Greatest Female Athletes of All Time
The definitive ranking of the greatest women in sport history.
Advertisement
The definitive ranking of the greatest women in sport history.
Simone Biles
The most decorated gymnast in World Championship history — seven Olympic golds and skills named after her.
Olympic Gold 7x
Florence Griffith-Joyner
Flo-Jo — the fastest woman in history whose world records of 10.49s (100m) and 21.34s (200m) have stood for over 35 years.
Olympic Gold 100m, 200m, 4x100m Seoul 1988
Allyson Felix
The most decorated US track and field Olympic athlete in history with eleven medals across five Games.
Olympic Gold 200m 2012
Larisa Latynina
18 Olympic medals — a record that stood for 48 years until Michael Phelps broke it at London 2012. The Soviet gymnast won nine gold medals a
Olympic Gold 9x
Ronda Rousey
The first female UFC champion and the athlete who made women's MMA mainstream — Ronda Rousey's undefeated run of 12 consecutive first-round
UFC Bantamweight Champion
Lindsey Vonn
82 World Cup victories and four overall World Cup titles — Lindsey Vonn is the most successful female ski racer in history.
Olympic Gold Downhill 2010
Mikaela Shiffrin
The most successful alpine skier in history — over 90 World Cup victories and multiple Olympic gold medals redefine what is possible in the
Olympic Gold 2014 2018
Venus Williams
Seven-time Grand Slam singles champion and pioneer of power tennis in the women's game. Won five Wimbledon titles and was the first Black wo
7 Grand Slams · 11 weeks at No.1
Merlene Ottey
The Queen of the Track — the most prolific medallist in World Athletics Championship history with 14 medals, competing at elite level across
Olympic Silver 200m 1980, 1996
Tirunesh Dibaba
The Baby-Faced Destroyer — three Olympic gold medals in the 5,000m and 10,000m and the most dominant female distance runner of her generatio
Olympic Gold 5000m, 10000m Athens 2004 – wait: Beijing 2008 10000m
Akane Yamaguchi
The current world No.1 and Japan's most complete singles player — World Champion 2022 and 2023, Olympic gold medallist at Paris 2024 and the
World Champion 2022, 2023
Hilary Knight
America's most celebrated women's ice hockey player of the modern era — four-time Olympic silver medallist who finally won gold at Beijing 2
Olympic Gold 2022
Inbee Park
South Korea's greatest golfer and the finest putter in women's golf history — seven major championships, Olympic gold medallist and the play
7 majors
Eri Yamada
Japan's most successful professional softball pitcher — a cornerstone of Japanese softball's Olympic gold medal triumph at Tokyo 2020 and a
Olympic Gold 2020 (Tokyo)
Mima Ito
Japan's greatest table tennis player of the modern era — Olympic mixed doubles gold medallist at Tokyo 2020 alongside Jun Mizutani, deliveri
Olympic Gold 2020 (Mixed Doubles)
Meghan Duggan
America's most important captain in women's ice hockey — led the USA to the long-awaited Olympic gold medal at PyeongChang 2018, ending a 20
Olympic Gold 2018 (Captain)
Simone Manuel
The first African American woman to win an individual Olympic swimming gold medal — Manuel's 100m freestyle gold at Rio 2016 was a landmark
Olympic Gold 2016 (100m freestyle) — first African American woman
Cate Campbell
Australia's most decorated relay swimmer and a world record holder in the 100m freestyle — Campbell's world record of 52.03 seconds stood fo
Olympic Gold (relay) 2016, 2020
Carolina Marín
Olympic champion at Rio 2016 — the first non-Asian player to win the women's singles Olympic gold in 40 years.
