These athletes and leaders are breaking barriers

Just a game? Not for these young all-stars who are fearlessly leading sports into the future.

By Brett Knight, Justin Birnbaum and Angelica Deleon

ONEspoon the worst advice she’s ever received, the 28-year-old Olympic rugby sensation Ilona Maher says, “Tone down.” For ScorePlay’s 28-year-old CEO, Victoria Tixierit is “be realistic,” and for Erica Kontosa 28-year-old member of the NBA’s international media team, it’s “just adapted to fit in.” Carlin Hudsona 28-year-old former professional soccer player, however, might have received the worst wisdom of all: “Good things come to those who wait.”

For all four, going against the grain has paid off. Maher loudly and proudly led the United States to a bronze medal in Paris this summer, pushing her TikTok follower count past 3 million and securing a spot on ABC’s Dancing with the stars. Tixier – with his co-founder, Xavier Green29—has built a platform that helps 170 sports organizations manage and distribute media content, and Kontos is bringing the NBA to new countries and in new languages. As for Hudson, she now plays a key strategic role for the National Women’s Soccer League.

All of these rising stars are among the gifted athletes, inventive founders and savvy business people who landed on the 2025 Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the Sports category, a group that also includes such sportsmen as the Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum26; The San Francisco 49ers are running back Christian McCaffrey28; and Indiana Fever phenomenon Caitlin Clark, 22.

Candidates – who should be 29 or younger per 31 December 2024, and which could not previously have been named on a Forbes 30 Under 30 continental list – was reviewed by a judging panel of some of the biggest players in the world of sports: Keia ClarkeCEO of the WNBA’s New York Liberty; Jahm Najafico-founder of private equity firm MSP Sports Capital; Vijay Srinivasanco-founder of Major League Cricket; and Lindsey Vonnthe entrepreneur and legendary skier who himself was a member of the 30 Under 30 class in 2014.

One of the new honorees is 25 years old Mondo Duplantisa Louisiana-born pole vaulter who competes internationally for his mother’s native Sweden and has broken the world record 10 times in his career. But he is not the only one raising the bar.

Mallory SwansonThe 26-year-old, who scored the gold medal-winning goal for the US women’s national soccer team at the Paris Olympics, owns the NWSL’s biggest contract, reportedly worth more than $2 million over five years. Erin Matson24, who won four national championships as a field hockey player at the University of North Carolina, transitioned to coaching at age 22 and won another title in his first season leading the program. Haley and Hanna Cavinder, The 23-year-old twin guards from the University of Miami women’s basketball team have become the faces of the NCAA’s NIL era, getting endorsement deals on their social media accounts of more than 6 million and launching their own brands.

Meanwhile Kelsie Whitmore26, is the first female baseball player to appear in Atlantic League and Pioneer League games, and Laila Edwards20, is the first black woman to suit up for the US senior national ice hockey team.

Inclusion was a broader theme on this year’s list. Saroya Tinker26, who was the first black hockey player at Yale, now leads diversity initiatives for the PWHL and runs the nonprofit advocacy group Black Girl Hockey Club Canada. HoopQueen’s founder Nakissa Koomalsingh29, is the organizer of Canada’s first professional women’s basketball league and vice-president of Inner Circle Sports Maddie Winslow29, aims to demonstrate the financial viability of women’s sports through its investment banking advisory services.

In total, the 30 Under 30 Sports class of 2025 features 22 women and 16 people of color.

Like her fellow honorees, Matson, the field hockey coach, shared the worst advice she’s received: “Defense wins championships.” (She prefers to stay on the attack and dictate the action.) When asked what advice she would give her 18-year-old self, however, Matson offers a more universal sentiment — one that could serve as a motto for the 30 Under 30 list .

“If you think a goal is ambitious, I dare you to think bigger,” she says. “Don’t for one second let outside voices and opinions turn you off your path. You will never be criticized by someone who does more than you; you will only be criticized by those who do less.

“Stay the course and keep chasing your dreams without apology. Trust me, you’d be shocked to see where you get and how many people you take with you.”

For the complete 2025 30 Under 30 Sports list, click hereand for full 30 Under 30 coverage, click here.

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