50. Mel Marshall, swimming coach

Adam Peaty may have fallen short – by 0.02 seconds – of winning a hat-trick of Olympic gold medals in the 100 metres breaststroke in Paris, but he still saw silver as a significant achievement given his mental health struggles and the time he took away from the pool. Marshall, his long-serving coach, was integral to his comeback, with Peaty saying: “Mel is a constant – I think she will be until one of us stops breathing. She knows that she has to look after the person inside the athlete.” Post-Paris, 42-year-old Marshall took up a high-performance role in Australia having bemoaned the lack of support for female coaches in the UK.

49. Kelly Simmons, sports consultant

Formerly director of the women’s professional game at the Football Association, Simmons is now a sports consultant, a board member of Women in Football and a board adviser for Premiership Women’s Rugby. Having spent more than 20 years with the FA, Simmons stills holds a great deal of influence in the game, working with the likes of Fifa and sports consultancy group Portas to help continue to drive change in women’s sport.

48. Lou Meadows, England rugby coach

Meadows was appointed as the Red Roses attack coach last year and has enriched England’s free-flowing, dynamic style of play. During a year in which the Red Roses scored a phenomenal 75 tries in 10 Test matches and went unbeaten for a second consecutive year, she has been a valuable addition to John Mitchell’s coaching team. Widely credited for making England’s attack less formulaic and more multifaceted as the side builds towards an important home World Cup next year, the former Wasps and Saracens player was also the attack coach for the England A men’s side against Australia A last month.

47. Annamarie Phelps, BOA vice-chair

Vice-chair of the British Olympic Association, president of European Rowing, co-chair of the International Working Group on Women and Sport global executive, executive committee member of European Olympic Committees… Phelps is an administrator who wears many hats but is always focused on accessibility, equality and inclusion in sport. She lost out to another former British rower, Dame Katherine Grainger, in the vote to become the next BOA chair, but that will not dim her passion for driving sport forward, particularly when it comes to gender equity as Birmingham will host the IWG World Conference in 2026.

46. Rebecca Welch, PGMOL women’s professional game manager

Having made history as the first woman to referee a Premier League game at the end of last year, Welch retired in order to help bring through the next generation of female referees. Her last game came at the Olympic Games, where she was fourth official for the gold medal match between the United States and Brazil. In her new role, Welch is tasked with supporting and developing Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship match officials.

45. Jodie Grinham, GB para athlete

Welshwoman Grinham made history at the Paris Paralympics when she competed at seven months pregnant. She also powered her way to the podium – twice. She won gold in the mixed compound alongside Nathan Macqueen – becoming the first pregnant woman to win a Paralympic medal – before claiming individual compound bronze. Grinham has been open about her fertility struggles but in competing on the biggest stage of all, sent an empowering message that pregnancy and elite sport are compatible. “I’ve just got to be careful that when the bow’s swinging, I don’t jab the baby,” she told Telegraph Sport before the Games.

44. Julien Alfred, St Lucia athlete

Not many athletes have a national holiday named after them, but such was the feat of Alfred at the Paris Olympics that her life has not been the same since. St Lucia had never won a medal of any colour before Alfred claimed gold in the women’s 100 metres to become the fastest woman in the world and then followed it up with silver in the 200 metres. Making history for her country, she not only received financial rewards but an area of land and a concert held in her honour. The 23-year-old has inspired the next generation of Caribbean sprinters and athletes across all disciplines.

43. Yvonne Harrison, Women in Football chief executive

Harrison helped to get an equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) amendment to the Football Governance Bill. Clubs will now be required to publish what action they are taking on EDI as part of their corporate governance reporting. Women in Football’s contribution to the Bill was their latest in a series of lobbying activities to support gender equality in the game. Harrison, along with other board members, also addressed FA chair Debbie Hewitt at the House of Lords earlier this year and continues to lobby governing bodies to make changes to improve the game for women.

42. Dame Laura Kenny, former cyclist and broadcaster

Kenny’s decision to retire earlier this year brought the curtain down on the career of Britain’s most successful female Olympian. But the five-time Olympic champion remains a huge name in British sport. She was in Paris this summer as a pundit for the BBC and recently hosted the Telegraph Women’s Sport Podcast. She has used her platform to speak out on a number of issues affecting women’s sport, including the gender pay gap, female-specific kit and health conditions such as Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport.

