9 Women Who Destroyed Stereotypes and Inspired the World

Today is International Women’s Day. You probably know that because of today’s Google Doodle – thanks Internet!

This isn’t a new holiday. For more than a century, people have been celebrating women’s contributions to humankind.

There are scores of women athletes who have broken records and destroyed stereotypes to live on to inspire generations to come. Female athletes continue to break barriers in numerous sports, even going beyond the accomplishments of their male counterparts.

Today, we celebrate the finest. Happy International Women’s Day!

Clara Hughes, Dual Olympian

Canadian six-time Olympian Clara Hughes is the only competitor in history – man or woman – to win multiple medals at both the summer and winter Olympics.

Over her career, she’s won a number of championships, medals and other awards in cycling and speed skating. She’s tied with Cindy Klassen as the Canadian with the most Olympic medals.

Patty Sheehan, Pro Golfer

Patty Sheehan dominated golf from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s. This Vermont native won 35 LPGA tournaments, including six majors, throughout her illustrious career.

When she won the U.S. Women’s Open and the Women’s British Open in 1992, she became the first golfer to win both in the same year.

Dara Torres, Olympic Swimmer

To anyone who ever said being mother makes focusing on your career possible, I say, “Dara Torres.” After successfully competing in five different Olympiads, became one of three female swimmers to ever hold the record amount of 12 medals.

After eight years away from the Olympics, she came back in 2007 to shatter expectations, becoming the first woman in Olympic history to compete in swimming after the age of 40.

Zina Garrison, Pro Tennis Player

By the time she was 18 years old, Zina Garrison was the #1 juniors tennis player in the United States. Right around this time, Zina’s mother died of Diabetes-related complications and found herself spiraling into an eating disorder for eight straight years.

Despite these obstacles, she’s managed to successfully fight these diseases and go on winning the Wimbledon mixed doubles championship with Ricky Leach. Today she works as a television commentator and has founded two foundations to support the homeless and inner-city tennis.

Melissa Stockwell, Dual Olympian

In 2004, Melissa Stockwell was hit with a roadside bomb while serving in Iraq as an Army officer. Her left leg had to be amputated, leading her to seek support from several groups, such as The Wounded Warrior Project, Achilles’ Freedom and The Challenged Athletes Foundations.

She triumphed through recovery and at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic, she competed for the U.S. swimming team. She now focuses on paratriathlons, and will make her debut this year at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.

Jennie Finch, Olympic Softball Player

At the University of Arizona, softball phenom Jennie Finch piled up a relentless 119 wins, including a flawless 32-0 record during her junior year. After striking out more than a thousand batters, she was awarded a Player of the Year award.

Finch later won Olympic medals in 2004 and 2008.

Mary Lou Retton, Olympic Gymnast

In 1984, Mary Lou Retton became the first woman outside of Eastern Europe to ever win the all-around gymnastics gold in the Olympics. Later on, she became the first woman to ever appear on a Wheaties box.

Brittney Griner, Pro Basketball Player

She was the #1 WNBA pick in 2013, and it doesn’t stop there. Currently playing as a WNBA center with the Phoenix Mercury, she was the first NCAA basketball player to ever score 2,000 points and block 500 shots.

In 2012, the tree-time All-American basketball superstar was named the AP Player of the Year and the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. That year she also received the Best Female Athlete ESPY Award.

Billie Jean King, Pro Tennis Player

Arguably considered one of the best tennis players to ever step on to the court, Billie Jean King won 12 Grand Slam titles in singles and doubles tournaments. An advocate for gender equality, she destroyed stereotypes when she challenged tennis star Bobby Riggs and defeated him in the “Battle of the Sexes” match in 1973.

She later 1-up’ed Garry Kasparov’s chess win over Big Blue by beating an IBM computer at tennis. Humans -1; Machines -0.

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Eduardo Lopez serves as a digital strategist for AIM Sports Reputation Management. He bridges the gap between social psychology and marketing to translate research into media strategies. Before entering the marketing industry, Eduardo spent two years researching social cues and coercion in a social psychology laboratory. Follow him on Twitter @NomadStrategist.