Barrier breakers: Women who competed with men

There were women in racing before, but no one was more successful at open-wheel driving than Danica Patrick. The pride of Beloit, Wisconsin is the first and only woman to win an IndyCar event. She transitioned to stock car racing where she became the first woman to win a Cup Series pole, setting the fastest lap at the 2013 Daytona 500. She would finish with seven top-tens in NASCAR as well.

There’s a special satisfaction that comes with shutting up a loud mouth. Billie Jean King did it on behalf of women everywhere. Bobby Riggs had no trouble spewing chauvinistic rhetoric but was silenced by King in 1973. The then 29-year-old beat the 55-year-old tour pro in straight sets. Riggs would disappear while King would become a living legend in sports.

No longer is “you throw like a girl” an insult anymore. You can thank Mo’ne Davis for that. She was one of two girls to play in the 2014 Little League World Series, but she was the first and only girl to win a World Series game as a pitcher and the only girl to throw a shutout. None of the competitors could handle her 70-mph heat as she sat down eight batters on strikes.

Before Danica Patrick, there was Janet Guthrie. The Iowa-born aerospace engineer competed in her first NASCAR Cup race in 1976 and qualified for the Daytona 500 in 1977, where she finished 12^th after blowing two cylinders. She also qualified for the 1977 Indy 500, becoming the first woman to compete in both racing circuits’ premier races. The future Motorsports Hall of Famer went on to post a sixth-place finish at Bristol in 1977 and a ninth-place finish at the Indy 500 in 1978.

Striking out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig is no easy feat, but one of the first female pitchers in professional baseball history found a way. 17-year-old Jackie Mitchell played for the Chattanooga Lookouts and pitched to the Bronx Bombers in an exhibition in 1931. Ruth got caught looking after two missed swings during his at-bat while Gehrig went down after three missed swings. Mo’ne Davis may have lit Twitter on fire during the social media age, but Mitchell was the original female flamethrower.

Zaharias made her way to this list by being the first woman to compete against men on the PGA Tour, but this was one of her minor achievements if you could believe it. At the 1932 Olympics, she won gold medals in 80m hurdles and javelin and got a silver medal in high jump. She would also pitch in two MLB spring training exhibitions. Oh, and she got that golf thing down too, winning 10 LPGA major championships.

Coaching may not be as physical as playing, but it’s a competition nonetheless. Hammon became the first full-time, salaried female coach in NBA history with the San Antonio Spurs. And it wasn’t for show. Hammon coached the Spurs to an NBA Summer League championship in 2015 and was the first woman to ever interview for a NBA head coaching position in 2018. Hammon continues to break barriers and it’s seemingly only a matter of time before she becomes a head coach in the league.

Lieberman had a heck of a career in the WBL and as part of the first women’s USA basketball team, but she didn’t limit herself to just competing with women. Lady Magic took her talents to the USBL to play with the men and was part of the Washington Generals, who were regular opponents of the Harlem Globetrotters. Not a bad cherry-on-top for a hall of fame career.

Nearly 60 years after Babe Zaharias played with the men at the Los Angeles Open, Sorenstam took part in the PGA Tour’s Bank of America Colonial in 2003. She would end up missing the cut, but she led the field in driving accuracy through the first day. She would also end up playing in the 2003 Skins Game with Fred Couples, Phil Mickelson and Mark O'Meara, finishing with five skins. Not bad for “having no business playing.” Right, Vijay?

Krone rode into history as the first, and so far, only, woman to win a Triple Crown race when she rode Colonial Affair to victory at the 1993 Belmont Stakes. But her success wasn’t just tied to one race. She also won races at Gulfstream Park, Monmouth Park, The Meadowlands and Atlantic City Race Course and became the first woman to win a Breeders’ Cup race in 2003. In 2013, her achievements were recognized as she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

Before the currently vaunted WWE women’s division, the women of the company weren’t getting a lot of exposure for their wrestling. Chyna changed all of that. She became the first woman to qualify for the King of the Ring tournament and was the first woman to be a number one contender for the then-WWF Championship. While she wouldn’t reach the top of the sport, she became the first and only female Intercontinental Champion. Her pioneering performances brought more women to the sport and made the division what it is today.

Tonawanda’s fight to include women in boxing was groundbreaking when she sued the New York Athletic Commission for refusing to grant her a license because she was a woman. She won in the court and started winning in the ring. Tonawanda then made history when she knocked out Larry Rodaina in the Aaron Bank’s Oriental World of Self Defense show at Madison Square Garden. If you want to look for the originator of women in combat sports, she was one of the first.

The locker room of a Division I football team is a hard enough place for men to navigate. Hnida found a way to navigate two. She was the first female Division I football player, making it on Colorado and New Mexico as a walk-on placekicker. She scored her only points with the Lobos and kicked in the Las Vegas Bowl. She also told Sports Illustrated she was raped by one of her teammates while she was at Colorado and now speaks at college campuses to educate and raise awareness of sexual assault.

