Gamechangers: America's Top 25 Female Athletes

With 184 goals for the U.S. Women’s National Team, Abby Wambach has the second most international goals in women’s soccer history. She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and won the World Cup in 2015. Since retirement, Wambach has been a prominent advocate for women's sports and the LGBTQIA+ community. Wambach is also a published author, podcast host, and investor in Angel City FC.

Career span: 2001–2015 (U.S. Women's National Team)

Alex Morgan helped lead the United States to Women's World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019 and Olympic gold in 2012, finishing her career with more than 120 international goals. Off the field, she was a driving force in her team's landmark equal pay lawsuit against US Soccer, which culminated in a settlement in 2022.

Career span: 2010–2024 (U.S. Women's National Team), 2011–2024 (professional career)

Allyson Felix is the most decorated American track and field athlete in Olympic history, having won 11 Olympic medals across five Games from Athens 2004 to Tokyo 2020. Beyond the track, she became a powerful advocate for maternal health and athlete rights after publicly speaking out about her own life-threatening pregnancy complications and Nike's attempts to reduce her pay while pregnant, ultimately helping pressure the brand to change its maternity policies.

Career span: 2001–2022

Althea Gibson became the first Black athlete to compete at the US Open in 1950 and went on to win both Wimbledon and the US Open back-to-back in 1957 and 1958, claiming a total of eleven Grand Slam titles. After retiring from tennis, she became the first Black woman to compete on the LPGA Tour in 1963. Gibson's groundbreaking achievements in both sports were rarely matched by recognition in the press, and almost never by financial reward. Still, she remained a towering inspiration to Black athletes during the years when the Civil Rights Movement was just getting off the ground.

Career span: 1942–1958 (Tennis), 1963–1977 (Golf)

A true multi-sport athlete, Babe Didrikson Zaharias achieved one of the most remarkable careers in sports history by winning two Olympic gold medals and one silver in track and field at the 1932 Los Angeles Games, then going on to claim 10 LPGA major championships and 41 LPGA Tour titles. In 1953, after coming back from cancer surgery, she won five more Tour events, including the 1954 US Women's Open by a staggering 12 strokes. She also excelled in basketball, baseball, and tennis.

Career span: 1930s–1950s (multi-sport athlete: track and field, basketball, golf)

Billie Jean King is one of the greatest tennis players of all time, winning 39 Grand Slam titles (12 singles, 16 doubles, 11 mixed doubles) and spending years ranked as the world's top player during the 1960s and 70s. She is equally celebrated for her off-court impact, and has devoted much of her life to fighting for equal prize money, LGBTQ+ rights, and broader opportunities for women in sports, founding the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and the Women's Sports Foundation. King was also instrumental in the foundation and launch of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL), serving as a special advisor and founding advisory board member.

Career span: 1959–1983 (singles)

Caitlin Clark led Iowa State to two straight National Championship games, was twice named national female college basketball player of the year, and remains the all-time leading scorer in NCAA history for both men's and women's. Clark was drafted first overall in the 2024 WNBA draft, where she set the league single-season record in assists, broke the rookie scoring record, and won Rookie of the Year.

Career span: 2021–Present

Chris Evert is one of the greatest tennis players of all time, winning 18 Grand Slam singles titles and spending a record 260 consecutive weeks ranked world No. 1, while compiling an unmatched career win-loss record of 1,309–146, a staggering .900 winning percentage. Evert revolutionized the women's game with her pioneering two-handed backhand and baseline consistency, becoming the first player, male or female, to win 1,000 singles matches.

Career span: 1972–1989

Danica Patrick became the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel racing, winning the 2008 Indy Japan 300, the only IndyCar Series victory by a woman. Patrick also became the first woman to lead laps and finish in the top five at the Indianapolis 500, the first woman to win an IndyCar pole position, and the first woman to lead laps in a NASCAR Cup Series race.

Career span: 2005–2011 (IndyCar); 2012–2018 (NASCAR)

Diana Taurasi is the most decorated Olympic basketball player ever, winning a record six straight gold medals from 2004 to 2024, and she backs it up as the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer, a three-time WNBA champion with the Phoenix Mercury, and a six-time EuroLeague champion.

Career span: 2000–2004 (UConn), 2004–2025 (WNBA), 2005–2017 (Overseas)

Florence Griffith Joyner set world records in the 100m (10.49 seconds) at the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials and the 200m (21.34 seconds) at the 1988 Seoul Olympics that still stand today, making her the fastest woman in history. She won three gold medals and one silver at those Games, cementing her status as one of the greatest sprinters of all time, all while revolutionizing the image of female athletes by combining elite performance with bold fashion and unapologetic femininity.

Career span: 1980–1989

Jackie Joyner-Kersee won three Olympic gold medals, one silver, and two bronze across the heptathlon and long jump while setting the world record in the heptathlon with a score of 7,291 points at the 1988 Seoul Olympics (a record that still stands today). She is the first woman to score more than 7,000 points in the heptathlon.

