50 Influential Female Athletes To Know, Watch, and Follow—in 2026 and Beyond

Around the world, women’s sport is undergoing a seismic shift, and not just on the field of play. Today’s female athletes are also Harvard graduates, venture capitalists, activists, authors and broadcasters—renowned not only for their performances on the track, court or slopes, but for the multifaceted ways they influence culture across everything from politics and academics to economics and social media.

And that talent and tenacity is more necessary than ever. Because despite enormous strides towards gender parity, economic and social gaps still persist across sport. For instance, while the largest media rights deal in the history of women’s sport was signed by the WNBA this year, the average player still earns 80 times less than those in the men’s game. Turn to the Forbes 2026 list of highest-paid athletes, and you’ll find no female names, but look at the World Athletics report on online abuse at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and you’ll find that 87% of it was directed at female athletes, with Black women disproportionately affected.

What we know, however, is that with the right visibility and support, female athletes can impact society in positive and unprecedented ways. The evidence proves it—80% of female Fortune 500 CEOs played sport in their formative years, while 55% of girls say that watching female athletes makes them feel they can do anything.

Ahead, we spotlight 50 of the women who are shaping the future of women’s sport the world over. From world record holders and Olympic champions to rapidly rising stars, these are the women to know, support and take inspiration from in 2026 and beyond.

50 Influential Female Athletes To Know, Watch and Follow—in 2026 and Beyond

1. Chloe Kelly

Chloe Kelly’s shirt-waving celebration at the Euros 2022 will forever be etched in our minds, but the Arsenal and England attacking midfielder is far more than that moment.

Now regarded as a clutch player—aka one who stays calm under even the highest pressure—for the way she consistently delivers in such moments, she was responsible for the winning penalty at the 2025 Women’s Euros and played a crucial role in Arsenal’s 2025 Champions League victory over Barcelona.

Off the pitch, she uses her voice, not just to inspire young girls to play football, but to highlight the vulnerabilities that can sit just beneath the surface of success. Speaking on Fearn Cotton’s Happy Place podcast, Kelly opened up about the anxiety, panic attacks and hair loss she struggled with during the transfer process from Manchester City to Arsenal last year.

“You look after your legs when you recover from training, but it was my head that was struggling,” she told Cotton. “Taking a step away and into a new environment was what I needed. I’m in a good place now, but I’ll never forget the times I’ve struggled.”

Her unwavering honesty and tireless commitment to advancing the women’s game are what we’ve come to know of Kelly who, as well as being recently signed by adidas, surely has many more trophies left to lift.

2. Eileen Gu

“I’m the most decorated female freeskier in history,” 22-year-old Eileen Gu responded when a journalist at the Milano Cortina Olympics asked whether she saw her two silver medals as a sign of victory or defeat. Her words, as important today as they were back in February, are characteristic of the two-time Olympian’s self-assured honesty, whose influence on the world is difficult to quantify.

Because aside from her spellbinding performances on the slopes, the Chinese American—who switched to representing her mother’s home country in international competitions in 2019—demonstrates that female athletes are multifaceted and nuanced. A 2026 Stanford Graduate who majored in international relations, Gu has balanced elite sport with studying and an international modelling career while, crucially, advocating for the growth of winter sports for women and girls in China.

3. Serena Williams

Does she need an introduction? Twenty-three Grand Slam singles’ titles (of a total 39, including women’s and mixed doubles) and a professional career spanning over 30 years, Williams epitomises the word icon—not in tennis or even women’s sport, but in sport, period.

And though she’s in the midst of a gradual transition out of international tennis, her global presence shows no signs of fading. Entrepreneurial through and through, Williams currently manages two thriving businesses—a venture capitalist firm called Serena Ventures and Nine Two Six, a multimedia production company that focuses on female and diverse stories.

As if that wasn’t enough to keep her busy, she’s also the host of the Stockton Street podcast, a series of intimate conversations about careers, family, entrepreneurship and pop culture, which she hosts with her sister and fellow tennis star, Venus.

4. Venus Williams

Who else could we turn to next? One of the most decorated athletes on the planet and a former Marie Claire UK cover star, Venus Williams could serve at 100 mph by the age of 10. Turning pro at just 14, she’d won her first Wimbledon by the time she was 20. It was the first of 23 Grand Slam titles she’d go on to win.

All this was achieved while silently battling undiagnosed uterine fibroids—a topic Williams has become a vocal spokesperson for in recent years. Foregoing her usually private persona, she’s been forthright and honest in her discussions about the years of playing through acute pain and heavy bleeding, as well as her struggles with medical dismissal and misdiagnosis—becoming a vital advocate for medical research into women’s health conditions.

There’s more, of course. Because through her love of fashion and design—she’s a fashion and business graduate and the founder of interior design firm V Starr, Williams has been dismantling stereotypes surrounding presumed oppositions between sport and the arts. “I don’t believe in putting art, or people, in a category,” she told us last year. “Design and wellness—this is kind of where I belong.”

5. Simone Biles

She’s the most decorated gymnast in history, and that’s just the one of the things to know about Simone Biles.

A prominent advocate for athlete mental health, racial equality and protection from abuse, and a champion for the rights and protection of children in foster care, the now 29-year-old appeared on the senior international stage at just 13, before winning her first global all-around title at the age of 16. Since then, she’s added seven Olympic gold, two silver and two bronze medals to her roster.

But it was her decision to withdraw from events at the Tokyo 2020 Games that sparked a crucial conversation about athlete wellbeing. After struggling with the ‘twisties’—a kind of mental block that throws off gymnasts off-balance in mid-air, and can lead to serious injury—Biles’ decision to take time off from competition became the catalyst for a movement to reframe mental health as an essential training component rather than a sideline issue.

Her bravery doesn’t end there. In 2021, she testified against former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar for sexually abusing her under the guise of medical treatment, helping to bring about structural change within the national gymnastics system.

Whether she’ll return to gymnastics for her home Olympics in 2028 is still unknown. What is certain is that Biles is one of the most influential voices in sport, and an inspiration for women globally.

6. Ellie Kildunne

If you’re looking for inspiration, you’ll find it in spades in Ellie Kildunne. Softly spoken and as down-to-earth as a person could be, she’s an Olympian, a Rugby World Cup champion, Six Nations champion and 2024’s World Rugby Women’s 15s Player of the Year.

