10 Athletes Who Won ‘Dancing With the Stars’

Dancing With the Stars is back, and this season is all about athletes.

Athletes including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tonya Harding, Johnny Damon and Adam Rippon will hit the dancefloor for the season, but they are far from the first athletes to grace the DWTS stage.

In fact, ten athletes have won Dancing the Stars over the past 25 seasons of the show.

Scroll through to see which sports greats came out on top.

Emmitt Smith

It only took three seasons for an athlete to dominate the competition.

The NFL’s all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith was the first athlete to win the competition. He was paired up with Cheryl Burke for the season and edged out actors Mario Lopez (with Karina Smirnoff) and Joey Lawrence (with Edyta Śliwińska) in the finals.

Apolo Anton Ohno

Smith’s win set off a streak of athletes taking over DWTS.

Speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno was the second of four-straight sports figures to take the crown. The eight-time Olympic medalist was a fan-favorite, partnered with one of the all-time DWTS greats, Julianne Hough.

Ohno also appeared on the show’s all-star season, but he sadly finished outside the top 3.

Hélio Castroneves

Hough racked up another athlete win in season 5 with race car driver Hélio Castroneves.

Castroneves beat out Mel B (with Maksim Chmerkovskiy) and Marie Osmond (with Jonathan Roberts) in that seasons’ finals to become the only winner with a racing background.

Kristi Yamaguchi

Kristi Yamaguchi kept up the streak with a season 6 win.

The Olympic figure skater partnerned up with Mark Ballas to dominate the season. She beat out fellow sports star Jason Taylor (with Edyta Śliwińska) and actor Cristián de la Fuente (with Cheryl Burke) in the finals.

Yamaguchi was the final athlete in this winner streak, which ended during season 7.

Shawn Johnson

After former NFL star Warren Sapp fell to Brooke Burke in season 7, athletes got back on top in season 8.

Beloved Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson won big with one of the show’s top talents, Mark Ballas. They edged out Gilles Marini (with Cheryl Burke) and Melissa Rycroft (with Tony Dovolani) to take home the Mirror Ball.

Johnson also returned in season 15,  but she and partner Derek Hough finished in second place.

Hines Ward

Former Pittsburgh Steelers player Hines Ward added his name to the winners list in season 12.

He and partner Kym Johnson took down a tough field of competitors, including Kirstie Alley (with Maksim Chmerkovskiy) and Chelsea Kane (with Mark Ballas) to win the title.

Donald Driver

Ward is not the only wide receiver to have a Mirror Ball on his mantle.

Green Bay Packers great Donald Driver teamed up with DWTS heavy-hitter Peta Murgatroyd for season 14 and defeated competitors Katherine Jenkins (with Mark Ballas) and William Levy (with Cheryl Burke) in the finals.

Driver fared far better than the other athlete on season. Tennis player Martina Navratilova was the first competitor out of the competition.

Meryl Davis

Ice dancer Meryl Davis carried her talents to the dancefloor in season 18 and emerged triumphant.

Davis famously teamed up with Maksim Chmerkovskiy, in what was his first DWTS win.

In the finals, the pair defeated snowboarder Amy Purdy (with Derek Hough) and Fuller House actress Candace Cameron Bure (with Mark Ballas).

Laurie Hernandez

Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez kicked off back-to-athelete wins in season 23.

Hernandez, the youngest female winner thus far, teamed with Valentin Chmerkovskiy to take down IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe (with Sharna Burgess) and Detroit Lions player Calvin Johnson Jr. (with Lindsay Arnold).

Rashad Jennings

Former NFL player Rashad Jennings is the most recent athlete to win a DWTS season

In season 24, he and Emma Slater edged out MLB player David Ross (with Lindsay Arnold) and singer Normani Kordei (with Valentin Chmerkovskiy) in the finals.

Dancing With the Stars airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Photo Credit: ABC / Eric McCandless