Values & belief

Which living person do you most admire, and why?

406 answers answered between 1985 and 2026 one of 25 in The Q&A

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

The Guardian's Q&A repeatedly uses this prompt, sometimes dropping 'living' while retaining the same comparative judgment.

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On the record

Public figures who have answered a question like this elsewhere. Quoted from the source shown, not written for FLAPSS.

Read by field Everyone Science and medicine 2 Arts and letters 338 Politics and public life 27 Business and finance 15 Technology 2 Sport 22
Read by age Any age Before thirty 19 In their thirties 60 In their forties 77 In their fifties 68 In their sixties 50 Seventy and beyond 61
Order Earliest first Most recent Surprise me
Rafael Nadal Spanish professional tennis player, 2001–2024
Just normal people from my hometown, from my country.
Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, October 2010 source ↗
Sebastian Coe British athlete and politician
Among others, Mikhail Gorbachev for leadership that enabled the peaceful transition from communism in eastern Europe.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 July 2012 source ↗
Andy Roddick American tennis player
I look up to people such as Andre Agassi who use their fame as a pedestal for causes. He was great to me early on in my career.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 June 2015 source ↗
David Haye British boxer
Muhammad Ali – he made boxing the glamorous sport it is today. Last month I launched a petition to grant him an honorary knighthood.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 April 2016 source ↗
Vinnie Jones English professional footballer and actor
David Attenborough, because he gets to do all the things with wildlife that I dream of.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 June 2016 source ↗
Lleyton Hewitt Australian professional tennis player
Greg Norman, for the way he handles winning and losing.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 9 July 2016 source ↗
Max Whitlock English artistic gymnast
Usain Bolt for his attitude, the amount of confidence he’s got, the way he delivers every time.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 October 2016 source ↗
Laura Kenny English cyclist
Stephen Hawking: what he does is incredible. My nan died of motor neurone disease, which he has.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 January 2017 source ↗
Simone Biles United States artistic gymnast
My parents: they raised me to be the best I can be.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 February 2017 source ↗
Ivan Lendl Czech and American tennis player
People who have done really well in their sports: in tennis, Steffi Graf; in ice hockey, Wayne Gretzky.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 July 2017 source ↗
Jonnie Peacock British athlete
David Beckham. He was my idol growing up and I met him in 2000, just before the England game against Romania.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 January 2018 source ↗
Chris Hoy British track cyclist, 1994–2013
Jason Queally, a former teammate. He is older than me and was Olympic champion in Sydney. The way he mentored me, even though he knew I would be a rival, was amazing.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 February 2018 source ↗
Johanna Konta British tennis player
My parents, because they did what they did to give me the opportunities to do what I do. They left their lives behind in Australia and started again in their 40s in a new country.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 June 2018 source ↗
Joe Wicks British fitness coach, television presenter and author
My mum was only 17 when she had my brother, and 19 when she had me. She was learning the ropes as she went along, and had a heroin addict boyfriend, which wasn’t easy.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 May 2020 source ↗
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Basketball player and author
Barack Obama has shown us how to be a politician guided by intelligence, integrity, and compassion.
Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, August 2020 source ↗

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