As 2021 comes to an end, it’s time to look forward to the year ahead in sports.

With the Winter Olympics in February, March Madness on the calendar and a landmark NWSL season to come, women’s sports fans are in store for an exciting year.

Here are the 20 athletes to know or get reacquainted with in 2022: 

1. Rhyne Howard

Rhyne Howard has been a basketball player to watch since she was named Tennessee’s Gatorade Player of the Year in 2018, ahead of her breakout rookie season at the University of Kentucky. Now a junior, Howard is solidifying herself as a top contender for the No. 1 WNBA draft pick, averaging 20 points on the season. With a March Madness run and a professional debut on the horizon, 2022 may be Howard’s year to break onto the mainstage.

2. Catarina Macario

Catarina Macario is quickly becoming a household name, racking up 12 caps with the United States Women’s National Team and lighting up the pitch with her French club Olympique Lyonnais. As the USWNT gear up for the 2023 World Cup, Macario is a favorite to lead the squad’s next generation of young talent.

3. Carissa Moore

Carissa Moore burst onto the scene in 2021, capturing gold in surfing at the Tokyo Olympics. The 29-year-old has been dominating the sport for quite some time now, but with a new, integrated World Surf League schedule in 2022, Moore has an opportunity to ascend to new heights.

4. Coco Gauff

Coco Gauff had a stellar 2021 WTA season, especially considering the tennis prodigy is still just 17 years old. Finishing the year ranked 22^nd and making a quarterfinal run at the French Open, Gauff has set herself up for a breakthrough 2022.

5. Mikaela Shiffrin

Mikaela Shiffrin has already ascended to the top of her sport, earning three medals, including two gold, in alpine skiing. Now, the American is looking to make history at the Beijing Olympics, hoping to race in all five ski racing events. She enters the Games with a series of World Cup wins, and is actively shattering skiing records on her way to China.

6. Jin Young Ko

Jin Young Ko had a storybook 2021, winning the LPGA finale in November and clinching the Player of the Year award. Can the 26-year-old follow up her banner year in 2022, and what will that mean for her burgeoning rivalry with Nelly Korda?

7. Nelly Korda

Nelly Korda made history in 2021, becoming the first golfer to win an Olympic gold medal and a major championship in the same year. The 23-year-old American traded places as the world No. 1 with Ko for most of last year, and if the rivalry persists into 2022, golf fans are in for a treat.

8. Aliyah Boston

Aliyah Boston is lighting up the floor for the South Carolina women’s basketball team, averaging 16.8 points and nine rebounds per game on the season. After coming up short last year, the Gamecocks and Boston are heavy favorites to win the title in 2022.

9. Jaelin Howell

Jaelin Howell ended her career with Florida State on a high, leading her team to the 2021 College Cup title. The 22-year-old has already made 19 appearances with the USWNT and is a heavy favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick in the NWSL Draft, should she decide to stay in America rather than decamp to Europe. Making her professional debut, Howell is poised to have a breakout year as a future star of the USWNT.

10. Emma Raducanu

Emma Raducanu emerged from obscurity to take the tennis world by storm, winning the US Open at just 18 years old. After becoming the first qualifier to capture the Grand Slam, all eyes are now on Raducanu to follow up her breakout year with another.

11. Chloe Kim

Chloe Kim captured national attention when she won gold in the snowboard halfpipe at just 17 years old during the 2018 Winter Olympics. Now 21 years old, Kim is hoping to defend her Olympic championship in Beijing. The California native has a chance to cement her legacy as a snowboarding legend with the 2022 Olympics in February.

12. Betnijah Laney

Most WNBA fans know Betnijah Laney by now, with the 28-year-old entering the league in 2015. The 2021 season, however, was Laney’s most comprehensive yet, as she averaged 16.8 points, 5.2 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game. With the New York Liberty coming into their own, Laney could be poised to mount an MVP campaign in 2022.

13. Kelsey Turnbow

Kelsey Turnbow is going pro after an impressive career at Santa Clara, which included a National Championship last season and College Cup semifinal run this year. Selected 18^th overall by the Chicago Red Stars in the 2021 Draft, Turnbow will make her NWSL debut with San Diego Wave after being traded to the expansion club in November.

14. Abby Roque

Abby Roque is set to make her Olympic debut with Team USA in Beijing after an impressive collegiate hockey career at the University of Wisconsin. The 24-year-old will look to lead the U.S to their second-consecutive gold medal come February.

15. Jamie Chadwick

Jamie Chadwick has already solidified herself as a racing superstar, winning back-to-back W series championships. As a development driver on the Williams Formula One team, the 23-year-old is poised to break racing barriers in 2022.

16. Jessie Diggins

Jessie Diggins made history in 2018 when she and teammate Kikkan Randall clinched the United States’ first-ever cross-country gold medal at the Pyeongchang Games. Racing in all six cross-country events, Diggins will look to add to her medal haul in Beijing, cementing her place in the sport’s history.

17. Sofia Huerta

Sofia Huerta has been a star in the NWSL since she was drafted to the Chicago Red Stars in 2015, but 2021 seemed like something of a renaissance for the 28-year-old. Moving to the outside back position, Huerta anchored a successful OL Reign team, notching six assists during the season. Huerta ended the year by fielding a compelling performance during the USWNT’s Australia friendlies, setting herself up for a potential landmark 2022.

18. Paula Badosa

Paula Badosa cracked the top ten world tennis rankings during the 2021 season, ending the year at No. 8, a career-high. The 24-year-old also had her best Grand Slam result to date this season, making a quarterfinal run at Roland Garros. Will 2022 bring Badosa her first Grand Slam victory?

