The most influential women in British sport

To mark the start of Women’s Sport Week, The Daily Telegraph asked the most influential women in British sport who they thought had the greatest impact on sport in this country. The result is a top 20 of influential women, compiled by influential women

Clare Balding

It is hard to think of a more vocal or – crucially – visible champion of women’s sport, which goes some way to explaining why Balding received more nominations than anyone else on the list. The panel’s endorsement suggests many feel there is still a long way to go to get women’s sport where it needs to be and that Balding is better placed than anyone to drive home that message. Since becoming a household name at London 2012, the former jockey has used her profile as a multi-sport presenter and chat-show host to promote female equality in British sport.

Baroness Campbell

Having spearheaded Great Britain’s transformation from Olympic humiliation into a medal-winning machine during her decade as chair of UK Sport, Campbell took on arguably her biggest challenge to date last year when the Football Association appointed her as its head of women’s football. She is now in charge of the FA’S drive to increase grassroots participation in the girls’ and women’s game, with the ultimate aim of building on England’s third-placed finish at the 2015 World Cup. A former England netball player and coach, the crossbench peer also helped to establish the Youth Sport Trust charity, which she still chairs.

Dame Katherine Grainger

As exclusively revealed by

The Daily Telegraph in April, Grainger has been thrust into one of the most powerful positions in British sport following her retirement from rowing. The incoming chair of UK Sport already wielded significant influence after becoming the first British woman to win medals at five Olympic Games. The 41-year-old, who ended her agonising wait for gold at London 2012 before taking a year off to complete a PHD, will take charge of hundreds of millions of pounds of public money at UK Sport at the most challenging moment in its history following the athlete welfare scandal.

Tracey Crouch MP

Reappointed sports minister last week following the general election, having held the role since the 2015 election. As a member of the Government, Crouch is arguably the most powerful person in British sport, male or female. She flexed her muscles almost as soon as she took office, ripping up the country’s sports strategy and formulating a new one that not only sought to address the slump in participation post-london

2012 but also imposed quotas of women on the boards of national governing bodies. A qualified coach and former footballer, she even succeeded in forcing through long-overdue reform at the FA.

Liz Nicholl

The chief executive of UK Sport has overseen the most successful period in British Olympic and Paralympic history but the former netball international has recently been forced to defend the organisation’s ‘No Compromise’ policy in the wake of the athlete welfare scandal. Pledged more oversight of the World Class Programme.

Judy Murray

Far more than the mother of arguably the greatest athlete Britain has ever produced – two No1-ranked tennis players, in fact – Murray is a renowned tennis coach and champion of women’s and girls’ sport. Until last year, the 57-yearold Scot was also captain of the British women’s Fed Cup team.

Jennie Price

The chief executive of grassroots funding body Sport England and in charge of more than £1billion of public money, Price is the corporate face for the organisation’s game-changing ‘This Girl Can’ campaign. She missed out on the chief executive’s job at the Lawn Tennis Association four years ago.

Victoria Aggar

At a time when athlete welfare is arguably the biggest challenge facing sport, Aggar has just been appointed as chair of the British Athletes Commission. The former Paralympic rowing bronze medallist and double world champion is also on the World Anti-doping Agency athlete committee.

Kate Richardsonwalsh

Television ratings of nine million testify to the impact Richardsonwalsh and her Great Britain team-mates had on the nation at the Rio Olympics. That was a last hurrah for the woman who had captained her country for 13 years and seemed to be on a personal mission to make up for missing out on gold at London 2012.

Jessica Varnish

Varnish’s nomination speaks volumes about where British sport finds itself in 2017, with few having made such a seismic impact on the future direction of Olympic and Paralympic medal-winning strategy than the woman who bravely blew the whistle on the “culture of fear” within British Cycling, opening the door for others across the industry.