Claressa Shields
On 9 August 2012, 17-year-old Claressa Shields beat Russia's Nadezda Torlopova 19–12 in the middleweight final at the London Olympics — the first Games to include women's boxing — to become the first American woman to win Olympic boxing gold. She had grown up in poverty in Flint, Michigan; her father was in prison for much of her early childhood, and she has spoken publicly about being sexually abused as a child. She began boxing at eleven at Berston Field House under coach Jason Crutchfield, having been told girls don't box. Shields defended her Olympic title in 2016 — the first American boxer to win back-to-back golds — then turned professional and became undisputed world champion in three weight classes and a titlist across five, rated the best active female boxer pound for pound. She has spoken factually about being underpaid and under-promoted relative to her record: "We are as great as the men."