By Natalia Serrano
Alysa Liu celebrates her Olympic win in Milano Cortina on Feb. 21, 2026. Photo by Matthew Stockman.
Team USA’s female athletes have dominated the 2026 Winter Olympics. Women’s hockey and figure skating, in particular, have been hugely popular.
Team USA’s figure skating trio, the “Blade Angels,” has been a large part of the discourse this year for many reasons. Alysa Liu made history this year as the first US women’s figure skater to win gold since 2002. Liu has been catapulted not only for her win, but for her pure joy in skating and how much the enjoyment of what you do can change so much in a performance.
Another historic moment at the Winter Olympics comes from the women’s hockey team. Laila Edwards, a defensive player for Team USA, became the first Black American woman to win a gold medal in women’s hockey. In fact, Edwards was the first Black American woman to represent Team USA in hockey ever.
Team USA has been in attendance at the Winter Olympics since its first appearance in 1998. In an interview with ESPN, Edwards says, “I’ve had kids say, ‘You’re my favorite player. You look like me.’ I think that’s so important to have someone at a high stage who looks like you, and it’s even more important that I can succeed at this high stage.’”
Laila Edwards, Women’s Hockey Gold Medalist, 2026. Photo courtesy of NBC Olympics.
As of 2026, Women’s sports participation is at an all-time high. For the 2024-2025 academic year, the NCAA reported a 14% increase in athletes competing over the past decade. In 1972, President Richard Nixon signed Title IX of the Education Amendments.
In it he said, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” The women athletes of the United States have been proving excellence since.
In 1974, “Battle of the Sexes” was a match between a then-former top men’s tennis player, Bobby Riggs, and the top women’s player of the time, Billie Jean King. The match had 90 million viewers worldwide to witness a win for King and a win for female athletes as a whole.
Billie Jean King created The Women’s Sports Foundation after winning the match and is largely credited for helping the women’s sports interest boom, as well as the ever-growing women’s rights movement.
Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King promoted “Battle of the Sexes” in 1973. Photo by Ann Limongello.
In 1984, women were finally allowed to run the Olympic marathon, despite the modern Olympic marathon beginning in 1896. There was a time when women were considered “too fragile” to run the 26.2-mile marathon. However, Joan Benoit with Team USA won the first gold medal for women in the first women’s marathon. This is only the beginning of wins for women in the Olympics.
This has been an outstanding year for professional female athletes, and its flame is not diminishing. At the 2028 Summer Olympics, we are expecting to see flag football.
Flag football is a non-contact version of American Football. It is a sport that has been rapidly growing across the country within men’s and women’s sports alike. It has been supported and recognized by the NFL. The sport will likely bring more female athletes into the spotlight and more historic milestones waiting for someone to complete.
Youth flag football team. Photo courtesy of NFL Flag.