This year was big for sports, headlined internationally by two giant marquee events: the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and the Qatar FIFA World Cup. As such, both of those events and the athletes involved in them are some of the top sports-related searches on Google.
However, a trio of tennis stars were the top three most searched athletes on Google globally.
- Novak Djokovic was the top searched athlete on Google in 2022. The Serbian player took the 2022 Wimbledon trophy, earning his 21st Grand Slam title. He is used to being at the top, as Djokivic has been tennis world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks through his professional career.
- Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal was the No. 2 most searched athlete on the site. He has won an all-time record 22 Grand Slams, including a record 14 French Open titles -- his last one happening in 2022.
- No. 3 most searched was American Serena Williams, who started "evolving away" from tennis in 2022. The tennis legend said she is not using the word "retirement," but there were still many tributes in her honor as she played what was, at least for now, her last US Open in September.
Former college football star Manti Te'o came in as the fourth most searched athlete, thanks to him being the subject of a Netflix documentary titled "Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist." It documented Te'o being the victim of a catfishing scandal while he was starring at Notre Dame.
The fifth and sixth most searched athletes were winter sports athletes Shawn White and Yuzuru Hanyu. White, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, announced his retirement during this year's winter games. Hanyu, a Japanese figure skater who is known for getting Winnie the Pooh toys from his fans, also announced his retirement in 2022.
WNBA star Brittney Griner was the seventh most searched athlete. She spent 294 days detained in Russia after custom service discovered vape cartridges containing marijuana concentrate in her luggage in February. She was sentenced to nine years in prison on drug charges, but the United States government negotiated a one-for-one prisoner swap involving convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. Griner was able to go home in December.
Retired soccer Gerard Piqué, ex-UFC champion Cain Velasquez and rising Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz round up the Top 10 most Googled athletes around the world in 2022.
Here are the full Top 10 lists of most searched athletes and sports terms of 2022, according to Google:
Top athletes searched on Google in 2022
- Novak Djokovic (tennis)
- Rafael Nadal (tennis)
- Serena Williams (tennis)
- Manti Te'o (football)
- Shaun White (snowboarding)
- 羽生結弦 Yuzuru Hanyu (figure skating)
- Brittney Griner (WNBA)
- Gerard Piqué (soccer)
- Cain Velasquez (UFC)
- Carlos Alcaraz (tennis)
Top sports terms searched on Google in 2022
- World Cup
- Olympic medal count
- flames
- Olympics
- CFL scores
- T20 World Cup 2022
- Asia Cup 2022
- Canada soccer
- Golden State Warriors
- Indian Wells tennis
