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Clare Brennan

Dec 30, 2021

The top 21 women’s sports moments from 2021

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – NOVEMBER 20: Kelley O’Hara #5 of Washington Spirit celebrates after scoring during extra time against Chicago Red Stars during the NWSL Championship held at Lynn Family Stadium on November 20, 2021 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

From Carli Lloyd hanging up her cleats to Allyson Felix shattering records to Emma Raducanu announcing herself to the world, 2021 was a defining year for women’s sports.

As the year comes to a close, we’re looking back at the decisive moments from a banner 12 months that included NCAA championships, the Olympics and a landmark NWSL season.

Here are the top 21 women’s sports moments from 2021:

1. Stanford wins NCAA basketball tournament

Stanford won its first National Championship since 1992 and the third title in school history, defeating Arizona 54-53 back in April. The thrilling final capped off a record-breaking season for the Cardinal, with coach Tara VanDerveer passing Pat Summit as the winningest head coach in DI women’s basketball history. With 4.08 million viewers tuned in to ESPN for the championship, Stanford and Arizona’s nail-bitter marked the most-matched title game since 2014.

2. Odicci Alexander’s WCWS stand

James Madison’s Odicci Alexander burst onto the scene over the summer, leading her school to an unlikely Women’s College World Series run in June. The star pitcher threw 1,057 pitches, recording a staggering 66 strikeouts in leading James Madison to the semifinals, the first unranked team to do so in WCWS history. James Madison’s historic run included a massive first-round upset against No. 1 Oklahoma, capturing national attention and catapulting Alexander to softball fame.

3. Ash Barty wins Wimbledon

Ash Barty made history in July, becoming the first Australian woman to win Wimbledon since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980. The world No. 1 defeated Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3 to capture her second Grand Slam title.

4. Sha’Carri Richardson bursts onto the scene

Sha’Carri Richardson sprinted into track and field celebrity over the summer when she clocked a winning time of 10.86 seconds in the 100m final at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in June. Her first-place finish was later disqualified when it was found out that Richardson tested positive for marijuana, bouncing her from the Olympics with a one-month suspension. The ordeal followed the passing of Richardson’s biological mother and spurred a conversation about mental health and rules banning marijuana that many now deem outdated. Despite not racing in Tokyo, Richardson was one of the breakout athletes of the year.

5. Simone Biles rewrites the script

Simone Biles shocked the world when she withdrew from the gymnastics team all-around event at the Tokyo Olympics after being overcome by the dreaded “twisties.” The gymnastics icon went on to pull out of the individual all-around, vault and uneven bars. Biles’s prioritization of her health was a rare and welcome change, instigating a conversation about mental health in sport. Naomi Osaka also contributed to the broader conversation on mental wellbeing when she withdrew from several events on tour. After a trying year of isolation and loss, athletes advocating for mental health offered a timely shift in the cultural perspective.

6. Suni Lee wins gold

American gymnast Suni Lee stepped into the spotlight when Biles stepped back from the individual all-around event in Tokyo. The 18-year-old dazzled audiences, beating out her competition with a score of 57.433 to capture gold in gymnastics’ most recognized event. Lee’s Olympic title also made her the first Hmong American gymnast to win an individual gold medal.

7. Allyson Felix cements her legacy

Allyson Felix became the most decorated track and field athlete of all time after winning a bronze medal in the 400m and gold in the 4×400-meter relay in Tokyo. The five-time Olympian surpassed a record set by Carl Lewis, increasing her medal count to 11, the most of any American track and field athlete to date. At 35 years old, Felix’s accomplishment is made more impressive by the fact that she gave birth to her daughter in 2018, between her last two Olympic campaigns.

8. Ariarne Titmus upends Katie Ledecky

Ariarne Titmus swam her way to the top of the podium in Tokyo, dethroning American swimming star Katie Ledecky in the process. The Australian swimmer captured gold in the 400m freestyle, becoming the first athlete to beat Ledecky in an individual Olympic event. Titmus also took home a gold in the 200m freestyle, capping off a breakout Summer Games. The now 21-year-old’s incredible performance captured international attention, but perhaps no one was as excited as her coach Dean Boxall, who went viral for his celebration following Titmus’s 400m victory.

