'Thickest skin': Women powering Aussie sport

1 year ago 87

As International Women's time approaches, Australia's pistillate athletes and teams are beforehand and centre successful the nationalist sporting conversation.

Our women's cricket squad has conscionable won an astonishing 13th satellite title, and the Matildas are astir to big the FIFA Women's World Cup, which promises to beryllium the biggest lawsuit connected Australian ungraded since the Sydney Olympics.

But who is the astir influential pistillate successful Australian sport?

Not the top oregon the astir successful, but the most influential.

The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and Wide World of Sports person teamed up to take the apical 50 astir influential women successful Australian sport. To marque this list, it wasn't capable to beryllium a champion sportswoman, though galore are. From athletes to administrators, journalists to sports agents and sponsors, these women person made a difference. Some person taken a basal connected issues that transcend sport, immoderate made the decisions that find wherever the wealth goes oregon what sports we spot connected TV, and others enactment successful the inheritance to support the large codes rolling along.

SCROLL BELOW FOR 50-41 IN OUR TOP 50 MOST INFLUENTIAL WOMEN IN SPORT SERIES

Our judges: Brooke Boney (Today quality and amusement presenter), Melissa Coulter Ryan (Sunday Age athletics editor), Billie Eder (SMH reporter), Roz Kelly (WWOS presenter), Emily Patterson (wwos.com.au reporter), Georgina Robinson (SMH main rugby reporter), Chloe Saltau (The Age athletics editor), Zoe Samios (Age/SMH media reporter), Claire Siracusa (The Age athletics producer), Kathryn Wicks (SMH managing editor).

Each justice picked their ain apical 20, with votes apportioned successful reverse order. So, No.20 was fixed 1 ballot and No.19 2 votes, and truthful on. From there, we compiled the apical 50 based connected full votes. Where 2 radical finished with the aforesaid fig of votes, they look connected our database successful alphabetical order.

Today, we unveil numbers 50 to 41, and we volition people 10 names per time culminating with the apical 10 connected Wednesday, International Women's Day.

Our database volition doubtless provoke debate, but we anticipation it besides recognises the value of women to athletics successful this country, and encourages sporting bodies and businesses to keeping pushing for equality.

Underwood has blazed a way for women successful sports media.

Since making past arsenic the archetypal pistillate to commentate an AFL lucifer successful 2009, she has go a starring authorization connected not conscionable footy … but each the large issues successful the satellite of sport.

The Fox Sports and ABC commentator has the thickest tegument successful the concern - dealing with much unwarranted maltreatment than immoderate of her antheral colleagues .. yet remains unapologetically existent to herself and her craft.

Underwood is liable for inspiring a procreation of pistillate sports journalists and commentators. Roz Kelly

A satellite skateboarding champion successful the over-14 part successful 2014, Starr-Olsen made her Olympic debut successful Tokyo 2020, the aforesaid twelvemonth arsenic the athletics made its archetypal quality astatine the Games.

She is besides the prima of Tall Poppy, a documentary filmed implicit 10 years that showcases the highs and lows of becoming an Olympic athlete.

In a athletics that has been heavy dominated by men for decades, Olsen is simply a enactment of caller air. Billie Eder

Neroli Meadows has been astatine the apical of sports media for galore years.

Meadows' freelance enactment successful the NFL, astatine the T20 satellite cupful and the Indian Premier League, has seen her bring planetary events to Australian audiences.

Adding to her database of award-winning projects, Meadows became the archetypal pistillate to big a Test lucifer connected Australian tv successful 2018.

During her career, Meadows has shown that if you fall, you tin get up and basal doubly arsenic tall.

Her podcast, Ordineroli Speaking, has been instrumental successful promoting vulnerability and resilience successful sport. Emily Patterson

Most celebrated for winning the women's 100m freestyle astatine 3 consecutive Olympics arsenic good arsenic a 4th golden successful the 4x100m freestyle relay, Fraser was 1964 Australian of the Year.

Among the 23 satellite records she broke was the 100m freestyle grounds astatine the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

Her vocation wasn't without controversy: successful Tokyo successful 1964 she was accused of stealing an Olympic emblem and subsequently banned from the sport.

Significantly, Fraser has mentored countless athletes successful the intervening years, from Sydney Olympic 1500m champion Grant Hackett to tract bowler Ellen Ryan.

She served arsenic the autarkic subordinate for Balmain for 1 word of the authorities government. Kathryn Wicks

One of the world's superstar middle-distance swimmers, Ariarne Titmus has overtaken US superstar Katie Ledecky arsenic the astir lethal middle-distance swimmer.

Winning her archetypal Olympic golden successful the 400m freestyle astatine the Tokyo Olympics, Titmus backed that up with a triumph successful the 200m freestyle.

The 22-year-old enactment herself connected the representation erstwhile she bushed Ledecky astatine the 2019 satellite titles. Billie Eder

Lanning is simply a genuine cricket great, arsenic a batter and captain, but she makes the database not conscionable for her ain excellence.

She embodies 1 of Australia's astir palmy sporting teams and spearheaded possibly the astir important infinitesimal for women's athletics this period erstwhile 86,174 radical packed the MCG to ticker her broadside bushed India successful the Women's T20 World Cup last 3 years ago.

She embraced the ambitious nationalist propulsion for a satellite grounds crowd. Lanning has led the game's translation from part-time to professional, and precocious returned from a intelligence wellness interruption to pursuit a 3rd consecutive satellite T20 crown successful South Africa. Chloe Saltau

Kane near a ineligible vocation to enactment successful a bid of shot operations roles astatine North Melbourne and, having gained a estimation arsenic 1 of the astir susceptible radical successful the game, is present the AFL's wide manager - contention management.

As a elder subordinate of the "footy ops" team, she is captious to keeping the AFL and AFLW competitions rolling.

At North, Kane acceptable up the AFLW program, having been a manager with Melbourne University, earlier heading up shot operations connected the men's broadside and steering the nine done the logistical challenges of COVID. Chloe Saltau

The erstwhile Diamonds skipper has been a person connected and disconnected the tribunal for decades successful Australian sport.

Since retiring from a record-breaking netball career, Ellis has held aggregate committee positions and brought Aussies galore of the biggest moments successful sport.

Whether calling a netball lucifer oregon commenting connected large issues, she's ne'er acrophobic to telephone retired the BS if she sees it.

The Hall of Famer feels similar the motivation compass of Australian sport. If Ellis has thing to accidental ... we listen. Roz Kelly

The pistillate down the antheral who is arguably the top AFL subordinate of his generation, the erstwhile Miss Universe Australia had the attraction of immoderate of the sport's biggest powerbrokers successful 2022 arsenic she negotiated what volition apt beryllium hubby Lance's last playing contract.

Jesinta Franklin past twelvemonth completed the AFL Players' Association accreditation course, enabling her to registry arsenic a subordinate cause earlier the Sydney Swans guardant made 1 of the biggest decisions of his career.

Apart from pulling the strings successful a large concern deal, Franklin has been a beardown and enthusiastic protagonist of Indigenous issues adjacent successful the look of utmost unit and criticism. Brooke Boney

The archetypal pistillate AFL commissioner and erstwhile Sydney Swans committee member, Mostyn wields tremendous power successful Sydney sporting circles and wrong the AFL.

Currently the president of Chief Executive Women, she is besides connected the committee of the GO (Goodes O'Loughlin) Foundation and is co-founder of the Minerva Network, an organisation that connects apical women athletes with concern and firm leaders. Georgina Robinson

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