Toy titan Mattel is celebrating March 8th's International Women’s Day by launching a new Barbie Role Model line that features two famous athlete duos.
Highlighting the importance of female friendships, the brand has focused this year's campaign on 2024 Olympic gold medal-winning gymnasts Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey as well as Australian tennis icons Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Ash Barty.
Chiles and Carey also repped Team USA at the 2021 Tokyo Games, where Chiles helped the US take silver in the team competition, while Carey earned individual gold in the floor exercise.
"I’ve always been passionate about empowering the next generation of female athletes and I couldn’t be more grateful to be recognized as a Barbie as a Role Model this International Women’s Day with Jordan," said Carey.
"Together, we are so excited to showcase the limitless power of friendship to girls everywhere. I wouldn’t be here today without support and encouragement from great friends like Jordan."
Barbie honors First Nations Australian tennis stars
Former world No. 1 tennis stars and First Nations Australians Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Ash Barty also feature in the Barbie collection.
Barty retired in 2022 with wins in three of the four Grand Slams. Aboriginal sports legend Goolagong Cawley exited the sport in 1985 with 86 WTA Tour singles titles, including seven Grand Slam trophies.
"Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that I would be a Barbie myself," Barty told reporters. "I think it's just such an incredible experience to be a part of."
Another women's sports crossover for Barbie
This isn’t Barbie’s first foray into women’s sports. Past collections gave athletes like WNBA legend Sue Bird, Canadian soccer superstar Christine Sinclair, and tennis trailblazer Venus Williams the iconic doll's treatment.
Barbie also released lines in connection with the 2011 Women's World Cup. Additionally, the toy brand spotlighted women's sports with its 2023 Career of the Year collection. And late last year, Barbie partnered with the PWHL to release branded accessories representing the pro hockey league's teams.
"There’s no power or peace quite like knowing you have a support system of women behind you," remarked Chiles. "I hope that partnering with Barbie to celebrate the power of female friendship reminds the next generation of champions that we are stronger together."
Diana Taurasi is officially retiring from basketball, the WNBA legend told TIME Magazine on Tuesday, capping off a decorated and lengthy college and professional career.
"Mentally and physically, I’m just full," Taurasi said in the exclusive interview. "That’s probably the best way I can describe it. I’m full and I’m happy."
Taurasi's unmatched basketball career
Taurasi exits first and foremost as a winner, earning three straight NCAA championships with UConn before going as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 WNBA Draft to Phoenix, where she led the Mercury to three league titles over the course of her 20-year tenure with the team.
The 42-year-old also picked up six consecutive Olympic gold medals along the way — more than any other athlete in the sport's history. Even more, she snagged all six without ever losing a single Olympic game.
In addition to her domestic efforts, Taurasi played a prominent role in the European game, winning six EuroLeague titles as well as multiple championships with teams in Russia and Turkey.
The 2009 WNBA MVP leaves the court as the league’s all-time leading scorer and three-point shooter, as well as a two-time WNBA Finals MVP, 11-time All-Star, and a two-time NCAA Most Outstanding Player, among other individual honors.
"She has a way of making people feel connected to her, but also like the best version of themselves," Taurasi’s UConn and Team USA teammate Sue Bird — who hung up her jersey in 2022 — told ESPN after the news broke.
In a statement, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert also weighed in, calling Taurasi "one of the greatest competitors to ever play the game of basketball on any stage."
Taurasi leaves iconic legacy as she retires
Having helped build the WNBA into what it is today, Taurasi created a legacy defined not just by her resume, but by leaving the game better than she found it.
"Until someone comes along and eclipses what she’s done, then yes, she is [the GOAT]," UConn boss Geno Auriemma, who coached Taurasi both in college and on Team USA's 2012 and 2016 Olympic squads, said about the basketball superstar.
As for Taurasi, she fully expects a future player to surpass her stats, as the retiring legend continues to embody a competitor’s perspective on the game she leaves behind.
"My scoring record or the six gold medals, someone’s going to come around that has the same hunger, the same addiction to basketball, and put those records in a different way, a different name," she told TIME.
"That’s what sports is all about. That’s going to be fun to watch. Hopefully not soon."
Several women’s basketball greats earned nominations to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday, with Maya Moore, Sue Bird, and Sylvia Fowles among the Class of 2025’s 17 finalists for first-ballot induction.
After leading UConn to back-to-back undefeated NCAA seasons en route to the 2009 and 2010 national titles, Moore won four WNBA championships across seven seasons with the Minnesota Lynx. The 2014 WNBA MVP and six-time league All-Star also earned a pair of Olympic gold medals in 2012 and 2016 before exiting the game to pursue criminal justice reform in 2018.
