| Sports have been instrumental in advancing the limits | | | | women's basketball, Cheryl's confidence is such that |
| of human performance. Men have traditionally been at | | | | she would flip her wrists in triumph even before the ball |
| the forefront of this challenge, but women have | | | | goes through the net. |
| stepped up their involvement which broadened sports' | | | | 6. Birgit Schmidt-Fischer. |
| appeal and opened up a new competitive front. Here | | | | The greatest female canoeist of all time has won the |
| are a few of the women who have broken through | | | | gold at six different Olympic Games spanning 24 |
| barriers to become icons of excellence. | | | | years. No one from her sport has come near her total |
| 1. Mia Hamm. | | | | of 37 medals, including 27 golds which she won at the |
| The world's best all-around female soccer player | | | | World Championships from 1979 to 1998. Birgit's haul of |
| showed that females can excel in the male-dominated | | | | eight Olympic medals is a record which experts predict |
| sport-- and how! Mia powered the US women's team | | | | will not be broken for a long time. |
| to the gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. She | | | | 7. Nancy Lopez. |
| followed that up by leading the US to win the 1999 | | | | She remains the only woman to be named Rookie of |
| Women's World Cup. Amazingly, Mia was the world's | | | | the Year and Player of the Year - in one season. At |
| leading goal scorer in 1999, surpassing the output of the | | | | age 12, Nancy won her first golf tournament with |
| best male players during that year | | | | practically no playing experience against more |
| 2. Paula Radcliffe. | | | | experienced golfers. At age 21, she won nine |
| The best female distance runner of all time, Paula is | | | | tournaments, five of them in a row, to record the most |
| the current world record holder for the women's 10k | | | | amazing season ever for an LPGA rookie. At age 30, |
| run and owns four of the five fastest times in the | | | | she was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame, the third |
| history of women's marathon. Her current world | | | | youngest player to receive the honor. |
| marathon record of 2:15:25 is also one of the highest | | | | 8. Steffi Graf. |
| scoring performances ever. | | | | She has been called the greatest female tennis player |
| 3. Nadia Comaneci. | | | | of all time - a "machine" that struck down her |
| Only 14 years old, Nadia stunned the world when she | | | | opponents with merciless precision during her 17-year |
| scored seven perfect 10's during the gymnastics | | | | career. Steffi had the singular record of winning all four |
| competition of the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Before her | | | | Grand Slam events plus an Olympic gold medal-in a |
| phenomenal performance, no one had been able to | | | | single year (1988). She's also the only player to have |
| achieve perfection during competition, so much so that | | | | won all four majors at least four times. |
| the scoreboards didn't have a '10' and had to display a | | | | 9. Tracy Caulkins. |
| '1' to register Nadia's perfect scores. | | | | The most versatile swimmer ever has won national |
| 4. Joanie Laurer. | | | | titles in all four strokes-plus the individual medley that |
| Known as 'Chyna' among wrestling fans, she displayed | | | | combines all of them! Tracy went on to win 3 Olympic |
| tremendous will power to earn a place in the rough | | | | golds, 5 world records, 63 American records, and 48 |
| and tumble world of pro wrestling. Chyna was | | | | individual national titles. |
| referred to as "The Ninth Wonder of the World" for | | | | 10. Julie Krone. |
| her large and powerful physique. Her trademark "low | | | | One Of the best female jockey's of all time proved |
| blow" was the secret weapon that allowed her to win | | | | that women can ride high in the 'sport of kings'. She |
| the Intercontinental Championship title twice. | | | | was the first woman to win a riding title at a major |
| 5. Cheryl Miller. | | | | track. She holds the record of being one of only four |
| Inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in1995, she was | | | | jockeys to win 6 races in one day. She's also the only |
| an All-America team member four times, a Naismith | | | | female jockey to ever win a Triple Crown race. |
| Player of the Year three times, a member of the USC | | | | As sports continue to raise the bar, women champions |
| NCAA champion basketball team two times, and led | | | | will continue to inspire not just the members of their |
| the US women's basketball team to the Olympic gold | | | | specie but anyone who aspires to reach the height of |
| medal in '84. Dubbed as the best player ever in | | | | his or her potential. |