Who is Britain's greatest ever sportswoman?

10 Kelly Smith (Football, 117 England caps, 46 goals)

She might not have achieved huge success on the international stage, but women’s football would almost certainly not enjoy the profile it has today had it not been for Smith, a striker who continues to play with Arsenal at the age of 36.

As the first high-profile British player to play professionally in the United States, Smith, who is England’s all-time record goalscorer, blazed a trail for others to follow. Respected Dutch coach, Vera Pauw, described her as “the best player in the world” in 2007.

9 Laura Davies (Golf, 4 Major titles, 85 professional victories)

As the most successful British female golfer of modern times, Davies has claimed 85 professional titles, including four Majors. She was the first non-American to finish at the top of the LPGA money list, and also won the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit a record seven times.

She never claimed a Women’s British Open title – her best finish was eighth – but she was a member of four successful European Solheim Cup teams and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame earlier this year. She was also the first woman to compete on the men’s European Tour.

8 Kelly Holmes (Athletics, 2 Olympic golds)

Her athletics career stretched for more than a decade, but Holmes is best remembered for one golden week in 2004 when she claimed both the 800m and 1,500m Olympic gold medals in Athens. Those performances make her Britain’s greatest ever female middle-distance runner.

She also claimed two World Championships silver medals and two Commonwealth titles, and her athletics achievements are especially notable as she combined her running with a successful career in the Army that saw her rise to the rank of Sergeant.

7 Paula Radcliffe (Athletics, 1 World title, 1 World record)

The current controversy about her past blood results should not detract from the extent of Radcliffe’s achievements during a stellar career that saw her win a World Championships silver on the track before switching to the road to win a world title in the marathon.

Her greatest ever performance saw her shatter the marathon world record in one of her three London Marathon victories – she also won a Great North Run – but her struggles in the Olympics, most notably when she failed to finish the marathon in Athens in 2004, were a rare down point.

6 Katherine Grainger (Rowing, 1 Olympic gold, 6 World titles)

‘If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again’. That could have been penned for Grainger, Britain’s jointly most decorated Olympian who won silver medals at three successive Games (Sydney, Athens, Beijing) before finally triumphing in the double sculls at London 2012.

That victory crowns a career that has seen Grainger claim six World titles and become Britain’s greatest ever female rower. Having initially retired after London, she has returned to the water in an attempt to claim a final Olympic medal at next year’s Games in Rio.

5 Christine Ohuruogu (Athletics, 1 Olympic gold, 2 World titles)

She doesn’t always get the recognition she deserves, but over a six-year period, Ohuruogu established herself as an all-time great as she claimed two World 400m titles and an Olympic gold medal.

The Olympic success, which came in Beijing, was followed by a silver medal at London 2012, an achievement that boasted a special resonance as Ohuruogu was born and raised less than a mile from the Olympic Stadium in Stratford. Her fast-finishing style meant she was always thrilling to watch, and she was the first British female athlete to win three global titles.

4 Virginia Wade (Tennis, Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open champion)

Wade’s three Grand Slam titles elevate her to the very highest echelon of British sporting success, and over a career that spanned more than two decades she also won four Grand Slam doubles titles and rose to number two in the World rankings.

She is the only British woman to have won titles at all four Grand Slam tournaments, and was part of a golden period of women’s tennis that featured the likes of Chris Evert, Betty Stove, who she beat in the Wimbledon final, Evonne Goolagong and Margaret Court.

3 Tanni Grey-Thompson (Disability sport, 11 Paralympic golds, 6 World titles, 30 World records)

As Britain’s most successful Paralympian, Grey-Thompson was a pioneering figure in the development of disability sport. She won four Paralympic golds at the 1992 Games in Barcelona, one at Atlanta in 96, four in Sydney in 2000 and signed off her career with another two titles in Athens.

Predominantly competing over a range of distances from 100m to 800m, she also held 30 World records and won six London Marathon titles. She was competing at a time when Paralympic sport was not as competitive as it is now, but her achievements are still remarkable.

2 Jessica Ennis-Hill (1 Olympic gold, 2 World titles)

Last month’s World title in Beijing cemented Ennis-Hill’s status as Britain’s greatest female athlete of all time. It was her second world crown in the heptathlon, to go along with the Olympic title she claimed so thrillingly at London 2012.

The breadth of her athletic ability makes her stand out, as she has claimed British records in four different disciplines and would be one of the leading 100m hurdlers in the world if she was not a heptathlete. She coped with the pressure of being the poster girl for the London Games, and won her latest world title despite having only recently given birth to a son.

1 Victoria Pendleton (Cycling, 2 Olympic golds, 10 World titles)

In terms of dominating her sport at the very highest level, no other British sportswoman can match Pendleton. With two golds and one silver medal, the track cyclist is Britain’s most successful female Olympian, with her titles coming in the sprint in Beijing and the keirin at London 2012.

She won ten World titles in the sprint, team sprint, keirin and time trial, and was at the heart of a transformation in British female cycling that has seen a succession of future champions follow in her wake.  A former student at Northumbria University, she took British women’s cycling to a level few could have imagined.

Who narrowly missed out?

Sally Gunnell, Denise Lewis, Anita Lonsborough, Charlotte Edwards, Rebecca Adlington, Nicola Adams, Charlotte Dujardin, Amy Williams, Mary Rand, Beth Tweddle.