Gordon rushed her way onto everyone’s web browser (and hearts) with her devastating Pee Wee Football moves. At nine-years-old, Gordon showed lightning quickness and bone-crunching power against the boys. Her 15 seconds of fame lasted much longer than anyone could’ve anticipated as she made appearances on Good Morning America and the NFL Network. But her biggest accomplishment might be being the first female football player to appear on a Wheaties cereal box.

Women rarely climb the ranks of the four major sports leagues, but Kim Ng made it look easy. She is one of three women to ever hold an assistant general manager position in Major League Baseball. She hasn’t broken the glass ceiling on the general manager position, but she is currently the Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations for MLB.

Julie "The Cat" Gaffney broke many boys’ hearts as the goaltender in the “Mighty Ducks” movie franchise in 1994, but not many of those boys knew about Manon Rheume, who took her talents to the NHL two years before. Rheume tried out for the Tampa Bay Lightning—the first woman ever to do so. She was signed by the team, but didn’t find much ice time, though she found some success in the IHL, where she became the first woman to appear in a regular-season professional game. She would make 24 appearances for seven teams in multiple minor leagues over five years.

Wickenheiser’s career with Canada’s National Women’s Team spanned 20 years where she established herself as the greatest female hockey player ever. That didn’t stop her from becoming legendary in other ways. The Saskatchewan native became the first woman to score a goal in a men’s semi-professional league in 2003. She would play 23 games for HC Salamat in Suomi-sarja, Finland’s third highest division, scoring twice and notching 10 assists.  

Mayeux won’t be the first woman in baseball, but she is the first to be eligible to sign with an MLB team. The French Miami Dade College freshman (pictured during her little league years) was the only female on the French U-18 Junior National Team and was added to the MLB’s international registration list. She’s currently playing softball at MDC, but she’s in position to be one of the biggest barrier breakers in baseball.

After Katie Hnida became the first woman to compete in Division I football, Longo (pictured, center) was the first woman to earn a scholarship playing NCAA football at Division II or higher in 2017. She redshirted her freshman year but went 30 for 33 on her extra points her senior year in high school and knocked in her only field goal attempt. We may be witnessing the growth of the first female NFL player.

She’s no “Ice Box.” She’s better. The real-life embodiment of the legendary “Little Giants” character, Welter was the first female running back on a men’s professional football team in 2014. She rushed for -3 yards on two carries in the first game of the season for the Texas Revolution of the Indoor Football League. In 2015, Welter was introduced as the team's linebackers and special teams coach, becoming the first woman to coach professional men’s football.

Before they had their own dedicated competition, women competed with men in mixed Olympic skeet shooting. In 1992, Zhang became the only woman to medal in the event, beating the field to win the gold. She never won another medal, but she continues to compete around the world.

The “Knuckle Princess” burst onto the scene in 2008 when she became the first woman to be drafted by a Japanese men’s professional baseball team. The sidearm-knuckleballer's achievements didn’t stop there, as she racked up wins in the Arizona Winter League, Kansai Independent Baseball League and North American Baseball League. She is the first woman to pitch in three different countries (Japan, United States, Canada).

With surfing, it doesn’t matter who you are as long as you can stay upright and look good doing it. Moore became the first woman to compete in men’s surfing at the 2011 Triple Crown of Surfing. She didn’t advance out of the round of 96 at the Reef Hawaiian Pro and Vans World Cup of Surfing, but won three ASP Women’s World Tour Championships and was inducted in the Surfers’ Hall of Fame in 2014.

Been around the world, and no one can player hate on Ellen MacArthur. The English yachtswoman was already an accomplished sailor when she broke the single-handed non-stop circumnavigation record, going around the world alone in 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds. She was made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her achievement.

Before Julie Krone rode her way to immortalized at the Belmont Stakes, Crump paved the way by being the first woman to ride in the Kentucky Derby. She was also the first woman to ride in a pari-mutuel (betting) race, an achievement that was so contested she needed a police escort to and during the event.

Before women thrilled crowds in figure skating, it was an exclusively male sport until 1902. Syers became the first woman at the World Figure Skating Championships. She was hardly a token participant as she won the silver medal behind Ulrich Salchow, who was so impressed with the British skater that he offered her his gold medal.

Fisher wasn’t the first woman to race at the Indy 500, but she was the youngest to do so at 19 years old in 2000. She was also the first woman to podium, finishing third at the Kentucky Indy 300 and finishing second at Homestead in 2001. She broke another glass ceiling in 2008 when she became the first female owner/driver in IndyCar Series history. She retired in 2010 with the most Indy 500 starts for a woman.