Sports figures awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom:
http://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/26656161/every-sports-figure-awarded-presidential-medal-freedom
| Recipient | Year | Sport | President |
| Robert J. H. Kiphuth | 1963 | Swimming Coach | John F. Kennedy |
| Jesse Owens | 1976 | Track/Olympics | Gerald Ford |
| Joe DiMaggio | 1977 | Baseball | Gerald Ford |
| Paul “Bear” Bryant* | 1983 | Football Coach | Ronald Reagan |
| Jackie Robinson* | 1984 | Baseball | Ronald Reagan |
| Earl Blaik | 1986 | Football Coach | Ronald Reagan |
| Ted Williams | 1991 | Baseball | George H. W. Bush |
| Richard Petty | 1992 | Auto racing | George H. W. Bush |
| Arthur Ashe* | 1993 | Tennis | Bill Clinton |
| Hank Aaron | 2002 | Baseball | George W. Bush |
| John Wooden | 2003 | Basketball Coach | George W. Bush |
| Roberto Clemente* | 2003 | Baseball | George W. Bush |
| Arnold Palmer | 2004 | Golf | George W. Bush |
| Jack Nicklaus | 2005 | Golf | George W. Bush |
| Muhammad Ali | 2005 | Boxing | George W. Bush |
| Frank Robinson | 2005 | Baseball | George W. Bush |
| Buck O’Neil* | 2006 | Baseball | George W. Bush |
| Billie Jean King | 2009 | Tennis | Barack Obama |
| Bill Russell | 2011 | Basketball | Barack Obama |
| Stan Musial | 2011 | Baseball | Barack Obama |
| Pat Summitt | 2012 | Basketball Coach | Barack Obama |
| Dean Smith | 2013 | Basketball Coach | Barack Obama |
| Ernie Banks | 2013 | Baseball | Barack Obama |
| Charles Sifford | 2014 | Golf | Barack Obama |
| Yogi Berra | 2015 | Baseball | Barack Obama |
| Willie Mays | 2015 | Baseball | Barack Obama |
| Vin Scully | 2016 | Baseball Broadcaster | Barack Obama |
| Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 2016 | Basketball | Barack Obama |
| Michael Jordan | 2016 | Basketball | Barack Obama |
| Babe Ruth* | 2018 | Baseball | Donald Trump |
| Roger Staubach | 2018 | Football | Donald Trump |
| Alan Page | 2018 | Football | Donald Trump |
| Tiger Woods | 2019 | Golf | Donald Trump |
| * – Posthumous |