Liverpool is home to some of the most iconic women in sports.
From Olympic track and field athletes to global gymnastic superstars, countless Liverpool women should be celebrated after making their mark in the world of sport and doing the city proud.
Liverpool is home to some of the most amazing football teams in the world and while the city may be known worldwide for this and its musicians, it has much more to offer.
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Many Liverpool women have changed stigmas, broken records and set higher standards in performance. We’ve compiled a list of seven inspirational women in sports to celebrate their achievements and being role models for many young Liverpool girls.
This list only scratches the surface. We’d love to hear from you if there is someone you feel deserves to be included or if you know someone who is inspired greatly by these women- you can let us know in the comments section.
Seven inspirational Liverpool women in sport:
Sport is about discipline, strength and passion. To be good at sport you can’t wake up one morning and tell yourself you are going to be an Olympic champion. It takes years of dedication, hard work and a lot of mental strength. To get back up again and again until you break world records and push your body beyond its comfort zone isn’t something that can be taught overnight.
Beth Tweddle
Beth Tweddle is Britain’s most successful female gymnast after winning three world titles and an Olympic medal in London 2012. She not only is renowned for her uneven bar and floor routines but she was also the first female gymnast from Great Britain to win a medal at the European Championships, World Championships and Olympic games.
The 37-year-old was born in South Africa but moved to Liverpool city’s gymnastics club when she was 12 years old. She is now a proud patron of Alder Hey Children’s Hospital charity and has opened academies across the UK where she imparts her knowledge, wisdom and experience to more than 7,000 children.
Beth completed a foundation degree with the University of Liverpool, graduated from Liverpool John Moores with a bachelor’s degree and went on to get an MBE for her unequivocal dedication, commitment and success in gymnastics.
Aniyka Onuora
Aniyka Onuora has proven she could run rings around anyone with the number of medals she has won over the years. Starting out in short sprints and relay she progressed onto longer 400m sprints and relay which saw her achieve great success.
The 37-year-old has proudly represented Liverpool and the country across the globe winning gold medals in Zurich and Amsterdam. The Liverpool-born star also showcased her abilities in Melbourne, Beijing and Rio de Janeiro.
The retired sprinter has imparted her story in the hope to shine a light on the realities of being a black female athlete in Britain in a way that nobody else has done before her. Her book, My Hidden Race, has been shortlisted for William Hill’s sports book of the year award.
Bianca Walkden
Bianca Walkden, also known as Queen B, has fought her way through competitive sport as a British Taekwondo athlete and champion. She has built an impressive winning impression on people and was even once criticised for her determination to win after competing in the 2019 World Taekwondo Championships.
Her fierce determination to win has allowed the 31-year-old to win more medals than years she has been alive. After winning at least 32 medals from across the globe it is safe to say Liverpool is home to one of the most successful female taekwondo athletes in the world.
She started out early as an 11-year-old looking for a hobby and soon gained her first medal as a 15-year-old competing in the Junior European Championships. Her childhood friend Becky quit when they joined the Liverpool Elite Club as children but Bianca stayed and fought her way to the top. She became Great Britain’s first Taekwondo athlete to take the World Championships crown for the third time.
Molly McCann
Molly McCann, AKA Meatball Molly, has taken MMA fighting by storm and has attracted a lot of media attention for her success and openness. After a difficult start in life, Molly showed the world that no one could get in the way of this Scouser’s success after knocking out a third of her opponents.
Not only has she been in the spotlight for her fighting abilities but she has also been in the public eye for being open about the effects having a hard childhood can have on families. In an interview with JOE Politics, she opened up about how hard it was growing up working class with no food in the hope to shine a light on the real impacts of the cost of living crisis.
Her shining success has not only been recognised by her loyal fans at home, but she has also been recognised by thousands worldwide including millionaire-rapper Drake. He gifted her a Rolex watch after he placed a bet for her and fellow scouse fighter, Paddy the Baddy, to win their fights at UFC London.
Lora Fachie
Lora Fachie OBE has raced her way to cycling stardom after winning an astonishing amount of medals for her talents in the sport. She is a huge role model for women across the country because she is not only a double world cyclist champion but she fought her way to the top while living with a hereditary sight loss condition.
The 34-year-old has represented Great Britain since 2009 when she won her first Para-Cycling World Cup event in Italy. Not only has she proven to the world her sight loss won’t stop her from achieving her dreams but she won more than 15 medals worldwide with the latest being from the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games. She won a gold and a silver medal.
Lora was appointed an MBE in the 2017 New Year Honours and OBE in the 2022 Birthday Honours for her services to cycling.
Katarina Johnson-Thompson
Katarina Johnson-Thompson, otherwise known as KJT, is not only a world champion as a heptathlete and an indoor pentathlete but she also holds a brilliant British record of 5,000 points for women’s pentathlon indoors. KJT won nine gold medals, four of which are from world championships.
Growing up KJT was such a star she won multiple national titles across a variety of sporting events. Spreading her talent and ambition so far meant she could compete in multi-events and represent not only her proud city but her country.
Her breathtaking talents have been recognised globally leading to many other exciting opportunities for the superstar. She was allowed the opportunity to walk in the Off-White Paris Fashion Week in 2018 and she won the Sportsperson of the Year award at the 2019 Stylist Magazine Remarkable Women awards.
Margaret Kelly
Margaret Kelly was Merseyside’s golden girl who blew a hole in the theory that top-flight swimming is the exclusive domain of the young. Not only a role model for women but also for the older generation who desired to take up competitive swimming as a profession.
After a six-year break in her late 20s the 66-year-old qualified for her third Olympics at the age of 31. By the age of 33, Maggie swam at her third Commonwealth Games in 1990 and was a finalist in the women’s 100-metre breaststroke.
She has left her shining legacy to inspire thousands across the country. Margaret lives in Nottingham and has three children Robbie, Suki and Georgia. She also coaches swimming at the University of Nottingham.
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