5 Female Athletes You Should Know About

Sanya Richards Ross is a former American track and field athlete. She competed in 2004, 2008, and 2012 summer Olympics for the United States of America. She specializes in the 400-meter dash, having individually broken the national record in 2006 and winning multiple Olympic gold medals in the 400-meter dash and 400-meter relays. Watching videos of her running is so inspiring and motivational. 

Naomi Osaka is a Japanese professional tennis player and reigning champion of the US Open and Australian Open. She is only 23 years old and already has 4 grand slam singles. She is only just starting in the game of tennis and I am excited to see what is next for her. 

Aly Raisman is an American gymnast who first made her debut on the Olympic team in 2012 as captain. She became the first American gymnast to get gold on the floor exercise, along with receiving a bronze medal on beam. In 2016, she served as captain of the team again receiving multiple individual medals. In both 2012 and 2016, she helped lead the USA to gold in the team final. In recent times, she was one of the many gymnasts who spoke out against the USA Gymnastics establishment, who covered up years of abuse, and testified against Larry Nassar, who sexually abused young gymnasts. 

Simone Biles is another American gymnast who had a huge impact on the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. She won gold on the women’s all-around, vault and floor exercise, with a bronze on beam. Simone played a big role in the United States’ victory in the team competition as well. She is the third most decorated gymnast in history. Simone Biles was hopeful to come back for the Summer 2020 Olympics, but the COVID Pandemic delayed the games. 

Sabrina Ionescu is a professional basketball player on the New York Liberty. Prior to playing professionally, she played collegiately on the Oregon Ducks Women’s Basketball team. Their head coach, Kelly Graves, noted that the attendance at Oregon women’s basketball games dramatically increased once Sabrina Ionescu joined the team. She currently has the record for the most triple-doubles in the NCAA for women’s basketball. Furthermore, she had a close relationship with Kobe Bryant, who before passing was a big advocate for women’s sports and women’s basketball, which Ionescu shared with him. Most recently, Ionescu has spoken out against the NCAA with dramatic differences in treatment between men and women, specifically about their NCAA workout rooms for the March Madness Tournament.