Outside Magazine

Our annual Outsiders of the Year list honors the most influential people changing our outdoor world. For 2019, our staff and contributors nominated an original list of 81 candidates, then got busy whittling them down to a select few. The U.S. women’s national soccer team handily won the top spot, not only bringing home their second consecutive World Cup victory, but fighting a battle for gender equality at the same time. Others making the final cut include the teenage leader of a global climate movement; a mountain biker who’s breaking America’s long dry spell on the World Cup circuit; a Nepali climber who’s shattering a mountaineering speed record, and many more. Here are the athletes, entrepreneurs, activists, and creatives who blew up the status quo in 2019.

U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team

Athletes Dominating the Pitch and Fighting for Equality 

They move across the field as one, shifting with the ball, actions precisely calibrated. A beautiful, brutally efficient machine. And an unbeatable one.