Forbes has released its annual 30 Under 30 List, and the likes of Kate Douglass, Olivia Dunne, and Sha’Carri Richardson have made the cut for the North American Sports List.
The list included several athletes and sporting personalities, who were chosen for their spectacular achievements, on and off the field.
The judges for the list are Phoenix Suns’ shooting guard Devin Booker, Galatioto Sports Partners’ founder Sal Galatioto, St. Louis City SC CEO Carolyn Kindle, and two-time WNBA champion and Atlanta Dream co-owner Renee Montgomerym
Kate Douglass was honored for winning three individual national titles in three different strokes as a Division I swimmer, becoming the first person in NCAA history to do so. Her Forbes’ bio names her as “one of history’s most dominant collegiate careers in any sport”, and also references her nine World Championships medals.
21-year old LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne was listed as “one of the faces of college sports’ NIL era, with more than 12 million followers between TikTok and Instagram” on the Forbes website. The magazine also estimated that the former all-American on uneven bars made $2.3 million in revenue over 12 months ending in June.
Sha’Carri Richardson was named in the Forbes 30 Under 30 sporting list for her stunning performances at the 2023 Budapest World Athletics Championships, which included a gold in the 100m and a bronze in the 200m. Her bio for the site also referenced her one-month suspension for failing a drug test, and how she was “later lauded for speaking openly about how she used cannabis to cope with Olympic qualifying and the death of her biological mother.”
Other American athletes who made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list
Other notable American athletes who made it to 2024’s Forbes North American 30 Under 30 Sporting list include tennis star Jessica Pegula, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, and Louisiana State University forward Angel Reese.
Jessica Pegula, who only cracked the top 100 in 2019 as a 24-year-old, had to wait slightly longer than most for her turn in the spotlight. In 2023, Pegula rose to the number one spot in the doubles rankings, and according to Forbes is “making an estimated $6 million from endorsements and appearances on top of $6 million in 2023 prize money.”
Lamar Jackson was football’s highest-paid player of 2023, after receiving a $72.5 million signing bonus and a $260 million extension with his team. His signing bonus also set an NFL contract record.
Angel Reese’s Forbes bio listed her as one of the most marketable stars of the NCAA’s new NIL era. The young LSU star led her team to their first-ever women’s basketball national championship this year, earning the NCAA tournament’s Most Outstanding Player Award in the process.
Edited by Vaishnavi Iyer
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