Greatest Female Athletes to Ever Compete at the Olympics
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The first modern-day Summer Olympics was held in Athens, Greece, in 1896, but female athletes didn't compete until the 1900 Olympic Games. And even then, women only made up 2.2 percent of athletes and were only allowed to compete as individuals in tennis and golf.
Luckily for women, things have changed a lot since then. In fact, the upcoming Olympic Games (again in Paris) will be the first to feature gender parity on the playing field. In honor of this monumental moment, let's take a look back at the greatest female Olympians to ever compete.
3. Larisa Latynina
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Sport: Gymnastics
Country: Soviet Union
Years: 1956, 1960, 1964
Medals: 18
Bottom line: Larisa Latynina is the most decorated gymnast in Olympics history, and she held the record for most total Olympic medals (18) until Michael Phelps surpassed her by winning a whopping 28.
She competed in team, all-around, vault, floor exercise and balance beam events, becoming the first female athlete to win nine Olympic golds as well as the only gymnast to ever do so. Her accomplishments are often credited with being the start of the Soviet Union as a gymnastics powerhouse.
2. Jackie Joyner-Kersee
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Sport: Track and field
Country: United States
Years: 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996
Medals: 6
Bottom line: Jackie Joyner-Kersee holds the world heptathlon record, which she set at the 1988 Olympics after totaling 7,291 points. That same year, she set an Olympic record with a leap of 24 feet, 3 ¼ inches in the long jump event. It goes without saying that she won gold medals for both.
In 1992, she won the gold in the heptathlon again and had hopes of winning a third in 1996. Unfortunately, an injury required her to withdraw from competing after only one event — the long jump, in which she still managed to earn a bronze medal.
1. Nadia Comaneci
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Sport: Gymnastics
Country: Romania
Years: 1976, 1980
Medals: 9
Bottom line: Nadia Comaneci is the first gymnast to ever receive perfect 10s at the Olympics when she competed in 1976 at the Montreal Games. In fact, she earned seven perfect scores overall and won three individual gold medals. At only 14 years old, she became the youngest to win the all-around event at the Olympics.
She returned in 1980, winning two more gold medals and receiving two more perfect 10s at the Moscow Olympics.
For more of the world's best Olympians, check out "Greatest Olympians of All Time."