30 greatest female athletes of all time

5. Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Track and Field

There have been so many great female athletes in track and field, but Jackie Joyner-Kersee was just so consistent that she deserves a spot on this list. She’s a three-time gold medalist at the Olympics and a six-time medalist overall. She’s among the greatest athletes ever in the long jump and heptathlon. For those who don’t know, the heptathlon consists of a 100-meter run, a hurdles, a high jump, a shot put, a 200-meter run, a long jump, a javelin throw, and an 800-meter run. To be so dominant in an event that’s basically seven events combined shows just how athletic Jackie Joyner-Kersee really was. 

While not the greatest in a singular event, JJK might be the best all-around athlete in American female sports. She still holds the record for points in a heptathlon with 7,291. Her consistency across all measures is why she’s in the top five all time. 

When looking at every single female athlete of the 20th century, Sports Illustrated named Joyner-Kersee the greatest female athlete of the 1900s. What more can be said there? Her sustained success was awe-inspiring. 

JJK retired in 2001 after four Olympic appearances. She was also a star basketball player at UCLA, considered one of the 15 best players in school history. Again, this is one of those rare cases where she can do anything and be the best. If she played baseball, she’d be on this list. If she took up golf, she’d be fighting Annika Sorenstam. Joyner-Kersee decided on track and field, and she was the best at her craft.