Anna Kournikova is the most popular sports star of 2000, according to searches by Lycos users.
Kournikova was number one when we unveiled the first ever Lycos Sports 50 back in June and her popularity certainly has not flagged since then. Her beauty and charisma seem to render her impervious to the online disinterest that other individual athletes face.
As we noted in June, sports leagues and events may do very well online but searches for individual athletes pale in comparison to musicians, models, and TV stars. Only Anna Kournikova will make this year's overall Top 50, and only Kournikova and Michael Jordan can make the overall Top 200.
While our weekly Top 10 which appears at Lycos Sports considers only active athletes, we've also considered retired and deceased athletes for this list. The rank in parentheses comes from June's Sports 50.
THE TOP 20:
1. Anna Kournikova (1)
2. Michael Jordan (2)
3. Vince Carter (4)
4. Tiger Woods (13)
5. Allen Iverson (6)
6. Martina Hingis (8)
7. clubs (10)
8. Jackie Robinson (9)
9. Mike Tyson (17)
10. Kobe Bryant (16)
11. Katarina Witt (7)
12. Babe Ruth (12)
13. Muhammed Ali (5)
14. Ian Thorpe (-)
15. Dale Earnhardt (15)
16. Jason Williams (24)
17. John Rocker (23)
18. Derek Jeter (22)
19. Mia Hamm (11)
20. Serena Williams (37)
WRESTLING: We didn't include pro wrestlers on this list, but if we did, Sable, Trish Stratus, and The Rock would be #2, #3, and #4, with Michael Jordan dropping to #5 and Chyna at #6. Those wrasslers sure are popular.
WITTNESS: What is the reason for the continued popularity of ice skater Katarina Witt? She far out-polls other professional skaters, with about three times as many searches as Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski. Sure, there is the "babe factor," but she posed for Playboy two years ago now? where's the statute of limitations here?
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Aussie swimmer Ian Thorpe and Aussie (but Russian-born) pole vaulter Tatiana Grigorieva (#21) were the breakout stars of the Olympics online.
COMEBACK OF THE YEAR: Mike Tyson. Rumors now say he might fight Evander Holyfield again. For the love of god and ears, please say no.
HOT IN 1999, NOT SO HOT IN 2000: Shirtless soccer star Brandi Chastain, sluggers Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire.
STRANGELY ABSENT: Baseball players as a rule don't garner many searches, and Pedro Martinez is way, way down the search lists despite what may have been the two greatest pitching seasons ever.
ONES TO WATCH 2001: Jelena Dokic seems to be the next teenage tennis star? There are 252 million reasons why Texas shortstop Alex Rodriguez should be more popular in 2001.
In fact, tomorrow we'll see if Alex's monster contract puts him in this week's Lycos 50. Then Wednesday we unveil the big kahuna, The Web's Most Wanted Top 50 of 2000.
Note: These rankings reflect all terms entered into the Lycos search engine by users between January 1 and November 30, 2000. All spellings and search variations are included in these totals: for instance, searches for Anna Kornikova and Anna Kournikova pics are counted as searches for Anna Kournikova. For more details about how we create these lists, please see our Lycos 50 FAQ.
