From Tennis Now | @Tennis_Now | Friday, September 27, 2024
Photo: Mike Lawrence/USTA/US Open
It’s a golden year for the iconic Hall of Famer Billie Jean King.
King made history as the first female athlete to win the Congressional Gold Medal. The legislation was signed by President Biden after passing both houses of Congress.
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Yesterday, President Biden signed legislation to award Billie Jean King the Congressional Gold Medal, following passage of the bill in the Senate and House of Representatives, making her the first individual female athlete to receive the honor.
The legislation (S. 2861) was first introduced in the House of Representatives (HR 1831) in March 2023 by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Democratic co-leader Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), “To present a Congressional Gold Medal to Billie Jean King, an American icon, in recognition of an extraordinary life dedicated to the defense of equal rights for all, in sports and in society.
The bill passed unanimously in the Senate in May of this year, through the leadership of Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), and in the House of Representatives earlier this month. .
Before Billie Jean King was awarded this distinction, 11 individual athletes (as well as the 1980 US Olympic team) had received the Congressional Gold Medal, but all had been men.
The introduction of the legislation in 2023 coincided with the USTA’s celebration of 50 years of equal awarding at the US Open. In 1973, the US Open became the first sporting event in history to offer equal prize money to male and female competitors, with each competing for total purses of $100,000, including a $25,000 payout to the men’s champion and single women.
“The passage of the Congressional Gold Medal legislation through Congress and its signing into law by the President represents the culmination of a long building process to recognize and honor Billie Jean King for her lifelong struggle and to promote equality in this country ,” said Dr. Brian Hainline, Chairman and President, USTA “Billie is one of the greatest athletes and ambassadors the sport of tennis has ever seen, and her impact off the court is even greater than her performance on it.
“The USTA would like to thank the members of Congress who made this a reality, as well as the President for signing this legislation, as Billie Jean King has now broken another barrier to become the first individual athlete to be awarded Congressional Gold. Medal”.
Billie Jean King pioneered equal pay when she won the women’s singles title at the 1972 US Open and unequivocally demanded that the next year’s US Open pay men’s and women’s players equally. King’s ultimatum set the tone for an important year ahead, which first saw the formation of the Women’s Tennis Association.
After achieving equal pay at the 1973 US Open, King then defeated Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes” match at the iconic Astrodome in Houston, a match that helped spur the women’s movement in both sports and society. and still remains the highest. -I have seen tennis matches sometimes.
