These all-stars are challenging convention and making sports more inclusive and accessible.
After the pandemic-induced upheaval of 2020, the sports world began to return to normalcy in 2021. Fans retook their seats at stadiums. Leagues restored their schedules to their full lengths. Teams’ revenue, mercifully, began to recover.
That doesn’t mean there was nothing unprecedented about 2021.
Quinn became the first openly transgender athlete to compete at an Olympics—and two weeks later became the first openly transgender gold medalist, helping Canada win the women’s soccer tournament at the Tokyo Games. Carl Nassib became the first active NFL player to come out publicly as gay. Mikyla Grant-Mentis became the first Black player to win MVP in North America’s top women’s hockey league while Jeremiah Paprocki, at 21, became the first African American public-address announcer in the Chicago Cubs’ history, as well as the youngest.
Those four trailblazers are among the honorees on Forbes’ 2022 30 Under 30 list in the Sports category, highlighting the all-star athletes, front-office standouts, inventive entrepreneurs and accomplished sports professionals shaping the future of the industry. Celebrating the tenth anniversary of the 30 Under 30 project, Forbes relied on a panel of judges featuring some of the sports world’s biggest players: Tracy McGrady, a Basketball Hall of Famer and entrepreneur; Jason Robins, the CEO and cofounder of DraftKings; Angela Ruggiero, a Hockey Hall of Famer and the CEO and cofounder of the market-research firm Sports Innovation Lab; and Malika Andrews, the host of ESPN’s NBA Today and an alum of the 2021 30 Under 30 list.
“The glass ceiling I’ve already shattered is just the beginning.”
Candidates had to be under the age of 30 as of December 31, 2021, and could not have been previously named to a Forbes 30 Under 30 list. Of the nominees selected by the judges for the 2022 list, 16 are women, and one is non-binary; 18 identify as people of color. All of them are breaking new ground.
In 2016, Ashleigh Johnson became the first Black woman to make the U.S. Olympic water polo team, and Simone Manuel became the first African American woman to win Olympic gold in an individual swimming event; both added medals in Tokyo in 2021. Kendall Coyne Schofield was the first woman to compete in an NHL All-Star skills competition, in 2019, and now serves as a player development coach for the Chicago Blackhawks even as she continues her own playing career, with a third Olympic run on tap for February. Alphonso Davies was born in a refugee camp in Ghana and is now a Champions League winner with Bayern Munich, recognized as the world’s best player at his position, and he just turned 21.
The pioneers aren’t just athletes, of course. Amber Nichols is only the second woman to be named a general manager in the NBA’s G League. Matt Tifft, whose epilepsy ended his promising career as a racecar driver, instead became the youngest team owner at Nascar’s highest level. Camille Buxeda created WSLAM, dramatically expanding the coverage of women’s basketball at SLAM magazine, while Haley Rosen founded Just Women’s Sports, a media startup that is adamantly sports-first rather than a lifestyle brand, with its platform featuring news, betting coverage and accessible video highlights.
There are plenty of innovators. Thomas Fields, forced to stop playing high-level basketball after a series of knee operations in high school, realized that sports equipment was not affordable for families like his in low-income communities; that led him to found GRIND Interactive, which produces a portable basketball shooting machine that was featured on Shark Tank. Molly Hayes played a key role in the design and construction of the Golden State Warriors’ Chase Center and then joined the NBA as a senior director overseeing its venues; that made her responsible for developing and implementing Covid-19 cleaning protocols at all of the league’s arenas. Heath Gould, a fourth-year orthopaedic surgery resident, co-developed a new surgical technique to repair quadriceps tendon ruptures in athletes, now undergoing human trials.
Other standouts from the 2022 list include Devin Booker, the star guard who helped the Phoenix Suns win their first conference title in 28 years; Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the runner-up in the American League MVP voting after he tied for the major league lead with 48 home runs; Nelly Korda, the world’s top-ranked women’s golfer; and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, whose new contract set a signing-bonus record.
Kimberly Chexnayder, a host and guest for several NFL Media shows, reflects to Forbes that there is a certain irony to the fact that she—a Black woman—is being honored even as leaked emails containing racist and misogynistic remarks by an NFL coach “attack my very existence.”
“Though the emails and the headlines continue to circulate, one thing is known for sure, and that is that my presence is not wavering,” she says. She might as well speak for the entire group of honorees when she adds, “The glass ceiling I’ve already shattered is just the beginning.”
For the complete Sports list, click here, and for full 30 Under 30 coverage, click here.
30 UNDER 30 RELATED ARTICLES
Discussion about this post