Fellow Husky alum Bird also won two NCAA titles at UConn before picking up five Olympic gold medals with Team USA and four WNBA championships in her 21-season career with the Seattle Storm. Despite retiring in 2022, Bird remains the WNBA's career assists leader with 3,234 dimes, and her 13 All-Star nods still sets the league record.
Before joining Moore in leading the Lynx to WNBA championships in 2015 and 2017 — and earning Finals MVP awards during both runs — Fowles helped her alma mater LSU to four straight Final Four appearances. Her 14-year pro career included four Olympic golds, eight All-Star nods, four Defensive Player of the Year awards, plus the 2017 WNBA MVP trophy. When Fowles exited the sport in 2022, she did so as the WNBA's career rebounds leader, with a total of 4,006 boards.
Also on the 2025 Naismith ballot is Stanford standout and 1996 Olympic gold medalist Jennifer Azzi, who spent five years in the WNBA before retiring from play in 2004. Azzi now serves as the chief business development officer for the Las Vegas Aces.
Naismith committee to decide Hall of Fame class
A 24-member Honors Committee will assess all 17 finalists. Those who garner at least 18 committee votes will earn admittance into the Hall of Fame.
The Class of 2025 will be announced in during the NCAA men’s Final Four in San Antonio, Texas, on Saturday, April 5th, with an official enshrinement ceremony to follow at a later date.
Almost everywhere Caitlin Clark plays, fans flock to the arena to see her. Clark’s scoring ability and flashy but easy playing style draw crowds to women’s basketball games across the country.
And sometimes, those crowds contain recognizable faces.
Sitting courtside during Iowa’s game against Bowling Green were WNBA icon Sue Bird and Jason Sudeikis, star of sports TV show “Ted Lasso.” Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder called the tandem “the best player and the best coach in America,” referencing Sudeikis’ titular role as a fish-out-of-water Premier League manager.
Bird and Sudeikis stopped in Iowa after attending a men’s basketball game at Kansas together. After the game, Bird and Sudeikis met the Hawkeyes in their locker room, where Sudiekis signed a “Believe” poster, another reference to “Ted Lasso.”
The basketball legend Bird has previously praised Clark’s playing style and her ability to gather an audience.
“I mean, it’s jaw-dropping. It’s eye-popping,” Bird told the Wall Street Journal. “It makes you take note of those moments.”
What a day. #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/4AICiAeHx8
— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) December 2, 2023
Megan Rapinoe underwent surgery to repair the torn Achilles tendon in her right leg, she and OL Reign announced Wednesday.
The longtime U.S. women’s national team and OL Reign forward sustained the injury early in the 2023 NWSL Championship, which also was the final match of her storied career.
“I wasn’t overly emotional about it,” Rapinoe said after OL Reign’s 2-1 loss to Gotham FC. “I mean, f—ing yeeted my Achilles in the sixth minute in my last game ever in the literal championship game.”
Her former USWNT teammate Christen Press, though, couldn’t hold back her own emotions while watching the game at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, as Tobin Heath shared on the latest episode of their podcast, “The RE-CAP Show.”
“I was looking around trying to see if the stadium was processing what was happening,” Heath said. “And I looked over you and you were crying. And it was such a complicated moment of feelings.”
“We just were not ready for the end to come right at the beginning,” Press said. “And when I texted Pinoe after the game, I told her: Three tears hit the floor. That’s what happened, three giant, real tears hit the floor underneath my shoes.
“And you know what I thought? I thought, those aren’t tears of pity. She’s too important. She’s had too big of a career. She’s had too much success and joy playing this sport for us to have pity. That would be a disservice to the legacy that she’s leaving.
“And the tears fell from my face with love and pride to be able to have shared the field and the locker room with someone who has had such a long-lasting impact and will continue to have that long-lasting impact.”
Rapinoe handled the injury with grace during the championship match, even as her teammates and opponents spoke of their devastation on her behalf. And that continued as she began her recovery.
“Surgery a success. Home, resting, being taken care of,” she wrote on Instagram, tagging her fiancée Sue Bird. “Thank you for all the love, well wishes and good vibes sent my way.”
Forward Megan Rapinoe underwent successful surgery to repair her torn Achilles tendon, led by Dr. O’Malley, this morning in New York and will immediately begin her recovery process during retirement.
— OL Reign PR (@OLReignPR) November 15, 2023
Sue Bird is welcoming fiancée Megan Rapinoe into retirement with open arms.
Rapinoe played in her final professional soccer game in Saturday’s 2023 NWSL Championship. The OL Reign star exited after just six minutes with a suspected Achilles injury in the 1-0 loss to Gotham FC, and her teammates and opponents alike called the turn of events “devastating” for the soccer legend.
“I just feel so gutted for her. Honestly, I never thought that would ever happen,” fellow retiree and Gotham captain Ali Krieger said. “And I feel so sad because you know football is such a risk, right? And you never know if it’s going to be your last game, your last moment.
