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The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Chile

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This page contains a list of the greatest Chilean Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 3,059 Athletes, 3 of which were born in Chile. This makes Chile the birth place of the 83rd most number of Athletes behind Mongolia and Botswana.

Top 3

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Chilean Athletes of all time. This list of famous Chilean Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

Photo of Manuel Plaza

1. Manuel Plaza (1900 - 1969)

With an HPI of 47.61, Manuel Plaza is the most famous Chilean Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages on wikipedia.

Manuel Jesús Plaza Reyes (17 March 1900 – 9 February 1969) was a long-distance runner from Chile. He competed in the marathon at the 1924 and 1928 Olympics and won a silver medal in 1928, becoming the first Olympic medalist from Chile. He placed sixth in 1924, and served as the flag bearer for Chile at both Olympics.

Photo of Marlene Ahrens

2. Marlene Ahrens (1933 - 2020)

With an HPI of 45.00, Marlene Ahrens is the 2nd most famous Chilean Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Marlene Ahrens Ostertag-Ebensperger (July 27, 1933 – June 17, 2020) was a Chilean athlete. She won the silver medal in Javelin throw at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne with a distance of 50.38 metres. She was the mother of journalist Karin Ebensperger.

Photo of Ramón Tapia

3. Ramón Tapia (1932 - 1984)

With an HPI of 44.97, Ramón Tapia is the 3rd most famous Chilean Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Ramón Tapia Zapata (March 17, 1932 in Antofagasta – April 12, 1984) was a Chilean boxer who won the silver medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. Tapia died in 1984.

Pantheon has 3 people classified as athletes born between 1900 and 1933. Of these 3, none of them are still alive today. The most famous deceased athletes include Manuel Plaza, Marlene Ahrens, and Ramón Tapia. As of April 2022, 1 new athletes have been added to Pantheon including Ramón Tapia.

Deceased Athletes

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Newly Added Athletes (2022)

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