As the world marks International Women’s Day 2025, we shine a spotlight on the remarkable African sportswomen who have defied the odds, shattered records, and inspired generations. From the courts of tennis and the tracks of long-distance races to the dazzling world of football, art, and music, these women have not only made history — they’ve rewritten it.
Their journeys are more than tales of personal triumph; they are testaments to the unyielding spirit of African sportswomen who continue to push boundaries, demand recognition, and pave the way for the next wave of trailblazers. This piece celebrates the icons — past, present, and future — whose achievements echo far beyond their fields, igniting a flame of hope and possibility across the continent.
Join us as we honor these phenomenal women whose stories remind us that when African women rise, the world takes notice.
ONS JABEUR
Tunisian tennis star Ons Jabeur has had a stellar career on the tennis court. Her exceptional talent shone from a young age as she became the first African female to win a junior grand slam when she clinched the French Open in 2011. Her heroics made her the first North African woman to win a junior grand slam in history.
Since turning professional in 2012, she has had a steady rise through the global rankings, eventually peaking at No. 2 in 2022. Her successes at the Madrid Open meant she became the first African player to win a WTA Tour title. Despite losing the final to Iga Swiatek, she became the first African woman to reach the final of the US Open in 2022, outperforming African quarterfinalists Maryna Godwin and Amanda Coetzer. It was unarguably the best season of her tennis career, and it culminated in a second-place ranking for her in the WTA rankings.
She is one of the greatest African female tennis players in history, and she has inspired countless girls across the African continent.
ASISAT OSHOALA
Ask any average Nigerian about Asisat ‘Agba Baller’ Oshoala and they’ll rave on and on endlessly about her. She has had an unrivaled influence on female sports in Nigeria and across the African continent.
Her illustrious records speak for themselves: she is a two-time winner of the UEFA Women’s Champions League, a five-time Primera División winner, a three-time WAFCON winner, and many others.
Deeply dedicated to improving the representation of African female footballers on the global stage, she launched the Asisat Oshoala Foundation in 2019, which is focused on empowering female footballers in Africa. The foundation hosts the annual Asisat Oshoala Foundation Football4girls tournament in Lagos.
The six-time African Women’s Footballer of the Year winner was appointed as a member of FIFA’s technical advisory group on the growth and advancement of women’s football in October 2021. She is an iconic role model for all African girls.
CHIOMA AJUNWA
The 1996 Atlanta Olympics remains Nigeria’s greatest Olympic campaign, notably marked by Chioma Ajunwa’s heroics and the Dream team’s exploits.
Following her short-lived stint with the Super Falcons, Ajunwa devoted herself permanently to athletics, and that’s where her legend began.
Chioma Ajunwa became the first Nigerian, first West-African and first black African woman to win an Olympic gold medal in a track and field event, following her victory in the women’s long jump event at the 1996 Olympics. She is the only Nigerian Olympian to win a gold medal in an individual event at the Olympics.
The iconic athlete remains the only woman to compete at both the FIFA Women’s World Cup as a footballer and the Olympics as a track and field athlete.
PERPETUA NKWOCHA
Asisat Oshoala is a modern day footballing icon for the African continent. However, one woman who brought great attention to women’s football in the African continent and inspired a whole generation of African female football stars is Perpetua Nkwocha.
Nkwocha was a revered name after the turn of the century, shattering and resetting countless records in the wake of her glorious football career.
A deadly assassin in front of goal, Nkwocha represented Nigeria at eight African Women’s Cup of Nations events (WAFCONs) and she clinched the trophy a record five times, finishing as the highest goal scorer across three tournaments. She represented Team Nigeria at the Olympics thrice and in four FIFA women’s World Cups. The mesmerizing dribbler was the first female African footballer to win the African Footballer of the Year on four occasions, a record bettered only by Oshoala in recent years.
Alongside South Africa’s great Portia Modise, she became the first African women footballer to be nominated for the FIFA World Player of the Year in 2005, a source of global recognition for the continent.
