Billie Jean King is known for many things. A legendary tennis player who has won 39 Grand Slam Titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles. A women’s rights advocate who has made strides to move women’s sports along. Now, the icon can be known as a Congressional Gold Medal recipient.
The award, which she announced on her Instagram page in September, honors the 80-year-old’s legacy and makes King the first individual female athlete to be awarded the medal.
Eleven individual athletes, including the 1980 US Olympic team, had previously been awarded the medal — all men.
The president signed the bipartisan legislation into law on Sept. 26, recognizing a “remarkable life devoted to championing equal rights for all, in sports and in society.”
The Battle of the Sexes
With all of her accomplishments, King may be best known for her participation in the “Battle of the Sexes.” The famous tennis match between King and Bobby Riggs took place on Sept. 20, 1973, at the Houston Astrodome. Riggs, a retired men’s player, said that women’s tennis game was inferior to the men’s. So inferior, in fact, that even a man his age — he was 55 — could beat the top female players of the time.
Photo Courtesy Wikimedia Commons
An estimated 90 million people worldwide tuned in to watch King and Riggs play each other. It is one of the most-watched TV sporting events of all time. The final scores were 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, in favor of King over Riggs. A 2017 movie by the same name was made, dramatizing the historic match.
Icon In Women’s Sports
King had just as many influential achievements off the court as she did on it. She was instrumental in pushing for equal prize money for female players, and she founded the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) in 1973 and was its first president. The WTA, which is the principal organizing body of women’s professional tennis, is a global leader in women’s professional sports.
“She brought the idea of equality in women’s sports,” California Rep. Robert Garcia told NBCLA.
King also advocated for the passage of Title IX, testifying on Capitol Hill. The groundbreaking legislation, signed into law in 1972, ensures equal funding for men’s and women’s sports programs in schools and colleges nationwide.
Photo Courtesy Kelly Sikkema
Title IX states, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
The law’s impact has reverberated through athletics. According to King’s official website, due to Title IX, “female participation at the high school level has grown by 1,057% and by 614% at the college
level.”“Billie is one of the greatest athletes and ambassadors tennis has ever seen, but her impact off the court is even greater than her performance on it,” Brian Hainline, chairman and president of the United States Tennis Association, told Reuters. “She has broken yet another barrier with this award.”