She’s also known for her mantra, “lukewarm is no good”, a saying taken from Roald Dahl’s book My Uncle Oswald. When we speak, though, I discover she has another phrase in her armoury. “If you want to play in the jungle, you cannot live in the zoo,” she says with a smile. “For me, I see that as: it’s OK to make mistakes, to challenge yourself and be uncomfortable because there’s a whole jungle out there.”

The newly signed Bristol Bears player certainly doesn’t shy away from discomfort and challenge, on and off the pitch. She’s spoken openly about navigating a late diagnosis for ADHD and her struggles with body dysmorphia—topics she delves into in her recently released autobiography, Game Changer. “I don’t want any young girl thinking that they have to restrict themselves, or be controlling or obsessive, to think of themselves as beautiful,” she told the BBC earlier this year.

Her motivation for the future, then, makes complete sense. “I want to drive the women’s game to places it’s never been before, but also I want to seek happiness in everything that I’m doing.” Words to live by.

7. Keely Hodgkinson

Olympic champion, world indoor champion and British record-holder Keely Hodgkinson is raw, honest and open. The 24-year-old, whose Instagram bio reads “always earned, never given”, is that rare mix of ambition and humility: unafraid to set out her stall of mighty goals, while equally ready to acknowledge the challenges and vulnerabilities that go hand-in-hand with elite sport.

At the UK championships this year, for instance, she made the brave decision to withdraw from the start line of the 400m due to tightness in her hamstring. “I think when you’re an athlete and you suffer bad injuries, you can underestimate a little bit of the trauma it leaves in your head,” she told Olympic Channel TV.

It’s this level of honesty and maturity, coupled with her wealth of achievements and playful online presence, that make her a key figure in the popularisation of women’s sports—and an idol for many young girls in athletics.

This year, she’ll race for gold at the European Athletic Championships. Beyond that, anything is possible, but there’s no doubt that many eyes will be set on her performance at the LA 2028 Summer Olympics.

8. Summer McIntosh

In the pool, Summer McIntosh is a machine. Online, she oozes fun. The 19-year-old, who stormed onto the world stage at just 14 when she placed fourth in the 400m freestyle at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics is part of a new generation of digital-native athletes who straddle the world of elite sport and content creation.

For her fans, Summer’s vlogs provide an insight into the world of one of the greatest swimmers of her generation. From day-in-the-lives to learning to front flip with cliff diver Molly Carlson, her personality is as captivating as her performances in the pool. “What excites me most is paving the way for the next generation of young female swimmers,” she tells Marie Claire UK when we put the question to her. “Inspiring girls to be brave and dream bigger than ever.”

That she does. McIntosh’s career so far is the stuff of dreams. Comprising three Olympic and two Commonwealth golds, alongside eight World Aquatics champion titles, she’s also the first swimmer since Michael Phelps to break three world records in a single meet. And really, this is just the start. Now training under Phelps’ former coach, Bob Bowman, McIntosh has her sights set on Olympic gold at LA 2028. “I’m focused on all the small and big steps it will take to get there,” she says. “I’ve been training with Bob for almost a year now, and I’m excited to continue working with him every day as we prepare for these next Olympic Games. I know he’ll prepare me to perform at my very best.”

9. Faith Kipyegon

Faith Kipyegon is so good that there are scientific studies dedicated to her potential. A paper published in the Royal Society Open Science concluded that she could break the four-minute mile—a feat previously considered impossible for women. She’s yet to do it (last year she came close in a Nike-sponsored race in Paris), but it seems only a matter of time.

It would be the icing on the cake of an already illustrious career. The greatest female middle-distance runner in history, she is a world-record holder in the 1500m and the mile, and the first woman in history to win three consecutive Olympic golds over the 1500m. Add to that an Olympic silver in the 5000m, and you’re starting to paint the picture of this remarkable athlete.

And yet, off track, there’s a bigger story. Because after giving birth to her daughter in 2018, Kipyegon made it her mission to transform maternity care in her rural town of Keringet, Kenya, where expectant mothers walk up to 35km to receive treatment. “I see women go into labour full of hope, carrying life, carrying dreams, and too many times, they come back empty-handed,” she explains over email. “Not because they did anything wrong. But because the care they needed was too far away, too limited, or simply not good enough.”

Kipyegon’s mission is to open a mother-and-baby facility in the town, transforming birth safety for mothers and babies. Named the Dare to Dream Maternity Ward, the project is being funded by Nike and is set to open later this year.

10. Sky Brown

The world first met Sky Brown in 2012 when, at just four years old, a video of her ripping at the skatepark went viral on YouTube. Now 17, she’s gone on to become the darling of British skateboarding—our first world champion in the sport, a two-time Olympic medallist, a two-time X Games gold medallist, and the first female skater to land a frontside 540 (a one-and-a-half aerial rotation): a feat Brown achieved at the age of just 11.

Central to her career is inspiring other girls to take up skateboarding. “I wanted to be in the Olympics to inspire girls to get out there,” she told TNT Sports in a documentary released in 2022. In 2024, she continued that mission with the release of her first children’s book, The Life-Changing Magic of Skateboarding.

What’s next for her? After narrowly missing out on Team GB’s Olympic surfing team for Paris 2024, she’s hinted at plans to successfully bag the skate-surf double at LA 2028. Watch this space.

11. Allyson Felix

So you thought that the most decorated track and field athlete in history had retired? Think again. In April this year, 400m legend Allyson Felix announced her plans to target the LA 2028 Olympics during the debut episode of her new podcast, Built To Last.

And who would doubt her? The 11-times Olympic medallist has been challenging the status quo since 2009, when she made the watershed decision to be managed by her brother, Wes—a choice that was met with resistance by the establishment at the time.

Felix has since gone on to become not only one of the greatest athletes of all time, but a thriving entrepreneur and maternal health activist, after her long-time sponsor, Nike, proposed to cut her pay by 70% when she fell pregnant. Following unsuccessful negotiations with the brand, Felix wrote a powerful op-ed for The New York Times that opened a conversation that transcended sport and set a new precedent for maternal rights of athletes.

