The best athletes of 2017, from Jose Altuve to Serena Williams

The biggest sports story of 2017 was about top-tier athletes solidifying their legacies. We saw several superstars cement their place in their respective sport's history, transcending from modern figures to all-time legends.

One could feasibly argue that players in five sports (covering men's and women's divisions) made cases for themselves as their respective sport's best performer of all time.

That made ranking the year's best athletes a tough task. Click through the gallery below to see AOL's top 10 athletes of 2017.