Top 10 greatest sportswomen of all time

#1 Jackie Joyner Kersee

Jackie Joyner-Kersee : Queen of Track & Field

Inspiration begets inspiration.

Jackie Joyner-Kersee was inspired by another sportwoman who is on this list of Top 10 Sportswomen of all time. Jackie was inspired by none other than Babe Didrikson Zaharias.

Track & field and basketball were two events that Jackie started her sporting career in. However, in 1984 she shifted her focus to heptathlon. She was the first Amercian to win a Gold Medal in long jump in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Jackie was the first woman to earn more than 7000 points in heptathlon.

By the time she took her final bow in the Olympic Trials in 2000, Jackie was the most decorated Sportswoman of all time as she had to her credit 3 Olympic Gold Medals, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze Medals.

Currently on the Board of the USA Track & Field Organization, Jackie Joyner-Kersee joined hands with other renowned athletes like Mia Hamm, Muhammad Ali and Andre Agassi to establish Athletes for Hope, an organization that encourages athletes to contribute to community and charitable causes.

Fun Fact: A movie about Babe in 1975 inspired Jackie to compete in multi-disciplinary track and field events.