With new professional leagues emerging in recent years, like the PWHL and NSL, women’s sports have gained popularity. There have also been expansions within existing leagues with the Toronto Tempo, Toronto’s first WNBA team, beginning its inaugural season in April.Â
The recent gold-medal women’s hockey game between the U.S and Canada was the most-watched women’s hockey game ever, with U.S. viewership peaking at 7.7 million viewers during overtime and 4.22 million viewers in Canada during that same time.
While women’s sports are certainly on the rise and more women are beginning careers in other parts of the sports industry, this hasn’t always been the case. Women have had to fight for their place in the male-dominated industry and are continuing to be trailblazers for future women.Â
Here is a list of four women who are making a real impact on the sports industry and paving a path for the future.
- Laura MĂĽller
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Laura MĂĽller works as a race engineer for Formula One driver Esteban Ocon who is a driver for the Haas F1 Team. MĂĽller was promoted to race engineer in 2025 and is the first female to ever hold the position full-time in the history of Formula One.Â
MĂĽller began working in Formula One in 2022 when she joined the Haas team in their simulator department. She worked her way up throughout the team and was promoted to performance engineer in the 2024 season.Â
Recently, MĂĽller made Formula One history again as she and the Head of Race Strategy at Red Bull, Hannah Schmitz, became the first women ever to have a corner of an F1 circuit named after them. The pair had turn 6 of Albert Park Circuit, the home of the Australian Grand Prix, named after them earlier this month as part of the In Her Corner initiative.
- Trinity Rodman
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Trinity Rodman is an American professional soccer player. She is a forward for the Washington Spirit in the NWSL, along with playing for the U.S. Women’s National Team, with whom she won a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Rodman also won the NWSL Championship in her first year with the Washington Spirit.
Rodman has been a force in the NWSL since she was drafted by the Spirit in 2021 at 18 (then the youngest player ever drafted in the league). Rodman won Rookie of the Year in 2021 and became the youngest player ever to reach 50 goal contributions (combined goals and assists) in September 2024. She was 22 when she reached this achievement. Rodman was nominated for the Ballon d’Or FĂ©minin, the top award for female soccer players, in both 2022 and 2024.Â
Earlier this year, Rodman signed a record-breaking contract with the Washington Spirit. The three-year contract will make her more than $2 million annually, making Rodman the NWSL’s highest-paid player in the league’s history and the highest-paid female soccer player in the world.
- Maria Taylor
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Maria Taylor is making headlines in the world of sports reporting after she became the first Black woman to host the Super Bowl trophy ceremony at Super Bowl LX in February. Taylor was also the first woman to have this honour in 34 years.
Taylor is a host and producer for NBC and hosts a variety of shows for the network, including Football Night in America, NBA Showtime, and Basketball Night in America and will begin as the lead studio host for the upcoming WNBA season.Â
Right after hosting the Super Bowl pregame show and trophy ceremony, Taylor flew out to Milan to cover the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics as a late-night host. This was the fourth Olympics that she has covered in her career.
Taylor began working for NBC in 2021 after leaving ESPN and remains a prominent voice in sports. She has been recognized for her professional work multiple times, including winning a Sports Emmy for her work on NBC Universal’s 2024 Paris Olympic coverage and being recognized on the Time100 Next list in 2022.
- Alysa Liu
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Alysa Liu recently took the world by storm after her performance at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, as she enamoured audiences with her joyful attitude and her clear sense of self. Liu, only 20 years old, won two gold medals at the competition. She took home gold in both the women’s singles and the team event with Team USA. With her gold in the women’s singles competition, Liu became the first American woman to win the title since 2022.
This wasn’t Liu’s first experience at the Olympics; she had competed at Beijing 2022 and shortly afterwards announced her retirement at only 16, shocking the sports community. She announced her return to the sport in 2024.
Liu has made it clear that when she returned to competitive skating, it would be on her terms and that she was doing it for the love of the sport. Liu explained in a recent interview with Teen Vogue how strict her schedule was pre-retirement and how much her life was controlled by skating. Even her diet and water intake were heavily restricted from a young age.
Liu is now becoming a positive influence on other female athletes, reminding them that winning isn’t everything and that it is important to have a life outside their sport.