Things didn’t stop there. After her split from Nike, Felix founded her own footwear brand, Saysh, becoming the first track athlete to compete in her own shoe. “It’s so much deeper than selling shoes,” she told Bloomberg. “It’s about impact. If people feel seen and represented, and we start to shift the culture, that would be success.” Felix remains at the helm of the brand, which has a policy of allowing women to exchange their shoes for a new size if their feet swell in pregnancy. She juggles it with motherhood, campaigning for improvements to maternal healthcare for Black women, podcasting and a return to elite sport.

12. Ilona Maher

Former Marie Claire UK cover star Ilona Maher is the most well-known rugby player on the planet. With over 10 million followers across TikTok and Instagram, she’s nothing short of a sensation—known as much for her work dismantling body image standards as she is for her performances on the pitch. Not that she believes it.

“Ask people who the best rugby player in the world is, and they probably won’t be able to name the woman,” Maher told us last year. “But they can name that funny girl online. It’s a focus on connecting with people.”

Whatever her take on it, her approach works. Her short-term signing for the Bristol Bears from January to March last year catapulted interest in the women’s game, instantly giving the club the biggest reach in the league and forcing entire stadium switches to accommodate the increased demand in match attendees.

If her work championing women’s body acceptance and diversity is perhaps what she’s most known for—her hashtag #beastbeautybrains has become a mantra for women the world over—she’s also a vocal critic of the pay gap between men's and women’s sport. “I would love to get on the field and just play rugby and make a million dollars,” Maher told us. “But that’s not possible right now. I don’t think there’s a single women’s rugby player in the world making over £100,000. How do you expect me to focus on the field when I can’t support myself or live a comfortable life?”

Maher’s pragmatic and tenacious work ethic is just another reason to admire her. She’s business savvy, ambitious both on and off the field, and has done the work to get to a point of confidence—in her body, her talent and her skillset. As well as being an Olympic bronze medallist and one of the best rugby players in the world, she’s a podcaster, a Sports Illustrated cover star and swimwear runway model, and, according to industry bible SportsPro, the third most marketable athlete—behind only Lewis Hamilton and Simone Biles—in the world.

13. Naomi Osaka

Naomi Osaka is a great tennis player and, we would argue, an even better person.

One of the most prominent social activists in the world of sport, her rise to fame skyrocketed in 2018 when she beat her childhood idol, Serena Williams, in the final of the US Open. From there, Osaka had a gold rush, becoming the first Asian woman to be ranked number one in the world in 2019, when she was just 20 years old, and winning three further Grand Slam titles by 2021.

At the same time, she was emerging as one of sport’s most prominent political figures, through her on- and off-court protests against police brutality as part of the Black Lives Matter movement. Her work, which was received well by tennis organisations, the media and the public, set a new example and precedent for athletes’ role in politics.

It was in 2021, after withdrawing from the French Open, that her activism expanded to the realm of mental health. Using her voice to address issues of social anxiety, depression and the lack of athlete welfare protections in sport, she raised global awareness and sparked structural reform, which led to a three-part Netflix documentary and a celebrated essay—It’s OK not to be OK—for TIME magazine.

Then there’s her enviable sense of style, using her profile as an opportunity to spotlight independent designers and showcase her heritage. In a press conference at this year’s Wimbledon, she said, “I would actually prefer to talk about my clothes. In some ways I feel like I’m a lot more equipped to talk about my clothes than to talk about my tennis.”

Whether you follow her for her tennis, style or activism, Naomi Osaka isn’t just one to watch—she’s one you can’t take your eyes off.

14. Alysa Liu

Want to know a thing or two about staying true to yourself? Ask Alysa Liu. The Olympic gold medallist, who temporarily stepped away from figure skating due to burnout after becoming the youngest US national champion of all time, was told repeatedly that she’d have to change her now-trademark striped hair when she returned to the sport.

To which, she said, no. End of. “These days, I say no to more things than I say yes to,” she confirmed in an interview with her sponsor, Nike, earlier this year. “If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a hell no.”

That fierce individuality is part of what makes her such a joy to watch. Her performances, which are a heady mix of elegance, fun and flair, led her to become the face of the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics back in February, where she won gold in stunning fashion. It’s also what makes her such an inspiration, both within and beyond sport.

“It’s cliche—but you really only live once,” she told Nike. “If something is feeling too hard mentally or physically, take a break and try other things. Step away, reassess and see if it pulls you back in. If it does, great. And if it doesn’t, then maybe you’re being pulled toward something completely new.”

15. Demi Vollering

“It all starts with dreaming,” goes the motto of the 2023 Tour de France Femmes champion, Demi Vollering (who, at the time of writing is going into this year’s race as the favourite, too). She has also won the world’s two other major multistage cycling races: La Vuelta Femenina (twice, in 2024 and 2025) and the Giro d’Italia Women, in June this year. Vollering is only the second woman to have won this trio of races.

The Dutch cyclist, who comes from a family of greenhouse growers, left her job as a florist to go fulltime on the bike in 2019 and has been outspoken about removing taboos around athlete menstrual health, as well as the importance of exercise for mental health in the years since.

She’s also been a pioneer in the growth of women’s cycling, speaking out about the need for new age group categories and better broadcast coverage of events. “I want to do what Serena Williams did for tennis,” Vollering said in an interview with The Guardian. “She’s much more than a tennis player. She transcended the sport and showed young girls that they could dream bigger.”

16. Leah Williamson

Watch any interview with the captain of the Lionesses, Leah Williamson, and you’ll feel the gravity with which she holds her position. She knows the weight of responsibility that comes with the shirt she wears; the number of young girls she inspires every time she steps onto the pitch; and the doors she and her teammates are opening for future generations.

It’s not just the back-to-back Women’s Euro victories she led the team to in 2022 and 2025; it’s the openness with which she talks about her battles with injury, endometriosis, performance anxiety and her devotion to creating more opportunities for the next generation of female and LGBTQ+ footballers.

In 2023, Williamson was awarded an OBE for her services to football; in 2026, this was upgraded to a CBE in acknowledgement of her achievements on behalf of her team at Euro 2025. As for what’s next? All eyes are on the squad qualifying for the Women’s World Cup (which she missed in 2023 due to injury) ahead of the tournament, which takes place in Brazil next June.

