In honor of Women’s History Month, I thought it would be fitting to highlight 4 women who are making strides in the sports world. From journalists to athletes, these women are making a great name for themselves in a field that is heavily dominated by men.
MJ Acosta
Marjorie Acosta, professionally known as MJ Acosta, is a sports reporter for the NFL Network. Acosta began her journey with the NFL as a cheerleader for the Miami Dolphins in their 2012-2013 seasons. Being a bilingual native of Miami by way of New York, she was able to begin her journalism career in South Florida for 7 years. She then ventured on to take the lead Sports Anchor role at NBC and Telemundo in San Diego. There, she produced, wrote, edited and anchored daily sportscasts in English and Spanish and won Emmy Awards as part of the Telemundo news team. Acosta is also the first-ever Latina on-air reporter for the NFL Network and hopes to continue to grow her name as a bilingual host and reporter.
Maria Taylor
If you don’t know who Maria Taylor is, let me enlighten you. Maria Taylor is a college sports analyst and reporter for ESPN, and according to ESPN Press Room, she is also one of the network’s most versatile commentators. Taylor attended the University of Georgia where she played basketball and volleyball while proudly representing the Bulldogs. She was a member of the USA A2 National Team and was named to the All-SEC volleyball team 3 times. Her versatility is shown through various ESPN platforms including hosting College Football Live, Big Monday and NCAA Women’s Final Four. She serves as a regular co-host on Get Up and works as a sideline reporter on Saturday Primetime. To top it all off, she is part of ESPN’s NBA Draft coverage.
Simone Manuel
Simone Manuel made history in the 2016 Rio Olympics by becoming the first African American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming. She followed up her gold with a silver medal in the 50m Free. In the same session, she helped Team USA in the 4x100m medley relay, touching the wall first to earn her 4th and final medal of the games. Though the Olympics may have put her on the map to the rest of the world, Manuel has been making strides since her high school days. By the time she graduated from Fort Bend Austin High School in 2014, she had already broken an American record in the 100-yard freestyle. She soon went on to become a multi-time NCAA All-American and Champion for the Stanford Cardinals.
Monica Puig
All the way from San Juan, Puerto Rico, Monica Puig is a professional tennis champion and Olympian. She is the first Puerto Rican person to win an Olympic gold medal representing her country. On September 26, 2016, she reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 27. At the Rio Olympics, she became the first Latin American champion in the women’s singles discipline. Puig started her career in 2007 and has been a trailblazer in the world of tennis ever since. Traveling all around the world playing the sport, her breakthrough came from the 2016 Olympic games. In November of 2016, Puig was presented the award for Best Female Athlete in Rio 2016 presented by the Association of National Olympic Committees. She made history for women and Latinas alike in those games, which will be admired forever.
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