CNN —Legendary tennis player and women’s rights advocate Billie Jean King became the first individual female athlete to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, she announced in an Instagram post on Friday.
Nine individual athletes, as well as the 1980 US Olympic team, had previously been awarded the Congressional Gold Medal which is Congress’ most prestigious way of recognizing someone’s achievements.
Billie Jean King in action at Wimbledon in 1965.
A longtime advocate for equal rights, King was also instrumental in pushing for equal prize money and forming the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) in 1973 which gave female tennis players “one voice, and power to negotiate,” she told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in 2023.
Outside tennis, she advocated for the passage of Title IX, a law that ensures equal funding for men’s and women’s sports programs in schools and colleges.
Persons:
Billie Jean King, Joe Biden, Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, Jack Nicklaus, Terry Fincher, King, chauvinist, Bobby Riggs, ”, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Billie, Brian Hainline
Organizations:
CNN, Olympic, Wimbledon, Daily, Tennis Association, men’s, USTA, Reuters
Locations:
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