Women athletes worth discovering and voting for in 2026

Women's sport has never had more depth, or more athletes worth following. The hard part is finding them in one place. This is a starting lineup of women athletes you can discover on VoteHer and vote up, where a ranking is built from community support rather than from who has the biggest follower count.

Start with tennis, the sport that produces some of the most recognizable women in the world. Iga Świątek has spent long stretches at world number one and turned clay-court dominance into a global brand. Li Na broke ground as the first Grand Slam singles champion from Asia and is now in the Hall of Fame. Angelique Kerber owns three Grand Slam titles and an Olympic silver, and Amélie Mauresmo went from world number one to one of the most respected coaches and tournament directors in the game.

Team sport brings a different kind of star power. Alex Morgan is one of the most decorated and recognizable names in women's football, a World Cup winner who helped push the sport into the mainstream. Alexia Putellas has collected back-to-back Ballon d'Or Féminin awards and anchors one of the best club sides on the planet. Both are proof that the women's game now fills stadiums on its own terms.

Then there are the athletes who reshaped what a women's career could look like. Ronda Rousey took judo to an Olympic medal, headlined the UFC when few believed women could, and crossed over into WWE. Greysia Polii won Olympic badminton gold and became a national icon in Indonesia. Merlene Ottey ran at the very top of world sprinting across an astonishing span of years and Olympic Games. Different sports, same thing in common: they are worth a vote.

That is the whole point of VoteHer. Pick an athlete, open her profile, and cast a vote to push her up the board. The ranking moves as the community decides, so a rising name can climb on genuine support rather than on a follower count built up over a decade. Browse the full women-in-sport board and start backing the ones you rate.