Ronaldo - the highest paid athlete on the planet; another woman in the top 100

Sportico's annual ranking of the world's 100 highest-paid athletes surprised with the total absence of women, Reuters reports. Although Coco Gauff, the American tennis star, was the highest-paid athlete in 2024, with $30.4 million, this gain was insufficient to enter the top, where the minimum threshold was $37.5 million.

• Cristiano Ronaldo, detached leader with $260 million

For the second consecutive year, Cristiano Ronaldo dominates the ranking, with income of $260 million, of which $215 million comes from his contract with Al Nassr (Saudi Pro League), and the remaining $45 million from sponsorships and other commercial activities. The top five highest-paid athletes of 2024 are: Cristiano Ronaldo (soccer) - $260 million; Stephen Curry (basketball) - $153.8 million; Tyson Fury (boxing) - $147 million; Lionel Messi (soccer) - $135 million; LeBron James (basketball) - $133.2 million. Other athletes who have broken the $100 million mark include footballers Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Karim Benzema, boxer Oleksandr Usyk, golfers Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler, and Dak Prescott (NFL).

• A 14% increase from last year

The combined earnings of the top 100 athletes reached $6.2 billion, marking a 14% increase from the previous year. The list includes athletes from eight different sports and 27 countries. The absence of female athletes in this ranking raises questions about the financial disparities between men's and women's sports. Although Coco Gauff and other tennis players like Iga ¦wi±tek and Naomi Osaka have significant earnings, they fail to compete with the huge sums generated by football players, basketball players and boxers. This trend largely reflects the differences in sponsorship deals, prize money and audience generated by men's versus women's sports competitions.