“And to happen to such an incredible player, in that moment … It just is so sad and I feel for her and I’m gonna be there every step of the way for her recovery. … And I never wanted that to happen because I wanted to celebrate with her at the end.”
Bird, who has been in a relationship with Rapinoe since 2017, retired from professional basketball last year as one of the greatest players in WNBA history. In a post on Instagram Stories, the Seattle Storm great welcomed Rapinoe into retirement.
“Cheer to you, baby! To an unbelievable career, to all you’ve accomplished, and to all the lives you’ve impacted along the way,” she wrote. “It’s not how you wanted it to end. It’s not how any of us wanted it to end, but the truth is a legacy like yours has no ending.
“Even though you’re saying goodbye to the game, you’ll be saying hello to a whole lot more and that legacy will just continue to grow. Congratulations and welcome to retirement!! I’ve been waiting for you.”
Sue Bird needs a new jersey.
The 2023 NWSL Championship final features a conflict of interests for the WNBA legend. Her partner Megan Rapinoe plays for OL Reign. But she also is a co-owner of NJ/NY Gotham FC and close friends with team captain Ali Krieger. Both Rapinoe and Krieger will be playing in the final match of their careers.
So naturally, that makes things interesting for Bird. Who does she root for? The team for which her longtime partner plays? Or the team in which she quite literally has a vested interest?
While the ideal outcome for Bird might be a draw, that isn’t a possibility in the winner-take-all match. But Bird is still looking to play down the middle. She took to Instagram on Monday to ask if anyone has a plug for a dual jersey.
“Anyone got the plug on a Donna Kelce type jersey?” she wrote, tagging both Rapinoe and Krieger – as well as Travis and Jason Kelce.
LET THE BIRD BOWL BEGIN!
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) November 7, 2023
We're already on it, @S10Bird! pic.twitter.com/a3obdOSW54
Donna Kelce, of course, is the now-famous mother of NFL stars Travis and Jason. Travis stars for the Kansas City Chiefs at tight end, while Jason is a center for the Philadelphia Eagles.
The two played against one another in the Super Bowl earlier this year, prompting Donna to wear a jersey that had Travis’ number on the front and Jason’s on the back. She also wore a jacket that was split down the middle with her two sons’ numbers and team logos and their last name written across the back.
Here’s to hoping Bird can get a similar hookup for Saturday’s final, which kicks off at 8 p.m. ET at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego. The NWSL appears to be on the case, having written, “LET THE BIRD BOWL BEGIN! We’re already on it, @S10Bird!”
Ali Krieger played in her final NWSL regular-season game Sunday for Gotham FC, and the retiring defender received love from across the women’s sports landscape.
Both Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird rocked “Ali Krieger Fan Club” T-shirts from separate sporting events – Rapinoe ahead of her own final NWSL regular-season game for OL Reign, and Bird from her courtside seat at the WNBA Finals.
All the cool kids are Ali Krieger fans. 😎
— x - NJ/NY Gotham FC (@GothamFC) October 15, 2023
Get yours NOW: https://t.co/kI1FTQ3j6s pic.twitter.com/Zx3SH3xfzJ
Krieger saved her own game – and her club’s season – with a ball she cleared off the goal line. Her 30-yard recovery to make the play kept Kansas City from taking a 3-2 lead, and the match ended at 2-2, securing a crucial standings point.
Gotham FC is the No. 6 seed for the NWSL playoffs. They will face the North Carolina Courage at 7 p.m. ET Sunday in the quarterfinal round.
“I just wanted to give everything, and I felt like I did that,” Krieger said of Sunday’s match. “I’m just so proud of the complete performance. … My career’s not finished just yet, we have one more game to go and I’m really excited for what’s next.”
She also spoke on playing for Gotham FC the last two seasons, saying she has felt so “fulfilled and rewarded” in her time with the club.
“It’s been incredible the past two seasons. You’re playing with such great players, such incredible human beings,” she said. “We have each other’s back and we’re continuing that journey together. We said at the beginning of the year we wanted to be on that podium and lift that trophy. I know that the team, our mindset is right there, mentality is right there. The principles and everything, everyone’s bought into that. … We’re going in the right direction but obviously the job’s not done.”
Rapinoe, who played on the U.S. women’s national team with Krieger, also took to Instagram to applaud her former teammate.
“How to even put into words my dear, this incredible career you have had,” she wrote on Instagram stories. “There are far too many moments to start naming but your 100 caps, your World Cup final 2019. And mostly all the f–ks you have not given and ALLLLL the f–ks you did not give. I love you forever sweetie, you are truly one of a kind. An original, simply you Kriegy.
