In accordance with the start of the 2011 Women’s World Cup, I figure it’s about time we give a shout out to the ladies of sports and point out the very best of our era. Like the blogs in the past, our era means the past 30 years, 1980-present. Popularity doesn’t always count, it’s the wins, championships, dominance over a stretch and also just as important, it’s the way each athlete elevated their sport’s popularity throughout the world.
Before we get to the top 10, let’s list the ladies who just missed the cut:
Michelle Akers, Cynthia Cooper, Janet Evans, Chris Evert, Shannon Miller, Picabo Street
And here it is, the top 10 female athletes of our era:
10. Cheryl Miller, basketball: “Anytime someone said I played ball like a man, I dug it!” That was just one of the things boasted by the dominant female basketball player. Cheryl Miller’s legacy began in high school when she scored 105 points in a single game. At USC, she won college basketball player of the year three times, while finishing 3rd all time in the NCAA in rebounds and 5th all-time in points. Had she had the chance to play in the WNBA instead of just coach, Miller would probably be in the top five of this list.
9. Bonnie Blair, speed skating: It’s simple; she won more gold medals than any other American female in the Olympic Games, summer or winter. Bonnie Blair won 5 gold medals, spanning three different games, including three in the 500 meter race. She was also the first American, male or female, to win six medals in the winter Olympics.
8. Serena Williams, tennis: While her 27 grand slam titles are impressive, we are going to focus on Serena’s 13 grand slam singles titles placing her 4th all time. Serena Williams combines success on and off the court with her dominance in women’s tennis along her with clothing line. Serena has also been the world’s No. 1 on five different occasions and is the all-time leader in career earnings on the WTA.
7. Lisa Fernandez, softball: While Jennie Finch may be the most popular softball player ever, there is no doubt the greatest is the pitcher/3rd baseman from UCLA and Olympic softball glory. In all, Fernandez won and dominated with three college softball player of the year awards, three gold medals, and two NCAA championships. Her peak may have been her senior season when she led the nation in batting average with a .510 mark, not to mention leading the nation with a 0.51 earned run average.
6. Lisa Leslie, basketball: First woman to dunk, that in itself may be worthy of this list. Lisa Leslie has exemplified that women can play professional team sports and have a successful career. Three times she was named WNBA’s Most Valuable Player, twice her Los Angeles Sparks won the title and four times she has won a gold medal. Leslie is the WNBA’s career leader in points as well as many other categories.
5. Annika Sorenstam, golf: With 90 tournament wins, ten majors and being the career leader in money winning on the LPGA, very few have dominated their sport the way Annika has. Sorenstam is also the only woman to shoot 59 in a round and has won player of the year an astounding eight times.
4. Mia Hamm, soccer: Has there ever been a female athlete in team sports who won more than Mia? She won four NCAA championships at the University of North Carolina, two World Cups and two gold medals. But with Mia Hamm it was more than that. She elevated her sport’s popularity on the national and international scene. Perhaps her biggest accomplishment was her “anything you can do I can do better” Nike campaign with Michael Jordan. Hands down, Mia Hamm is the most successful female athlete in team sports.
3. Jackie Joyner-Kersee, track and field: People forget that Jackie Joyner was a four year starting forward for UCLA’s women’s basketball team. By then, however, she had also won the silver medal in the heptathlon in the 1984 Olympics. In all, Joyner-Kersee won medals in four straight Olympic Games, including three gold medals in the heptathlon, the most grueling Olympic event for women. In 1999, Sports Illustrated for Women Magazine named her the top female athlete in history.
2. Martina Navratilova, tennis: The numbers are mind-boggling, 167 career singles titles, 31 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles, nine Wimbledon singles titles, a 74 consecutive-match winning streak. All of those are tops in her sport. Martina took elements of tennis in the past and ushered it into the recent era. Her serve and volley approach, her incredible rivalry with Chris Evert and her unmatched longevity, Martina Navratilova won nearly 87% of her singles matches and is a sports legend.
1. Steffi Graf, tennis: There was never a question as to which female athletes were number one and number two on the list. Fraulein Forehand dominated women’s tennis the way no other female ever has in their sport. She had perhaps the greatest year in sports by male or female in 1988, when she won all four Grand Slam events as well as the gold medal in the Seoul games, a feat unmatched by any tennis player in history. She won twenty-two grand slam singles titles, 2nd all time. She is the only woman to win all four majors at least four times. And while winning nearly 89% of all matches, here is the main reason Steffi edges Martina. While Martina would have a very slight edge on grass, I would take Graf on any surface. If I had to pick one woman to win one crucial match, without a doubt it would be Steffi Graf, the greatest women’s tennis player ever and the top female athlete of our time.
I had almost forgotten about Bonnie Blair, nice inclusion. Also, nice call on Shannon Miller as an almost - really tough to include any gymnastic or figure skating athletes, since their window is so short due to the physical demands that require youth. I might have given an honorable mention to both Monica Seles and Sheryl Swoopes. Seles might have been as good as Graf or Navratilova had she not been derailed by the stabbing, and Swoopes might have been the best scorer ever in the college game. If she doesn't decide to start a family during her professional career, she could have been the dominant WNBA player for a decade. Hard to argue with the top ten, though. Because of the different nature of the different sports, you could almost take your top seven, label them 1A-1G, and it would be acceptable.
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