Who is the most famous woman athlete of all time?

Question

And what sport was she famous for?

Answer 1

Historically I believe it would be Babe Didrikson Zaharias, who was a golfer and olympic track star.



Answers.com's bio says: " Mildred 'Babe' Didrikson Zaharias was voted the outstanding woman athlete of the century in a 1950 Associated Press poll. Though she gained her greatest professional fame as a golfer, she rivalled Jim Thorpe in her remarkable ability to excel at nearly any sport. She began as a basketball All-American, then won two track and field golds at the 1932 Olympics. Next she turned professional and began touring the country, exhibiting her prowess in track, swimming, tennis, baseball, and even billiards. In 1935 Zaharias took up golf and excelled at that, too, winning 82 tournaments in a 20-year career. She was only 42 when she died of cancer in 1956."

Answer 2

Jackie Joyner-Kersee (born March 3, 1962) is generally considered as the best all-around female athlete in the world and the all-time greatest heptathlete. She has won three gold, one silver and one bronze Olympic medals.



Kersee was the first woman to score 7,000 points in a heptathlon event (during the 1986 Goodwill Games). She was inspired to compete in multi-discipline events after seeing a 1975 television movie about "Babe" Didrikson.

Answer 3

If by most famous, you mean someone that the most people would have heard of and/or recognize, it's probably one of the Olympic figure skating or gymnastics champions, such as Mary Lou Retton, Tara Lipinski, or Sarah Hughes. More people probably watch these events than most other women's sports, and the winners are commonly featured on cereal boxes, interviewed on TV, etc.



If you mean someone who most dominated her sport, it would probably be Martina Navratilova, who dominated women's tennis for years, winning a record 9 singles titles at Wimbledon.