The Top 8 Women in Sport Throughout History

By V. Messana

Over the years, women have worked tirelessly in their ways to make the world of sport a better place and shape history, whether they were on the front lines of important protests, representing their country at the Olympics, or advocating for gender equality. They have all brought their innovative beliefs and talents to life with dedication, passion, and plenty of hard work. This is The Lion’s list of the Top 8 Women in Sport Throughout History: 
 
1. Serena Williams - Dominated tennis with 23 Grand Slam singles titles, breaking barriers in gender and racial equality. Williams has pushed for equal pay, pointing out that "Black women earn 17% less than their white female counterparts and that Black women are paid 63% of the dollars men are paid." In 2007, she won Wimbledon and was the first female tennis player to receive the same pay as her male counterpart, Roger Federer.
2. Babe Didrikson Zaharias - The first woman to play in a PGA event, Zaharias competed in the 1938 Los Angeles Open. Only four other women have appeared in PGA events since. She was also accomplished in basketball, track, tennis, baseball, and swimming, and was selected the best female athlete of the first half of the 20th century by the AP who asked if there was anything she didn’t play, Babe responded: “Yeah, dolls.”
3. Nancy Lieberman - Lieberman has been a pioneer since she was 17 and made the U.S. Olympic team for the 1976 Montreal Games. She became the first woman in a men’s pro league in 1986 with the Springfield Fame of the United States Basketball League. When the WNBA started, she returned as a player, and played one last game in 2008, at age 50.
4. Billie Jean King - King's efforts turned women's tennis into a major professional sport. She advocated for gender equality in sports and won the historic “Battle of the Sexes” match. Billie was also the first woman in the history of sports to win $100,000 in a single year.
5. Jackie Joyner-Kersee - A track and field star, winning three Olympic golds in the heptathlon and long jump. She was the first participant to score more than 7,000 points in the heptathlon.
6. Mia Hamm - Revolutionized women’s soccer, winning two FIFA World Cups and two Olympic gold medals. She was the first international star of women's soccer and co-founded the first professional women's soccer league in the United States.
7. Florence Griffith Joyner (Flo-Jo) - Known as the fastest woman ever, holding world records in the 100m and 200m, which still stand unbeaten, making her the only female athlete to hold simultaneous records.
8. Toni Stone - Stone is considered the “female Jackie Robinson,” as she was the first woman to play big-league professional baseball. She was signed by the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League in 1953 to play second base.