At just 20 years old, Chloe Kim is already an integral part of the freestyle snowboard scene. She won gold at the X-Games for the first time at the age of 14. Since then, she has added five more victories there. The Californian also won gold at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang. Away from the world's pipes, Kim is publicly campaigning against the threat posed by the climate crisis, for example through her commitment to the climate protection organisation Protect Our Winters (POW). Her latest project: together with US athletes Alex Morgan, Sue Bird and Simone Manuel, she founded TOGETHXR - a media agency with the aim of giving female voices in sport even more public attention.
Katja Kraus is a master of her craft. This began in her career as a football player, in which she became German champion three times as a goalkeeper. Then she conquered professional men's football: first as press spokeswoman at Eintracht Frankfurt, then from 2003 as the first woman on the board of a Bundesliga club, when she became board member for marketing and communications at Hamburger SV. During her tenure, HSV played in the Champions League and several times in the Europa League. After leaving the board in 2011, she became managing partner of the sports marketing agency Jung von Matt/sports and a member of the Adidas supervisory board.
Lynn Hill is the grande dame of climbing. The US-American was already a scene celebrity in the 1980s and appeared as a climber in numerous TV shows. However, she achieved her masterpiece after retiring from competitive climbing: in 1993, she was the first person ever to free climb the route "The Nose" on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. A feat that countless top male and female athletes cut their teeth on unsuccessfully for twelve years thereafter. With her skills and her fight against sexism in the climbing scene, Hill became a role model for countless girls and women who found their way to climbing through her.
What Lynn Hill was for many girls and women in the 1980s, Samina Baig is for many Muslims today: The 30-year-old fights for the recognition and promotion of girls and women in sports in her home country Pakistan. Baig climbed Mount Everest at the age of 21, making her the first Muslim woman to do so. She was also the first Pakistani woman to climb the Seven Summits. After her first ascent of Pakistan's 6,000-meter "Samina Peak," the mountain was named after her. "We have come a long way, a lot of youth — especially women are now taking interest in mountaineering, we get equal participation from women in our training camps and there are women who have climbed 6,700 peaks, so it is a wonderful thing," Baig said recently about the encouraging development, in which she has a large share.
Even at 39, Serena Williams is a shining light in tennis. The US American is only one Grand Slam trophy short of equalling Steffi Graf's eternal 24 titles. The fact that she is still among the world's top players at almost 40 is all the more impressive in view of her baby break in 2017. What's more, Williams has been campaigning for equality for years, calling for greater recognition for women in professional tennis and for prize money to be brought into line with that of men. She also publicly clashed with US tennis pro Tennys Sandgren after he made homophobic comments.
Kari Traa was world-class as an athlete and remains so in the world of sports business. The Norwegian was a four-time world champion on the moguls and Olympic champion in 2002. In the same year, she founded her company, named after herself, and specialized in winter sports articles, especially baselayers, for women. The Kari Traa brand has since advanced to become Europe's fastest growing sporting goods manufacturer exclusively for women.
US soccer player Megan Rapinoe is a constant advocate for equality and tolerance. After also being criticized for her stance by then US President Donald Trump, she countered that she doesn't give a damn about the opinions of "haters". As an openly lesbian celebrity, she supports several NGOs in the fight against homophobia. She and her teammates on the U.S. women's national soccer team also sued their own federation for discrimination because the federation paid the men's team higher victory bonuses than the women. In her fight for equality, Rapinoe does not shy away from conflict.
Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner is a high-altitude mountaineer, the first person to conquer all 14 eight-thousanders without carrying oxygen and a trained nurse. However, the Upper Austrian is never concerned with records - but with harmonious coexistence - with people and with nature. A mindful, respectful and loving interaction with nature and all beings are the cornerstones of her life. In lectures and seminars she passes on her experiences and thus gives inspiration.