17. Caitlin Clark

Caitlin Clark burst onto the global stage during her collegiate career, where she became the greatest scorer in NCAA Division I history across both men and women—surpassing the record held by Pete Maravich in 1970.

Since then, she’s been shattering WNBA records for her team, Indiana Fever, helping to drive visibility and viewership for the women’s game. In fact, it’s been suggested that in 2024, she was responsible for 26.5% of all WNBA economic activity after factoring in revenue from merchandise, ticket sales, and television.

Off court, she’s the founder of the Caitlin Clark Foundation, a non-profit that expands access to education, nutrition and sports for children across the USA.

18. Shamera Sterling-Humphrey

Shamera Sterling-Humphrey is one of the best defensive netball players in the world. The Adelaide Thunderbirds player is a three-time winner of the Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) league, one of the most competitive series in the world.

This year, Sterling-Humphrey has become known as much for her off-court candour as her remarkable interceptions. In 2025, after giving birth to her son, she suffered from postpartum depression. Speaking openly on Sky Sports’ Off the Court podcast in May this year, she shared her journey through depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts, which shaped her first few months of motherhood.

She’s since returned to competitive netball, winning her third SSN, but is unafraid to say she’s not yet out the other side. “I’m grateful to say that I’m a bit better now but I’m not where I want to be,” she said on Off the Court. “I’m still trying to find myself. I have my good days and my bad days, but I’m still not the Shamera I used to be.”

19. Jamie Chadwick

Women haven’t always been welcome in motorsports. Challenges from intermittent gendered bans as far back as the early 20th century to a longstanding lack of investment in young female go-kart drivers have ensured female drivers have been kept fighting on the sport’s fringes for years. That was until 2022, when former racing driver Susie Wolff set up the F1 Academy to increase female participation in driving.

A driver like Jamie Chadwick, therefore, has defied all the odds to be in her current position. Introduced to the sport via karting at age 12, Chadwick quickly climbed the ranks to become the youngest driver—and first female—to win a British GT title at just 16. Her career of firsts has continued since: she’s the first woman to win a Formula 3 race and the only woman to have won a race in the European Le Mans series.

Inspiring other women to enter the sport is central to everything Chadwick does, whether that’s speaking on podcasts, serving as a pundit for Sky Sports, or in her role as an F1 Academy advisor for Williams Racing. “People are finally recognising the level of talent that’s always been there,” she tells me. “In motorsport, we’re seeing more pathways, more visibility and more young girls believing they can have a place in the sport. That’s incredibly exciting.”

20. Gabby Thomas

When Gabby Thomas shattered her 200m personal best at the 2021 US Olympic trials, the world sat up and noticed. She crossed the line over half a second faster than she’d ever run before, placing her third on the all-time list behind sprint legends Florence Griffith Joyner and Elaine Thompson-Herah. “Overnight, I went from almost unknown to a favourite,” she revealed to Marie Claire UK earlier this year. “The attention and expectations were a lot to manage, but I couldn’t have been more excited to be on that Olympic team.”

She went on to take home two medals—a silver and a bronze—at the 2022 Olympics, and four years later went one step further when she became the first American woman since Allyson Felix to win three gold medals on the track in a single Olympics at Paris 2026. “She [Felix] was my original inspiration in sport,” Thomas tells me now. “I saw a lot of myself in her, so it felt very full-circle. The other day at a cafe someone actually mistook me for her, which I took as a huge compliment.”

Her performances on the track are just one side of Thomas. The Harvard graduate who majored in neurobiology and global health is focused on closing the racial health disparity gap and, in the run-up to Paris, spent five years working at the Volunteer Healthcare Clinic in Austin, Texas. As she told us back in May: “Giving back to my community helps fill my cup.”

21. Carissa Moore

In Hawaii, 4 January is Carissa Moore Day. The state officially recognised the surfer in 2016 for the leadership, grace and aloha she brings as a competitor and role model for young women. At the time, Moore was a three-time World Surf League (WSL) champion—the youngest ever to take the title at just 19 years old. Since then, she’s gone on to win the first Olympic gold in surfing history at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and has added two more WSL championships to her medal roster.

She returned to the Olympic stage at Paris 2024, while pregnant, riding one of the heaviest reefs in the world with her baby on board. And though she’d talked about retirement afterwards, she’s now back to number two in the world, with no sign of slowing down.

Moore is also the founder of Moore Aloha, a charity organisation dedicated to supporting women’s and girls’ mental health. They focus on events which promote mindfulness, physical and emotional wellness and environmental responsibility.

22. Hannah Cockroft

Dubbed Hurricane Hannah by the media following her storming success at the London 2012 Paralympics, Hannah Cockroft is a nine-time Paralympic champion, 19-time World Para Athletics champion and a fervent activist for disability rights and inclusion.

“Growing up, I went to mainstream schools where I was always the only disabled child,” Cockroft told the Sports Gazette in 2021. “PE for me was reading a book in the library or sitting and watching or keeping score of my friends’ games. It was never getting involved.”

At the age of 12, however, after watching a wheelchair basketball demonstration at her school, the world of para-sport opened up. Today, she’s one of the most decorated British athletes in World Para Athletics Championship history, with five Paralympic gold medals and multiple world records to her name. And after becoming a mother for the first time earlier this year, her sights are firmly set on backing a return for the 2028 Olympics in LA.

23. A’ja Wilson

A Met Gala debut, TIME Athlete of the Year, a New York Times bestselling author who just happens to have a signature footwear line with Nike—oh, and the fastest ever player in WNBA history to reach 6,000 points scored: all in a career that is very much far from over for basketball player A’ja Wilson.

Becky Hammon, her coach at Las Vegas Aces, calls it the it factor. This “thing” that the South Carolinian—who is a four-time league MVP and the first player in WNBA history to score over 1,000 points in a single season—has. “I run out of adjectives for her,” Hammon told Vogue back in March.

No wonder she was offered richest contract in WNBA history to ensure Wilson remained with the team back in April, making her the first player in the league to earn seven figures—and, in the process, forever moving the needle on salary expectations for female athletes. It’s something she’s deeply passionate about. “This isn’t just like, ‘Oh, I want the million-dollar contract.’ This is for the generations after me, Wilson told Vogue in the same interview. I don’t have a problem sitting at the table until we get what we want and get what we deserve.”

