Yearender: Top 10 world athletes of 2016

Following are the world top 10 athletes in 2016 selected by Xinhua News Agency:

1 Michael Phelps (USA)

31, swimmer. At the Rio 2016, his fifth Olympics, Phelps won five golds and one silver, becoming the most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals, including 23 golds in five consecutive Olympic editions. He was named the FINA Athlete of the Year and received "Aquatic Legend, the Greatest of All Time" award in 2016.

2 Usain Bolt (Jamaica)

30, sprinter. Regarded as the fastest human ever timed, Bolt won the 100m, 200m and 4X100m relay at three consecutive Olympic Games since Beijing 2008, and is the first man to hold both the 100m and 200m world records since fully automatic time became mandatory. He was crowned the IAAF World Athletes of the Year for the sixth time in 2016.

3 Andy Murray (Britain)

29, tennis player. Murray snatched his career first ATP Tour Finals title by dethroning four-time defending champion Novak Djokovic, ascending to year-end No. 1. He also became the first British man to reach world No. 1 since the introduction of rankings in 1973. Murray dominated the calendar year of 2016, winning Wimbledon and the Rio Olympics, followed by four consecutive championships in Beijing, Shanghai, Vienna and Paris.

4 Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)

31, soccer player. Ronaldo played a key role as team captain in lifting the trophy at Euro 2016, Portugal's first ever triumph in a major tournament, with three goals and three assists, making him the joint second-highest goal scorer. Ronaldo struck the winning penalty in Real Madrid's Champions League final shoot-out victory over Atletico Madrid, finishing as top scorer in the competition for a fourth season running with 16 goals. He received his fourth Ballon d'Or in 2016.

5 Zhu Ting (China)

19, volleyball player. Zhu Ting was named Rio Olympics MVP and Best Outside Hitter by FIVB for her stellar performance in helping the Chinese women's volleyball team win the Olympics championship for the second time in 13 years. Zhu joined Vakifbank club in Turkey in September, setting an unprecedented example for Chinese volleyball players aiming to play abroad in their career peak. Zhu is doing her part to shoot Chinese volleyball to international stardom. She follows in the footsteps of Lang Ping, the women's volleyball MVP in the 1984 Olympics and the first person, male or female, to have won gold at the Olympics both as a player and as a coach.

6 Simone Biles (USA)

19, gymnast. Biles is the 2016 Olympic individual all-around, vault and floor gold medalist. She was also part of the gold medal-winning team in Rio. Biles is a three-time world all-around champion and a three-time world floor champion (in 2013-2015). She is also a two-time world balance beam champion in (2014 and 2015). Having won a combined total of 19 Olympic and world championship medals, including 10 world championship golds, Biles is the most decorated female gymnast in the world.

7 Stephen Curry (USA)

28, basketball player. Curry, guard for the Golden State Warriors, became the first player in NBA history to be elected MVP by a unanimous vote in the 2015-2016 season. A season earlier, Curry also won the MVP title, and led the Warriors to their first championship since 1975. Curry averaged league-leading 30.1 points and 6.7 assists in the regular season and 25.1 points and 5.2 assists in the playoffs, carrying the Warriors to the 2015-2016 NBA Finals.

8 Katinka Hosszu (Hungary)

27, swimmer. Hosszu is a three-time Olympic champion and five-time long-course world champion, winning the 100m backstroke, along with the 400m and 200m individual medleys at the Rio Olympics. She is also the world record holder in the 100m, 200m and 400m individual medleys (long and short courses), 100m backstroke (short course) and 200m backstroke (short course). Hosszu was crowned FINA Athlete of the Year in 2016.

9 Almaz Ayana (Ethiopia)

25, long-distance runner. Ayana smashed the 23-year-old 10,000 meter world record held by Chinese runner Wang Junxia by nearly 14 seconds, winning gold at the Rio Olympics with a time of 29 minutes 17.45 seconds. She was named the female World Athlete of the Year at the IAAF Athletics Awards 2016.

10 Angelique Kerber

28, tennis player. Kerber defeated defending champion and then-world No. 1 Serena Williams to win the Australia Open, her first Grand Slam title, followed by her second major in US Open. She added to this with a runner-up slot at Wimbledon. She achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 1 on September 12, becoming the 22nd and oldest player to reach the No. 1 ranking for the first time. She also became the second player after China's Li Na to pocket two major titles while aged over 28. Enditem