ATHLETES from Malaysia

Top 3

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

1. Nicol David (1983 - )

With an HPI of 31.89, Nicol David is the most famous Malaysian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages on wikipedia.

Datuk Nicol Ann David (born August 26, 1983) is a retired female Malaysian professional squash player. Beginning in August 2006, David was the world number one for a record-breaking 108 consecutive months, finally ceding the ranking in September 2015 to Raneem El Weleily. She has won the World Open title a record 8 times in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014, as well as the British Open title in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2012 and 2014. In July 2016, she reached her 151st successive month in the top 10, breaking the record in both men's and women's categories. She surpassed Peter Nicol's previous records of 150 months. David is the first squash player to have won the World Junior title twice; in 1999 and 2001 under the tutelage of Richard Glanfield. She remained the only female squash player to have achieved this, until Raneem El Weleily emulated David's feat by winning her second World Junior Championship in 2007. David joined WISPA and turned professional in 2000 when she won her first WISPA title, after only a month on the tour. The victory came in February, when she defeated Salma Shabana in the final of the Savcor Finnish Open. On 7 June 2008, David was honoured with the Order of Merit (Darjah Bakti) or D.B. in conjunction with the birthday of the His Majesty Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin. She was the first recipient of the award which was established on 26 June 1975. David was also invited to carry the Olympic torch for Malaysia during the build up to the Athens Olympics in 2004 and being appointed as UNDP National Goodwill Ambassador for Malaysia. Considered by some the greatest women's squash player, David's other notable achievements include the Asian Squash Championship, which she won a record nine times (in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2015). She also held a 13-month, 51-match winning streak, from March 2006 until April 2007, when she finally lost to Natalie Grinham in the final of the 2007 Seoul Open. David has also obtained the WSA Player of the Year on seven occasions, 2005–2010 and 2012. In a poll conducted in 2018 by the Professional Squash Association (PSA), David was voted by fans as the greatest squash player of all-time in the women's category. In February 2019, Nicol announced her retirement plan, and decided to retire at the end of the 2018/2019 PSA season in June. In another poll conducted by the World Games in 2021, David was crowned as the World Games Greatest Athlete of All Time with receiving a total of 318,943 votes and being the only Malaysian and Asian athlete among 24 candidates.

2. Pandelela Rinong (1993 - )

With an HPI of 28.69, Pandelela Rinong is the 2nd most famous Malaysian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Dato Pandelela Rinong Pamg, (born 2 March 1993) is a Malaysian diver. She has won two Olympic medals and seven World Championships medals. Pandelela represented Malaysia at the 2008 Summer Olympics where she finished 27th in 10m platform. She won the gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. She was chosen to be the flagbearer of Malaysia at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She went on to win the bronze medal in the 10m platform, becoming the first Malaysian female athlete to win an Olympic medal, as well as the first in any sport other than badminton. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she won the silver medal in the 10m synchronized platform with Cheong Jun Hoong.

3. Cheong Jun Hoong (1990 - )

With an HPI of 25.75, Cheong Jun Hoong is the 3rd most famous Malaysian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Cheong Jun Hoong (Chinese: 張俊虹; pinyin: Zhāng Jùnhóng) (born 16 April 1990) is a retired Malaysian diver. She won a silver medal in the synchronised 10m platform event with Pandelela Rinong at the 2016 Summer Olympics. At the 2017 World Aquatics Championships, she became Malaysia's first diving world champion after winning the 10m platform event.