41. Mai Fyfield, Premier League non-executive director

Fyfield, a former Sky executive, was a key figure in the recent tribunal hearing in the forever battle with Manchester City. Under cross-examination by City’s legal team, Fyfield held the line for the Premier League as a witness, explaining why the league’s compliance department, under her oversight, had rejected the club’s commercial agreement with Etihad Airways. “Candid and engaged” said the tribunal. “A very good recall of the issues.” Even City’s counsel conceded Fyfield was “experienced in big deals”. This was high stakes for the Premier League with every molecule of its process under examination. The rules, with a few minor exceptions, stood up to scrutiny.

40. Jessica Campbell, Seattle Kraken assistant coach

Campbell’s appointment as the first female coach in the NHL was reported across the globe. The barrier had been broken previously in the other American disciplines, the MLB, NBA and NFL, but the NHL had yet to follow until July. The path for women to take up coaching roles in men’s sport has not traditionally been a well-trodden one, and 32-year-old Campbell acknowledges her part in something bigger than herself. There has been a spotlight on her since she became the first woman to coach at the 2022 IIHF Men’s World Hockey Championship with the Germany team.

39. Laura Youngson, Ida Sports co-founder

“If we’re not making stuff that’s made for women, we’re not optimising for performance,” Youngson told Telegraph Sport earlier this year. “We can make lots of changes that will make shoes work for women as opposed to against them.” Her footwear brand Ida Sports designs football boots for women and their physiology. For example, there is more arch support and a narrower heel than in men’s boots because of how women’s feet differ. Female-specific kit such as this can be a game-changer for women’s sports and investors agree, with IDA recently receiving $2 million (£1,570,000) in seed funding.

38. Grainne Hurst, Betting and Gaming Council chief executive

Betting essentially underpins racing’s finances, but in some parts of government it has become a bad word and the “unaccountable and out of control” – Martin Cruddace’s words – Gambling Commission has been blamed for leaving a £3 billion black hole in those finances. After 10 years as corporate affairs director with Entain, Hurst’s appointment at the Betting and Gaming Council, the betting industry’s champion, comes at a crucial time. She has to implement a government white paper, introduce regulatory certainty and, at the same time as making sure problem gamblers are protected, drive growth.

37. Hannah Mills, GB sailor

Another big year for the two-time Olympic champion who finished runner-up in the inaugural Women’s America’s Cup in the autumn. Mills not only skippered and drove the British boat, she headed up the entire Athena Pathway Programme, which ran Britain’s women and youth entries. Mills, 36, is not slowing down. A mother of one, and a tireless environmental campaigner, she continues to push boundaries. Although she did not get the helm of Britain’s SailGP boat, she continues to compete in that series as a strategist and hopes to run her own team one day. She is also pushing to get women on the main America’s Cup boats next time.

36. Kirsty Elliott-Sale, professor of female endocrinology and exercise physiology

Professor Elliott-Sale is a member of Uefa’s research panel who is leading a pioneering project investigating the effect of the menstrual cycle on footballers’ performance. Her recent work has involved designing and implementing exercise interventions during and following pregnancy, as well as exploring the effect of hormonal contraceptives and menstrual dysfunction on female athletes. She has also worked with Fifpro, Arsenal Women and is part of several special interest groups and advisory boards related to female athletes and recently played an integral role in founding a new Centre of Excellence for women’s sport at Manchester Metropolitan University.

35. Ebony Rainford-Brent, former cricketer and broadcaster

Rainford-Brent was a fine cricketer, the first black woman to play for England, but is having an impact in all sorts of areas in her post-playing life. A respected broadcaster with the BBC, Sky and more, she is also on the ECB board, giving her genuine influence on all levels of the game in England and Wales. Perhaps her most important work comes as the founder of the ACE (African-Caribbean Engagement) Programme. Grounded in her own experience as a young black cricketer born and raised in south London, ACE is doing sterling work inspiring children from a community the game has neglected in recent years.

34. Lynne Cantwell, SA Rugby women’s high-performance manager

Cantwell’s impact in South Africa has been described as “phenomenal”, with SA Rugby president Mark Alexander adding: “Our mission to elevate the women’s game was clear, but that was only made possible by Lynne’s unrelenting passion and vision to get that job done.” Having completely overhauled South Africa’s women’s set-up over the past four years, with 2024 notable for the sevens team’s first appearance at the Olympics, the former Ireland centre will now start 2025 in a new role as head of women’s strategy for Irish Rugby. Expect Cantwell, who is also on the Sport Ireland board, to use her expertise to implement big changes from top to bottom.