Wilson also speaks openly and vulnerably about her mental health, as an athlete and as a Black woman. In an essay penned for The Players Tribune in 2021, she described her struggles with anxiety, depression and grief, and her decision to go to therapy. If you read one thing today, let it be that.

24. Fran Hennessy

Whenever I’m doubting myself, I think back to the video of nine-year-old Fran Hennessy, a smile plastered on her face, going for her eighth lap of the athletics track with her Dad, Mick, shouting words of encouragement from behind the camera.

From that little girl to an undefeated 9-0-0 professional boxing record (with two knockouts) 11 years later, Hennessy is now aiming to become the youngest ever undisputed four-belt bantamweight world champion across both men and women. At the time of writing, she has just under a year to make it happen.

Hennessy has spoken openly in the past about her childhood struggles with body image and dyslexia, and using humour as a protective mechanism for these insecurities. In boxing, though, she found home—a place where she could grow in confidence and enter pure flow.

Hennessy’s fight against the current reigning bantamweight world champion, Cherneka Johnson, isn’t yet fixed, but watch this space because it won’t be far away.

25. Zoe Bäckstedt

“Don’t limit your challenges, challenge your limits,” says Zoe Bäckstedt when I ask her for the mantra she lives by. It checks out. The 21-year-old seems to be almost limitless on a bike.

Back in June, just a week after winning a stage of the Tour de Suisse Femmes, she became double national champion in the elite women’s time trial and the road race; victories which see her make her mark on the senior stage after a stunning junior career, which included multiple World Championship titles.

While Bäckstedt is still at the very start of her career, many have tipped her to be the future of British cycling across road and cyclo-cross. As for what motivates her? “Right now, it’s the will to push myself to the limit in all my races and fight for that victory.”

26. Nelly Korda

It’s a big year for Nelly Korda. The 27-year-old world number one is US Open champion and just two points away from being inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame—an honorary club of just 35 women who, between them, make up the greatest golfers of all time. And she’s just one world major away from completing the career Grand Slam. If she does it, she’ll be only the eighth woman in history to have won four major golf tournaments.

Her career, of course, is already peppered with greatness. A gold medal in her Olympic debut in 2020 paved the way for 2024, her most successful season to date, where she clocked five consecutive tournament wins. A number that equalled the record for the longest winning streak in women’s golfing history.

Off the course, she’s thriving, too. Deals with Nike, Goldman Sachs and Delta contributed to her becoming the seventh highest-paid female athlete in the world in 2025, while her appearance in Sports Illustrated’s iconic 2025 swimwear issue, alongside Ilona Maher, Anna Hall, Gabby Thomas and Eileen Gu, has contributed to the celebration of strong, athletic bodies within media.

27. Laviai Nielsen

If Laviai Nielsen could relive any sporting moment from her career thus far, it would be winning an Olympic medal alongside her twin sister, Lina, at Paris 2024. “After everything we’d been through—all the setbacks and disappointments in trying to reach our dreams—winning that medal with my best friend is something I’ll never be able to put into words,” she writes over email.

It seems a long way from the 16-year-old Nielsen who carried Jessica Ennis-Hill’s kit at the London 2012 Olympics. Back then, competing on the senior world stage was just a dream. Twelve years later, it was her reality. That reality, however, didn’t come without setback. In 2021, just two weeks before Nielsen was set to make her Olympic debut, she received a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, a lifelong condition that affects the nervous system. Her sister, Lina, also has the condition and the pair have since been dedicated to raising awareness, particularly on social media, where they both share the highs and lows of elite athlete life.

“My sister and I kind of understood that we had a bit of a social responsibility with telling our story,” Nielsen told Olympics Channel TV in 2024. “We want to show people that even though there might be a roadblock, you can still continue. It might be on a different path, but you might still get to the same place.” At time of writing, that place is Glasgow, where the 2026 Commonwealth Games is underway and, where she has her sights set on a medal. With her kind of resilience, who’d doubt her?

28. Funmi Fadoju

Growing up, Funmi Fadoju’s idol was Serena Williams. “It’s not just because she’s the GOAT,” she says, “it’s because she was unapologetically herself. She never asked for permission to take up space, and she showed me that greatness isn’t about fitting into people’s expectations. It’s about having the courage to define your own, which is something I try to do every day.”

That she does. Fadoju is one of netball’s brightest rising stars, playing in defence for London Pulse and England’s Vitality Roses. Named Netball Super League Young Player of the Season in both 2021 and 2022, she’s since become a prominent figure in senior squads, earning over 40 caps for the Roses.

This summer, she’ll be on court at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, an event she hopes will continue to build momentum for netball, and women’s sport more widely. “It’s really amazing to be part of this moment in history,” she says. “In netball, we’re seeing more investment, more visibility and more opportunities than ever. I hope the Games will continue to catapult women’s sport to another level.”

With consistently impressive performances on court already attracting deals with the likes of Nike, there’s little doubt that the future looks rosy for this defensive superstar.

29. Doriane Pin

It’s been 34 years since a female driver entered an F1 race. The question of why is a complicated puzzle, involving investment, visibility, prejudice and stigma. But now, with a fresh wave of female drivers rising through the ranks of the F1 Academy, the idea of female representation in an F1 race feels closer than ever. At the helm of this movement is French 22-year-old Doriane Pin, the Mercedes driver who won 2025’s F1 Academy series.

Having begun her go-karting career when she was nine, Pin’s been making strides towards her dream of driving in an F1 race ever since. 2026 has already been a momentous year in that journey, with Pin becoming the first woman to drive a Mercedes F1 car back in April. Her maiden test, which took place at Silverstone, involved 76 laps of the track in the 2021 title-winning W12.

Watch this space.

30. Ros Canter

Ros Canter’s daughter, Sener, was just 16 weeks old when her mum won her third Badminton—the world’s largest equestrian eventing competition outside of the World Championships—in May 2026. The baby was no stranger to horseback, having literally been there with her when a five-months-pregnant Canter won Burghley at the end of 2025.

These are remarkable achievements, ones which sit alongside gold medals at the Olympics and World Equestrian Games, and which go a long way to dismantling the stigma around maternity in sport.

