Great Women Rulers of Sports

12" Wooden Ruler made in U.S.A. of American-grown basswood.

Nowadays, to reach the top in any sport you have to specialize. But in the past it was possible to be among the best in the world at multiple disciplines. Take for example the first entry on this ruler. Lottie Dod (1871-1960) won the Wimbledon Ladies Singles five times, won the British Ladies Amateur Golf Championship, played on the English field hockey team, and won a silver medal in archery at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. Her only rival in versatility is American Babe Didriksen Zaharias (1911-1956), who won golf’s women’s Grand Slam in 1950 and is still the only woman to have made the cut on the men’s PGA tour. She played basketball for the Golden Cyclones in Dallas, pitched against men in Major League Baseball exhibition games, and won two gold medals in track and field at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The Guinness Book of World Records lists them both as the most versatile female athletes of all times.

Many other memorable names grace this ruler. Fanny Blankers-Koen (1918-2004), nicknamed “the flying housewife”, was a 30-year-old mother of two when she won four gold medals for The Netherlands at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. Martina Navratilova (1956- ) won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, 31 major women's doubles titles (an all-time record), and 10 major mixed doubles titles in tennis.

The dates listed are the years of each athlete’s birth and death. We also list the sport or sports in which they excelled.

The “head” image is of Florence “Flo Jo” Griffith-Joyner (1959-1998), known as the fastest woman ever, whose world records in the 100 m and 200 m sprint, both set in 1988, still stand to this day.

If you like this ruler, you might also be interested in Great Women Rulers, Great Women Rulers of Art, Great Women Rulers of Literature, Great Women Rulers of Music, or Great Women Rulers of Science.