33. Gabby Logan, broadcaster

Logan, 51, is at the top of her game and is going to be one of three main BBC hosts to replace the outgoing Gary Lineker on Match of the Day next season. With Mark Chapman, she is viewed as the BBC’s safest pair of hands, a versatile, assured and unfussy anchor across a host of sports. Since switching from ITV to the BBC in 2007, she has fronted Six Nations, Olympics and men’s and women’s World Cup coverage. She also anchors the Sports Agents podcast and regularly raises awareness of women’s issues, including around the menopause and its impact.

32. Lisa Nandy, Secretary of State for DCMS

Appointed Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport after Labour won July’s General Election. The MP for Wigan’s top sporting priority is overseeing the Football Governance Bill that will impose a statutory regulator on the English game. She will also play a key role in the UK and Ireland’s hosting of the next European Championship in 2028 and co-signed a letter in September confirming the Government would not be providing funding for the redevelopment of Belfast’s Casement Park. And she could be equally central to Glasgow’s staging of the 2026 Commonwealth Games and any UK bid for the 2031 Women’s World Cup.

31. Felicity Barnard, Ascot chief executive

Barnard takes over as chief executive of Ascot racecourse on New Year’s Day, succeeding Alastair Warwick. She has been commercial director there since 2021 having previously held similar roles at West Ham and Arsenal. Ascot and its key meetings – the five days of Royal Ascot, the King George and British Champions Day – no longer compete with British courses but with other big events on the international stage for the world’s best horses. Her commercial acumen and drive will be essential to propel this forward. Prestige, she will know, is one thing but on the world stage it is money that really talks.

30. Hannah Cockroft, GB para athlete

Cockroft has enjoyed an almost unparalleled reign of success in wheelchair sprinting, winning nine Paralympic titles, and has lost only once in the 100 metres T34 event since London 2012. Cockroft now stands two behind Great Britain’s greatest-ever wheelchair racer, Baroness Grey-Thompson. As well as securing two gold medals in Paris, she has also used her platform for change, calling for financial parity between Paralympians and Olympians in light of the financial rewards offered by World Athletics. Cockroft has also spoken openly of the barriers facing para sport and access to wheelchair events.

29. Marie-Odile Amaury, Groupe Amaury president

Amaury wields considerable influence as president of Groupe Amaury, which presides over French sports daily L’Equipe as well as Amaury Sports Organisation, owner of some of the world’s most famous bike races including the Tour de France. Amaury, who is in her eighties, was credited with keeping the Tour on track during the pandemic. Groupe Amaury is privately held, and secretive about its finances, but Bloomberg reported in June that its 2023 revenue was about $640 million (£507 million).

28. Rafaela Pimenta, football agent

Pimenta is one of the most powerful agents in world football, and is often described as one of the few “super agents” in the game. The Brazilian’s most famous client is Manchester City striker Erling Haaland and in the summer of 2024 she secured a big-money move from Bayern Munich to Manchester United for Dutch centre-back Matthijs de Ligt. For more than 20 years, Pimenta was the business partner of famed agent Mino Raiola. She then became the head of the agency following his death in 2022.

27. Kirsty Coventry, IOC executive committee member

The Zimbabwean former Olympic swimmer and world-record holder is now one of the frontrunners to succeed Thomas Bach as president of the International Olympic Committee when his term ends in the new year. She is the second woman ever to seek the presidency, former rower Anita DeFrantz failing to succeed Spain’s Juan Antonio Samaranch Sr in 2001. Coventry is understood to be the candidate most favoured by Bach, who has a history of hostilities with the other most likely successor, Lord Coe.

26. Debbie Hewitt, Football Association chair

The first female chair in the FA’s 161-year history is one of the most powerful women in world football, now a year-and-a-half into her term as a Fifa vice-president. Hewitt has brought extensive experience and know-how from a career in business leadership to turn around perceptions after the Wembley sale row and Greg Clarke’s embarrassing resignation prior to her appointment in 2021. She has since played a major role in the governing body’s board transformation to becoming majority independent. Visible, highly respected and approachable, Hewitt’s powers of diplomacy ensure there is at least one figure at football’s top table who will be determined to ensure Saudi Arabia keeps its promises on human rights for World Cup 2034.