9. April Ross & Alix Klineman dominate the beach

April Ross and Alix Klineman, or “the A-Team” as the duo is lovingly called, dominated the beach volleyball competition to capture gold in Tokyo. The Olympic title completed Ross’s trifecta, as she won silver and gold in her two previous Games. Klineman had a very different path to Tokyo, only partnering with Ross starting in 2017 and with less than a year of beach volleyball experience. Now, the pair are beach volleyball royalty.

10. Carissa Moore wins surfing gold

Carissa Moore added to her growing trophy cabinet, clinching the first-ever surfing Olympic gold medal during the Summer Games. The Team USA surfer followed up her podium-topping performance in Tokyo with her fifth WSL title, solidifying herself as a legend in the sport.

11. Nelly Korda caps golden year

Nelly Korda had a landmark 2021, becoming the first golfer to win Olympic gold and a major championship in the same year. The 23-year-old tapped in a four-foot putt to capture gold on the Kasumigaseki Country Club’s 18th hole before being embraced by sister Jessica in what was a historic moment for the Korda family, Team USA and the sport of golf.

12. Christine Sinclair wins elusive Olympic gold

Christine Sinclair is already a bona fide soccer legend. At 38 years old, she has the most international goals of all active players with 188 and has won just about every award there is to win in the sport. An Olympic gold, however, had always eluded the Canadian superstar, until this summer, when Sinclair and Canada downed Sweden in a thrilling PK shootout to win gold after defeating the USWNT on their path to victory.

13. Cat Osterman retires (again)

Cat Osterman hung up her cleats for good this year after coming out of retirement for the Tokyo Olympics. The American pitcher helped Team USA to a silver medal and officially closed out her historic career with a successful Athletes Unlimited season, coming second in strikeouts after winning the league’s inaugural season in 2020. On top of an Athletes Unlimited title, Osterman leaves the sport with two Olympic silver medals and a gold, and is widely considered one of the best pitchers in softball history.

14. Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi do it again

The Team USA basketball dynasty continued in 2021, with the Tokyo squad winning the program’s seventh straight gold during the Summer Olympic Games. Legends Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi made their own history in Tokyo, becoming the first basketball players to win five Olympic gold medals. After the team’s 90-75 victory over Japan, Bird talked about the next generation of players carrying the Team USA torch in the future, while Taurasi signed off the interview by saying, “see you in Paris.” It might have only been a joke about the 2024 Olympics in France, but we’re not counting either GOAT out yet.

15. Trinity Rodman’s grand debut

Trinity Rodman fielded one of the most compelling rookie seasons in NWSL history, finishing the season with seven goals and seven assists. The youngest player drafted in NWSL history, the 18-year-old ran away with the NWSL’s Rookie of the Year race while also helping lead the Washington Spirit to their first-ever NWSL Championship. Sharing the pitch with some of the best in the game, Rodman was perhaps the most impactful player in the final against the Chicago Red Stars, registering the game-winning assist.

16. Emma Raducanu wins the US Open

This year’s US Open was one for the history books, featuring an all-teenage final between two previously unknowns: Canada’s Leylah Fernandez and England’s Emma Raducanu. The 18-year-old Raducanu pulled out the win over Fernandez, clinching the Grand Slam without ever dropping a set, the first person to do so since 2014. The Englishwoman was also the first qualifier ever to capture the US Open title and the first British woman to win a Grand Slam in 44 years. Raducanu’s meteoric rise catapulted her to international fame, as the rookie firmly planted herself at the fore of tennis’ next generation.

17. Shalane Flanagan’s marathon of marathons

Shalane Flanagan crossed the finish line at the New York City Marathon with a time of 2:33:32, completing her goal of running six marathons in six weeks. The 2017 NYC Marathon winner completed the Berlin, Boston, London, Tokyo (remote), Chicago and New York Marathons, running each of them in under three hours. The 40-year-old, now retired from professional running, celebrated the self-imposed project by cheering USWNT icon and fellow NYC Marathon participant Abby Wambach at the race’s finish line.