DERARTU TULU
Ethiopian Athlete Derartu Tulu paved the way and inspired a future generation of African female long-distance runners. Her journey to become a world champion is truly inspiring as she went from herding cows in a remote village in central Ethiopia to become a World Champion.
Derartu Tulu became the first European woman and the first from sub-Saharan Africa to win an Olympic medal, clinching gold in the 10,000m track event at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic games. She repeated her iconic feats at the Sydney 2000 Olympic games, placing first once again in the 10000 m event to secure her second gold medal in the category, becoming the first woman in history to win two gold medals in Olympic long-distance races. She completed her Olympic medal haul with a bronze model in the same category in Athens 2004.
Undoubtedly, her heroics served as motivation for her family members to become Olympic gold medalists too, most notably Ejegayehu Dibaba and Tirunesh Dibaba.
BEATRICE CHEBET
Kenya’s Beatrice ‘Smiling Assassin’ Chebet became the first Kenyan woman to win a gold medal in the 10,000m race category and the third woman in history to win gold in both the 5000m and 10,000m race categories in the same Olympic campaign as she claimed two historic gold medals at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
She has also picked up gold medals in marathon races in the Commonwealth Games, African Championships, and the World Cross Country Championships. Chebet is the current world record holder in both the women’s only and mixed 5-kilometre run alongside the 10,000 metres category. The 25-year-old is a trailblazer, ànd she still has time to shatter more records in the history books.
MWADI MABIKA
Congolese Basketballer Mwadi Mabika is a pacesetter for female basketball in the African continent. She became the first African to play in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) during its inaugural season in 1997.
The two-time WNBA All-Star won two championships with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2001 and 2002. She was particularly in superb form in 2002, earning her first All-First Team honours as she averaged 16.8 points per game. She represented DR Congo at the Olympic games and was a member of the Congolese team that secured a bronze medal at the 2003 African Games in Abuja. She was spotted and brought to the USA by Congolese basketball legend Dikembe Mutombo, who set the tone for her iconic career in the WNBA.
KIRSTY COVENTRY
This list will be incomplete without her inclusion. Coventry is Africa’s most decorated Olympian (male or female), having picked up seven medals in a stellar Olympic career across five Olympic Games from Sydney 2000 to Rio 2016.
The finest moments in her Olympic career occurred in Athens 2004 when she won three medals, including gold in the 200m backstroke, and in Beijing 2008, when she won four medals, one gold medal, and three silver medals.
She won all but one of Zimbabwe’s Olympic medals in a legendary career that saw her pick up two Olympic Gold medals, four Olympic Silver Medals and one Olympic Bronze Medal.
Alongside USA’s Katie Ledecky, she holds the record for the most individual swimming medals by a woman (seven medals).
She is currently serving as the Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts, and Recreation in the Cabinet of Zimbabwe.
ISABELLE SAMBOU
Isabelle-Sambou was a Senegalese freestyle wrestler. Sambou is a two-time Olympian and a nine-time African wrestling Champion for Senegal. She was crowned as 2015’s “African Wrestler of the Decade” by the World Wrestling Union (WWU).
Following her retirement in 2016, she now serves as a mentor for the next generation of wrestlers in her hometown in Senegal. Despite the lack of funding and resources, Sambou has been doing an excellent job at shaping Africa’s future wrestlers. Sambou’s students won 10 medals, including six golds at the Africa’s youth championship in wrestling held in June in Dakar.
TATJANA SMITH
South African swimmer Tatjana Smith is South Africa’s most decorated Olympian, with four Olympic medals.
At the 2020 Olympic games, Smith won the gold medal in the 200-metre breaststroke and the silver medal in the 100-metre breaststroke, setting Olympic records in both events and the world record in the former. She narrowly missed out on the 100m-200m breaststroke gold double after finishing second in the 200m breaststroke event.
A modern-day swimming icon, she has also won one gold medal and two silver medals at the World Championships and was a gold medalist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Smith remains the African record holder in the long course and short course 100-metre breaststroke, as well as the short course 200-metre breaststroke. She pulled the curtain on her her swimming career at the end of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