25. Nat Sciver-Brunt, England cricketer

In terms of sporting income, she is surely the best-paid individual sportswoman in Britain right now. She has a central contract with England, as well as a bumper Women’s Premier League deal in India with Mumbai Indians. Sciver-Brunt is a genius with the bat, a handful with the ball, and arguably English cricket’s finest athlete; regardless of whether the team wins, she is almost always outstanding. Off the field, she has become a trailblazer. Sciver-Brunt has spoken openly and impressively about her struggles with mental health and, alongside her wife, the former England bowler Katherine, starting a family. Katherine is currently pregnant, while Nat missed matches earlier this year to have eggs frozen.

24. Sally Munday, UK Sport chief executive

Chief executive of UK Sport for just over five years, Munday is ultimately responsible for distributing the £344 million the Government announced in October would be earmarked to fund Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes during the build-up to the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Munday has already overseen two summer Games in which the country maintained its recent medal success, albeit with far fewer golds at Paris 2024. She will soon answer to a new chair after Dame Katherine Grainger was appointed to the BOA before the expiry of her second term at UK Sport.

23. Katie Taylor, Ireland boxer

Featuring on the undercard of Netflix’s Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson fight exemplifies the extent to which Taylor has lifted her profile, and that of the entire sport of women’s boxing. Taylor vs Amanda Serrano was the pick of the fights on a bill when the main event in November was subject to boos. It was the richest female fight in history and it drew an average of 74 million viewers according to Netflix, which makes it the most watched women’s sporting event in history. When she turned professional in 2016, having already helped women’s boxing gain a place at the Olympics, few could imagine that she would fight at Madison Square Garden and be paid millions for doing so.

22. Susie Wolff, F1 Academy managing director

As managing director of F1 Academy, the all-female single-seater racing championship which forms part of F1’s support series at events around the globe, former driver Wolff is probably the leading female voice in motorsport. Wolff has a direct line into F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, not to mention her husband Toto Wolff, the Mercedes F1 CEO and co-owner. Wolff is currently holding the FIA’s feet to the flames over its “misogynistic” short-lived investigation into her relationship with her husband, with a court date pending in 2025.

21. Lise Klaveness, Norwegian football federation president

It was no surprise that Norway decided to take a stand against Fifa regarding the awarding of the World Cup to Saudi Arabia by abstaining from the vote. With Klaveness as president (she was elected in 2022) the association has consistently challenged and questioned world football’s governing body when others have not been brave enough to do so. Around the Qatar World Cup, especially, Klaveness was a strong and powerful voice. A former international player and lawyer, she has also worked as an assistant judge in Oslo and as a special advisor in Norway’s National Bank.

20. Lucy Bronze, England footballer

One of England’s most successful players, Bronze won her fifth Champions League when Barcelona beat her former club Lyon as part of their historic quadruple this year. The defender returned to England to join Chelsea in the summer and boasts an unbeaten record thus far. Off the pitch, Bronze continues to use her voice to push for change in the women’s game. She was recently elected on to the Professional Footballers’ Association players’ board and is also part of Fifpro’s “Project ACL” research group. Last month, she launched her own scholarship award that will fund a boarding place for an aspiring young female footballer.

19. Martina Navratilova, former tennis player

On the awkward subject of Saudi Arabia, Navratilova took the opposite position to the other three tennis women on our list. Together with her old rival Chris Evert, Navratilova wrote an open letter calling on the Women’s Tennis Association to resist the temptation of selling their Finals event to Riyadh, and suggesting that such a decision would represent “a significant step backwards, to the detriment of the WTA, women’s sports and women”. As it happened, the Navratilova-Evert letter went unheeded. But their joint absence at the tournament was keenly felt, underlining the weight these two legends carry as ambassadors with a political sensibility. Navratilova is also an outspoken critic of biological males competing in women’s sports.

