by Billie Jean King has once again been recognized for her irreplaceable impact on women’s sports.
The tennis legend officially received the Congressional Gold Medal on Friday, making her the first female athlete to receive the honor. The bill underpinning her nomination specifically recognizes “her courageous and innovative leadership in promoting equal rights for women in sport, education and society.”
This bill was first introduced on September 20, 2023, the 50th anniversary of the “Battle of the Sexes”, in which King defeated former male number one Bobby Riggs in the match of most watched tennis of all time.
Before King, the only women to win the award were the female members of the 1980 U.S. Olympic team, who were unable to compete in the Games due to the U.S.-led boycott of the host Soviet Union.
The full list of athletes who won the Congress Gold Medal is as follows:
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Roberto Clemente (1973)
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1980 US Summer Olympic Team (1980)
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Joe Louis (1982)
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Jesse Owens (1988)
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Jackie Robinson (2003)
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Byron Nelson (2006)
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Arnold Palmer (2009)
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Jack Nicklaus (2014)
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Larry Doby (2018)
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Steve Gleason (2019)
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Greg LeMond (2020)
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Willie O’Ree (2022)
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Billie Jean King (2024)
King also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama in 2009. She was also the first female athlete to win this award. Before King, only five other athletes had won both the Freedom Medal and the Congressional Gold Medal: Clemente, Owens, Robinson, Palmer and Nicklaus.
Billie Jean King fought for equal pay and won
It’s hard to think of a single person who has left a bigger mark on women’s sports than the 80-year-old King. His legacy goes far beyond his excellence on the court, which includes 39 Grand Slam titles (12 singles, 16 doubles and 11 mixed doubles).
The field of women’s sports would be unrecognizable today without King’s founding of the Virginia Slims Circuit, and later the WTA. Frustrated by the pay disparity between men and women in tennis, King and eight other athletes formed the Separatist Tour and found financial success with their own sponsors and television partners. King’s victory in the “Battle of the Sexes” was also a landmark moment for women’s sports.
Today, all major tennis tournaments award equal prize money to men and women, an aberration compared to other sports.
King was also widely recognized as a pioneer in the LGBTQ community, confirming her identity as a lesbian in 1981 and serving as a symbol of gay rights ever since.
