We’ve all been wowed by her award-winning performances, and along with her partner Scott Moir, Tessa Virtue has become a beloved household name in Canada…
…and the world is quickly catching on as to why.
Tessa holds the number 16th rank on ESPN’s most recent report of the 25 most famous female athletes in the world, and we can’t say we’re surprised!
“With partner Scott Moir, Canadian ice dancer Tessa Virtue became figure skating’s most decorated Olympian by securing two more gold medals at the Pyeongchang Games,” writes ESPN’s Elaine Teng.
“Their steamy free dance to “Moulin Rouge” set the internet ablaze with fevered speculation about whether the two are a couple in real life, a question Ellen DeGeneres tackled head-on in an interview on her show. (Sorry, world, they said no.) Since the Olympics, Virtue and Moir have been enjoying a victory lap around Canada, touring with Stars on Ice, hanging out with Drake at a Raptors game and making plans for the future. Let’s all hope it’s with each other.”
To come up with the rankings, three fame factors are taken into account: the athletes’ Google trend score, endorsement dollars, and social media following.
Of course, if we were making this list, Tessa would be somewhere in the top 5, but we admit to a certain level of bias in this case. So we bow down to ESPN’s far more impartial judges who compiled the list.
Here are the top 25 most famous female athletes in the world:
- Serena Williams, USA, Tennis
- Maria Sharapova, Russia, Tennis
- Venus Williams, USA, Tennis
- Sania Nehwal, India, Badminton
- Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark, Tennis
- Simona Halep, Romania, Tennis
- Alex Morgan, USA, Soccer
- Fu Yuanhui, China, Swimming
- Lindsey Vonn, USA, Skiing
- Michell Wie, USA, Golf
- Victoria Azarenka, Belarus, Tennis
- Sania Mirza, India, Tennis
- Garbine Muguruza, Spain, Tennis
- Danica Patrick, USA, Motorsports
- Ding Ning, China, Table Tennis
- Tessa Virtue, Canada, Figure Skating
- Simone Biles, USA, Gymnastics
- P.V. Sindhu, India, Badminton
- Angelique Kerber, Germany, Tennis
- Alina Zagitova, Russia, Figure Skating
- Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland, Tennis
- Evgenia Medvedeva, Russia, Figure Skating
- Aly Raisman, USA, Gymnastics
- Paige VanZant, USA, MMA
- Jwala Gutta, India, Badminton