18. ​​Beth Barrett-Wild, ECB director of women’s professional game

One of the most influential and energetic administrators in world cricket. She has worked at the England and Wales Cricket Board for more than a decade, rising from the communications team to become director of the women’s professional game. One of the key figures in the founding of the Hundred – the women’s arm of which has been a roaring success – Barrett-Wild has now been the key driver behind “Project Gemini”, the overhaul of the women’s domestic game that takes teams out of ECB control and hands them back to the counties. The big changes kick in next summer. She has also been central to the ECB introducing the same minimum starting salaries for men and women in domestic cricket from 2025.

17. Nelly Korda, US golfer

A remarkable year, which featured the American winning five events in a row, including the season’s first major, the Chevron Championship, ensured that the female game has the dominant world No 1 it has craved for so long. But Korda’s rise in the celebrity stakes seems just as important. Korda is not a publicity-hungry individual – anything but – yet she has finally accepted the fact that she is the public face of her sport and as the drive for exposure continues, there can be no doubt that the 26-year-old is at the vanguard. She set a record for women’s golf by earning more than $10 million (£7.9 million) in endorsements in 2024 – and that tells its own story.

16. Aryna Sabalenka, Belarus tennis player

When Sabalenka takes a stand on something, her lack of artifice gives her words a sense of authenticity – as when she called for equal pay on the grounds that “guys are always going to be physically stronger than women but it doesn’t mean we’re not working as hard as they do … From the TV point of view, from the ticket-selling, from every point of view, it’s unfair”. While this argument played well on social media, some might have queried whether Sabalenka – who landed both hard-court majors to finish the season as world No 1 for the first time – is selling herself short on the physical front. Throughout the year, she was responsible for some of the most brutal ball-striking on either tour.

15. Dame Katherine Grainger, UK Sport chair and next BOA chair

Grainger, who is the only British woman to win medals at five Olympic Games, was last month voted in as the first female chair of the BOA in its 119-year history. It had already been a stellar career for the 49-year-old Glaswegian, who is in her final weeks as chair of UK Sport, where she relaxed the organisation’s controversial “no compromise” approach. That had led to some sports, such as badminton and wheelchair rugby, losing their funding after the 2016 Rio Olympics and Paralympics. Grainger will join the BOA early in the new year.

14. Sarah Storey, GB para athlete

Nineteen Paralympic gold medals in two disciplines (swimming and cycling) won across a 32-year period. Storey’s numbers are incredible, while the fact she won her 19th by beating a teenager in the finale of the road race only emphasised her enduring talent – and she has not ruled out competing at Los Angeles 2028 at the age of 50. Upon being shortlisted for the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award, she criticised the promotion and funding of disability sport. On top of that, she is leading much-needed research into exercise, sport and the menopause at Manchester Metropolitan University.

13. Sifan Hassan, Netherlands athlete

The Dutch runner’s feats are unprecedented. After becoming the first athlete to win Olympic medals in the 1500, 5,000 and 10,000 metres in Tokyo, she secured two bronze (5,000 and 10,000) and a gold (marathon) in Paris. She is now the only woman to win Olympic golds in the three long-distance events, and ran the marathon in a record time. Yet arguably her most significant moment of 2024 came when she wore a hijab to receive her marathon medal at the closing ceremony. Given France’s own athletes had been forbidden from doing so, it was a striking image for the watching world.

12. Nikki Doucet, WPLL chief executive

The most powerful administrator in English women’s club football, Doucet is the CEO of the Women’s Professional League’s Limited (WPLL) – who took over the running of the WSL and the Championship from the FA in the summer. The WPLL’s takeover was completed in August and Doucet helped negotiate a new, more lucrative broadcast deal which will start from 2025-26 and run for five years. Barclays has also extended its deal with the WSL and Subway’s sponsorship of the League Cup is worth £1 million. Doucet has not long got her feet under the table and she will certainly be kept busy as the WPLL looks to continue the growth of women’s football.

11. Coco Gauff, US tennis player

Comfortably the most articulate and politically engaged player on the WTA Tour, Gauff bounced back from an indifferent season to land a record $4.8 million (£3.8 million) paycheck for her victory at the Finals in Riyadh last month. Her support for that event also offered a figleaf for the WTA’s leadership team, as they stood accused of selling out their ideals for a bounty of Saudi Arabian riyals. “I would be lying to you if I said I had no reservations,” said Gauff, who added that she would monitor the progress of women’s rights in Saudi Arabia before deciding whether to return next year. “[But] I really do feel like in order to ignite change, you have to start little by little. That’s how I’ve been taught growing up black in America, knowing our history.”