19. Alysa Liu

Alysa Liu will make her Olympic debut in February, less than a year after her inaugural senior international appearance. At 16 years old, Liu represents the next generation of American figure skating and will compete for a place on the podium in Beijing.

20. Jamie Anderson

Jamie Anderson is another athlete to watch at the Winter Olympics, with the 31-year-old poised to make history. After winning back-to-back slopestyle gold medals, and a silver medal in big air in 2018, Anderson could become the first snowboarder, male or female, to earn five total Olympic medals at the Beijing Games.

The 2025 Women's World Cup journey of the U-17 USWNT came to an end on Tuesday, when the US fell to the Netherlands in the tournament's Round of 16 after a 1-1 draw led to a tense penalty shootout.

FC Twente forward Liv Pennock gave the Dutch a one-goal lead in the third minute before a bullet from Chicago Stars attacker Micayla Johnson pulled the USWNT level in the game's second half, but the US couldn't finish the job, losing 7-6 in penalties.

The USWNT has never won a U-17 Women's World Cup, finishing as runners-up in the tournament's inaugural 2008 competition before taking third in the 2024 edition.

With three pros on the roster — Johnson, Gotham FC striker Mak Whitham, and Utah Royals forward KK Ream — as well as one player, defender Sydney Schmidt, on an amateur contract with USL Super League side Sporting JAX, the U-17 USWNT did manage to put together their most impressive group-stage performance yet, taking all nine points from their three opening matches for the first time in team history.

Even more, the team did so in dominant fashion, taking down Ecuador 3-0 and China 5-2 before blasting Norway 5-0 to advance to the knockouts.

The young USWNT will have another shot at a world championship next year, when the now-annual U-17 World Cup returns for its second straight edition in Morocco.

Malawi made women's soccer history on Tuesday, qualifying for the Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) for the first time in program history — and giving sister duo Temwa and Tabitha Chawinga the chance to shine on the global stage in 2026.

The Scorchers advanced through the second qualifying round with a 2-0 second-leg win over Angola on Tuesday, with defensive midfielder Faith Chinzimu's late brace securing the aggregate advantage to win the round.

Malawi now joins Cape Verde as the two debutantes to clinch spots in the expanded 16-team 2026 tournament.

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Even more, the Scorchers' breakthrough will give two of soccer's biggest club stars their biggest platform yet, as sisters Temwa and Tabitha Chawinga gear up for the first major international tournament of their decorated careers.

While 29-year-old OL Lyonnes forward Tabitha participated in this week's WAFCON qualifying round, 27-year-old Kansas City Current striker Temwa sat out after the 2024 NWSL MVP suffered an adductor strain in her club's 1-0 upset loss to the Houston Dash on October 18th.

"It means more opportunities and great exposure to both older and upcoming players. It is a continental platform to bring football dreams alive," Tabitha told BBC Sport Africa this week.

The 2026 WAFCON tournament will see the Chawinga sisters and Malawi contend with powerhouses like host nation Morocco and reigning 10-time champion Nigeria when the continental competition kicks off on March 17th.

The Kansas City Current and San Diego Wave are leveling up, with the NWSL teams set to represent the US in the first-ever North American edition of the seven-a-side tournament World Sevens Football (W7F).

Kicking off December 5th in Fort Lauderdale, the NWSL clubs will join Northern Super League side AFC Toronto, Brazilian powerhouse Clube de Regatas do Flamengo, and Colombian contender Deportivo Cali — as well as Liga MX titans Club América and Tigres UANL — on the W7F tournament pitch.

W7F will announce the eighth and final team to join the competition at a later date.

Armed with a $5 million prize pool, December's W7F competition follows a successful May 2025 debut of the soccer venture in Portugal.

"Our team thrives on intensity, creativity, and competition, which fit perfectly with the 7v7 style of play," said Kansas City assistant coach Milan Ivanovic. "This tournament is an incredible opportunity for our players to test themselves against some of the world's best in a dynamic, fast-paced environment."

"We're proud to represent Kansas City and the NWSL on the international stage and to continue pushing the women's game forward," added Ivanovic.

How to watch December's W7F tournament

There will be four competition sessions in the upcoming W7F event, with two days of group play before the semifinals, third-place, and championship matches take place on December 7th.

All W7F matches will stream live on DAZN.

Angel City co-founder Alexis Ohanian stirred the pot this week, divulging the circumstances behind the NWSL club's 2024 sale on Front Office Sports podcast "Portfolio Players" on Tuesday — and calling the original ownership model of the 2022 expansion team "a terrible idea."

Ohanian said he regretted relinquishing control to three of his co-founders — actor Natalie Portman, venture capitalist Kara Nortman, and current club CEO Julie Uhrman — claiming they invested "no money" themselves.

"I was [the] founding control owner in the eyes of the league, so it's my ass on the line," Ohanian continued, adding that last year's $250 million sale of Angel City directly stemmed from the celebrity-driven investment group's unsustainable startup-like ownership structure. "That works great in tech. In sports, it's a terrible idea."

Following a clash between Ohanian and his fellow ACFC owners on the team's operational and financial future, Disney CEO Bob Iger and USC dean Willow Bay stepped in to purchase the team, aligning board control with stakeholder interest.

"I think the best outcome here is, you got Bob and Willow, they have board control, and it's good," he said. "It's a rebuild."

Angel City did not immediately respond to Ohanian's interview, with Portman and Uhrman remaining on the club's board of directors while Nortman is a non-voting investor.