By Alexandra York, Sofia Chierchio and Kyle Khan-Mullins

Search “Ellie Kildunne” on YouTube, and you’ll be hit with hours of highlights from what video titles tout as “the best,” “outrageous,” and “most explosive in the game.” Love for the 26-year-old English rugby Fullback runs deep. But even with professional experience that stretches back to 2017 (when she was just 18), the last two years have catapulted Kildunne to new levels of acclaim. In 2024, she was named the World’s Women’s Rugby Player of the Year, won the Six Nations Grand Slam, and made her Olympic debut in Paris. In 2025 she led her national team to win the World Cup championship and was named BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year Runner-Up. And this year, King Charles himself honored her with an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for her contributions to the sport.

The accolades go on—she even has a Barbie in her likeness—but Kildunne has no plans to take her eyes off the pitch.

“I don't get much time to sit and reflect and digest everything that has happened, because I still think that the best is yet to come,” Kildunne says. “I started for the love of scoring tries [points] and running around people—and that still definitely remains. But as all of this has happened, it stood out to me that what I'm doing is bigger than what I could have ever imagined. I can inspire so many more people and I can really make change.”

While she’s in it for the love of rugby, Kildunne understands that becoming her own brand is a major factor for female athletes’ earnings today. She and her peers are only able to play their sport full-time thanks to the brand deals and sponsorships they’ve signed, she says. “It'd be very naive of me to say that people don't do the brand deals for money,” she adds. “I don't do the rugby for money, but the brand deals, obviously there's a side of that.”

She’s careful about what she says yes to. Today, her work off the pitch includes a partnership with Canterbury—one of the world’s largest rugby brands—whith whom she designed her signature cleats (or, as they say in Britain, boots) and apparel. She hosts a Spotify podcast called “Rugby Rodeo,” with her teammate. And she published a book just last week—she told Forbes that she didn’t want it to be a memoir (she’s only 26, afterall) but a “self-help” book in the hopes that it’ll allow others to feel less alone.

Kildunne may be the face of the 2026 Under 30 Europe sports category, but she’s not the only female athlete on the list making a name for herself on the global sports stage. Take Dominique Malonga, the now 20-year-old who made history last April as the youngest player ever drafted into the WNBA (at the no. 2 overall pick). The French native quickly became the youngest player in league history to reach 100 career points when she was still 19. Meanwhile, Swiss soccer forward Alisha Lehmann, 27, completed a high-profile move to WSL club Leicester City in early 2026 after stints with FC Como and a title-winning run at Juventus. Lehmann is one of the most-followed athletes on social media, too, generating a loyal fan base of more than 27 million followers across Instagram and TikTok alone.

This year’s list also highlights two sailing athletes: Spain’s Marta Cardona Alcántara, 20, won both World and European titles in the Mixed 470 class during her first senior season, while France’s Violette Dorange, 24, became the youngest ever finisher in the Vendée Globe—a solo non-stop sailing race around the world—finishing in just over 90 days.

Elsewhere, the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics brought several standout performances across winter sports: Dutch speed skater Jutta Leerdam, 27, set an Olympic record while winning gold in women’s 1000m. Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, 29, won all six of his events, bringing his career total to 11 gold medals and becoming the most decorated Winter Olympian ever. Nordic combined skier Jens Lurås Oftebro, 25, also swept his discipline, adding three more golds to Norway’s record-breaking total.

Within the realm of esports, several professional gamers made the list—like Benjy Fish, 22, who is a member of the 2025 Valorant Esports World Cup championship team. And France’s Hélène Choyer, 28, and Britain’s Baudelaire Welch, 27, represent the folks behind the scenes, composing original music and designing compelling narratives and plotlines, respectively, for blockbuster gaming titles.

And it wouldn’t be a Forbes list without a plethora of founders bringing their entrepreneurial spirit to sports, gaming and even tunnel ‘fits. Finns Taavi Paananen, 23, and Matias Varjonen, 24, co-created the AI Innovation Lab at mobile gaming giant Supercell, helping incubate multiple AI game projects. Over in London, Antonia Bronze, 27, is making her mark on fashion via custom jackets and other apparel for athletes like footballer Lionel Messi and collaborations with Nike and Puma.

Across much of the Under 30 Europe Class of 2026, listers aren’t just thinking about succeeding in present day but finding ways to build for the future: “It’s about who I align with most, who gives me the freedom to be creative and be myself.” says Kildunne. “That way when I do finish my career, I've got a CV of skills that I've learned, people that I've met, and rooms that I've been in.”

To select the 2026 honorees, Forbes collected nominations from Under 30 alumni and the public, conducted our own research and tapped the expertise of independent judges: Nick Bitel, CEO of the London Marathon Group; Takumi Jeannin, Partner, A&V Sports Group; Fabian Kamberi, Founder, Born; and Alessia Russo, Forward, England’s Women's National Football Team. All candidates in this year’s class must have been 29 or younger as of April 14, 2026 and never before named to a Europe, North America or Asia 30 Under 30 list.

This year’s list was edited by Alexandra York, Sofia Chierchio and Kyle Khan-Mullins. For a link to our complete 2026 Under 30 Europe Sports & Games list, click here, and for full 2026 30 Under 30 Europe coverage, click here.

30 UNDER 30 RELATED ARTICLES

ForbesBy The Numbers: Meet The Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe Class Of 2026ForbesHow We Make The Forbes Under 30 Europe ListBy Alexandra YorkForbes30 Under 30 Art & Culture 2026: Meet The Artists, Founders And Designers Defining A New Creative StandardBy Brianne GarrettForbes30 Under 30 Europe Retail & Ecommerce 2026: Young Entrepreneurs Shaping The Ways We ShopBy Katherine LoveForbes30 Under 30 Europe Social Impact 2026: Turning Innovation Into Social ProgressBy Brianne Garrett