10. Caitlin Clark, US basketball player

A cultural phenomenon and a generational talent, Clark set women’s basketball alight in 2024, altering the trajectory of her sport in a way that few have done before. In a groundbreaking year, she broke the NCAA scoring record and brought new fans to women’s basketball, with her college championship game between Iowa and South Carolina attracting 18.9 million viewers in the US. The 22-year-old has used her sky-rocketing profile to elevate the role black women have played in the WNBA. “I’ve earned every single thing, but as a white person, there is privilege,” she told TIME earlier this month after being named the magazine’s Athlete of the Year. She, along with the likes of A’ja Wilson, Alyssa Thomas and Sabrina Ionescu, are the names that have helped the WNBA secure a $2.2 billion (£1.7 billion) broadcasting deal.

9. Keely Hodgkinson, GB athlete

When she crossed the finish line at the Stade de France to win 800 metres gold, with more than nine million people watching, Hodgkinson became a household name and it was inevitable that a Sports Personality of the Year victory would follow. While some shy away from the limelight, Hodgkinson has embraced it. She has attended Burberry and Armani fashion shows, signed a sponsorship deal with Rimmel and featured on the cover of Elle magazine as she brings together sport and fashion. She has also spoken about the importance of expressing yourself as a role model.

8. Billie Jean King, former tennis player and activist

Arguably the most influential athlete of the modern era, King keeps innovating as she moves into her early 80s. She continues to invest in sporting enterprises, and backed the launch of the Women’s Professional Hockey League (the ice variety) in 2024. On social media, her response to Donald Trump’s election victory tried to reassure those who feared the further erosion of women’s rights in America. “Throughout my life, I have fought many battles that at the time seemed daunting and unwinnable,” she wrote. “However, each one taught me a valuable lesson, and that lesson is this: we must never stop working to create the future we want to leave for the next generation.”

7. Baroness Grey-Thompson, former para athlete and administrator

Paralympic icon turned crossbench peer whose post-athletics career most notably included authoring the 2017 Duty of Care in Sport Review triggered by the country’s athlete welfare scandal. The 55-year-old was also parachuted on to the board of Yorkshire County Cricket Club following the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal. A tireless campaigner for disability rights, she hit the headlines this year after revealing she had been forced to “crawl off” an LNER train at London King’s Cross and has spoken out against Kim Leadbeater’s Assisted Dying Bill.

6. Emma Hayes, US Soccer coach

Hayes had been in charge of the United States for just 10 weeks when she led the country to their first Olympic gold medal since 2012. That victory in Paris came after she had won a record seventh Women’s Super League title with Chelsea on the final day of the season. Hayes, who won Coach of the Year at the Ballon d’Or awards and the same accolade at Fifa Best, has made the US a team to be feared once again. She also continues to advocate for more opportunities for female coaches and advancements in women’s health.

5. Alison Brittain, Premier League chair

As chair of the most lucrative domestic football league in the world, Brittain, a veteran of the British banking industry, is at the heart of the English game. Brittain is the first woman to hold the role and under her watch has come the 100-plus charges against Manchester City and the advent of the independent regulator for the English game. The Premier League is fighting on many fronts. There is always the possibility of political pressure in the case against the Abu Dhabi-owned City, with the additional jeopardy that the weight of regulation from the Government could discourage investment in the Premier League.

4. Michele Kang, Kynisca Sports International founder

In the space of just five years the 65-year-old businesswoman, who was born and raised in South Korea before emigrating to the US as a student, has gone from not knowing “anything about soccer” to owning three women’s football teams. In the last year alone, she has also invested more than $85 million (£67 million) into female sports projects, including $50 million into her new Kynisca organisation, which aims to revolutionise female athlete performance with sports science research, and $30 million into US Soccer women’s and girls’ programmes. What drives her? Her players. “I’m very grateful that I had the opportunity to realise my American dream, so this is about allowing these young women to realise their dream,” she told Telegraph Sport.

3. Aitana Bonmati, Spain footballer

After picking up the Ballon d’Or for a second year running, Bonmati is now an instantly recognisable face across the world of football. The midfielder also won the Fifa Best award for a second successive year and continues to be the linchpin for club and country.

