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15th Aug 2015

Cristiano Ronaldo named top athlete in the world for something you might not expect

Heart of gold...

JOE

It’s easy to jump to conclusions about Cristiano Ronaldo from the stories that we read about him.

The pictures of him flexing his muscles suggest that he’s vain. When he buys his agent-friend an *island* as a wedding gift, he’s lavish. His on-field strops in reaction to his teammate’s mistakes tell us that he’s got an ego.

What’s sometimes overlooked is that aside from all this, he’s a pretty generous bloke – generous enough, in fact, to be named the world’s most charitable athlete.

Topping the ‘Athletes Gone Good’ list, the Real Madrid man was recognised for his work as a spokesperson for a number of causes, including child hunger and obesity.

He is also known to have made a significant donation to the Portuguese cancer centre that treated his mother and over £50,000 to a 10-year-old fan that was in need of brain surgery.

He beat athletes like John Cena, LeBron James and Neymar to the top spot.

Maybe we should keep things like this in mind the next time we read something negative about him?