The Most Influential Female Athletes Of The Past Century

For decades, women have encountered all sorts of hurdles and setbacks in the world of sports. Sexism, racism, and different sets of playing rules have stifled female athletes and ruined careers. Some women were completely banned from pursuing their amateur or professional dreams because of small-minded opinions that should never again be shared by any governing body.

In other words, it's incredibly hard to become a successful female athlete, so those who've succeeded in the wild world of sports are truly incredible competitors. But which of these players are the best? And which ones have had the most impact, on and off the field? Well, today, we're taking a look at some of the most important women who've ever dunked a basketball, scored a goal, or submitted their opponent inside a ring. From gymnasts to tennis players and everything in between, here are the most influential female athletes of the past century.

As sources such as ESPN and The Independent tell the tale, Mildred Ella Didrikson earned the nickname "Babe" because boys who admired the home runs she clobbered as a young lass compared her to Babe Ruth. And if she welcomed the moniker, then who are we to argue with the woman voted by the Associated Press as the Greatest Female Athlete of the first half of the 20th century? Unlike the majority of the female athletes spotlighted in our list, Didrikson didn't just star in one sport. She was remarkable in just about every athletic endeavor. Track, basketball, baseball, tennis, volleyball, swimming, bowling, handball, cycling, you name it. She probably would've dominated E-Sports. Didrikson could do it all.  

The only reason Didrikson competed in just three events at the 1932 Summer Olympics was that three was the limit for women at the time. She qualified for five competitions. At those Los Angeles Olympics, Didrikson won gold in the 80 m hurdles and the javelin throw, and she took silver in the high jump. 

Following those Summer Games, Babe Didrikson became the first true female golf celebrity, and she was a co-founder of what became known as the LPGA. In total, she won over a dozen amateur events and was the first woman to attempt to qualify for the men's US Open. Her application was denied. But all things being equal, Didrikson may be the most accomplished all-around athlete, male or female, in recorded history. 

Born in Tennessee in 1940, Wilma Rudolph was lucky to survive childhood. As explained by the National Women's History Museum and ESPN, Rudolph was born prematurely and suffered from multiple ailments during her early years, and she lost the use of her left leg after she contracted polio. She was fitted for leg braces at the age of six, which she wore for roughly three years. A few years after the braces came off, Rudolph became a star basketball player, but the track was her calling. 

At the age of 16, Rudolph won a bronze medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics. Four years later, she earned the distinction of "fastest woman in the world" when she won gold in the 100 m and 200 m. She also anchored the gold-medal winning 4x100 m team, becoming the first American woman to win three gold medals at one Olympics. 

As tremendous as Rudolph was on the track, her impact off it cemented her legacy as one of the most influential athletes, male or female, of her time. At Rudolph's request, her post-Olympics homecoming parade and banquet were integrated, the first such events to occur in her hometown. Later in life, she created the youth sports-related Wilma Rudolph Foundation. 

A small percentage of athletes reach a level of superstar status where they're known by a single name. There's LeBron, Tiger, Ichiro, and Neymar. And in 1976, a 14-year-old Romanian gymnast became an international sensation featured on numerous magazine covers and an icon instantly recognized by a single name: Nadia. 

According to CNN, Nadia Comaneci entered the '76 Summer Olympics, held in Montreal, Canada, with realistic and low expectations. No knowledgeable expert predicted ahead of the Games that Comaneci would become the first gymnast in history to record a perfect 10, a feat she repeated six times en route to winning the all-around gold medal, two other solo golds, and a pair of team medals. For a cliched 15 minutes, the youngest all-around gold medalist in Olympic history was just "Nadia" and one of the most famous individuals, never mind athletes, on the planet. 

As a result, a pair of gymnastics moves on the uneven bars were named after Comaneci, and she was the second gymnast to win the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year. Comaneci not only inspired countless amounts of young girls who viewed her performances via television, but she helped Bela and Marta Karolyi become household names in the United States, which ultimately changed the country's gymnastics programs in many ways. 

As Tara Jones of Swish Appeal eloquently wrote in September 2015, Lisa Leslie is far more than just a single historic dunk. Between 2001 and 2006, Leslie earned WNBA MVP honors three times, and she won two league titles and four Olympic gold medals during her Hall of Fame career. She was the first WNBA player to score 4,000 career points and, later, 6,000, and she retired with more rebounds than any player in league history. 

One cannot tell the story of Leslie, though, without mentioning her throwing the basketball through the rim with authority. With the first dunk in WNBA history, Leslie destroyed the final barrier that separated men's and women's basketball, one that never should've existed in the first place. The clip of her impressive feat went whatever the 2002 version of viral was, and it served as a precursor for Candace Parker and Francesca Belibi winning McDonald's All-American Game dunk contests and for Brittney Griner assaulting rims during WNBA contests. 

Dunks at all levels of basketball, professional and amateur, sell tickets and attract eyes. One can only estimate how many previous WNBA detractors gave the league and the women's game some of their time to see Leslie either dunk or fail. Those people watched, though, and that's what mattered. 

It's comical to think Ultimate Fighting Championship czar Dana White told TMZ that women would never fight in the Octagon back in January 2011. Later that year, a beautiful blonde named Ronda Rousey took Strikeforce by storm en route to becoming the baddest woman on the planet. By November 2012, White saw dollar signs in the judo expert, and the UFC signed Rousey that fall. 

Just as Jackie Robinson was the perfect player to break Major League Baseball's color barrier in 1947, Rousey was the ideal athlete to put women's mixed martial arts on the map. Rousey won her first six bouts with relative ease. Like a WWE superstar, she cut promos and had a finishing-move armbar. Sure, Conor McGregor has sold more pay-per-view buys as a main-eventer since becoming a star, but Rousey helped make the UFC, and MMA in general, mainstream. Before Rousey held UFC gold, even the thought of ESPN one day hosting UFC PPVs via any of the company's services was laughable. 

As Rolling Stone put it in the summer of 2015, Rousey offered definitive proof women could be the UFC's biggest stars and could also main-event cards. No figure was more important to the sport during the 2010s. 

Comparing modern athletes to those from eras and generations ago is largely unfair. Saquon Barkley could rush for 200 yards per half versus football defenses from the 1950s. LeBron James would've scored for fun against old ABA teams. And while Serena Williams will never catch Margaret Court in total grand slams, the eye in the sky doesn't lie, and you don't have to be a tennis insider, coach, or pro to realize Williams is the most talented women's player ever. Any figurative competition isn't all that close. 

Since the start of the Open Era, no player, male or female, was more dominant than Williams in her prime. Those who refer to Maria Sharapova as Williams' rival are being nice to the former. Williams is such a once-in-a-century player that she's sparked conversations about if a tennis star can be viewed as the world's greatest athlete ever. 

As Williams once wrote for Time, she endured unwarranted criticism and racism at a young age when she should've been recognized as the sport's next big thing. She also had to compete with her older sister, Venus, throughout the years. Off the court, the Williams sisters are fashion icons, and Serena has championed causes such as awareness about financial abuse.