Numbers and results can only tell you so much about a sportsperson. For example, cyclist Anna Meares is undoubtedly one of Australia’s greatest athletes. She’s an eleven-time world champion across four different disciplines (earlier this year becoming the greatest track cyclist in history with her eleventh win), and is a five-time Commonwealth Games champion. She has appeared at three Olympics, where she has won five Olympic medals, including gold at the London 2012 games. On paper, these are her greatest achievements. On paper, the fact that she also won silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics is impressive, but doesn’t quite reach the heights of the gold.
That is, until you remember that a mere seven months out from those Olympics, Meares suffered a terrible crash. She broke her neck, fracturing the C2 vertebrae, dislocated her right shoulder, tore ligaments and tendons, and injured her hip. Not only did Meares undergo a gruelling and intensive regime to recover from her injuries, but also she did it in time to reach the Beijing games – and she won silver. Last week Meares was crowned the Women’s Health Sportswoman of the Year award for the second time. Winning awards like these may not give you the same glory of an Olympic medal, but it is an important way to acknowledge the hard work both on and off the field that athletes like Meares do.
Also honoured on the night was another cyclist you may not be as familiar with. Caroline Buchanan won the ‘Fair Fighter’ award, which recognises the best and fairest athlete of the year. Buchanan is a five-time BMX and mountain-bike world champion who had another stellar year, including a UCI Supercross World Cup win and a silver medal at the UCI BMX World Championships. She is on track to qualify for the Rio 2016 games, and in the meantime has established an all-girls BMX team called ‘Buchanan Next Gen’, providing financial and mentoring assistance to help young women get into the sport.
Abby Wambach, a woman who has inspired countless girls and women to get into soccer, has just announced her retirement from the sport at the end of this year. Wambach, part of the recent World Cup Winning United States team, will go down on paper as one of the best ever soccer players. She played 252 international matches, where she racked up 184 goals, more than any female or male player in history. She was one of only two Americans to win the FIFA Women’s Player of the Year, and has two Olympic gold medals under her belt. On paper, her legacy is undeniable. But Wambach was important off the field as well – outspoken on the issue of women in sport, going after FIFA for their treatment of women, and in an image for the ages – kissing her wife in celebration after her teams World Cup victory.
Someone who should motivate women of any age is four-time world boxing champion, Jamaican Alicia “Slick” Ashley. Last week she fought previously undefeated Irish fighter Christina McMahon in Brooklyn, winning the fight and reclaiming the WBC Super Bantamweight title. The fight also earned her a Guinness Book World Record for being the oldest female boxer to win a major boxing title – winning the fight at 48 years old.
On the other end of the spectrum, but also hoping to inspire women, is Dubai teenager Gheeda Chamasaddine. The 17-year-old, who goes by the stage name of Joelle Hunter, is creating waves as the first female pro wrestler in the Arab world. She was born in Lebanon and raised in Saudi Arabia and trains several times a week with the men at Dubai Pro Wrestling Academy. She has stated that:
It’s hard taking people twice your size down but then you find your way around to doing things.
Because she is so comparatively small, she has to focus on different techniques that she can employ against the men. This can include chokeholds or pulling their arm “all the way to the back as if it’s about to break” so you’re “basically torturing them until they plead for you to stop.” Hunter is hoping that her performances will lead to a career in the WWE, and that she will inspire other young girls to get into the ring and become fighters.