Olympic Gold 2016
Tina Charles
One of the WNBA's greatest centres — two-time Olympic gold medallist, WNBA scoring champion and the most prolific rebounder of her era whose
WNBA MVP 2012
Seimone Augustus
One of the most clutch players in WNBA history — three-time WNBA All-Star, Olympic gold medallist with the US national team and a scoring th
Olympic Gold 2016
Penny Oleksiak
Canada's most decorated Olympian — at just 16, she became the first Canadian to win four medals at a single Summer Olympics, including gold
Olympic Gold 2016 (100m freestyle)
Sylvia Fowles
The greatest defensive center in WNBA history — two Olympic gold medals, two WNBA championships and the WNBA record for career rebounds, who
WNBA MVP 2017
Tobin Heath
America's most creative and technically gifted winger — two-time Women's World Cup champion whose dribbling, creativity and ability to produ
FIFA Women's World Cup 2015, 2019
Shannon Szabados
The most accomplished female goaltender in the history of international women's ice hockey — two Olympic gold medals, four World Championshi
Olympic Gold 2010, 2014
Nicola Adams
Britain's most celebrated female boxer and a pioneer of historic significance — the first woman to win an Olympic boxing gold medal in histo
Olympic Gold 2012, 2016 (first women's Olympic boxing gold ever)
Kayla Harrison
The most decorated judoka in American history transitioning to become one of MMA's most dominant champions — two Olympic gold medals in judo
Olympic Gold 2012, 2016 (Judo)
Shizuka Arakawa
Japan's most celebrated figure skater and the first Japanese woman to win an Olympic gold medal in figure skating — her Torino 2006 performa
Olympic Gold 2006 (Torino)
Vicki Sunohara
A cornerstone of Canadian women's hockey dominance across three Olympic cycles — two-time Olympic champion, four-time World Champion and one
Olympic Gold 2002, 2006
Clara Hughes
The only athlete in history to win multiple Olympic medals in both the Summer and Winter Games — Hughes won cycling medals at Atlanta 1996 a
Olympic Bronze 1996 (Cycling, Road Race)
Caroline Ouellette
The most decorated player in the history of women's ice hockey — four consecutive Olympic gold medals, eight World Championship titles and a
Olympic Gold 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 (4 consecutive)
Janica Kostelić
The most decorated alpine skier from any non-traditional skiing nation — four Olympic gold medals, three World Championship titles and the f
Olympic Gold 2002 x3, 2006
Crystl Bustos
The most feared power hitter in softball history — two Olympic gold medals, the highest on-base percentage in Olympic softball history and a
Olympic Gold 2004, 2008
Natasha Watley
The most electrifying base runner in softball history — USA's stolen base record holder, two-time Olympian and a shortstop whose athleticism
Olympic Gold 2004
Jessica Mendoza
America's most influential female sports broadcaster — two-time Olympic softball medallist who became the first woman to serve as a regular
Olympic Gold 2004
Stacy Nuveman
The finest catcher in softball history — three-time Olympian, two-time Olympic gold medallist and the most technically accomplished receiver
Olympic Gold 2000, 2004
Jennifer Capriati
The greatest comeback story in tennis history — a child prodigy who reached the top 10 at 14, then battled personal demons before returning
3 Grand Slams
Bonnie Blair
America's most decorated female Winter Olympian — five Olympic gold medals across three Games and the first American woman to win the same e
Olympic Gold 1988, 1992, 1994 (500m)
Genzebe Dibaba
The world record holder in the 1500m and indoor mile — Tirunesh's younger sister who carved out her own legacy with world records at multipl
Olympic Gold 1500m Rio 2016
Juli Inkster
One of the five players to achieve the career Grand Slam — seven major championships across four decades, Hall of Fame inductee and the most
7 majors
Se Ri Pak
The woman who launched South Korea's golf revolution — five major championships and a 1998 US Women's Open victory that inspired an entire n
5 majors
Lella Lombardi
The only woman to score points in a Formula 1 World Championship race — Lombardi earned half a point at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix and rema
Only woman to score F1 World Championship points (Austrian GP 1975)
Maria Teresa de Filippis
The first woman to start a Formula 1 World Championship race — competed in three Grands Prix in 1958 and 1959, a pioneer of extraordinary co
First woman to start an F1 World Championship race (1958)
Iga Świątek
Poland's world No. 1 and four-time French Open champion — the dominant women's player of the 2020s.
5 Grand Slams · 220 weeks at No.1
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone
Four consecutive world records in the 400m hurdles — the most technically improving event in modern athletics.
Olympic Gold 2x (2021,2024)
Ana Carrasco
The first woman to win a solo motorcycle world championship — Ana Carrasco won the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship in 2018, becoming t
FIM Supersport 300 World Champion 2018 (first woman to win a motorcycle world championship solo)
Fatima Whitbread
Britain's most celebrated field athlete — World Champion in 1987, Olympic bronze and silver medallist and the holder of a world record whose
World Record Javelin 77.44m (Stuttgart 1986)
Chantelle Cameron
Britain's most versatile female world champion — unified super lightweight world champion who stepped up to welterweight to defeat Katie Tay
Undisputed Super Lightweight World Champion
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
Spain's greatest tennis player — four Grand Slam singles titles, the first Spanish woman to win a Grand Slam, and the tireless retriever who
4 Grand Slams
Tegla Loroupe
Africa's first female marathon world record holder and a global ambassador for peace — three-time world marathon record holder whose speed o
World Record Marathon 2:20:43 (Berlin 1999)