At Belsay Horse Trials this year, when asked about what had changed since giving birth with regard to keeping up with her own training, Canter joked: “Sener has lost a bit of her routine since Badminton, so I have some time in the middle of the night.” Clearly, nothing will stop her.

31. Katie Ledecky

Katie Ledecky is the ultimate professional. The nine-time Olympic gold medallist, 23-time World Champion and New York Times bestselling author has been winning global medals since she was 15. Fourteen years later, she’s as focused and humble as she was then, despite holding the record for the most Olympic gold medals in women’s swimming, and the equal highest number across any sport.

“When I was six years old, I never even dreamed of making it to one Olympics,” she told the Hurdle podcast last year. “When I won a gold medal, my family and I had a conversation, and we realised that anything more than that is icing on the cake. None of us ever imagined I would make it that far in the sport.”

That doesn’t mean she’s not ambitious. Despite breaking 17 world records so far, the swimmer is far from finished. “I’m always eager to chase something new. I’m not perfect, and I haven’t achieved every single one of my goals,” she told Hurdle. “I love the chase, I love the journey, I love the process.”

Passing on the learnings from her remarkable sporting career is a huge part of her athletic identity. She’s an advisor to Athleta’s Power of She collective and has worked closely with Billie Jean King’s Women’s Sport Foundation, which funds research and provides financial support to aspiring athletes, while also advocating for female athletes around the world.

32. Menna Fitzpatrick

Have you ever skied in low cloud with a blizzard swirling around you? That’s how Menna Fitzpatrick describes her experience as a visually-impaired skier. Britain’s most decorated winter Paralympian was born with congenital retinal folds, meaning that she has no vision in her left eye and very limited sight in her right eye.

Not that it’s never stopped her. At the age of five, she was skiing on family holidays; her dad guiding her down the mountain. Today, she has six Paralympic medals, having burst onto the international scene in 2016 when she won the World Cup title for visually impaired skiing.

At the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Paralympics, she secured four medals, making her the most successful British athlete at a single Winter Games. Two further medals came at Beijing 2022, and at this year’s Milano Cortina Games, Fitzpatrick returned to elite-level competition despite suffering an ACL injury just a few weeks prior. Focused is an understatement.

33. Dina Asher-Smith

Dina Asher-Smith is the fastest British woman in history. The record-breaking athlete first dipped below the magical 11-second barrier over the 100m in 2015. She’s since lowered that mark even further, running 10.83 seconds to win silver at the World Championships in Doha 2019. At that same competition, she became the first British woman to win a global sprint title when she took gold in the 200m, firmly cementing her place in the history books.

Despite her commitment to track, Asher-Smith has always maintained an identity beyond sport. Graduating from King’s College London with a history degree in 2017, she’s since turned her eye to fashion and has been the face of numerous global campaigns, including the 2026 launch of the La Ferrari Dino handbag.

Now training in the USA, Asher-Smith is set to compete at this year’s European Championships, having pulled out of the Commonwealth Games due to injury. We do not underestimate her chances.

34. Aitana Bonmati

For three consecutive years, Aitana Bonmati has been FIFA Women’s Player of the Year. The midfielder, who plays for Spain and FC Barcelona Femení, is also a three-time Ballon d’Or winner; an individual award considered the most prestigious in the game.

And now her tactical analysis is becoming as respected as her game, after she stepped into broadcasting for the men’s 2026 World Cup. Working with Mexican network TUDN, she’s been praised for her breakdowns of what’s happening on the pitch and why.

In an interview with The Guardian in 2024, Bonmatí credited her mental state as the defining characteristic behind her success. “Talent is one thing, and you can work hard as well, but without this mentality of sacrifice, resilience, fight and to want to be better every day… I wouldn’t be the person I am today,” she said.

35. Katarina Johnson-Thompson

To know the footprint of Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s career is to know that she is a master of resilience. After stepping out onto the world stage as a 19-year-old at the London 2012 Olympics, where she could soak up the experience in the shadow of Jessica Ennis-Hill’s Golden Girl pressure, she was thrust into the limelight as Britain’s next heptathlon superstar.

And that she is. Look at her medal cabinet, which includes an Olympic silver, two World Championship golds (plus a further bronze), multiple Commonwealth Games titles and a cluster of international indoor medals.

Such achievements, however impressive, have been far from easy to accrue. KJT, as she’s affectionately known, has battled through her fair share of challenges, including a ruptured Achilles just months before the Tokyo Olympics. If anything, such hurdles have only made her stronger, with a reputation for wearing her heart on her sleeve that is equally admirable in the world of professional competition.

In 2024, after her Olympic silver, she released her book Unbroken in which she addressed her struggles and triumphs in equal measure, including a candid reflection on her teenage body image battles. It’s an essential read, not only for young athletes, but for women navigating ambition, confidence and relationship to their body.

36. Coco Gauff

Coco Gauff’s entry onto the world stage was something of a fairytale. In 2019, she became—at the age of just 15—the youngest player in history to qualify for the main draw at Wimbledon, going on to beat her childhood idol Venus Williams in round one. She made it to round four in the tournament, by which time she’d cemented herself as one of the most exciting prospects in the game to date. By 2023, her transformation to champion was complete when she achieved her first Grand Slam title on home soil at the US Open.

Since then, she’s become an icon on and off the court, adding the French Open 2025 to her Slam singles’ titles and becoming—like fellow pros Naomi Osaka and Venus Williams—one of the players cementing the intersection of high fashion and sport, having built globally successful collaborations with sportswear brand New Balance and fashion house Miu Miu.

37. Daryll Neita

You might think fourth place is the most agonising position to finish in athletics. Not Daryll Neita. When the second fastest British woman of all time missed out on a medal in her Paris 2024 Olympic final, she focused on the positives: “Stepped up when it mattered and did myself proud,” she shared on Instagram after the race. “Last place in the final in Tokyo, fourth place today. One thing about me, I’m gonna keep pushing.”

That unbreakable self-belief is what makes Neita so exciting. “I’ve always believed that I’m born to do track and field,” she told Marie Claire UK. “I believe that I can be the best. I just believe it.”

