







The Most Famous
Athletes from China
Top 10 Chinese Athletes
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Chinese Athletes of all time. This list of famous Chinese 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 Chinese Athletes.
- #1

Eric Liddell
1902 - 1945
HPI 62.6530 langsScottish athlete, sprinter, Olympian, Protestant missionary
- #2

Li Hong
0 - 675
HPI 62.258 langsTang Dynasty crown prince
- #3

Karen Lachmann
1916 - 1962
HPI 55.1718 langsDanish fencer
- #4

Zhu Jianhua
b. 1963
HPI 52.4323 langsChinese high jumper
- #5

Wang Junxia
b. 1973
HPI 52.0330 langsChinese long-distance runner
- #6

Liu Xiang
b. 1983
HPI 51.9746 langsChinese hurdler
- #7

Álvaro Fernández
b. 0
HPI 50.4311 langsWikimedia disambiguation page
- #8

Qu Yunxia
b. 1972
HPI 49.9125 langsChinese middle-distance runner
- #9

Huang Zhihong
b. 1965
HPI 49.7123 langsChinese shot putter
- #10

Lü Xiaojun
b. 1984
HPI 49.4925 langsChinese weightlifter
People by Birth Decade
Browse notable Chinese Athletes grouped by birth decade. Each decade shows the top 10 by HPI; expand to see everyone.
2000s(37)
1990s(160)
1980s(115)
1970s(38)
1960s(20)
1950s(3)
1920s(1)
1910s(1)
1900s(1)
Overlapping Lives
Which Athletes were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 3 most globally memorable Athletes since 1700.
























































