In celebration of Title IX, who are your favorite female athletes?

[obamanut2012]

Title IX was made US law June 23, 1972, granting equal rights to girls and women in, among others things, sports programs.



Kyra Gracie -- BJJ champ and MMA fighter




Michelle Kwan -- Figure Skater





Krissy Moehl -- Ultrarunner





Brandi Chastain -- Soccer

[aaaaaa5a]

1. Serena Williams

Serena Williams is the best WTA player of all time.

[Starry Messenger]

2. I'm dating myself, but my fave was always Dorothy Hamill

I wanted to be her when I was little. I got her haircut but none of the moves.

[LadyHawkAZ]

10. Heh

My mom forced that haircut on me, and oh my did I resent poor Hamill for it!

[Starry Messenger]

11. There's probably a whole generation of us with bowl cuts!

I hide all the kid photos of third through fifth grade.

[LadyHawkAZ]

12. Same here! n/t

[DURHAM D]

3. Billie Jean King

She was selected in the top 100 of most important people of the 20th century. IMO she has actually done more to advance women's rights, in and out of sports, than any other individual in the last half of the last century. She also did a great deal to promote and raise awareness of the provisions of Title IX.

[maddezmom]

4. Pre title IX, but Pat Summit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Summitt

Billie Jean because she really put a face to equality....

and Picabo Street.

[obamanut2012]

5. I ALMOST PUT PICABO STREET!

So, I won't laugh! Probably the best US female skier since Andrea Mead.

[maddezmom]

6. I used to downhill ski and she was my hero back in the day

great athelete and sassy as hell.

[obamanut2012]

8. Seriously, it was between her and Chastain

THIS close.

[TBF]

7. Many worldwide but I'll narrow to US -

Joan Benoit Samuelson - first-ever women's Olympic marathon champion (1984) & still holds the fastest time



Kerri Strug - member of the Magnificent Seven, the victorious all-around women's gymnastics team that represented the United States at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996



Chris Evert - Former world #1 professional tennis player - won 18 Grand Slam singles championships

[obamanut2012]

9. Benoit and Evert were on my short list

And Grete Waitz.

[unc70]

13. Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, & UNC Women's Soccer

Last edited Tue Jun 26, 2012, 12:43 PM - Edit history (1)

I am biased having watched them year after year, knowing various players personally. So many great players, so many great people.

Mia Hamm was selected #1 by ESPN in their list of 40 top athletes in 40 years of Title IX. Kristine Lilly was #36.

BTW The two most famous graduates of UNC are probably Mia Hamm and Michael Jordan.

[obamanut2012]

14. There are a lot of Tarheels in this group, btw

You are in good company!

[Fearless]

15. She's pretty high up on my list...

“Female athletes in the Middle East face pressures that include family, religion, politics, and culture,” said the research cited by Trade Arabia website.

“These issues often take place over use or nonuse of the hijab, the traditional head covering for Muslim women.”

The research, “Muslim Female Athletes and the Hijab”, is the result of a year-long cooperation between Northwestern sociologist Geoff Harkness and his course student Samira Islam.

It found that veiled Muslim athletes managed to excel in sports fields, overcoming a unique set of challenges with regard to the ‘hijab’ which is not faced by their Western counterparts.

http://muslimvillage.com/2012/02/14/19601/hijab-no-barrier-for-muslim-athletes-to-excel/

[One_Life_To_Give]

16. Currently

Johanna Long



And my all time 1st favorite


and her teammate

[obamanut2012]

17. I just wikied her -- she's only 20!

I live in NASCAR country, but it's not my cup of tea in sports, but I'm still embarrassed I've never heard of her.

Good for her! Tough sport for anyone to crack, specially someone of her age and gender.

She and the woman Fearless mentioned are the only ones on this thread I didn't recognize, so thanks for sharing!

Wikipedia article about Johanna Long, for those interested:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johanna_Long

[Neoma]

18. Lynne Cox!

Long distance swimmer. Wrote a book.