18. Candace Parker brings WNBA title to Chicago

Candace Parker had a 2021 to remember, winning a WNBA Championship with her hometown team, the Chicago Sky, in her first year with the squad. Parker led the Sky in an unlikely title run, clinching the league championship after entering the playoffs as the No. 6 seed. With help from Finals MVP Kahleah Copper and seasoned veterans Allie Quigley and Courtney Vandersloot, Parker clinched her second WNBA title and Chicago’s first championship in franchise history. Later, Parker announced her marriage to Anya Petrakova, with the couple expecting their first child together. Did anyone have a better 2021?

19. The NWSL’s moment of solidarity

The NWSL underwent a league-wide reckoning in 2021 after multiple players went public with a series of accusations of abuse and misconduct against several prominent coaches. A bombshell report in The Athletic rocked the league, with former players Mana Shim and Sinead Farrelly going on the record with claims of sexual coercion and abuse against former North Carolina coach Paul Riley. The story spurred a sequence of events, including NWSL commissioner Lisa Baird stepping down from her position and the players taking a weekend off from competition. When the athletes returned, they paused at the sixth minute of their matches to recognize the years of silence both Shim and Farrelly endured. A list of demands accompanied the move, instigating an international and ongoing conversation on players’ rights and safety. Needless to say, the league will never be the same.

20. Carli Lloyd’s Philly send-off

Carli Lloyd received a sendoff fit for her historic career after the 39-year-old icon announced she would retire at the end of the NWSL season. Before Lloyd hung up her cleats, her hometown fans got one final chance to watch her play in Subaru Park in Philadelphia after Gotham FC organized a farewell match. The USWNT legend was given a proper salute from nearly 10,000 fans, delivering an emotional farewell speech after the game.

21. Washington Spirit win NWSL title

The Washington Spirit captured the team’s first NWSL Championship in franchise history in November after a rollercoaster season. On the pitch, the team persevered despite several off-field controversies, including former coach Richie Burke’s being fired following reports of abuse, an ongoing public dispute between owners, and two forced forfeits due to a violation of COVID protocols. The Spirit weathered the storm to end their season on a seven-game win streak, including a thrilling 2-1 victory over Chicago in the NWSL final.

JWS Staff

May 12, 2025

WNBA Preseason Games End as Teams Make Final 2025 Roster Cuts

Atlanta rookie Te-Hina Paopao drives down the court during a 2025 WNBA preseason game.
Atlanta Dream rookie Te-Hina PaoPao scored 14 points against Indiana on Saturday. (Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images)

There's just one WNBA preseason game left on the 2025 calendar, as 12 of the league's 13 teams wrapped exhibition play over the weekend ahead of Friday's regular-season tip-off.

The Chicago Sky became the latest team to lock in their 12-player roster on Sunday, joining the likes of the Indiana Fever in making tough final cuts.

To reach league compliance, Chicago waived Australian guard Alex Wilson, 2024 second-round draft pick Jessika Carter (Mississippi State), and former Mercury forward Morgan Bertsch.

Earning their official spots in the Sky's lineup are 2025 rookies Hailey Van Lith (TCU) and Maddy Westbeld (Notre Dame), the overall No. 11 and No. 16 picks, respectively, in April's draft.

Overall, the class of 2025 is performing well so far, with all first-round picks avoiding early roster cuts — though many teams are still deciding who will suit up on opening day.

Some second-rounders are also showing significant promise, with the Atlanta Dream's 18th overall pick Te-Hina PaoPao (South Carolina) scoring a team-leading 14 points against Indiana on Saturday.

How to watch the final 2025 WNBA preseason game

Capping the 2025 WNBA preseason are the reigning champion New York Liberty, who will take on Japan's Toyota Antelopes on Monday night.

The exhibition will see Liberty stars Sabrina Ionescu and Nyara Sabally — who notably saw her contract extended through 2026 by New York on Monday afternoon — return to their University of Oregon alma mater for the clash.

The Liberty will tip off against the Antelopes at 10 PM ET, with live coverage airing on WNBA League Pass.

Dee Lab

May 12, 2025

FIFA Expands 2031 Women’s World Cup Field, Sanctions Afghan Refugee Team

The attendance of 75,784 is shown above the 2023 World Cup semifinal between Australia and England.
The World Cup field will expand to 48 teams in 2031. (Mark Metcalfe - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

The 2031 Women's World Cup will expand to 48 teams, with the 16-team increase announced among other landmark decisions by the FIFA Council on Friday.

