Simone Biles’ success at the 2024 Olympic Games spurred her to new levels of fame, but the artistic gymnast has a way to go to eclipse some of the titans of women’s sport after Forbes revealed she earned less than Venus Williams.
Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam singles champion in tennis, earned $12.1 million in 2024 although most came from off-court interests after she entered just two tournaments in her sport.
The 44-year-old took just $100,000 from serving aces and hitting returns, highlighting her impressive marketability and endorsements and demonstrating how much money is actually in the image of a star athlete.
Williams, who is the older sister of Serena, also does a lot of public speaking and serves as an ambassador for numerous brands and made an impressive return to the Forbes Top 10 list, seven years on from her last Grand Slam singles final.
Biles comes in at 10th place on the list with $11.2 million made through the year, with just $200,000 coming from her efforts with Team USA at the Summer Games in Paris, France, where she took three gold medals.
Who tops the Forbes Top 10 list?
There are countless stars in women’s sports at the moment as it enjoys a world-wide purple patch and continues to explode in popularity across the likes of gymnastics, basketball and soccer.
But it’s another tennis star who tops the list, and one looking to surpass the legacy of the Williams sisters she draws so much inspiration from too as Forbes put Coco Gauff top of the pile.
The 20-year-old from Atlanta, who won the 2023 US Open and made the final of Wimbledon in 2024, earned an astonishing $34.4 million dollars across the past 12 months to make sure she has a nice cash kitty for Christmas gifts.
In order, Gauff beat: Iga Swiatek (tennis), Eileen Gu (freestyle skiing), Zheng Qinwen (tennis) Aryna Sabalenka (tennis), Naomi Osaka (tennis), Emma Raducanu (tennis), Nelly Korda (golf), Venus Williams (tennis) and Simone Biles (gymnastics).
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