Billie Jean King becomes first solo female athlete to win Congressional Gold Medal

Billie Jean King has been recognized yet again for her irreplaceable impact on women’s sports.

The tennis legend was officially awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on Friday, making her the first individual female athlete to receive the honor. The bill behind her nomination specifically recognizes “her courageous and groundbreaking leadership in advancing equal rights for women in athletics, education, and society.”

That bill was first introduced on Sept. 20, 2023, the 50th anniversary of the “Battle of the Sexes,” in which King defeated former men’s No. 1 Bobby Riggs in the most-watched tennis match 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 prevented from competing in the Games due to the American-led boycott of the Soviet Union host.

The full list of athletes to win the Congressional Gold Medal are:

1. Roberto Clemente (1973)

2. 1980 US Summer Olympic Team (1980)

3. Joe Louis (1982)

4. Jesse Owens (1988)

5. Jackie Robinson (2003)

6. Byron Nelson (2006)

7. Arnold Palmer (2009)

8. Jack Nicklaus (2014)

9. Larry Doby (2018)

10. Steve Gleason (2019)

11. Greg LeMond (2020)

12. Willie O’Ree (2022)

13. Billie Jean King (2024)

King was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama in 2009. She was the first female athlete to win that award as well. Before King, only five other athletes had won both the Medal of Freedom 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 made a bigger mark on women’s sports than the 80-year-old King. Her legacy goes far beyond her excellence on the court, which includes 39 Grand Slam titles (12 in singles, 16 in doubles and 11 in mixed doubles).

The field of women’s sports would be unrecognizable today had it not been for King’s founding of the Virginia Slims Circuit, and later the WTA. Frustrated with the pay disparity between men and women in tennis, King and eight other athletes formed the breakaway tour and found financial success with their own sponsors and television partners. King’s win 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 from other sports.

King has also been widely recognized as a pioneer for the LGBTQ community, confirming her identity as a lesbian in 1981 and serving as a symbol for gay rights since.