The decision to expand the World Cup aims to "broaden representation, offering more nations and players access to elite competition and accelerating investment in women's football worldwide," according to the FIFA release.

"The FIFA Women's World Cup 2023, the first in which teams from all confederations won at least one game and teams from five confederations reached the knockout stage, among many other records, set a new standard for global competitiveness," said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

"This decision ensures we are maintaining the momentum in terms of growing women’s football globally."

The expanded 2031 World Cup, hosted by the US, will adopt a 12-group format, increasing the total number of matches from 64 to 104 while extending the competition for an additional week.

The World Cup expansion announcement comes on the heels of last month's increased Olympic tournament news, with the IOC boosting the women's soccer field to 16 teams at the 2028 LA Games.

The decision also puts the women's competition in line with the men's World Cup, which will feature FIFA's first 48-team tournament in 2026.

Afghan women's soccer team founder and director Khalida Popal speaks at a 2023 event surrounded by the squad in Australia.
FIFA is creating an official refugee team for evacuated Afghan women's players. (Kelly Defina/Getty Images)

FIFA approves Afghan women's refugee team

In the same Friday announcement, the FIFA Council also approved the creation of an Afghanistan women's refugee team, which would provide evacuated Afghan women players the ability to compete on an officially recognized FIFA team.

While FIFA requires that national federations sponsor teams, the Afghan Football Federation ceased acknowledging its women's team once the Taliban-controlled government banned women's sports.

Originally formed by the country's Olympic Committee in 2007, the Afghanistan women's national team has not played a FIFA-recognized match since 2018, and most of its athletes fled the country amidst the Taliban's second takeover in 2021.

Since then, players have petitioned FIFA for the opportunity to compete. Their efforts earned a one-year trial phase from the governing body on Friday, though the success of the program could see it expanded to refugees from other nations in the future.

"We are happy that FIFA has created a pathway for Afghan players to finally return to the field," team founder and former captain Khalida Popal told CNN on Friday, adding that the squad "remain[s] hopeful FIFA can amend its statutes to provide official recognition for our players as the Afghanistan Women's National Team."

Popal — who helped hundreds of Afghans, including the team, escape the Taliban — previously said the team "could show the world that Afghan women and girls belong in sport, in school and everywhere in society — and we will not be defeated."

Dee Lab

May 12, 2025

Unbeaten Chelsea FC Wins 2024/25 WSL Season

Millie Bright raises Chelsea's 2024/25 WSL trophy and celebrates with her teammates.
Chelsea's undefeated 2024/25 season is the winningest in WSL history. (Harriet Lander - Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

Chelsea FC is the first team in Women's Super League (WSL) history to claim an unbeaten 22-game season, adding the undefeated moniker to their sixth-straight league title with Saturday's 1-0 win over Liverpool.

The Blues' perfect season joins the previous unbeaten campaigns of 2012's Arsenal, 2016's Manchester City, and Chelsea's own 2018 squad — though those three teams did so in 14, 16, and 18 games, respectively.

Chelsea finishes the 2024/25 campaign with an astounding 19 wins and three draws, missing just six possible points on the table en route to their new WSL record of 60 points in a single season.

"As a manager, players, and staff, you only live these moments maybe once in your life," said Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor following Saturday's history-making win. "You need to enjoy it because it is a great achievement."

Trailing Chelsea's impressive winning tally by a full 12 points, Arsenal secured second place with a 4-3 victory over third-place Manchester United in their Saturday season finale.

Arsenal midfielder Mariona Caldentey poses with her 2024/25 WSL Player of the Season award.
The first-ever WSL Player of the Season award went to Arsenal's Mariona Caldentey. (Paul Harding - The FA/The FA via Getty Images)

WSL standouts secure individual 2024/25 awards

Though they missed the WSL's team trophy, the Gunners did claim some individual hardware this weekend, as voters selected midfielder Mariona Caldentey as the inaugural winner of the WSL Player of the Season award.

