Marca Leyenda Explained

Marca Leyenda (Marca legend) is an award given by the Spanish sports newspaper Marca to the best sport professionals in history. Since its inception in 1997 over 80 people have received this award.

List of winners

Date	Winner	Sport
1 June 2023	Karim Benzema	Football
18 May 2022	Luka Modrić	Football
16 May 2022	Jesús Ángel García	Athletics
30 December 2021	Simone Biles	Artistic gymnastics
18 December 2020	Russell Coutts	Sailing
29 January 2020	Mike Powell	Athletics
16 November 2019	Sergio García	Golf
29 July 2019	Cristiano Ronaldo^[1]	Football
7 March 2019	Javier Fernández^[2]	Figure skating
14 December 2018	Juan Carlos Navarro	Basketball
8 November 2018	Bob Beamon	Athletics
4 April 2018	Hugo Sánchez	Football
11 December 2017	Marc Márquez	Motorcycle sport
14 December 2016	Luis Suárez^[3]	Football
13 September 2016	Ruth Beitia	Athletics
1 May 2016	Novak Djokovic	Tennis
2 December 2015	Xavi^[4]	Football
29 November 2015	José María Olazábal	Golf
7 October 2015	Teresa Perales	Swimming
5 May 2015	David Cal	Canoe racing
2 October 2014	Kilian Jornet	Trail running
24 September 2014	Javier Gómez Noya	Triathlon
12 February 2014	Marcelino	Football
28 September 2012	Kelly Slater	Surfer
27 September 2012	Luis Arconada	Football
15 June 2012	Quini	Football
2 June 2012	Fernando Torres	Football
14 March 2012	Franz Beckenbauer	Football
10 November 2011	Fernando Hierro	Football
8 August 2011	Andrés Iniesta	Football
14 April 2011	Fabio Capello	Football
1 April 2011	Ronaldo	Football
18 January 2011	Ángel María Villar	Football
18 January 2011	Vicente del Bosque	Football
16 December 2010	David Stern	Basketball
27 November 2010	Fernando Alonso	Auto racing
2 November 2010	Jorge Lorenzo	Motorcycle sport
2 June 2010	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Basketball
27 May 2010	Edurne Pasaban	Mountaineering
18 March 2010	Muhammad Ali	Boxing
17 November 2009	Paolo Maldini	Football
19 October 2009	Kaká	Football
24 September 2009	Luca Cordero di Montezemolo	Auto racing
31 August 2009	Usain Bolt	Athletics
30 June 2009	Federico Martín Bahamontes	Road bicycle racing
29 April 2009	Lionel Messi	Football
3 March 2009	Raúl González	Football
15 December 2008	Rafael Nadal	Tennis
15 December 2008	Juan Carlos I	Others
24 October 2008	Valentino Rossi	Motorcycle sport
20 August 2008	Michael Phelps	Swimming
1 July 2008	Luis Aragonés	Football
30 January 2008	Zinedine Zidane	Football
5 December 2007	Francisco Gento	Football
18 October 2007	Roger Federer	Tennis
25 September 2006	Pau Gasol	Basketball
7 July 2005	John McEnroe	Tennis
6 March 2005	Sergey Bubka	Athletics
28 January 2005	Haile Gebrselassie	Athletics
25 November 2004	Manolo Santana	Tennis
18 October 2004	Andre Agassi	Tennis
22 May 2002	Martina Navratilova	Tennis
2 April 2002	Mark Spitz	Swimming
6 January 2002	Magic Johnson	Basketball
4 June 2001	Juanito Oiarzabal	Mountaineering
1 March 2001	Michael Schumacher	Auto racing
26 July 2000	Eddy Merckx	Road bicycle racing
7 May 2000	Niki Lauda	Auto racing
26 December 1999	Carl Lewis	Athletics
11 November 1999	Ángel Nieto	Motorcycle sport
5 October 1999	Alfredo Di Stéfano	Football
1 October 1999	Diego Armando Maradona	Football
21 September 1999	Juan Antonio Samaranch	International Olympic Committee
21 June 1999	Johan Cruyff	Football
11 January 1999	Seve Ballesteros	Golf
27 November 1998	Pete Sampras	Tennis
20 July 1998	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Tennis
17 June 1998	Alberto Tomba	Alpine skiing
28 March 1998	Carlos Sainz	Auto racing
23 March 1998	Nadia Comăneci	Artistic gymnastics
22 January 1998	Manel Estiarte	Waterpolo
18 December 1997	Garry Kasparov	Chess
11 December 1997	Miguel Indurain	Road bicycle racing
27 November 1997	Michael Doohan	Motorcycle sport
15 November 1997	Pelé	Football
16 October 1997	Michael Jordan	Basketball