, Edwards has worked as a sports (primarily athletics) commentator and presenter for BBC television, before moving to Eurosport. In 2011, he was elected President of the Wenlock Olympian Society following the death of its then President, Roy Rogers. He was a member of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games for the 2012 games.

4. Charles Bennett (1870 - 1950)

With an HPI of 64.54, Charles Bennett is the 4th most famous British Athlete. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Charles Bennett (9 December 1871 – 18 December 1948) was a British athlete, winner of the 1500 metres at the 1900 Summer Olympics and the first British track and field athlete to become Olympic champion. He was a member of Finchley Harriers (founded 1877) which was amalgamated into Hillingdon Athletic Club in 1966.

5. Mark Phillips (b. 1948)

With an HPI of 63.74, Mark Phillips is the 5th most famous British Athlete. His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Mark Anthony Peter Phillips (born 22 September 1948) is an English Olympic gold medal-winning horseman for Great Britain and the first husband of Anne, Princess Royal, with whom he has two children. He remains a leading figure in British equestrian circles, a noted eventing course designer, and a columnist for Horse & Hound magazine.

6. Zara Tindall (b. 1981)

With an HPI of 63.55, Zara Tindall is the 6th most famous British Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 38 different languages.

Zara Anne Elizabeth Tindall (née Phillips; born 15 May 1981) is a British equestrian, Olympian, socialite and member of the British royal family. She is the daughter of Anne, Princess Royal, and Captain Mark Phillips, and the eldest niece of King Charles III. She was born sixth in the line of succession to the British throne during the reign of her maternal grandmother Elizabeth II, becoming 22nd in line as of 2025. Tindall won the Eventing World Championship in Aachen in 2006. That same year, she was voted 2006 BBC Sports Personality of the Year by the public. In 2012, she carried the Olympic flame at Cheltenham Racecourse on her horse Toytown. As a member of the Great Britain Eventing Team, she won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, presented to her by her mother. She married rugby union player Mike Tindall in 2011 with whom she has 3 children.

7. Ken Matthews (1934 - 2019)

With an HPI of 62.93, Ken Matthews is the 7th most famous British Athlete. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Kenneth Joseph Matthews, MBE (21 June 1934 – 2 June 2019) was a British race walker, who won the Olympic (1964) and European (1962) titles in the 20 km walk.

8. David Jacobs (1888 - 1976)

With an HPI of 62.82, David Jacobs is the 8th most famous British Athlete. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

David Henry Jacobs (30 April 1888 – 6 June 1976) was a Welsh-born track and field sprinter. He was the first British Jew to win an Olympic gold medal.

9. John Rimmer (1878 - 1962)

With an HPI of 62.30, John Rimmer is the 9th most famous British Athlete. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

John Thomas Rimmer (27 April 1878 – 6 June 1962) was a British athlete, winner of two gold medals at the 1900 Summer Olympics. Rimmer won the AAA Championships in 4 miles (6.4 km) at the 1900 AAA Championships. He was born in Birkdale, Merseyside. With two, he jointly held the record for the most Olympic titles in athletics by a British athlete.

10. Don Thompson (1933 - 2006)

With an HPI of 62.08, Don Thompson is the 10th most famous British Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Donald James Thompson MBE (20 January 1933 – 3 October 2006) was an English racewalker. He was the only British man to win a gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics, in the 50 km walk. He also won a bronze medal at the 1962 European Championships, also for the 50 km walk. Thompson was born in Hillingdon, London and taught maths at Southland's comprehensive school, New Romney, from the mid 1970s. A small man, only 1.65m tall, he was originally a runner, but an injury to his Achilles' tendon forced him to take up race walking instead. He came second in the 52½ miles London to Brighton road race in 1954, and then won the event in each of the following eight years. He raced in the 50 km walk in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, but withdrew dehydrated after 45 km while in fifth place. He practised to compete at the Olympic Games in Rome in 1960 by exercising in a steam-filled bathroom at home, with the heating turned up and wearing a heavy tracksuit. After exercising for about half an hour, he would feel faint. At the time, he attributed his light-headedness to the effects of heat and humidity, but later realised that it was carbon monoxide fumes from the paraffin heater. His mother made him a hat like a képi to keep the sun off his head and neck during the race; together with his sunglasses, he was nicknamed "Il Topolino" (Italian: "Mickey Mouse", literally "little mouse"). In the 50 km race, staged at temperatures of up to 31 °C, the front two competitors were disqualified, and Thompson beat John Ljunggren of Sweden by 17 seconds to win the gold medal in 4 hours 25 minutes 30 seconds. The only other British competitor to win a gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics was Anita Lonsbrough, in the 200 m breaststroke. He was voted Sportsman of the Year in 1960 by the Sports Writers' Association. He won a bronze medal at the European Championships in 1962, and was tenth at the 1964 Summer Olympics, both in the 50 km walk. He continued racing for another 40 years, until the early 1990s and completing more than 150 marathons and a 100 mile racewalk in 1978. He habitually woke at 4am to run 13 km each morning. In 1983, he fell and broke his collarbone during a marathon walk in Thanet; undeterred, he completed the race before seeking treatment. He represented Britain in a race in France in 1991, aged 58 years and 89 days, becoming the oldest person to represent Britain in an international athletics event. Outside athletics, he worked as an insurance clerk, a gardener and as a teacher (at Southland's School, New Romney). He was appointed a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1970 New Year Honours for services to athletics. He collapsed at home and died at Frimley Park Hospital after suffering a brain aneurysm. He married in 1967, and was survived by his wife, and their son and daughter.

People

Pantheon has 526 people classified as British athletes born between 1703 and 2004. Of these 526, 435 (82.70%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living British athletes include Bruno, Jonathan Edwards, and Mark Phillips. The most famous deceased British athletes include Robert Hichens, Charles Bennett, and Ken Matthews. As of April 2024, 526 new British athletes have been added to Pantheon including Robert Hichens, Bruno, and Jonathan Edwards.