Female athletes are resilient, strong, and determined to make a name for themselves. Over the past couple of years, we have seen many female athletes dominating the field and setting the bar high. Some of the most prominent names are Rababe Arafi, Naomi Osaka, Yulimar Rojas, and more.
Let’s take a look at the top female athletes of the world and what they have achieved in their careers to earn the title.
Rababe Arafi is a middle-distance runner and a three-time medalist at the African Championships in Athletics. Her specialty is the 1500 meters and ranked fifth in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Her performance has made her a role model for Arab female athletes. In addition to the Olympics, she won gold medals in the Islamic Solidarity games in 2013 and 2017 in the 1500 meters race.
Zahra Lari is another powerful name in the world of female athletes. She is a figure skater and is the first in the UAE and Middle East to compete internationally. She made her international debut at the European Cup in 2011 but received a deduction due to her headscarf, as it was not considered an approved part of the costume. The ruling was later reversed. She is one of the world’s first skaters to wear a hijab and was named in the Forbes magazine's “30 under 30” list in 2020. She is a 5-time Emirati National champion.
Sarah Essam is a footballer and was the first Arab woman to play in the FA Women Premier League in 2017. She made headlines for being the top scorer from her team to finish the season. Sarah is an inspiration to girls from all over the world for her determination to compete at such a level in a sport dominated by men. She played with the Egypt U-17 national team and was one of the youngest players to do so.
Naomi Osaka is a professional Japanese tennis player and is a four-time Grand Slam singles champion. Her turning point came in 2022 but she started her professional career in 2013 and qualified for her first World Tennis Association (WTA) Tour main draw at the 2014 Stanford Classic, and since then, she has held seven titles on the WTA Tour, two of which are at Mandatory Premier Level.
Naomi Osaka has been ranked #1 by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and is the first Asian and Japanese player to do so. She won her second Australian Open title in 2021 by defeating Serena Williams in the semifinals and Jennifer Brady in the finals.
Faith Kipyegon is a middle-distance runner that specializes in 1500 meters. She is considered one of the greatest female runners in history and beat out Sifan Hassan in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to win her second Olympic gold medal. Her first Olympic gold medal came in the 2016 Rio Olympics. She is the second woman in history to win back-to-back Olympic titles in 1500m.
In 2021, at the Monaco Herculis, she made history by stopping the clock at the fourth-fastest time in history at 3m 51.07s. In her last season, she won 9 out of 10 races.
Yulimar Rojas is a field athlete that holds the world record for women’s triple jump. She won the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, finally got her hands on the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and made a new world record of 15.67m at the triple jump event. She was also named as one of the five finalists for Female World Athlete of the Year 2020.
She started her career in 2011 and won her first high jump at the 2011 South American Junior Championships. Since then, she has held multiple records and is a role model for all female athletes.
Garbiñe Muguruza is a Spanish tennis player that started her professional career in 2012. In 2014, she won her first WTA singles title at the Hobart International and finished the season at a world ranking of #21 in singles and #16 in doubles.
She was also ranked #1 by the Women’s Tennis Association in the singles ranking of the world. In total, she has won 10 singles titles. In 2021, she qualified for the 2021 WTA Finals and won her first WTA Finals Championship by defeating Anett Kontaveit.
Many other female athletes have rocked the world of sports and are paving the path for future athletes globally.
