The life of a female athlete isn’t easy. Just ask Danica Patrick.

The 33-year-old is the most successful woman in the history of American racing. Her win in the 2008 Indy Japan 300 is the only women’s victory in IndyCar series history. Her legend continued to grow after finishing third in the 2009 Indy 500.

Since then, nothing.

Four years and 118 races into her NASCAR Sprint Cup series career, Patrick's amassed zero wins. Five years and 61 races into her NASCAR Xfinity series career, another zero wins.

And yet, despite being irrelevant on the track, Patrick still gets all of the attention.

It’s the unfortunate double standard of a female athlete. Winning doesn’t matter as much as this:

The theory holds true for a vast majority of the female athletes on Yahoo’s list.

Ronda Rousey -- a surprising No. 1 -- suffered her first defeat to Holly Holm, who didn’t make the cut. Maria Sharapova is no Serena Williams, and neither is Ana Ivanovic.

Even Lindsey Vonn benefitted from a tumultuous relationship with Tiger Woods, who ironically enough is No. 6 on Yahoo’s list.

Then again, it’s a double standard that has its perks. In Patrick’s case, millions of dollars worth of perks.

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