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The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Spain

This page contains a list of the greatest Spanish Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 3,059 Athletes, 56 of which were born in Spain. This makes Spain the birth place of the 21st most number of Athletes behind Netherlands and Czechia.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Spanish Athletes of all time. This list of famous Spanish 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 Spanish Athletes.

1. Francisco Villota (1873 - 1950)

With an HPI of 45.62, Francisco Villota is the most famous Spanish Athlete. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages on wikipedia.

Francisco Villota y Baquiola (18 November 1873 – 7 January 1950) was a Spanish pelotari (player of Basque pelota) who competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. Villota competed in the only official pelota contest in Olympic history, the Basque pelota at the 1900 Summer Olympics two-man teams event. He and his partner José de Amézola y Aspizúa were given the silver medal (equivalent nowadays to the gold medal) after achieving the first place without having to play, since the only other contestants, the French team, Maurice Durquetty and Etchegaray, withdrew due to a disagreement about the rules. This was Spain's first ever Olympic Medal.

2. Jorge Llopart (1952 - 2020)

With an HPI of 42.23, Jorge Llopart is the 2nd most famous Spanish Athlete. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Jorge "Jordi" Llopart Ribas (5 May 1952 – 11 November 2020) was a Spanish race walker. He competed in the 50 km event at the 1980, 1984, and 1988 Olympics and won a silver medal in 1980. The silver medal was Spain's first ever medal in athletics. Llopart was a European champion in this event in 1978.

3. Sandra Sánchez (1981 - )

With an HPI of 41.60, Sandra Sánchez is the 3rd most famous Spanish Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Sandra Sánchez Jaime (born 16 September 1981) is a retired Spanish karateka. She won the gold medal in the women's kata event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She is a two-time gold medalist in the women's individual kata event at the World Karate Championships (2018 and 2021). She also won the gold medal in this event at the European Karate Championships in seven consecutive competitions (2015 – 2022). She is also recognised by Guinness World Records for winning the most medals in the Karate1 Premier League; she won 35 consecutive medals between January 2014 and February 2020.

4. Ruth Beitia (1979 - )

With an HPI of 41.49, Ruth Beitia is the 4th most famous Spanish Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Ruth Beitia Vila (Spanish pronunciation: [rut ˈβejtja]; born 1 April 1979) is a retired high jumper who was the 2016 Olympic champion in the women's high jump. She was also a politician in the Partido Popular and a member of the Parliament of Cantabria.

5. Kílian Jornet Burgada (1987 - )

With an HPI of 40.68, Kílian Jornet Burgada is the 5th most famous Spanish Athlete. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Kílian Jornet (Catalan pronunciation: [̍ˈkiljən ʒuɾˈnɛt buɾˈɣaðə]; born 27 October 1987) is a Spanish professional long-distance trail runner and ski mountaineer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest trail runners of all time, he has won some of the most prestigious ultramarathons, including the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc multiple times, Grand Raid, Western States and Hardrock. Jornet holds the fastest known time speed record for the ascent and descent of major mountains including the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc. In addition, he holds the 24-hour uphill skiing record: 23,864-meters (78,274 ft).

6. José Marín (1950 - )

With an HPI of 39.32, José Marín is the 6th most famous Spanish Athlete. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

José Marín Sospedra (Catalan: Josep Marín i Sospedra; born 21 January 1950) is a retired Spanish racewalker.

7. Fermín Cacho (1969 - )

With an HPI of 38.69, Fermín Cacho is the 7th most famous Spanish Athlete. His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Fermín Cacho Ruiz (born 16 February 1969) is a Spanish track and field athlete, winner of the gold medal in the 1500m at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and the silver medal in the 1500m at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Born in Ágreda, Spain, Cacho had an enviable competitive record in the 1500 m, but it was not until late in his career that he produced a time of corresponding quality. Cacho's first notable result came in 1990, when he finished second in the 1500 m at the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow. At the 1991 World Indoor Championships in Seville, Cacho finished again second in the 1500 m, behind Noureddine Morceli. At the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Cacho was not considered a serious gold medal prospect. But the Olympic 1500 m final was run at a very pedestrian pace, and Cacho positioned himself perfectly in the final lap, and outsprinted his rivals, with a last lap of 50.6 seconds, to win the gold medal in 3:40.12. In 1993 at Stuttgart in World Championships, Cacho finished second, but took the 1500 m title at the European Championships in Helsinki in the next year. In World Championships at Gothenburg, Cacho only finished in eighth place. After a relatively lean year in 1995, Cacho was back to his best in the early part of the 1996 season, leading up to the Olympic Games in Atlanta. Although Cacho was the defending Olympic 1500 m champion, the final in Atlanta was considered to be a match race between Morceli and Hicham El Guerrouj, who had filled the first two places at the previous year's World Championships. Approaching the completion of the third lap, Morceli was leading from El Guerrouj, when suddenly the Moroccan tripped and fell. In taking evasive action, Cacho was forced to leap over the fallen El Guerrouj, in a manoeuvre which he later estimated had lost him 5 metres of ground to Morceli, who had commenced his final lap sprint for the finish. Cacho chased Morceli around the last lap, but was unable to catch him. In the end Morceli won by 5 metres from the second-placed Cacho. At the World Championships in Athens in 1997, Cacho won a silver medal again, and at the end of the same season he finally managed to run his world class time, when he finished second at the 1500 m behind El Guerrouj with a time of 3:28.95, which moved him to third on the all-time world list behind Morceli and El Guerrouj. He won the bronze medal at the 1998 European Championships in Budapest, and finished fourth in the World Championships at Seville in 1999. Cacho suffered an Achilles' tendon injury in 2000, causing him to miss the opportunity to add to his Olympic gold and silver medals at 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He held the European record at 1500 m with a time of 3:28.95 for 16 years (1997–2013), until Mo Farah broke it with a time of 3:28.81.

8. Daniel Plaza (1966 - )

With an HPI of 37.56, Daniel Plaza is the 8th most famous Spanish Athlete. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Daniel Plaza Montero (born 3 July 1966) is a Spanish former race walker who competed in the 20 km event at the 1988, 1992 and 1996 Olympics. He won a gold medal in 1992 in his native Barcelona, becoming the first Spanish track & field athlete ever to win an Olympic gold medal.

9. Martín Fiz (1963 - )

With an HPI of 37.10, Martín Fiz is the 9th most famous Spanish Athlete. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Martín Fiz Martín (born 3 March 1963 in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava) is a long-distance runner from Spain.

10. Abel Antón (1962 - )

With an HPI of 36.53, Abel Antón is the 10th most famous Spanish Athlete. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Abel Antón Rodrigo (born 24 October 1962 in Ojuel, Cabrejas del Campo, Soria) is a Spanish long-distance runner on the track and road.

People

Pantheon has 56 people classified as athletes born between 1873 and 2003. Of these 56, 52 (92.86%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living athletes include Sandra Sánchez, Ruth Beitia, and Kílian Jornet Burgada. The most famous deceased athletes include Francisco Villota, Jorge Llopart, and Jesús Rollán. As of April 2022, 18 new athletes have been added to Pantheon including Sandra Sánchez, José Marín, and José Manuel Abascal.