5 Most Renowned Female Athletes in History
Historically, females were discouraged from participating in sports or building a career with them. While the world has changed a lot since then, pay discrepancies, discriminatory remarks, and insufficient infrastructure still plagues women athletes around the world. Still, confronting these issues and rising despite them were female athletes who forced the world to pay attention to them. Many of them ushered a golden era in their respective fields, and we are here to celebrate five such women.
Serena Williams
Arguably one of the most prominent female sportspersons, Serena Williams’ achievements stay unparalleled. Williams won her first major singles title in the 1999 US Open, becoming the first African-American woman in the Open era to do so. Following it was a career Grand Slam and her first number-one ranking in the Women’s Tennis Association in 2002. Her 23 Grand Slam singles titles are the most for any player in the Open era and second overall. After her 2012 Olympic win, Williams is also the only player to hold a career Gold slam in both single and doubles.
Apart from her illustrious career, the tennis star was also known for her game outfits which challenged the conservative dress codes. Recovering from her pregnancy, Williams chose to wear a black catsuit in the 2018 French Open, which was met with a ban from the tournament. Wanting to focus on other essential things, the player had hinted about retiring after the 2022 US Open.
Mia Hamm
Mia Hamm is nothing less than a legend in the history of women's soccer. Leading the American team to the 1999 Women's World Cup victory, she became one of the most significant people in the rise of women's soccer in America during the '90s. She won the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year in its inaugural year in 2001 and 2002.
With a score of 159, Hamm also held the record for most international goals in the history of soccer scored by any player of either gender until 2013. The sports star was awarded U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year for five consecutive years and became the first woman to be placed in the World Football Hall of Fame. She was also inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2021. Hamm decided to retire in 2004, finishing her brilliant career with a gold medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Lindsey Vonn
With 297 points in the super ranking, former American alpine ski racer Lindsey Vonn holds the second-highest position among both men and women skiers. The points are based on Olympic Games, World Championships, and World Cup performances, so one can guess what a prolific athlete Vonn was.
The ski racer represented the country at three Olympic games, where she won a bronze in Super-G and became the first American woman to win a gold downhill in 2010. That year, she was crowned "sportswoman of the year" by the United States Olympic Committee. Counting her 82 World Cup victories, she holds the women's record and is the second female skier to win four overall World Cup championships. Named among the greatest skiers of all time, she is also one of only six women to have won World Cup races in all five disciplines of alpine skiing - downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom, and super combined.
Babe Didrikson Zaharias
A jack of all trades is a master of none, but Babe Didrikson Zaharias was the master of all. Being the overachiever she was, Didrikson became one of the most versatile sportspersons in history and the only track and field athlete to win individual Olympic medals in separate jumping, running, and throwing events.
While already famous for her athletic talents, Didrikson became a national star with her record-breaking performances in the 1932 Olympic Games. She took golds in javelin and 80-meter hurdles, creating new world records, and finished second in the high jump event. Following this historic win, she became an All-American basketball player, but it was her golf career that many remember her for. Dominating the sports in the '40s and '90s, Didrikson achieved a Grand Slam in 1950 with U.S. Open, the Titleholders Championship, and the Women's Western Open titles. Sadly, the unstoppable athlete's remarkable journey ended when she succumbed to cancer in 1956.
Danica Patrick
Danica Patrick is considered an icon for women in American motor racing, a sport notorious for not allowing women to compete for several decades. Of the handful of women who qualified for the Indianapolis 500, Patrick became the first to lead it.
The former athlete's pioneering achievements started with Toyota Atlantic Series, where she became the first woman to win a pole. With three pole positions in her debut IndyCar season, she was voted Rookie of the Year in 2005. After Janet Guthrie in 1977, Patrick became the only woman to complete both Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500. The sports star also holds the record of being the first woman to win an IndyCar Series Race after she clinched the Indy Japan 300 in 2008. In 2013, she became the first female racer to win a NASCAR Cup Series pole.
These exceptional women athletes have undoubtedly paved the way for females in various sports. We hope their inspiring journeys encourage more ladies to take up sports and explore games yet to be broken into by women. With a phenomenal generation of female sports stars coming to an end, we are eager to see the new generation take the mantle.