Career span: 1980–2001

Katie Ledecky is the greatest female distance swimmer in history and the most decorated American woman in Olympic history, having won 9 Olympic gold medals and 21 World Championship gold medals, the most ever by a female swimmer, while setting and breaking her own world records in the 400m, 800m, and 1500m freestyle.

Career span: 2012–Present

Lindsey Vonn is one of the greatest female alpine ski racers of all time, holding 84 World Cup victories and winning Olympic gold in downhill at the 2010 Vancouver Games. She has become a leading voice for resilience and mental health awareness, and founded the Lindsey Vonn Foundation to support educational opportunities for youth.

Career span: 2002–Present

Martina Navratilova is one of the greatest tennis players of all time, winning 18 Grand Slam singles titles and a record 31 major women’s doubles titles while redefining the sport with her athleticism and longevity.

Career span: 1973–1994 (Singles); 1973–2006 (Doubles)

Mia Hamm was the standard for a generation, leading the U.S. to Olympic gold in 1996 and 2004, claiming World Cup titles in 1991 and 1999, setting a world record with 158 international goals that stood until 2013, and helping launch the modern women’s pro game as a founding player in the WUSA.

Career span: 1987–2004 (U.S. Women's National Team), 1989–1993 (UNC), 2001–2003
(WUSA)

Known for her elegance and artistry on the ice, Michelle Kwan is the most decorated figure skater in U.S. history. Off the ice, Kwan’s impact has been just as profound: nominated by President Biden in January 2022, she served as the U.S. Ambassador to Belize from 2022 to 2025. She was also appointed by President Obama to the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, and elected to the Board of Directors of Special Olympics International.

Career span: 1993–2005

Widely regarded as the greatest alpine skier of all time, Mikaela Shiffrin holds the all-time record for World Cup victories with 110 wins, the only skier in history to reach 100 World Cup victories. At the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, she won her third Olympic gold medal in the slalom, making her the first American female alpine skier to claim three Olympic golds. Beyond racing, she has also made her mark off the slopes as a co-owner of Denver Summit FC in the NWSL and a vocal advocate for growing the sport of alpine skiing.

Career span: 2011–Present

Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings became the standard for beach volleyball by winning three straight Olympic gold medals in women’s beach volleyball in 2004, 2008, and 2012, putting together a record 112-match winning streak, and going undefeated in every Olympic match they played together, winning all 21.

Career span: 2001-2012

Ronda Rousey became the first American woman to win an Olympic judo medal with a bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, later made history as the UFC’s first female fighter and inaugural Women’s Bantamweight Champion in 2012, and was the first woman inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2018.

Career span: 2004–2008 (Judo), 2010-2016 (UFC), 2018-2023 (WWE)

Serena Williams turned professional at 14, transformed tennis with her power and athleticism, won 23 Grand Slam singles titles (the most in the Open Era), dominated the sport across three decades, and held all four major titles simultaneously twice. Alongside her sister Venus Williams, she captured 14 Grand Slam doubles titles with a flawless, unbeaten record in major doubles finals. The powerhouse duo also secured three Olympic gold medals together in women's doubles, making them the only partners in tennis history to achieve an undefeated streak across 14 major finals.

Career span: 1995–2022, 2026-Present

A three-time WNBA MVP and four-time WNBA champion, Sheryl Swoopes established herself as one of basketball’s all-time greats by leading Texas Tech to the 1993 NCAA championship, scoring an NCAA record 47 points in the national championship game. As the WNBA’s first signed player – and the first women’s basketball player to have a Nike shoe named after her – Swoopes helped define the WNBA’s early identity.

Career span: 1991–1993 (Texas Tech), 1997–2007 (Houston Comets), 2008 (Seattle Storm), 2011 (Tulsa Shock)

Simone Biles is the most decorated gymnast in history, with 41 combined Olympic and World Championship medals, including 11 Olympic medals and a record 30 World medals, and she has reshaped the sport with five skills so difficult they are named after her in the Code of Points.

Career span: 2011–2024

Sue Bird led UConn to NCAA championships in 2000 and 2002, went first overall in the 2002 WNBA Draft, built a Hall of Fame career with the Seattle Storm that included four WNBA titles and the league’s all-time assists record, and finished by winning five Olympic gold medals with Team USA.

Career span: 2000–2002 (UConn), 2002–2022 (WNBA), 2002–2021 (International)

Wilma Rudolph became the first American woman to win three gold medals in a single Olympics at the 1960 Rome Games. Her triumph was made all the more remarkable by her childhood battles with polio, scarlet fever, and pneumonia, which had left her unable to walk normally until age 12. Off the track, she used her platform to challenge racial segregation, refusing to participate in a segregated parade held in her honor in her hometown of Clarksville, Tennessee.

Career span: 1956–1962