Inspirational Sportswomen

Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness, heart, talent, guts. That's what little girls are made of; the heck with sugar and spice.

Bethany Hamilton

Every time I turn on the television at the moment I’m bombarded by sport, live matches, recorded highlights and even sports bulletins, it just seems to be everywhere! With the European Championships, Wimbledon, the Tour de France and with the Olympics just around the corner, it isn’t going away anytime soon! Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, God knows, if ever we needed something to lift the spirits of the individual nations, well, now is that time so, bring it on!

Sports coverage, in the UK certainly is still disproportionally dominated by the men’s game however, I’m pleased to say that with the increased interest in things like Women’s Soccer, that proportion is getting narrower and rightly so, there have been some amazing, inspirational female athletes over the years, right now I’m being inspired by the Eighteen-year-old British wildcard Emma Raducanu at Wimbledon, yesterday she stunned former French Open finalist Marketa Vondrousova in straight sets to reach the third round! But the thing I love about her is she’s always smiling and she has a beautiful smile, she plays like she’s enjoying a game in the park with a few friends, a million miles away from the world stage Wimbledon is, love her!

Here’s a few more women that have inspired me in sport, some of which you may never of heard of;

Junko Tabei

Japanese mountaineer Junko Tabei became the first woman to summit Mount Everest in 1975, shattering the gender barrier in her sport by climbing the world’s tallest peak. But Tabei, who six years earlier had founded the first women’s climbing club in Japan during an era when most such groups were men-only, wasn’t all that impressed. “I can’t understand why men make all this fuss about Everest,” she allegedly said. “It’s only a mountain.” Well, we know men don’t we, the bigger it is the more impressive they think it is!

More women than ever are following in her footsteps, with women representing 20% of Everest climbers in 2019 – the most ever in history, according to Outside Magazine. After Everest, Tabei went on to scale many more enormous mountains and, in 1992, became the first woman to have stood atop the Seven Summits, i.e., the tallest peaks on the seven continents. This amazing pioneer of women’s mountaineering died in 2016 at age 77 after summiting the highest peaks in more than 70 countries. Now tell me that’s not inspiring!

Wilma Rudolph

At the 1960 Rome Olympics, sprinter Wilma Rudolph became the first American woman to win three gold medals in a single Olympics, sweeping the field and breaking records in the 100-meter, 200-meter, and 4x100-meter relay.

As her New York Times obituary noted, Rudolph “became America's greatest female sports hero since Babe Didrikson Zaharias a generation earlier.” Rudolph’s success is even more notable when you consider the fact that the decorated athlete almost died as a four-year-old after contracting double pneumonia and scarlet fever. The illness paralyzed her left leg, and she didn’t walk again on her own for years. After overcoming physical challenges early in life and soaring to her illustrious athletic career, Rudolph established her fabulous foundation to support young athletes in underserved communities through sports and academics, something she was rightly proud of. She famously said, "If I have anything to leave, the foundation is my legacy."

Kirstie Ennis

After surviving a helicopter crash while serving in Afghanistan, former Marine Kirstie Ennis endured dozens of surgeries, an above-the-knee amputation on her left leg, and a traumatic brain injury. Then, Ennis found mountain climbing – and a higher calling. Soon after picking up the sport, Ennis developed an impressive plan: climb the Seven Summits and raise awareness and money for non-profits in the process.

Since establishing the Kirstie Ennis Foundation in 2018, Ennis has distributed more than $70,000 in grants for non-profits serving veterans, women, and the disabled population. Her organization also leads clinics that help expose underserved populations and minority groups to outdoor sports. “I like to think that by doing this, I'm hopefully setting a precedent for someone who is watching me…that I’m breaking down barriers to show people that can be out there,”.

Nicola Adams

Nicola Adams OBE, is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2017 to 2019. She retired with an undefeated record and held the WBO female flyweight title in 2019. As an amateur, she became the first female boxer to become an Olympic champion after winning gold at London 2012, and the first double Olympic champion following a second gold medal at Rio 2016, both in the flyweight division. Today, she is the reigning Olympic, World and European Games champion at flyweight, and won the entire set of amateur championships available to her – Olympic, Commonwealth and European Games' titles, and the World, European and European Union championships. Now, that’s amazing! Similar to my new “person to watch”, Nicola has a permanent, infectious smile that’s enough to brighten up anyone’s day!

Megan Rapinoe

At the start of this article, I mentioned the rise in popularity of Women’s Soccer, anyone that has watched the growth of the Women’s game will know the name Megan Rapinoe! Soccer queen and relentless equality advocate, is only 35 and already seems to have won it all. In 2019, the superstar forward led the US team to its historic World Cup Win, tying for the most goals scored of the tournament (six!) and winning a slew of awards, including the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball as well as FIFA’s Women’s 2019 Player of the Year Award later that year.

Rapinoe is much more than her list of super impressive accolades, she’s also a stop-at-nothing champion for equal pay and equal rights. In 2016, after former NFL player Colin Kaepernick refused to stand during the national anthem, she became both the first white and the first female athlete to kneel in solidarity. Rapinoe joined the US Women’s team in suing the U.S. Soccer Federation over allegations of gender discrimination. She became the first out gay woman to pose for Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue. “I’m the antithesis of no fucks given, I give all the fucks,” Rapinoe said in an interview. “I just feel that it’s my responsibility to make the world a better place, we all have that responsibility.”

Emma Raducanu plays again on Court Number One today, you know what, I might make my way to Henman Hill to cheer her on, go Emma!!

Update Saturday 14:49 - She only went and did it!!!!! Congratulations Emma Raducanu on getting through to the last 16 - this young lady will be getting a post all of her own!!! ❤️❤️❤️

What’s on this week?