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The world's highest-earning athletes of 2016

How much you earn as a sporting superstar
40) Serena Williams – Tennis, $28.9m (£22.1m)
39) Olivier Vernon – American Football, $29m (£22.2m)
38) Cliff Lee – Baseball, $29.3m (£22.4m)
37) Chris Paul – Basketball, $30m (£23m)
36) Carmelo Anthony – Basketball, $30.9m (£23.6m)
35) Drew Brees – American Football, $32m (£24.5m)
Joint 33) Dwyane Wade – Basketball, $32m (£24.4m)
Joint 33) Clayton Kershaw – Baseball, $32m (£24.4m)
32) Usain Bolt – Track, $32.5m (£25m)
31) James Harden – Basketball, $32.8m (£25.1m)
30) A.J. Green – American Football, $33.3m (£25.1m)
29) Kei Nishikori – Tennis, $33.5m (£25.6m)
28) Derrick Rose – Basketball, $34.1m (£26.1m)
27) Peyton Manning – American Football, $34.2m (£26.2m)
26) Marcell Dareus – American Football, $35.2m (£27m)
25) Gareth Bale – Soccer, $35.9m (£27.5m)
24) Fernando Alonso – Motor Racing, $36.5m (£28m)
23) Zlatan Ibrahimovic – Soccer, $37.4m (£28.6m)
Joint 21) Neymar – Soccer, $37.5m (£28.7m)
Joint 21) Rafael Nadal – Tennis, $37.5m (£28.7m)
20) Philip Rivers – American Football, $38m (£27.2m)
19) Sebastian Vettel – Motor Racing, $41m (£31.4m)
18) Russell Wilson – American Football, $41.8m (£32m)
17) Rory McIlroy – Golf, $42.6m (£32.6m)
16) Floyd Mayweather – Boxing, $44m (£33.7m)
15) Tom Brady – American Football, $44.1m (£27.6m)
14) Joe Flacco – American Football, $44.5m (£34.1m)
13) Eli Manning – American Football, $45m (£35m)
12) Tiger Woods – Golf, $45.3m (£34.7m)
11) Lewis Hamilton – Motor Racing, $46m (£35.2m)
10) Kobe Bryant – Basketball, $50m (£38.3m)
9) Jordan Spieth – Golf, $52.8m £40.4m)
8) Phil Mickelson – Golf, $52.9m (£40.5m)
7) Cam Newton – American Football, $53.1m (£40.7m)
6) Novak Djokovic – Tennis $55.8m (£42.7m)
5) Kevin Durant – Basketball, $56.2m (£43m)
4) Roger Federer – Tennis, $67.8m (£52m)
3) LeBron James – Basketball, $77.2M
2) Lionel Messi – Football, $81.4m (£62.4m)
1) Cristiano Ronaldo – Football, $88m (£67.4m)
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How much you earn as a sporting superstar

The highest-earning 100 athletes made an incredible £2.45 billion over the past 12 months – up an amazing 17% year on year. With the Rio Olympics in full swing, we reveal the top 40 highest-paid athletes between May 2015-May 2016, according to Forbes.
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08 August 2016

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