Kimi Antonelli and Jannik Sinner on the Time list of the 100 most influential personalities in sport. Italian excellence conquers the world
They are not just an Italian excellence: Sinner and Antonelli are now constantly recognized as elite figures on the international sporting scene. Even the renowned one American magazine Time has chosen to include them in the list of the 100 most influential personalities in world sport in 2026.
This is not just any list. In fact, alongside the two Italians, there are legendary names such as those of LeBron James And Cristiano Ronaldo.
Kimi Antonelli’s climb
Sinner, who remains the icing on the cake of a formidable movement in Italian tennis, has just returned from a premature (and unexpected) exit in the second round of Roland Garros, due to illness. For Antonelli, on the contrary, the recognition comes at a moment of extraordinary form. Time he recalled a detail that best tells his parable: a year ago, the Mercedes driver celebrated the first podium of his career, and a few days later he sat for his final exams. Today the context has radically changed.
The current results are there for all to see and cannot be erased: five consecutive pole positions, from China and Japan in March, through Miami and Canada in May, up to the latest feat in Monaco. A series that certifies its ability to be competitive on any type of circuit, and a veteran mentality despite his very young age.
The exclusive club of Senna and Schumacher
With those consecutive pole positions, the doors of a very exclusive club were opened to Antonelli, made up of just three drivers: him, Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna. A combination which, for the Bolognese, has a very particular flavour, given that the Brazilian champion has always been his declared idol.
However, there is a difference that makes Antonelli’s feat even more significant: unlike Schumacher and Senna, the Mercedes driver turned those poles into victories. He didn’t just start in front of everyone: he also crossed the finish line first. Another of the numerous details that explain why the world of sport looks to him as one of the absolute protagonists of the present and future.
What Sinner and Antonelli have in common
In less than a year, Kimi went from promising to becoming a star, even if (it’s worth remembering) the season is still long and full of pitfalls, and the world title is far from a given. Sinner, on the other hand, has stopped being considered a talent to become an absolute certainty for some time now (so much so that we are only surprised when he doesn’t win). Antonelli, in this sense, is on the right track. Two different stories and two different sports, which however have in common the ambition to constantly improve. The recognition of Time it is only one of the most authoritative confirmations.