We believe it too. But Neita’s career isn’t just about her own performances. The sprinter is as committed to getting the next generation onto the track as she is to winning medals (and she has won plenty of medals, including Olympic, as well as at European and world championships). In 2024, she founded the Daryll Neita Athletics Community to inspire children to participate in sports, launching it with a sports day for over 100 students, and has plans to build out a programme of mentorship, workshops and events. The message she’s sending? The same one she’d tell her younger self: Never stop believing.

38. Emma Finucane

Look at 23-year-old Emma Finucane’s June photo dump, and you’ll find a mix of family photos, holiday shots, mirror selfies, pizza and coffee. You’ll also find videos of her front squatting 80kg, being interviewed alongside cycling legend Victoria Pendleton and riding in velodromes all around the world. All just part and parcel of life as the world’s fastest female cyclist who, back in February, broke the world record for the flying 200m event.

Finucane’s talent has been evident for a while. In Paris, at just 21, she won a hat-trick of Olympic medals—one gold, two bronze—to add to her first World Championship title in 2023. Since then, she’s become a two-time world champion, has signed with Adidas and become a host of the Watts Occurring Femmes podcast, a show dedicated to year-round cycling content.

“I’m not afraid to admit that I have big and bold dreams for myself,” she says when we catch up with her. “I’m motivated to be the most successful women’s sprinter there is, and I’ll chase that unless my body says otherwise.” And she wants to lead by example: “I hope to show young girls that being ambitious, and having dreams and goals, isn’t unrealistic. You can make them your reality.”

39. Zoe Atkin

I can lose hours watching the days-in-the-life vlogs of Stanford student and pro skier Zoe Atkin, who is “just a girl”—albeit one who majors in symbolic systems (a programme that combines computer science, psychology, maths and AI) and happens to also be a world champion. Oh, and an Olympic bronze medallist.

Atkin’s vlogs provide a look behind the curtain at the juggle that is student-athlete life, including training, nutrition, study, recovery and her passions outside of sport. What she shows, whether she means to or not, is the person behind the elite athlete. Her feed is, quite simply, a hugely positive place to be.

Speaking with Marie Claire UK ahead of this year’s Winter Games, she said: “It’s been a huge journey since my first Olympics in 2022. My mindset is something I work on every day. I’m very conscious of my thought patterns and emotions; I practice meditation and mindfulness every day, which really helps me to stay present.”

Sharing messages around women’s strength and body positivity, being open about the psychological side of sport, and just—quite simply—getting on with things. Inspiring and practical: that’s Atkins all the way.

40. Sydney Levrone

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has been making history since she was 16. The then high-schooler finished third at the Olympic trials in a new world junior record and became the youngest US track and field athlete ever to make an Olympic Games, going on to compete at Rio 2016.

As we now know, that was just the start for the 400m hurdler, who has gone on to become the only track athlete ever to break four world records over a single event. Those records—which included becoming the first female 400m hurdler to run under the magical 52 and subsequently, 51-second barrier—feature alongside four Olympic and four world championship gold medals.

That medal tally is currently on pause, as McLaughlin-Levrone has recently given birth to her first baby. With plans to make her return to training in time to target the LA 2028 Olympics, naturally.

41. Emma Raducanu

On a warm New York day in September 2021, a British A-Level student—one Emma Raducanu—became the first qualifier in history to win a Grand Slam title. And she did it without dropping a set. That single game catapulted her onto the world stage and, as the first British woman to win a Grand Slam singles title since 1977, firmly into the hearts of the British public.

In the five years since, Raducanu’s battled injury, illness and coaching changes—all under the scrutiny of the world’s media. “Long term, I want to win Wimbledon. That’s my number one goal,” she told Marie Claire UK back in 2024 (this year’s tournament was not to be the one, after being forced to withdraw due to a stress fracture). “I think it’s very easy in tennis to panic, and I’m guilty of it. You feel like you only have 10 years of your career ahead of you, and that it’s going to be over before you know it.”

Despite the pressure, she remains level-headed—and committed to a life both on and off the court. Whatever her Grand Slam status, a headline deal with Uniqlo, announced earlier this year, is just the latest of a long list of notable ambassadorships, including Dior, Tiffany, Evian, Porsche and British Airways, demonstrating her continued pulling power. Power that Raducanu makes good work of in other areas, too, regularly offering her time to inspire younger generations in tennis, visiting children at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital and supporting community initiatives such as Surplus to Supper, which works to combat food poverty.

42. Yaroslava Mahuchikh

Very few athletes have won a World Championship gold. Let alone after a gruelling three-day escape from their war-torn home. In 2022, Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh—who was 20 at the time—won the World Indoor Championships in Serbia after a gruelling 2,000km journey by car through the Russian invasion.

Mahuchikh subsequently lived and trained as a refugee in Germany, Belgium, Estonia and Portugal, staying in touch with family and friends back at home via texts and calls. Still living away from home in 2024, Mahuchikh broke a world record that had stood since 1987, clearing a historic 2.10m at the Paris Diamond League, going on to win Olympic Gold just a few weeks later. At the end of the season, she was named Women’s Field Athlete of the Year at the World Athletics Awards for her undefeated year and world-record-breaking jump.

“Sport unites, sport helps, and athletes help each other,” Mahuchikh told Olympic Channel TV the year she left home, speaking of both her personal circumstances and wider beliefs in what sport can achieve.

And really, she’s just getting started. High jumpers regularly compete until their early 30s, meaning that (all going to plan), we’ll have at least a decade of Mahuchikh’s brilliance to come.

43. Millie Bright

Footballer Millie Bright’s career extends far beyond the pitch. The former Chelsea captain, who announced her retirement in April, had such an impact on the club and its fans that she’ll stay on as a foundation trustee and club ambassador, working closely with them to inspire the next generation. Which shouldn’t be a surprise: “It’s what I play for—to inspire young girls and boys,” she told Marie Claire UK back in 2023.

Bright’s influence on the world of women’s sports shows no signs of slowing down. An ambassador for mental health charity YoungMinds, successful podcaster and regular pundit and presenter—not to mention a new YouTube channel—Bright also recently launched The Growth Locker, an online platform is aimed at helping female entrepreneurs establish small businesses.

Stay tuned, because we’ve got a feeling there’s a lot more to come.

