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Oct 12, 2021 · Sanjib Sah. October 12, 2021. This article was last updated by Sujan on June 13, 2023. Who are the most well-known female athletes of the time? That is a fascinating question because more and more women are demonstrating how incredible they can be in their chosen sport.
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- Serena Williams. USA, tennis. In the 14 months between her last match of 2017 (when she picked up Grand Slam title No. 23) and her return to the WTA from maternity leave in March 2018, Serena Williams, who ranks No. 12 on the World Fame 100, remained the most visible player in tennis.
- Maria Sharapova. Russia, tennis. In April 2017, Maria Sharapova returned to professional tennis -- thanks to wild cards into tourneys in Stuttgart, Madrid and Rome -- after serving a 15-month doping suspension.
- Venus Williams. USA, tennis. Despite playing bridesmaid at the 2017 Aussie Open, Wimbledon and WTA Finals -- and in little sister Serena's wedding in November -- Venus Williams experienced a resurgence on the court, playing some of the consistently best tennis of her career.
- Saina Nehwal. India, badminton. Saina Nehwal is so good at badminton that even a career-threatening knee injury -- one she suffered at the Rio Olympics in 2016 -- couldn't keep her from dominating.
- Billie Jean King
- Naomi Osaka
- Maya Moore
- Michele Roberts
- Simone Biles
- Terri Jackson
- Nneka Ogwumike
- Megan Rapinoe
- Lisa Joseph Metelus
- Crystal Dunn
Tennis legend and social activist
A true icon and one of the most renowned tennis players in history, King has dedicated her life to fighting for change and equality, using her on-court skills to garner respect and recognition for female athletes and her activism to help pass Title IX and secure opportunities for the women in sports today. King is the first female athlete to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom; the first woman to have a namesake major sporting venue, the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in N...
WTA World No. 3 and three-time Grand Slam champion
In the seven matches it took to win her third major title at the 2020 U.S. Open, Osaka donned seven masks, all spotlighting the names of Black victims of police brutality and racial injustice. While her three-set, comeback victory over Victoria Azarenka in the final was undeniably impressive, the 22-year-old has been resolute and relentless in using her platform to speak up in 2020. “All the people that were telling me to ‘keep politics out of sports’ (which it wasn’t political at all), reall...
Minnesota Lynx forward
Since stepping away from basketball and hitting pause on her flourishing career in early 2019, Maya Moore has been a tireless advocate for criminal justice reform, ultimately helping to free Jonathan Irons, the man whose case she became heavily involved in and married in 2020. A four-time WNBA champion and 2014 WNBA MVP, Moore has now sat out two straight seasons to fight for justice and use her platform to impact social change.
Executive director, National Basketball Players Association
In August 2014, Roberts became the first woman leader of a major professional sports union in North America. In the years since, the South Bronx native has secured salary increases and better schedules for the NBA players she represents. In early March, Roberts announced that she would be stepping down from her role. But when the coronavirus pandemic hit and shut down the NBA season on March 11, Roberts halted her retirement plans and immediately pivoted to helping shepherd players through th...
U.S. gymnast
With a combined total of 30 Olympic and world championship medals, the most decorated, dominant gymnast ever was poised to add to her haul this summer at the Tokyo Olympics. Even with the Summer Games postponed to 2021, Biles doesn’t need more hardware to prove her power, poise and persistence, particularly in matters away from the mat. The 23-year-old came forward with accounts of how she, too had been sexually abused by Larry Nassar and continues to push her sport forward as she fights for...
Executive director, Women’s National Basketball Players Association
After serving as the NCAA’s director of law, policy and governance, Jackson became the WNBPA’s first executive director in 2016. In her role, Jackson spearheaded the recent players’ union negotiations with league officials, which resulted in a new, eight-year collective bargaining agreement that secured players a 53% pay increase, paid maternity leave and fertility benefits, upgraded travel arrangements and more. Jackson has also been integral in helping the union navigate the coronavirus pan...
Los Angeles Sparks forward
She’s a WNBA champion, six-time WNBA All-Star and WNBA MVP award winner, but Ogwumike is making her presence felt off the court in an even bigger way. As president of the WNBPA, the 30-year-old was an integral part of securing a groundbreaking, eight-year collective bargaining agreement earlier this year, and, most recently, she helped construct the details of the “Wubble” for the 2020 season while making sure the players were able to be leaders in the fight for social justice.
USWNT, OL Reign
In 2019, Megan Rapinoe was honored for her World Cup performance and outspoken voice by being named Sports Illustrated's Sportsperson of the Year, marking just the fourth woman in the award's 66-year history to win it unaccompanied, a feat that is both a remarkable athletic achievement and a reflection of entrenched gender biases. Since then, Rapinoe has doubled down on her tireless fight for racial and gender equality, LGBTQ rights and social justice, refusing to be silent in the face of adv...
Executive, CAA Sports and CAA board member
Since joining CAA Sports, a division of Creative Artists Agency, in 2011, Metelus has helped her basketball clients with off-the-court endeavors, including endorsements, philanthropy, speaking engagements and more. Her client list of more than four dozen NBA players includes Dwyane Wade, Zion Williamson, Jaren Jackson Jr., Collin Sexton, and Tyler Johnson, among others. In June 2020, Metelus was promoted to the CAA board, the group that is responsible for the day-to-day management of the agen...
USWNT, North Carolina Courage
The USWNT star and 2019 World Cup champion is known for being a resilient, versatile player that excels in every position on the field, but she’s also proved to be a powerful advocate off the field, too. Playing in the NWSL, which was the first of the major pro sports to return after the pandemic shutdown, Dunn has raised her voice as a Black woman to call out the importance of protesting and the shortcomings within the league, including how announcers talk about Black players and the stereot...
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- Tobi Amusan, Nigeria. Amusan is the world 100m hurdles champion, and the Diamond League, Commonwealth and African 100m hurdles champion. Amusan also dashed to the 100m hurdles world record of 12.12 seconds in Oregon.
- Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Jamaica. The fastest woman in the world this year won her fifth women's 100m gold medal at the Championships. Fraser-Pryce then ran a huge world-leading 10.62 seconds at the Monaco Diamond League.
- Sydney McLaughlin, USA. McLaughlin ended her season with double gold in the 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay. She bettered her own world 400m hurdles record twice this season.
- Kimberly Garcia, Peru. Garcia put Peru on the World Athletics map with double race walk gold medals at the World Athletics Championships. She won her nation’s first-ever World Athletics Championships medal in the women’s 20km race walk.
Mar 30, 2024 · Women athletes are finally getting more of the due they deserve. Take a look at trailblazers who have inspired generations by setting records, breaking barriers or doing something that no woman...
Jul 7, 2021 · July 7, 2021, 3:57 AM (ET) by Karen Rosen. The women competing for Team USA in track and field at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 have experience and exuberance. Veterans include Allyson Felix, who made her fifth straight Olympic team, and Brittney Reese and Kara Winger, who each made her fourth.
Oct 16, 2023 · Shericka Jackson (JAM) In 2023, Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson built on her legacy of being one of the finest all-round sprinters of all time. She excelled at 200m, her specialist event, winning all of her races at that distance and retaining her world title in a championship record of 21.41, the second-fastest time in history.
