AFTER years of battling to capture the imagination of the sporting public, few could argue that gender equality at the highest level of sport is as close as it’s ever been to finding parity.
In honour of the legacy some of the all-time great female athletes have left on the sporting landscape, we decided to put together a list of the best women in sports.
After her shock loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193, American fighting extraordinaire Ronda Rousey is a conspicuous absentee from this list.
Rousey has vowed she ‘will be back’ after her loss at Etihad Stadium, but until she proves she can overcome the defeat and return to the top of the tree, Ronda will remain off this list.
We have poured over the statistics and records to compile a list of the five most dominant athletes of all-time.
Mia Hamm – Soccer
Few female footballers boast such a magnificent record at both club and international level as American Mia Hamm.
Hamm is a two-time winner of the World Cup, two-time Olympic gold medallist and a five-time Soccer USA’s female athlete of the year.
Hamm was also named FIFA’s “World Player of the Year” in both 2001 and 2002.
Her record speaks for itself.
Hamm held the record for most goals at international level until June 2013, when American Abby Wambach surpassed her record.
Another accolade that Hamm can be proud of is her inclusion in FIFA’s 2004 list of the greatest 125 living soccer players – one of only two women to be included on the list.
As far as female football players go, there is none better.
Lauren Jackson – Basketball
Inarguably Australia’s greatest ever basketball player, Lauren Jackson could very well be the best female basketballer of all-time.
A gifted all round player, ‘LJ’ is just as proficient under the rim as she is from the three point line, and has single-handedly redefined the game of women’s basketball.
Jackson has been MVP of the WNBA three times (2003, 2007, 2010) and led Seattle to league championships in 2004 and 2010. She is fourth in league history in points per game (18.9).
She has excelled at the international level too, with four Olympic medals (bronze, 2012; silver, 2008, 2004, 2000,) and two World Championships (gold, 2006, bronze, 2002) to her name.
The feat is even more impressive when you take into account Jackson virtually carried the team the entirety of those tournaments.
The local basketball stadium in her home town of Albury is also named after Jackson in her honour – a sign of just how indelible the imprint has been by the auspicious Aussie.
Florence Griffith-Joyner – Track and Field
The woman they call “Flo-Jo” is considered the fastest woman of all-time, and still has the 100m and 200m records that she set in 1988 – neither of which have ever been seriously challenged.
Griffith-Joyner transcended the sport in the late 80s and early 90s, becoming larger than life on both the track and in the media.
Such was the dominance of Flo Jo at Seoul Olympics – where she won four medals including three gold – the American became a constant target of accusations of steroid abuse.
Griffth-Joyner never once tested positive for PEDs.
The TV commentator at the time when Flo Jo broke the record summed up her feats better than any article ever could.
“I…it can’t be, nobody can run that fast,” he stuttered when hearing the anemometer had recorded a legal wind speed.
“They must have done something to the electronics because she won by such a margin … it might be right but 10.4(9) … is incredible.”
Florence Griffith-Joyner retired in 1988 after her sensational showing at Seoul and remains one of the greatest and most recognisable track and field athletes of all-time.
Annika Sorenstam – Golf
When it comes to female golfers, no one holds a candle to Swedish superstar Annika Sorenstam.
Before stepping away from the links at the end of the 2008 season, Sorenstam had won 90 international tournaments as a professional.
This makes her the most prolific female golfer in terms of wins to ever play the game.
Sorenstam has won 72 official LPGA tournaments, including ten majors and 18 other tournaments internationally, and she tops the LPGA’s career money list with earnings of over $22 million—over – $3 million clear of her closest rival.
Such was her dominance on the women’s circuit, Sorenstam made history at an American tournament back in 2003, becoming the first woman to play in a PGA tour event since 1945.
It is hard to see any player ever getting close to the popularity and prolificacy of Sorenstam – who may sit atop the women’s pay list until the end of time.
Serena Williams – Tennis
No female athlete compilation would be complete without the dominant Serena Williams.
At the conclusion of 2015, Serena Williams is the most recent player, male or female, to have held all four major singles titles simultaneously and the fifth woman ever to do so.
There is no reason to believe that Williams – 34 at the end of 2015 – will not eclipse Margret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam titles either, with the American just three behind the Australian.
A four-time Olympic gold medallist, 13-time Grand Slam doubles title winner (with her sister Venus), Serena Williams has been credited with ushering in the new era of ‘women’s power tennis’.
Few can dispute that Williams is not just one of the most accomplished players in her sport’s history, but one of the best athletes the world as ever seen.
