Tiger Woods drops into tie with Kobe Bryant as favorite American sports star

more images

more images

Woods drops into tie with Bryant as favorite star

NEW YORK — Tiger Woods has dropped into a tie with Kobe Bryant as the favorite American sports star.

Woods had held the position alone since 2006, but the Los Angeles Lakers guard moved up from fourth last year to grab a share of the top spot, Harris Interactive said Tuesday.

LeBron James dropped from third to sixth in the company’s survey of 2,227 adults conducted online from June 14-21, before he left Cleveland to sign with Miami. Retired NBA star Michael Jordan fell from second to seventh.

Yankees captain Derek Jeter moved up one spot to third and quarterback Brett Favre went from ninth to fourth. Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning was fifth, up from seventh.

New England quarterback Tom Brady, who failed to make the top 10 last year, returned at No. 8, followed by New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees and NASCAR’s Dale Earnhardt Jr.

NASCAR’s Jeff Gordon and St. Louis first baseman Albert Pujols dropped out of the top 10.

Among female athletes, sisters Serena and Venus Williams were 1-2, followed by race car driver Danica Patrick, retired soccer star Mia Hamm and tennis stars Maria Sharapova and Anna Kournikova.

Volleyball player Misty May-Treanor was tied for seventh with gymnast Shawn Johnson, basketball player Lisa Leslie was ninth, and retired tennis players Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova were tied for 10th.

Dropping out of the top 10 were basketball’s Candace Parker, golfer Annika Sorenstam, former tennis star Chris Evert and skater Michelle Kwan.