This Is How You Play: Top 10 Trailblazers In Women’s Sports Right Now
From Caitlin Clark to Riley Gaines, women are making a name for themselves more than ever. Sports are stronger for their effort.
In 2025, women's sports aren't just thriving — there's a cultural reckoning underway.
As a former elite gymnast — 1986 national champion back in the day — and current founder and CEO of the only athletic brand standing up for fair competition for female athletes, I’m deeply invested in women’s sports. I’ve fought for 20 years for female athletes to train free from abuse, and I started a brand from scratch so that women don’t have to compete against men. They are women’s sports for a reason.
I think it’s high time someone did a list of female athletes and leaders in sports, honoring those who are refusing to play by the old rules. And changing the game. A list that isn’t leftist drivel, but rather an honest assessment of who is making a difference.
Viewership for the WNBA Finals shattered records, the LPGA's prize purses swelled, and global conversations about fairness, safety and investment have never been louder or more at the center of culture. At the heart of this surge are ten women who refuse to back down.
From court-side enforcers to boardroom visionaries and unyielding advocates, they are athletes and leaders alike, established icons and rising stars, all bending the arc toward a more inclusive and equitable game.
Spotlighting ten game-changers in no particular order —Sophie Cunningham, Aryna Sabalenka, Caitlin Clark, Allyson Felix, Jane Hedengren, Brittany Mahomes, Riley Gaines, Nelly Korda, MyKayla Skinner and Hilary Knight — these women are not just participating; they are setting women’s sports on a whole new trajectory. Whoever said no one wants to watch women’s sports was wrong.
This is how you play
1. Caitlin Clark – Basketball (Indiana Fever)
This girl is on fire. I’ve never watched women’s basketball in my life, but I watch now. She is the undisputed catalyst of that phenomenon. Clark is the fastest WNBA player ever to reach 1,000 points & 300 assists, she has sold-out arenas coast-to-coast, and inked a $28M Nike signature shoe (the richest ever for women’s basketball). Clark has single-handedly pushed league revenue projections hundreds of millions higher, even if some in the league don’t want to give her credit. Yet what truly sets her apart is how she’s shifted the entire conversation: casual fans now know the WNBA’s stars by name (hey that’s me!), little girls across the Midwest are begging for No. 22 jerseys, and league revenue projections for 2026 have been revised upward by hundreds of millions—almost entirely on the strength of the "Caitlin Clark Effect." She’s turned a niche sport mainstream overnight.
(Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
2. Aryna Sabalenka – Tennis
She’s ranked number 1 in the world in women’s tennis, the 2025 US Open champion, and the most dominant force on tour. She’s bringing back the Battle of the Sexes on December 28 in Dubai where she will face down Nick Kyrgios. In the lead up to the event, she called "trans" inclusion in women’s tennis "not fair," sparking a firestorm. I grew up watching tennis. I loved Martina, Chris Evert and Tracy Austin. The power of Sabalenka’s game is unmatched and a joy to behold. She never backs down on the court or off. And she’s supposedly the nicest player on the tour. How great is that?
3. Nelly Korda – Golf
Still the face of the LPGA after her record $12.5M in 2024 earnings and blue-chip deals with Nike, Goldman Sachs, and BMW keep women’s golf in the headlines even while she battles back from injury in 2025. Ok I don’t watch golf. I’ve never played. But I know who Nelly Korda is, and I’ve got mad respect for anyone battling back from an injury and coming out on top. (I won USA Championships in 1986 after breaking my femur at World’s nine months earlier.)
4. Allyson Felix – Track & Field / Advocacy
The most decorated track athlete ever (7 Olympic golds) turned maternal-rights crusader. Her New York Times opinion piece about Nike pushing her off their roster when she was pregnant sparked a movement. This is when I took note. She was incredibly brave to call out Nike, the biggest name in all of sports, for their sexist treatment of the female athletes on their team. But she risked going against the big dog to stand up for women. She went on to found her own sneaker brand called Saysh and forced every major sponsor to rewrite their pregnancy clauses. Sports Business Journal’s Influence 125 calls her the conscience of the industry. They’re right.
5. Brittany Mahomes – Business Owner / Influencer
Mahomes is the co-owner of the 2025 NWSL champion Kansas City Current (valuation now exceeds $200M), founder of the first-ever stadium-built-for-women’s-soccer (CPKC Stadium), and a marketing juggernaut whose social reach and brand deals (Skims, Vital Proteins, etc.) make her one of the most visible investors in women’s sports. She gets shade for liking Trump's social media posts, but she doesn’t care. She says what she thinks and ignores the haters.
6. Sophie Cunningham – Basketball (Indiana Fever)
Google’s most-searched female athlete of 2025 (yes, ahead of Clark). Viral enforcer, podcast host with a wicked sense of humor, hottie who never takes herself too seriously and the player most willing to call out WNBA labor issues and the threat of rival leagues while still dropping 20-point nights. I’ll be honest, she is really why I started watching women’s basketball. She never shies away from a fight and her walk in outfits are fire.
7. Riley Gaines – Swimming / Activist
She is the public face of the "Save Women’s Sports" movement and my personal friend. That said, there is no denying she deserves a top spot on a list of the most powerful women in sports, even though the mainstream media would never acknowledge her influence. But I will. Gaines’ testimony birthed 2025 state laws banning biological males from girls’ sports. She’s suing the NCAA, hosts OutKick’s top-rated women’s show, and has rallied hundreds of elite athletes to the cause. She brings out thousands for her speeches with protesters in tow. But she never backs down. And she’s only 25. She’s just getting started.
8. Hilary Knight – Hockey
Yes, women’s ice hockey is a thing. And it’s blowing up. Because of Knight. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in women's hockey history. She serves as captain of both the Seattle Torrent in the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) and the United States women's national ice hockey team. Knight has been a vocal advocate for pay equality, and the growth of women's professional hockey, including her pivotal role in founding the PWHL through the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA). There are now 8 professional women’s ice hockey teams. Who knew?
9. MyKayla Skinner – Gymnastics / Activist
After qualifying for the Olympic team in 2016, Skinner was passed over for an alternate! And she walked away from elite gymnastics and headed to the NCAA. She announced a comeback in 2019 at 22 years old! No one makes a comeback in gymnastics at 22! Well, Skinner did and she made the 2020 games only to be thwarted, again, by Covid. But she won silver in vault at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, capping a career marked by perseverance. In 2025, she defended Riley Gaines in a public clash with Simone Biles. Then, Skinner doubled down on protecting women’s gymnastics from male inclusion and launched a "Gold Medal" line of product with XX-XY Athletics. She’s a fighter through and through.
10. Jane Hedengren – Distance Running
The 18-year-old prodigy broke nine U.S. high-school records in a single season, earned Gatorade National Player of the Year, and became the subject of Nike’s viral documentary Built to Run. The BYU freshman runner just shattered the NCAA Indoor 5000m record at the BU Season Opener with a historic time of 14:44.79, becoming the first collegian ever to run under 14:50 indoors and setting a new standard for American women in the event. The future of American distance running starts with her. I can’t run a mile with my broken-down old gymnast lady body but so I’m always enamored of distance runners – the perseverance, the endurance is remarkable. I’ll be watching for Jane in 2028.
These 10 ladies aren’t just winning — they’re rewriting the rules, the paychecks, the policies, and the cultural conversation.