Not that long ago, it was almost impossible to watch the best female athletes on the planet on TV outside of a tennis Grand Slam or a major championship. Now, women’s sport is everywhere – and it’s about time.
‘For the first time at the Tokyo Olympics, Team GB sent more women than men’
The sea change seems to have come – to borrow Hemingway’s phrase –‘gradually, then suddenly.’ After generations of women playing second fiddle in the billing and on the payroll, the past few years have seen an explosion of interest, of commercial backing and of talent to match. Everywhere, female athletes are pushing boundaries, fighting for equality and representation, and not taking no for an answer. They are smashing records, breaking through barriers and sometimes even beating the men in their own games.
For the first time, at the Tokyo Olympics, Team GB sent more women than men – 201 to 175. And the sporting image of last summer was surely 18-year-old Emma Raducanu collapsing to the ground in disbelief, after catapulting herself from qualifier to global superstar by winning the US Open. Or perhaps it was cyclist Laura Kenny, head down in determination on her way to becoming the UK’s most successful ever Olympian. Either way, one thing is clear: women’s sport is on the march.
Here are just 10 of the incredible global game changers to