“Enjoy this beautiful day, soak it all the love that is coming your energy way. Lord knows you deserve it all.”
Seattle Storm great Sue Bird had her jersey retired Sunday in a nearly three-hour long ceremony after the Storm’s 71-65 loss to the Washington Mystics.
Bird, the No. 1 pick in the 2002 WNBA Draft, played 19 seasons in the league — all with the Storm. The 13-time WNBA All-Star — a league record — led the Storm to four titles and retired as the all-time league leader in assists (3,234).
And now, her No. 10 will forever hang in the rafters of Climate Pledge Arena. Bird became one of two WNBA legends to have her jersey retired Sunday, along with Minnesota Lynx great Sylvia Fowles.
“I’ve got to give my sister the ‘line of the night’ award,” Bird quipped to the media afterward. “I walked in the back with my family. I was like, ‘Was that too long?’ My sister was like, ‘You played here for 21 years. They can listen to you for an hour.'”
Bird’s speech lasted nearly an hour and a half, with a lot of ground for her to cover.
“I didn’t anticipate it being that long, but the truth is, I don’t know that I could have taken anything out,” Bird said. “That’s what this has meant to me. It was just so important for me to say names and point people out and tell them what they’ve meant. I’m already thinking of things I wish I would have said.”
A number of others also spoke about Bird’s impact on Seattle, including longtime Storm teammate Lauren Jackson, who flew in from Australia and called her “the true GOAT.” The teammates’ jerseys will hang right next to each other after the Storm retired Jackson’s No. 15 jersey in 2016.
“Sue’s legacy to Seattle, to (USA Basketball), to the WNBA and to our beautiful game is one that I don’t think will ever be matched by anyone,” Jackson said. In addition to her career in Seattle, Bird also won five Olympic gold medals (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2021), one of just two USA Basketball players to do so.
“The one thing I really wish I would have said — it just kind of escaped me — was how amazing it’s going to be in the rafters, yes, but it’s going to be even more amazing to be next to her,” Bird said.
Bird’s longtime partner Megan Rapinoe co-hosted the event with Seattle rapper Macklemore. The USWNT star congratulated Bird on “arguably the best career that anyone has ever had in the history of any sport ever.”
"Congratulations on like, arguably the best career that anyone has ever had in the history of any sport ever."
— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) June 11, 2023
-Megan Rapinoe to Sue Bird 🥹
(🎥: @espn)
pic.twitter.com/DuXRLZ7yz9
And while Bird returned for one final season in 2022, there aren’t any plans to pull a Tom Brady and make a surprise return.
“I will forever miss it, and that’s OK,” she said. “I think some people try to avoid missing it when they’re in my seat up here, and the reality is I’m always going to miss it. There’s going to be be days — tomorrow, a year from now, five years from now — where I’ll probably even cry because I miss it and get emotional because I miss it. That’s just a part of it.”
What a moment for @S10Bird. pic.twitter.com/qk3WsrIvYW
— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) June 12, 2023
A total of 40 professional, Olympic and Paralympic athletes signed a letter opposing a transgender sports ban under consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives.
U.S. women’s national team veterans Megan Rapinoe and Becky Sauerbrunn and retired WNBA star Sue Bird are among the athletes to lend their names and support to the letter, which was sent Monday to House of Representatives legislative directors.
The letter, which was organized by advocacy group Athlete Ally, calls out HR 734, a Republican-led bill that would ban transgender and intersex girls and women from competing in sports around the country.
“As professional, Olympic and Paralympic athletes, we have dedicated our lives to sports. Sports have given us our greatest friends, taught us incredible life lessons, and given us the confidence and drive to succeed in the world,” the letter reads. “Every single child should have access to the lifesaving power of sports.”
So far, 20 states have enacted laws that ban transgender athletes from competing in sports.
“We believe that gender equity in sport is critical, which is why we urge policymakers to turn their attention and effort to the causes women athletes have been fighting for decades, including equal pay, an end to abuse and mistreatment, uneven implementation of Title IX, and a lack of access and equity for girls of color and girls with disabilities, to name only a few,” the letter reads. “Our deepest hope is that transgender and intersex kids will never have to feel the isolation, exclusion and othering that H.R. 734 is seeking to enshrine into law.”
Just last week, the Biden administration proposed new guidelines that would prevent an “outright ban” on transgender athletes in school sports, though it would allow schools to limit their participation in certain circumstances.
Becky Sauerbrunn spoke out against transgender sports bans under consideration in her home state of Missouri, where the USWNT will face Ireland at 7:30 p.m. ET Tuesday.
“The bills up for discussion in the Senate this week seek to solve a problem that simply doesn’t exist, and instead are sidelining youth from an outlet that brings them joy, connection and purpose,” Sauerbrunn wrote in the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader.