these are the women who remind us that anything is possible through hard work and dedication welcome to Ms mojo and today we're counting down our picks for the top ten inspiring female athletes before we begin we publish new content every day so be sure to subscribe to our Channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos for this list we're looking at women who are famed for their accomplishments in the sporting world taking into consideration the obstacles they had to overcome to succeed as well as the ways they've used their fame to
give back number 10 Rafaela silva this brazilian judo sensation was born and raised in one of the toughest neighborhoods in the world Rio's sadati de Dios the City of God enrolled in a judo program by her parents when she was just seven years old so she could learn to protect herself Silva quickly excelled at the sport in 2011 she took home silver at the world Judo Championships two years later she upgraded to a gold medal her greatest accomplishment was taking home the gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics while on home turf and as an openly
gay woman who also faces racial prejudice but Raffaello Silva is certainly a hugely inspirational figure number 9 Gertrude Ederle hats off to a true pioneer or should we say swimming caps off dubbed queen of the waves his courageous American proved that women could more than hold their own when it came to athletic feats of strength and stamina on August 6th 1926 and release successfully swam across the English Channel becoming the sixth person in the world to do so and the very first woman not only that but in the spirit of anything you can do I
can do better she also accomplished the feat in the shortest time ever recorded to that point in fact enter Leigh's 14 hour and 39 minutes swim remained unbeaten for decades number eight Cathy Freeman here's another female athlete who's had to overcome more than one form of prejudice the world of professional sports can be an unrewarding and challenging one for any woman but even more so when you're of Aboriginal heritage Freeman's early years of competitive running and her native Australia were characterized by overt racism in her childhood she remembers coming in first place and races only
to be excluded from the podium in favor of white competitors in spite of this adversity she's claimed numerous World Championships and took home gold in the 400 meters at Sydney's Summer Olympics in 2000 number 7 Serena Williams Serena and Venus Williams have been ruling the world of women's tennis for the better part of two decades though both are among the most inspiring athletes of our time Serena edges out older sister Venus ever so slightly due to a stronger overall career in fact she's not by many to be the greatest female tennis player in history and
Serena's inspiring legacy is made even greater considering all her philanthropic work from funding a school in Kenya to her efforts with at-risk youth and her contributions to the fight against breast cancer Serena Williams has shown that she has a heart of gold number 6 nathalie de toi tenacity is certainly a prerequisite for becoming a professional athlete but it takes a truly remarkable individual to persevere against the sort of challenge this competitor faced at the young age of 14 do TOI was already competing in swimming competitions internationally and was a rising star but then at 17
she lost her leg in an accident given the nature of her sport most people would have given up but not do TOI she was reportedly back in the water just three months later she would not only go on to earn many gold medals at the Paralympics but do TOI also became the first Paralympic swimmer to ever qualify for and compete in the Olympics number five use from martini this Syrian swimmer competed at the 2012 FINA World Swimming Championships when she was just 14 years old when civil war broke out in Syria however martini and her
family like so many others were forced to flee the country during their escape martini with the help of a few other swimmers reportedly pushed the boat to shore after it stalled requiring a three-hour swim though such life-changing events could have derailed the dreams of many young athletes martini persevered during the 2016 Summer Olympics she competed as part of the refugee Olympic team and has since been named a goodwill ambassador of the UN refugee agency number four Bethany Hamilton though returning to competitive athletics is always challenging after an accident this is on another level in the
early 2000s this very young surfer showed serious professional promise then at age 13 during an early morning surf session a brutal shark attack took her arm below the shoulder and nearly claimed her life for many this would be reason enough to never set foot in the ocean again but Hamilton was back on her board just one month later though she had to relearn how to surf without her left arm she's gone on to compete in many professional competitions since including winning the 2014 surf and sea pipeline women's Pro number three Billie Jean King this iconic
tennis player is undeniably one of the greatest athletes and champions ever in the sport but King had to tackle many issues in professional tennis particularly when it came to gender in the early 1970s King began a serious push for equal prize amounts in both men's and women's competitions in 1973 she put her reputation on the line accepting a $100,000 challenge from male tennis player Bobby Riggs who despite being 55 years old claimed he could best the greatest female players in the sport well King beat him in the nationally televised battle of the sexes and has
continued to be a champion of women's rights ever since number two babe Didrikson Zaharias who says you can only excel at one sport embodying the classical notion of an athlete babe Didrikson was a seriously multi-talented individual though she was an all-american basketball player she was best known in her earlier athletic years for her track and field prowess after winning five Amateur Athletic Union championship events in 1932 dietrichson went on to earn two gold medals and a silver at the 1932 Olympics she later focused on golf and with ten major LPGA Championships to her name dietrichson
is a sports legend one who changed the expectations applied to women in sports before we unveil our number one pick here are some honorable mentions number one Wilma Rudolph don't ever let somebody tell you what you can or cannot achieve in your lifetime that's the lesson this incredibly determined African American runner topped the world born into poverty and hit with various illnesses at a young age including polio rudolph was reportedly told that she might never walk without a brace let alone run but at age 16 she won a bronze medal at the 1956 Olympics and
was later crowned the fastest woman in the world at Rome's 1960 Olympic Games there this icon won gold in three different sprinting events becoming the first American woman to win three golds at a single Olympics and cementing herself as a household name and an inspiration [Music]
