Nancy's Bio

Nancy Hogshead is a distinguished three-time Olympic champion, civil rights attorney, and advocate for women in sports. As the Founder and CEO of Champion Women, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing legal advocacy for girls and women in athletics, she champions critical issues such as equal play, protection against sexual harassment, abuse and assault in sports, and the preservation of girls and women’s sports and spaces. Her advocacy also addresses employment rights, sexual orientation, and pregnancy discrimination.

A celebrated keynote speaker and thought leader, Nancy serves in numerous leadership roles and is a respected contributor to national and international sports policy. Her impactful work includes creating a website with data from the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act that makes it easy for athletes, families, media, and sport leaders to see if their school is discriminating, in violation of Title IX: www.TitleIXSchools.com. In 2023, Champion Women filed 101 formal complaints with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, highlighting systemic discrimination against women in collegiate athletics. The complaints were updated in 2024 with graphs, and in 2025, the most recent data reveals a staggering $1,221,479,443 billion in lost women’s scholarship dollars and 221,265 women are being denied the educational opportunity of sport. Learn more about these complaints here: Champion Women Complaints.

Nancy’s legacy includes her remarkable performance at the 1984 Olympics, where she earned three gold medals and one silver medal. A two-time Olympian, she also qualified for the 1980 Games, which the U.S. boycotted. Throughout her eight-year career on the U.S. National Team, she remained undefeated in high school and college dual meets, earning accolades such as the Kiphuth Award for the best all-around swimmer in the United States and the Nathan Mallison Award for Florida’s outstanding athlete. Hogshead has been recognized as one of Florida’s greatest athletes of the 20th Century, she has been inducted into thirteen sports Halls of Fame, including the International Swimming Hall of Fame and the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame.

For over 14 years, Nancy and Champion Women have been at the forefront of efforts to combat sexual abuse in both club and Olympic sports, advocating for landmark federal legislation—including the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and SafeSport Authorization Act (2018) and the Empowering Olympians, Paralympians, and Amateur Athletes Act (2020). Nancy was appointed to a Congressional Commission by Senator Maria Cantwell to serve on reforming the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, generating recommendations currently under legislative review.

An internationally recognized legal authority on sports, Nancy has testified before Congress multiple times and authored numerous scholarly and mainstream articles. Her acclaimed book, Equal Play: Title IX and Social Change, co-authored with Andrew Zimbalist, chronicles the transformative impact of Title IX on American sports. She was the lead author of Pregnant and Parenting Student-Athletes: Resources and Model Policies, published by the NCAA. Nancy’s experience as a tenured professor of law, specializing in Sports Law and Human Rights, further underscores her expertise and dedication to teaching.

As a founding member of the Women’s Sports Policy Working Group, Nancy and Champion Women join other women’s sport leaders in affirming the legality of formal female-only sports.

Her extensive leadership in sport includes participation on the NCAA Task Force on Gender Equity, the boards of Equality League, the Association of Title IX Administrators, and the Aspen Institute’s Sport and Society, as well as the editorial board of the Journal of Intercollegiate Sport and the Executive Committee of the World Olympians Association. She served as Co-Chair of the American Bar Association Committee on the Rights of Women for nine years.

Recognized as a "Power Player" by Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal and named one of the “Most influential figures in the history of Title IX” by Sports Illustrated, Nancy is celebrated for her transformative contributions to sports and women's rights. She has received significant honors from organizations such as the International Olympic Committee, the National Organization for Women, and Women Leaders in College Sports and has been inducted into prestigious Halls of Fame, including the Academic All-America Hall of Fame and the International Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame. Nancy has also received an honorary doctorate from Springfield College in recognition of her unparalleled commitment to women's athletics and advocacy.