The 29-year-old Spain international led the league in shot creation, and put up nine goals and five assists on the WSL stat sheet this season.

Caldentey's teammate Alessia Russo also walked away with a trophy, sharing the Golden Boot with fourth-place Manchester City's Khadija "Bunny" Shaw after both forwards scored 12 goals each on the season.

Also sharing a stat-sheet title is Chelsea's Hannah Hampton and Manchester United's Phallon Tullis-Joyce, who claimed the 2024/25 WSL Golden Glove award behind 13 clean sheets apiece.

Meanwhile, the season's WSL Rising Star award went to ninth-place West Ham striker Shekiera Martinez. After spending the first half of the 2024/25 season on loan to Bundesliga side SC Freiburg, the 23-year-old German international notched an astounding 10 goals in her 12 total WSL matches.

Speaking of impressive scoring, Manchester City forward Vivianne Miedema's stellar chip against Aston Villa in January earned the Dutch star the 2024/25 WSL Goal of the Season title.

JWS Staff

May 12, 2025

No. 1 Seed Texas A&M Tops NCAA Softball Tournament Bracket

Texas A&M softball teammates greet KK Dement at the plate after a home run during the 2025 SEC tournament.
No. 1-seed Texas A&M leads a record 14 SEC teams in the 2025 NCAA softball tournament bracket. (David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

For the first time in program history, Texas A&M is the No. 1 seed in the NCAA softball tournament, with the Aggies staving off four-time reigning champion Oklahoma for the honor in Sunday's 2025 bracket drop.

After adverse weather canceled their conference title game on Saturday, the Aggies and No. 2-seed Sooners became 2025 SEC tournament co-champions, leaving the NCAA selection committee to lean heavily on each team's strength of schedule in making their top-seed decision.

"What set apart Texas A&M is they have 19 Top 25 wins, which is number one in the country," said NCAA softball committee chair Kurt McGuffin on Sunday's ESPN2 broadcast, noting the Aggies' tough nonconference schedule.

Taking on a lighter nonconference slate than usual due to massive roster turnover following the 2023/24 season, Oklahoma relied heavily on their record in a stacked SEC, finishing one half-game ahead of A&M in regular-season play.

While the Sooners look to extend their championship streak, the Aggies will be hunting their third national title and first since 1987.

Standing in their way in the 64-team bracket are a record number of familiar foes, as the SEC boasts 14 teams in the 2025 NCAA competition — the most from any single conference in tournament history.

Even more, nine of the bracket's 16 seeded teams hail from the SEC, and a full seven of the Top 8.

Florida State catcher Michaela Edenfield celebrates a home run while rounding second base during a 2023 Women's College World Series game.
Florida State returns to the NCAA tournament as the highest seeded non-SEC team. (SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN/USA TODAY NETWORK)

Conference champs, at-large teams score NCAA bracket spots

SEC squads aren't the only teams looking to topple Texas A&M and Oklahoma, however, as conference champions and other elite squads learned their tournament fates on Selection Sunday.

No. 5 Florida State is the highest seeded non-SEC team, despite falling 2-1 to No. 11-seed Clemson in Saturday's ACC title game. Along with No. 14-seed Duke, the ACC will see nine teams in the 2025 tournament.

Behind 2024 National Player of the Year NiJaree Canady — the nation's top pitcher — Texas Tech leads a five-team contingent from the Big 12 after securing both their conference tournament trophy and the national No. 12-seed this weekend.

In the weekend's most upset-filled conference tournament, unseeded Michigan outlasted both No. 9-seed UCLA and No. 16-seed Oregon to score a second straight Big Ten tournament title on Saturday, becoming one of eight teams repping the conference in Sunday's bracket.

Notably, the Bruins — the winningest program in NCAA softball history with 12 titles — have not entered the tournament lower than a No. 6 seed since 2016.

How to watch the 2025 NCAA softball tournament

The road to the 2025 Women's College World Series begins with Regionals, in which each of the 16 seeded teams will host a four-team double-elimination mini-tournament this weekend.

With a minimum of 96 games — and a possibility of 112 — Regional play begins at 12 PM ET on Friday, with the 64-team field narrowing to 16 by Sunday night.

All games will air live across ESPN's networks.

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