This year was full of incredible moments for women of all ages and all races in sports. From winning gold medals to making history to long-awaited comebacks, 2016 had some memorable moments. There’s no denying this year has been tragic for many reasons. With the loss of legend Pat Summitt or the dethroning of Serena Williams, sport wasn’t always fun. Throughout the year, I have written about some of these ladies and their impact. With the year now coming to a close, there is no better time to pick the most influential woman of the year.
Deciding who should be named spotlight of the year was extremely difficult because a lot of ladies deserve to be recognized. There’s Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas who brought home gold at their second Olympic games which are extremely rare. There were the breakout stars of the Olympics, Simone Biles, Laurie Hernandez and Madison Kocian. Claressa Shields won Olympic gold for the second Olympics in a row, the first American to do so while Helen Maroulis took home the first US Olympic Gold in Women’s Wrestling. Katie Ledecky broke her own record and won four gold medals at an Olympics ruled by the women.
Female athletes didn’t just make an impact, though. Sports personalities, actresses, writers and coaches all paved the way as well. Kathryn Smith became the first full-time female NFL coach after Jen Welter’s coaching internship with the Arizona Cardinals and Kylie Bunbury brought to life the first female MLB player. Jessica Luther, Brenda Tracy, and Julie DiCario all shone a light on sexual abuse in college athletics, an issue that has been ignored for years. Jessica Mendoza became a full-time member of the Sunday Night Baseball team, Katie Nolan continued to educate and change the sports world and the NWHL became the first league to allow transgender athletes.
Sports stars also started using their platform for more. Megan Rapinoe knelt in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick while the Final Five slammed body shamers of all kinds. The WNBA worked together in supporting Black Lives Matter, Elena Delle Donne came out and Serena Williams penned a letter in support of Black Lives Matter. While most of the talk was about Kaepernick, Lebron and Doug Baldwin, the ladies did as much, if not more than the men.
With all of that, it’s hard to pick just one lady who represented all of that but there’s one who did that and more. The most obvious choice has to be Simone Biles and Biles did kick 2016’s ass, but I’m going with someone a little bit more underrated and less mainstream. The first annual SportsAsToldByAGirl Spotlight Of The Year goes to… Ibtihaj Muhammad.
Muhammad might not have made a huge impact during her time in Ri,o but she was part of a team that won bronze. In addition, Muhammad became the first woman to compete in a hijab and the first female Muslim-American to win an Olympic medal.
She also gained a ton of media attention due to her comments about being Muslim in America. In the midst of a nasty and messy presidential election, Muhammad made some controversial but impactful statements. With a year full of sports activism, Muhammad became a face for the Muslim community, “[I feel unsafe] all the time. I had someone follow me home from practice and try to report me to police.” Her uncomfortableness as an Olympic athlete was seen as ridiculous but with the rise in police brutality, Muhammad gave a voice to another oppressed group.
Muhammad might not have won an individual medal, but she made history in another way. Her impact on the Olympics will never be forgotten and she became a role model for those who share her values with similar dreams. She gave a voice to those who were previously silent and she didn’t let anyone else take her values away from her. Muhammad might not have done what other athletes did, but she was one of the most impactful athletes of 2016.
