Serena Williams
The highest paid female sportswoman in 2016 earning a cool 28.9 million dollars is simply the best female tennis player the planet has ever seen. Her strength and determination lead many to believe that she could compete with the male athletes, she is that good.
Her honours list is huge. 7 Australian Opens, 3 French Opens, 6 US Opens and 7 Wimbledon titles. Away from the tennis court she has continuously fought for female rights and is a feminist. She has fought against sexism and like to be referred to as: “One of the greatest athletes of all time” rather than “One of the greatest female athletes of all time.”
Jo Pavey
Jo Pavey’s story is remarkable. She battled hard to become a long-distance runner and ran for twenty years with little success to show for all her training effort. However, like a fine wine, Pavey matured with age and became more tactically aware as she heading into her late 30’s.
Her training in 2009 was halted as she had her first child with husband and many expected the then 36-year-old to call it a day. She fought back to compete in her home Olympic games in 2012 before having her second child in 2013. Then instead of recovering she trained hard. In 2014, Jo was in top shape and finished 3rd in the Commonwealth games. This achievement was surpassed by her first major championship at the age of 40, just ten days later as she won the European Championships.
She secured 3rd place at the Sports Personality of the year behind Lewis Hamilton and Rory Mcilroy for her achievements. She continues to compete at 43-years-old and is planning on running in this years’ London Marathon in a bid to qualify for the British team ahead of the 2017 World Championships in London.
Sue Barker OBE
Sue Barker has spent her whole life making her name in male-dominated industry. Her tennis career on its own was impressive. She won the French Open in 1976 and reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open and Wimbledon. She constantly battled with the top seeds and she reached No.3 in the world.
She broke the mould in an era where male celebrities, especially in sport, were dominant. She then extended her career as a sports pundit, battling against the odds in another heavily male dominated industry. She now is one of the BBC’s best sports broadcasters having presented BBC Sports Personality of the Year, as well as Wimbledon and the BBC’s coverage of the Olympic games. She was reward with an OBE in 2016 for her services to broadcasting and charity.
Cathy Freeman
Cathy Freeman had the hopes of a nation by the time her home Olympics came around in 2000 in Sydney. She had not lost a race in 1999 and was the poster girl of the games heading into the 400m. She had experienced racism as a young girl because of her Aboriginal background and the Australian crowd sympathised with her story and views on the Indigenous communities began to change.
Cathy won the gold medal and became the first athlete to proudly wave around both the Australian and Aboriginal flag at the Olympic games. She retired in 2003 having won four Commonwealth golds, two World Championship goals and one Olympic gold.
In 2007, Cathy founded a charity called the Cathy Freeman Foundation. The Foundation works with four remote Indigenous communities and are attempting to close the gap in education between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian children.
Jessica Ennis-Hill
Like Cathy Freeman, Jess Ennis was the poster girl for her home Olympics in 2012. The heptathlete won her gold medal on Super Saturday when her, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah all won gold medals in the space of 44 minutes. They added to the three golds and one silver Britain had already won that day to mark Britain’s most successful Olympics day in history.
But this isn’t about those other athletes this is about Jess’ achievements. The pressure on her shoulders was huge as she was everywhere ahead of the games. She competed over two days to secure gold and since the Olympics has gone on to become a mother. She was made a Dame in 2017.
