The world is full of wildly talented athletes, and every four years they get their time to shine on the international stage. More often than not female athletes are ignored or demeaned in comparison to their male counterparts, but the 2024 Olympics gave these athletes the chance to prove themselves and show the world just how good they are. However, just because the Olympics are over, doesn’t mean that we should stop talking about these incredible women. Here are just seven of the impressive female athletes who competed at the Paris Olympics.
Born to Ethiopian parents in San Jose, California, Naomi Girma has become one of the best defenders in all of women’s soccer. She was a key part of the US women’s national team’s fight for gold as the only field player to play every minute of the Olympic tournament. Girma spent her college career captaining the Stanford Cardinal, graduating with a BA. After losing her best friend and teammate to suicide while at Stanford, Girma has been one of the players leading the conversation about the importance of mental health in sports. Along with her professional soccer career playing for the US National Team and the San Diego Wave, Girma earned her masters in Management Science and Engineering.
Basketball player Satou Sabally was born in New York to a Gambian mother and German father, but spent most of her life in Germany before moving back to the US to play college basketball at University of Oregon. She represented Germany in this year’s Olympics as part of their women’s basketball team. With a historic 33 points in the second game of the group stage, Sabally tied for the eighth-most amount of points in a single game at the Olympics and led her team to the quarterfinals before they lost to France—the eventual silver medalists. Sabally is part of the WNBA Social Justice Council, and she also has a bachelor’s degree in social science. Currently, Sabally is a starter for the Dallas Wings.
Janja Garnbret is a highly decorated Slovenian rock climber who competed in women’s bouldering and lead at the Paris Olympics. Garnbret has been rock climbing since she was seven years old, and now, at 25, she’s won Olympic gold at both Tokyo and Paris. Her many incredible performances at climbing World Cups and World Championships have led Garnbret to be the competitive climber with the most International Federation of Sports Climbing gold medals in history. This year’s Olympics, Garnbret was also selected to be the Slovenian flag bearer for the closing ceremony.
Imane Khelif grew up in rural Algeria, and pursued boxing despite her father’s disapproval of girls boxing and her struggle to pay for the bus fare to her gym. Khelif was one of the largest stories of the Paris Olympics after her fight with opponent Angela Carini. After her opponent forfeited the fight in less than a minute, saying that she’d never been hit harder, people on social media started claiming that Khelif was transgender and shouldn’t be allowed to compete. People like J.K. Rowling, Donald Trump, and Elon Musk spread these rumors, despite the evidence and testimonies confirming that Khelif is not trans. Through all of the hate and harassment that she was getting, Khelif managed to keep her focus and earn a gold medal in the 66-kilogram weight class. Khelif is now filing a legal complaint in France against online harassment, which might lead into a lawsuit if the French prosecutors choose to open an investigation. Khelif has inspired many girls in Algeria to take up boxing, and her performance is only growing women’s boxing worldwide.
Kaylia Neymour, another Algerian athlete, made history this year as the first African gymnast to win an Olympic medal of any kind. Neymour started her international gymnastics career by representing France, but the mistreatment she received from the French Gymnastics Federation led her to represent Algeria, where she had citizenship from through her father. At only 17, Neymour earned her gold medal on her specialty, the uneven bars. Already with one skill named after her on the uneven bars, the world waits to see how Neymour performs throughout the rest of her career.
As the most decorated artistic gymnast in history, Simone Biles is a household name. Biles grew up in Texas with her adopted parents and one of her sisters after starting her life in foster care. She has been doing gymnastics since she was six. At only 27, Biles is one of the oldest female gymnasts to win an Olympic medal with three gold and one silver at the Paris Olympics. Biles has used her platform to speak up about the abuse and corruption throughout gymnastics, as well as other causes that matter to her. As a survivor of sexual abuse at the hands of one of the former USA Gymnastics doctors, Biles has done her best to spread awareness and offer an example of hope for other survivors. She’s been open about her mental health throughout her career, especially after she withdrew from the Tokyo Olympics. Biles has brought a lot of attention to mental health in sports, and her prioritization of her mental health has created a lot of conversations about the importance of prioritizing mental health for everyone.
Olympic tournament MVP A’ja Wilson was critical in the USA women’s gold medal run, a historic eighth straight gold medal. Wilson was born and raised in South Carolina, and went to college at the University of South Carolina where she led them to a NCAA championship in her junior year. As a starter for the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces, Wilson has led the team to two championships and is currently averaging historic numbers in the 2024 WNBA season. Diagnosed with dyslexia in high school, Wilson created the A’ja Wilson Foundation “dedicated to making a difference in the lives of children struggling with dyslexia and bullying.” Wilson credits her success to the support of her family and her college coach Dawn Staley.