Happy Women’s History Month! Help JWA continue to lift up Jewish women’s stories, this month and every month, by making a gift today!
Close [x]

Show [+]

Athlete

Content type
Collection

Naomi Kutin

Naomi Kutin earned the nickname “Supergirl” and set the weightlifting record for her weight class … at age ten.

Ilona Elek

Hailed as one of the greatest female fencers of all time, Ilona Elek won her first Olympic gold medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Limor Mizrachi

In 1998 Limor Mizrachi became the first Israeli, male or female, to play professional basketball for an American team when she joined the New England Blizzard.

Shay Doron

When the reality of playing for the WNBA turned out to be less than she had dreamed, Shay Doron took her MVP skills back to her home team in Israel.

Naama Shafir

Committed to both her athletic career and her Orthodox faith, Naama Shafir faced challenges alien to most basketball players, from walking to games on Shabbat to altering uniforms for modesty.

Yael Arad

Yael Arad celebrated an unprecedented victory in 1992 when she won the Olympic silver medal for judo, making her the first Israeli Olympic medalist for any sport.

Annie Londonderry

A symbol of women’s growing independence at the turn of the twentieth century, Annie “Londonderry” Kopchovsky became the first woman cyclist to circle the globe in 1895.

Linda Cohn

Linda Cohn broke barriers in 1981 when she became one of the first female sportscasters in America.

Bonnie Bernstein

One of the most accomplished female sportscasters in history, Bonnie Bernstein combines her role as on-air journalist with her work behind the scenes as vice president of Campus Insiders, a leading media platform for college sports.

Loren Galler-Rabinowitz

A champion in two very different fields, Loren Galler-Rabinowitz took home the bronze medal for ice dancing in 2004, then competed in the 2011 Miss America Pageant as Miss Massachusetts.

Emily Jacobson

Emily Jacobson, raised by a family of fencers, reached the pinnacle of her career when she competed in the 2004 Olympics, which was the first time women were allowed to compete as sabre fencers.

Sada Jacobson

Sada Jacobson won the bronze medal for sabre fencing at the 2004 Olympics (the first Olympics where women were allowed to compete in sabre), then did one better in 2008, bringing home both a silver and another bronze medal.

Emily Hughes

Emily Hughes showed great promise as an Olympic figure skater, but retired young to pursue the possibilities of a career in business.

Sasha Cohen

Figure skater Alexandra “Sasha” Cohen won a silver medal at the 2006 Olympics and popularized the difficult I-spin, which many now call the “Sasha spin” in her honor.

Julie Heldman

Julie Heldman won 22 professional tennis titles in her stunning career.

Deena Kastor

Long distance runner Deena Kastor was an eight–time national champion in cross country and holds the American records in the marathon, half–marathon, 5K, 8K, and 15K races.

Dara Torres

An athlete of remarkable endurance and drive, twelve-time Olympic medalist Dara Torres is the only American swimmer to have competed in five Olympics.

Rusty Kanokogi

The first woman allowed to train with male judo students at Japan’s judo headquarters, the Kodokan, Rena “Rusty” Kanokogi pioneered women’s judo as an Olympic sport.

Sarah Hughes

In a thrilling, surprise victory, Sarah Hughes won the gold medal for figure skating at the 2002 Olympics, becoming the first American to win that honor without ever having won a World or US senior national title.

Aly Raisman

Alexandra “Aly” Raisman not only won gold and bronze medals for her individual performances at the 2012 Olympics but captained the women’s gymnastic team that won the gold medal that year.

Donate

Help us elevate the voices of Jewish women.

donate now

Get JWA in your inbox

Read the latest from JWA from your inbox.

sign up now