It is not just the midfielder’s talent on the pitch, which helped Barcelona win a historic quadruple last season, but her determination to push for change off it which makes her an influential figure. Bonmati has been a key voice in the Spanish national team’s battle with their football federation over working conditions and spoke out in April over her belief that “nothing has changed” since their victory at the 2023 World Cup.

She also had some harsh words for Liga F, the domestic league in Spain, saying she was not happy with how it continues to treat its players in comparison to the United States and England.

Bonmati was also one of several Spanish players to feature in the Netflix documentary It’s All Over: The Kiss That Changed Spanish Football, which dissected the fallout from their World Cup victory after Luis Rubiales forcibly kissed striker Jenni Hermoso.

2. Ilona Maher, US rugby player

Social-media sensation Maher has been pivotal in bringing a legion of new fans to her sport after an extraordinary year in which she has become one of the most followed sports women on the planet. She has amassed eight million followers across Instagram and TikTok, where her authentic messages about body positivity have become a global hit, but it was her success at the Paris Olympics that catapulted her to new heights.

The team’s bronze medal prompted American entrepreneur Michele Kang to invest $4 million (£3.2 million) into the US women’s sevens programme as Maher became rugby’s biggest star. Her new-found fame continued to explode, with a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover and a place on Dancing with the Stars – America’s version of Strictly Come Dancing. By the time Maher finished second on the show, she had already brought a whole new audience to rugby and was named on Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list. Within days of her being unveiled by Bristol Bears on a three-month deal this month having announced her ambitions to compete in next year’s Women’s World Cup, the club’s Instagram following more than tripled and sparked record ticket sales for their first match of 2025.

1. Simone Biles, US gymnast

The greatest gymnast in history, Biles made a spectacular return to the Olympic stage when winning four medals at the Paris Games to become the most decorated American gymnast of all time.

Three years after withdrawing from the Tokyo Games having suffered from the “twisties”, her status as the GOAT – the greatest of all time – was confirmed when she executed the “Biles II”, a move that was added to her Olympic repertoire this year and involves performing a backflip before rotating 1,080 degrees and then landing (it was the fifth gymnastics move named after her). She took gold in the vault, all-round and team events as well as silver on the floor.

Her success ensured her photographs were the most in demand of any athlete – male or female – by media organisations around the world using Getty Images. She also now proudly wears a diamond-encrusted goat necklace, which she decided to have made after fans hailed her as the greatest. “The haters hate it, so I love that even more,” she has said in reference to those who have criticised her over the years.

Biles has transcended her sport not only through her spellbinding success and her Netflix documentary but for normalising conversations around mental health. After her experience in Tokyo – the “twisties” is when a gymnast has a mental block and loses their sense of space while in the air – her sensational showing in Paris empowered women all over the world to prioritise their mental health.

The 27-year-old knows the value of elevating other women, too – her idea to bow to Rebeca Andrade alongside US team-mate Jordan Chiles on the podium after the Brazilian won floor gold was one of the most heart-warming Games moments.

Why Emma Raducanu and Leah Williamson did not make the list

Compiling a list such as this is always a complicated task; there is no quantifiable metric for influence, particularly when comparing people in different sports and roles. We garnered opinions from Telegraph Sport’s writers and had myriad discussions with industry insiders before nailing down this final 50 – from a list of names three times as long. That meant big names missed out.

The athletes on this list have achieved remarkable sporting feats in 2024 and/or used their profile to advocate for change and raise awareness of important topics.

Emma Raducanu is one of the biggest names in British sport and were this 2021 she would have been a contender for the No 1 spot following her historic US Open win, but her biggest on-court achievement this year (helping Great Britain reach the Billie Jean King Cup finals) does not compare with the two active tennis players on the list.

England captain Leah Williamson is more unlucky to miss out because she has used her voice to champion women’s sport and call for better scheduling to improve player welfare this year, but we felt, of all the Lionesses, Lucy Bronze was excelling on the pitch and behind the scenes.

Other British sportswomen who came close to being included are golfer Charley Hull, who is never afraid to express her opinions, particularly when it comes to slow play, World Women’s 15s Player of the Year Ellie Kildunne, who is taking rugby to new audiences with her social media output, and cyclist Emma Finucane, who became the first British woman to win three medals at a single Olympics since Mary Rand 60 years ago.

Tough choices had to be made and we know it will cause plenty of debate. Let us know your views in the comments section below.