30 greatest female athletes of all time

March is Women's History Month. Women have held an integral part in sports for decades. For every Michael Jordan shot over Craig Ehlo, there's Mary Lou Retton sticking the landing at the 1984 Olympics. For every Michael Phelps, there's a Katie Ledecky. The U.S. Women's National Soccer team has more iconic moments than we can count.

Today, there are literally hundreds of amazing female athletes across the world. They are dominating sports like volleyball, gymnastics, soccer, tennis, and skiing. With social media allowing college athletes to make their own money and NIL laws going into effect (even if that just got super complicated), female athletes are becoming bigger than ever. Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Livvy Dunne, Sunisa Lee, and the Cavinder twins are just some of the stars becoming millionaires in college. It's growing these sports by building audiences through Instagram and TikTok.

Yet, history didn't always appreciate female athletes. They should have, because we've had some absolute stars. We're going over the 30 biggest athletes of all time, which means there are some icons that won't make the list. Due to the semantics of what an athlete is, we've left off all professional wrestlers (despite there being some impossibly athletic women there). We also left off Danica Patrick and all racecar drivers. With that said, let's get to the list.

Honorable Mentions

Caitlin Clark
Basketball

Caitlin Clark will very likely be on this list in no time, but being a player who's never been in a professional game, we can't in good conscience put her on the list of greatest athletes in all female sports. She's changed women's basketball, possibly forever. Her matchup last year with Angel Reese is one of the greatest college rivalries ever. Now, she's the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I basketball (men's or women's). She's heading to the WNBA next season, and we expect a large fanbase to follow her there.

Candace Parker
Basketball

Three-time WNBA Champion, two-time WNBA MVP, one-time Finals MVP, five-time Russian National League champion, seven-time All-Star, one-time All-Star MVP, (breathes) two-time NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player, two-time NCAA Champion, two-time AP Athlete of the year, and a two-time John Wooden Award winner are somehow just some of the dozens of awards Candace Parker won. There are just too many women to honor, but it would be a crime to have any list and not mention Parker. She spent much of her career as one of the best players in the sport.

Marit Bjørgen
Cross-country Skiier

Marit Bjørgen has the most individual victories in the history of cross-country skiing. She went into a race 118 times where she came out the victor. The Norwegian won five medals at the 2010 Winter Olympics alone (three gold medals). In total, she's won eight Olympic gold medals and a ridiculous 18 World Championship gold medals. She's considered the most decorated Winter Olympian with 15 medals.

Wilma Rudolph
Track and Field

Wilma Rudolph won three medals at the 1960 Summer Olympics. She was raised in a pre-Civil Rights era. She was diagnosed with the poliovirus as a child which left her in leg braces until age 12. Yet, she still became a track star. The moment she was standing on the top of the podium in Rome changed women's sports. It's an inspiring and iconic moment, and she became the first American female to win three track and field gold medals in a single event.

Allyson Felix
Track and Field

Allyson Felix is one of the most decorated track and field athletes in American history. She has seven total gold medals (including relay medals). She specialized in the 400-meter dash later in her career, but she also thrived in the 200-meter. She never needed Olympic or world records to win medals. She was just insanely consistent, whether it was singular races or relays with three other women. Felix is a winner, plain and simple.