94% of women CEOs have something in common -- and it's not what you think.

From the Field to the Boardroom: Why 94% of Women CEOs Have a Secret Weapon
By Anita L. DeFrantz

On March 20, 2025, history was made in Costa Navarino, Greece. Kirsty Coventry, a seven-time Olympic swimming medalist from Zimbabwe, became the first woman and first African elected as President of the International Olympic Committee in its 131-year history. At 41, she shattered one of the highest glass ceilings in global sport governance.

As I watched Kirsty's election unfold, having served alongside her as an IOC member and Executive Board colleague; I reflected on a striking piece of research that recently crossed my desk. According to a 2015 study by EY and espnW, 94% of women in C-suite positions played sports, with 52% competing at the collegiate level. Even more telling, 80% of Fortune 500 female executives had athletic backgrounds.

This isn't coincidence. It's a blueprint.

The Playing Field as Leadership Laboratory

When I first gripped an oar as a college student at Connecticut College in the early 1970s, I had no aspirations of Olympic glory or boardroom influence. I was simply a tall young woman trying something new. But that rowing shell became my first real classroom in leadership: far more formative than any course I'd take at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

In 1976, I had the honor of captaining the U.S. women's rowing team at the Montreal Olympics, where we won bronze in the inaugural women's eight event. What people often miss when they see that medal is what happened in the months and years leading up to those six minutes on the water. We learned to move as one despite our differences, to push through pain when our bodies screamed for relief, to trust our teammates implicitly when the race got hard, and to make split-second strategic decisions while our lungs burned and our muscles trembled.

These weren't just athletic skills. They were governance competencies in disguise.


Four Lessons the Playing Field Teaches That Boardrooms Desperately Need

1. High-Stakes Decision Making Under Pressure

In sports, you learn to think clearly when the stakes are highest and time is shortest. A wrong decision in the middle of a race can't be undone. Similarly, in the boardroom, directors must evaluate complex scenarios: a merger proposal, a CEO succession, a crisis response; often with incomplete information and compressed timelines.

The just-released Women Business Collaborative 2025 report on women CEOs underscores how sports instill "critical leadership traits -- discipline, teamwork, resilience, and strategic decision-making -- that translate directly into business success." After 26 years serving on the board of Western Asset Management, I can attest that the composure I developed during Olympic competition serves me every time we face market volatility or strategic inflection points.

2. True Teamwork Transcends Ego

In a rowing shell, one person cannot carry the boat. Eight rowers must synchronize perfectly, subordinating individual timing to the collective rhythm. The strongest rower in the boat may not sit in the most visible seat, but she's no less essential to success.

Effective boards operate on the same principle. Directors bring different expertise: financial, operational, technological, legal; but the board's power lies in its collective judgment, not any individual's brilliance. The best board discussions I've participated in are when we've challenged each other respectfully, listened deeply, and reached decisions that none of us would have made alone.

When Kirsty Coventry took the IOC helm in June, she inherited a complex global organization navigating geopolitical tensions, technological disruption, and evolving stakeholder expectations. Her success will depend not on her individual prowess, but on her ability to forge consensus among 100+ IOC members from diverse backgrounds...the ultimate team sport.

3. Resilience Is Built Through Repeated Failure

Athletes lose far more often than they win. I qualified for the 1980 Olympics, trained for years, and then watched my dreams evaporate due to the U.S. boycott of the Moscow Games. It was devastating. But it taught me something crucial: setbacks don't define you...your response to them does.

Corporate boards need directors who've experienced real adversity and emerged stronger. Directors who've only known success often lack the resilience to guide companies through genuine crises. The boardroom doesn't need people who panic at the first sign of turbulence; it needs people who've learned to steady the boat in rough water because they've capsized before.

4. Discipline Creates Freedom

The paradox of elite athletics is that the more disciplined your preparation, the more freedom you have in performance. Hours of repetitive training translate to instinctive execution when it matters most. You don't have to think about your stroke technique during the race, it's ingrained: so you can focus on strategy, competition, and adaptation.

In governance, this translates to directors who've done the work. They've read the board materials thoroughly. They understand the industry context. They've built relationships with management and fellow directors between meetings. When crisis strikes or opportunity emerges, they're not scrambling to get up to speed; they're ready to lead.

The Pipeline Problem We Must Address

Here's what troubles me: while 94% of women C-suite executives played sports, we're still not seeing enough women in the C-suite or in boardrooms. Women represent only 9.2% of CEOs across Fortune 1000, S&P 500, Russell 3000, and large private companies, according to the Women Business Collaborative's latest report. And despite improvements, women still hold only about 30% of Fortune 500 board seats.

The talent is there. The training is there. But the pathway remains obstructed.

For decades at the LA84 Foundation, where I served as president from 1987 to 2015, we invested more than $250 million in youth sports programs across Southern California. We knew then what the research confirms now: girls who play sports develop the confidence, competitiveness, and leadership skills that translate directly to professional success.

Yet girls drop out of sports at alarming rates during adolescence, precisely when these leadership lessons become most crucial. Research from the Women's Sports Foundation shows that the longer someone plays sports, the more likely they are to hold formal leadership roles. We're losing future board members and CEOs because we're not keeping girls in the game.

What Boards Should Do Differently

Actively recruit athletes. When identifying candidates for board positions, ask about athletic backgrounds. The skills are transferable, the mindset is invaluable, and you may discover exceptional talent that traditional recruitment methods miss.

Value diverse forms of excellence. A woman who captained her college basketball team may not have a traditional finance background, but she brings strategic thinking, team dynamics, and high-pressure decision-making experience that can't be learned in a classroom or corner office.

Support Title IX and youth sports access. Corporate commitment to girls' sports isn't charity: it's talent development for your future leadership pipeline. Companies that sponsor girls' sports programs today are investing in the directors and executives they'll need tomorrow.

Recognize that governance itself is a team sport. The best boards, like the best teams, combine complementary strengths. Don't just look for people who've already been directors or CEOs. Look for people who know how to be excellent teammates in high-stakes environments.

The Coventry Moment

When Kirsty Coventry stood at that podium in Greece as the newly elected IOC President, she said something that resonated deeply with me: "Glass ceilings have been shattered today, and I am fully aware of my responsibilities as a role model."

She's right. But here's what I want every corporate board to understand: Kirsty didn't shatter that ceiling despite being an athlete. She shattered it because she was an athlete. The discipline, resilience, strategic thinking, and collaborative leadership she developed in the pool prepared her to lead one of the world's most complex global organizations.

The question isn't whether athletes can make great leaders. The research is clear: they already do. The question is whether boardrooms are ready to recognize this talent and recruit accordingly.

I've spent nearly five decades moving between the world of Olympic sport and the world of corporate governance. I can tell you with absolute certainty: they're not as different as people think. Both require strategic thinking, collaborative excellence, resilience under pressure, and the ability to subordinate ego to collective success.

The 94% isn't a statistic. It's a signal. Boards that learn to read it, and act on it...will find themselves with a significant competitive advantage in the years ahead.
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Anita L. DeFrantz is a 1976 Olympic bronze medalist in rowing, attorney, and member of the International Olympic Committee since 1986. She served as the first woman elected Vice President of the IOC and has been a director of Western Asset Management since 1999. She is the founder and president of The Tubman Truth Project.