44. Aryna Sabalenka

Four-time Grand Slam champion Aryna Sabalenka is known as The Tiger for her fierce energy on and off the court.

A formidable star, who this year took the so-called Sunshine Double after back-to-back wins at the Indian Wells Masters and Miami Open tournaments, she’s also a vocal proponent of player rights and fair pay. At the French Open this year, she spoke openly about the need for players to receive a greater share of tournament revenue, and for tournaments to make contributions to pensions, healthcare and maternity pots.

Her influence extends beyond the court. In January 2026, she was unveiled as Gucci’s latest global brand ambassador; a move that demonstrated both her individual influence and marked another step towards closing the sponsorship gap between the men’s and women’s game.

45. Rebeca Andrade

Rebeca Andrade is back. Brazil’s most decorated Olympian, who has a total of six medals to her name (alongside the nine won at World Championship level), made her return to competition in June with a win on the vault at the Pan American Gymnastics Championships.

Andrade’s road to the top has been far from smooth. Three ACL tears in 2015, 2017 and 2019, respectively, have made her one of the most resilient and self-aware athletes in the game. It’s how she knew that she needed to prioritise rest and recovery when she made the brave (and almost unheard of) decision to take an extended break from the sport in 2025. “I’m resting. It’s very important to me,” she told Globo at the time.

Her decisiveness is something we can all learn from. Since returning to the sport, she’s made a decision to step back from the floor to focus on the vault, beam and uneven bars instead, to respect, what she has called the “limits of my body”. Either way, with LA 2028 on the horizon, it’s an exciting time—with that focus and direction the sky, surely, is the limit.

46. Amy Hunt

“You can be an academic badass and a track goddess.” So said Amy Hunt in the line that sent her viral last year. Speaking to the BBC after winning silver at the world championships in Tokyo, the Cambridge University English Graduate’s words resonated with young female athletes all over the country.

The messages flooded in, all asking for advice on how to get into Oxbridge. “I’ll always say, just give me a call, because the interview is so unlike anything else you’ll ever do,” Hunt told The Guardian earlier this year. Her eventual goal is to set up a scholarship to support track and field athletes to get into Cambridge.

For now, however, she has pressing matters on the track. And things are going well. Hunt has already set a new personal best of 10.97 seconds over the 100m this year, becoming the third fastest British woman of all time. At the UK Athletics Championships, she defeated fellow sprint icon Dina Asher-Smith to take the crown, going on to score two silver medals—in 100m and 200m—at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this summer.

47. Mary Earps

Think of Mary Earps and you can’t help but think of the summer of 2023. Just a year after played a pivotal role in the team’s victory at Euro 2022, that was the year she vice-captained the Lionesses to the final of the Women’s World Cup—uniting a nation behind women’s football and earning her the crown of Sports Personality of the Year.

Over those two summers, women’s football in the UK was transformed—all thanks to Earps and her team. As spectator numbers soared, the team became idols for young girls all over the country. It hadn’t always been that way, she told Marie Claire UK that summer: “I’ve spent quite a lot of my career being heavily criticised. But winning at the Euros, and the way I played, people look at me differently now.”

They certainly do. Now retired from the international game, she’s just signed for Women’s Super League team London City Lionesses—a move that brings her back to British soil after two years at Paris Saint-Germain. When asked what drew her back, Earps cited the energy of the club and its female owner, Michele Kang. “I think there’s a lot of broken promises made in women’s sports. It’s not always sunshine and rainbows,” she told The Guardian in January. But their vision and the way they’re actively working towards it—it’s not just words, it feels very much like action.”

Welcome home, Mary. It’s great to have you back.

48. Lottie Fry

At 26, Lottie Fry became the youngest dressage rider in history to win the individual freestyle title at the World Dressage Championships—taking home a second gold in the individual special class and a silver in the team dressage.

Her partner in crime, a black stallion called Glamourdale, has been described by Lottie as her “one in a million”. The pair were also part of a record-breaking Olympics for the British equestrian squad at Paris 2024, where they took individual and team dressage bronze.

And though her accolades are many, Lottie’s ride to victory has not been without it’s challenges. Her mother—Laura Fry, also a British Olympic dressage rider—died in 2012, when Lottie was just 16. Not long after, in 2014, the young rider moved to the Netherlands to continue her training. It’s where she met Glamourdale, and where she continues to train today.

There is undoubtedly a long and illustrious career ahead for them both—and we can’t wait to see it play out.

49. Nat Sciver-Brunt

Nat Sciver-Brunt is only the second Englishwoman to juggle motherhood and professional cricket. The first was Arran Brindle, who returned to international cricket in 2011 after giving birth to her son in 2008. Now Sciver-Brunt and her wife, Katherine (a former England fast-bowler), are carving their own path through family life and elite sport. “We are the guinea-pigs,” Sciver-Brunt joked in an interview with The Telegraph last year.

But Sciver-Brunt isn’t just part of the England squad who finished as runners-up to Australia in this year’s T20 World Cup. She’s captain—a role that has been 13 years in the making. Having made her international debut for England in 2013 when she was just 20, the 33-year-old is proof that you don’t need to be the loudest on the pitch to be an effective leader.

“We all know she’s not the most vocal person, and you don’t need to be,” head coach Charlotte Edwards told the England & Wales Cricket Board last month. “Your actions lead on the pitch, and that’s what she [Nat] does. She leads from the front. Juggling it with everything else—looking after young Theo—she’s kind of a superwoman in many ways.” Hear, hear.

50. Desirèe Henry

Sprinter Desirèe Henry is on her road to her third Olympics. The 200m former World Youth Champion and multiple Olympic relay medallist is documenting the journey via her YouTube and Instagram channels (both with regular cameos from her dachshund, Henry).

As well as winning medals, Henry (the person, not the puppy) has another mission—as she revealed to Marie Claire UK back in June. “I’m passionate about empowering women to build strength, confidence and a positive relationship with their bodies,” she said. “Strength is sexy, sophisticated, and most of all, feminine.”

It hasn’t always felt that way, she added: “But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realised my body tells a story. It reflects discipline, resilience, consistency, and years of hard work. That’s something I’m proud of, rather than something I feel I need to downplay.”

The messages she shares, in interviews and on social media, all reflect this celebration of female strength, making her a much-needed voice for all of us.