Billie Jean King is going to be the first female athlete to receive the Congressional Gold Medal on her own. Athletes such as golfers Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson, and Arnold Palmer, as well as baseball players Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente, have previously received the medal.
Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick from Pennsylvania and Mikie Sherrill from New Jersey declared that their bipartisan legislation had cleared the House and was ready to be signed by President Joe Biden. Moreover, the Senate had previously passed the bill honouring the activist and tennis hall of famer King.
In September last year, the bill was presented in honour of the 50th anniversary of King’s triumph over Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes”, which is still the most-watched tennis match in history.
King received the Presidential Medal of Freedom earlier in the year 2009. Furthermore, Republican Fitzpatrick said: “She has broken barriers, led uncharted paths, and inspired countless people to stand proudly with courage and conviction in the fight for what is right.”
Earlier this month, Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh made the rounds on the web once again when she won the 400 m freestyle at the US Open in North Carolina and set a new record. Catching wind of her achievement, one tennis legend, Billie Jean King, congratulated McIntosh on X (formerly Twitter).
McIntosh back in breaking records
It’s evident how skilled a swimmer 17-year-old Summer McIntosh is from just a glance at her records and titles. McIntosh has been breaking records in the aquatics world since 2021, and at such a young age, she has experienced success and international recognition.
She was Canada’s youngest Olympian at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the youngest World Aquatics champion in over 10 years, and the first Canadian to win two gold medals (200 m butterfly and 400 m individual medley) at FINA World Championship.
And back to compete on a foreign stage, the teen swimming sensation proved that she’s far from done dominating the sport.
McIntosh immediately took hold of the reigns in the beginning stages of the competition, outswimming Ledecky by a mere 0.34 seconds in the first 100 meters. Although this was a fairly close gap, McIntosh refused to relinquish her lead until the end. By the last lap, McIntosh had now expanded the gap between her and Ledecky by as much as two seconds.
McIntosh finished the competition in an astonishing time of 3:59.42, breaking Ledecky’s previous record of 3:59.71, to win the gold medal. Ledecky, on the other hand, finished 2.96 seconds later and finished with a record of 4:03.38. In third place was Siobhan Haughey, who finished with a record of 4:06.32.
McIntosh’s feat earns a nod from BJK
Not one to miss iconic moments, Billie Jean King took to her social media to pen a much-deserved congratulatory message to McIntosh.
“History was made in the pool this past weekend. Cheers to Summer McIntosh, who won the 400m freestyle at the U.S. Open with a lightening fast time of 3:59.42.
Her time beat the previous U.S. Open meet record of 3:59.71.”- Billie Jean King
History was made in the pool this past weekend.
Cheers to Summer McIntosh, who won the 400m freestyle at the U.S. Open with a lightening fast time of 3:59.42.
With an amazing 51-15 record, titles in Washington, Auckland, and Cincinnati, and, of course, her heart-stopping performance at the US Open—her first-ever grand slam victory—Coco Gauff is, hands down, one of the athletes who’s had an outstanding year.
And, owing to her latest feats, the world saw her rise to the No. 3 spot in the WTA rankings, behind only World No. 1 Polish player Iga Swiatek and World No. 2 Belarusian player Aryna Sabalenka.
And naturally, as the spotlight turned to her, the 19-year-old has garnered praise from all over the globe for her athleticism on court, even eliciting nods from tennis icons Billie Jean King, Maria Sharapova, Roger Federer, and, of course, her idol, Serena Williams.
Johnson on Gauff
Billie Jean King: “That Coco won was just amazing. When I see her, she’s the reason we fought so hard 50 years ago. She is truly fantastic for our sport, and I think she is a huge force..She’s really exciting to watch, and she’s a great athlete.”
Maria Sharapova: “I have been saying for years that I think she has the ability to transcend the sport into so many [areas], bridging entertainment, sport and culture, and fashion.”
Roger Federer: Been watching your 🎾 and following you for years. It’s great to see so much hard work and passion being rewarded.
You shine brighter than ever🌟
Inspirational win @CocoGauff 🎉, Been watching your 🎾 and following you for years. It’s great to see so much hard work and passion being rewarded. You shine brighter than ever🌟#TEAM8pic.twitter.com/BmtEnOz9O0
Serena Williams took to her Instagram to congratulate Gauff for her first grand slam win at the US Open, writing, ““Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Amazing!!!!!!!! @cocogauff,”
Michael Johnson adds to the list
But beyond the tennis realm, Gauff’s magnificent play on court has also been lauded by many prominent figures, the latest of which is Michael Johnson, who’s a four-time gold Olympic medalist and eight-time World Champion American sprinter.
On X, Johnson shared a video of Coco Gauff’s latest performance at the WTA finals. The camera was solely focused on the young tennis star as she sparred intensely with Czech tennis player Markéta Vondroušová in Cancun.
Impressed, Johnson captioned it with “The athleticism here is ridiculous. And this doesn’t even show the skill!
The athleticism here is ridiculous. And this doesn’t even show the skill! https://t.co/ZHpXo1D3C9
Numerous fans also agreed with Johnson in the comments section, stating the Gauff was indeed the real deal.
One fan stated, “This video shows the effort it takes to play top level tennis. Also, the skill at being able to hit with such force and keep the ball in play. Coco is the real deal.”
Another fan also noted her remarkable progress over the years, “It’s so awesome to have watched her develop over the years. She keeps getting better. Serena vibes!”
Two days after sixth-seeded American Jessica Pegula lost to Belarus’ second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the women’s final, top-seeded American Taylor Fritz lost to world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the men’s final.
Based on the USTA’s record attendance of 832,640 spectators last year, attendance increased by 8% this year, all thanks to American athletes making it to every singles final. Furthermore, a number of well-known people were sighted at the men’s final, including Taylor Swift, her boyfriend Travis Kelce, and Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs.
The 12th-seeded Fritz became the first American man to go to the final of a Grand Slam event this year since Andy Roddick, who finished second in 2006. He also became the first American man to advance to the final of any major tournament since Roddick’s defeat in the 2009 Wimbledon championship match.
With all the American support and his unfortunate defeat in the finals, the athlete expressed: “I feel like the fans obviously, American fans, been wanting a men’s champion for a long time, and … I’m pretty upset with how I played… I feel like, I don’t know, I feel like I almost let a lot of people down.”
Moreover, with a record $75 million in prize money, Sabalenka and Sinner took home $3.6 million apiece for winning the 2024 US Open.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has announced that the Billie Jean King Cup will be reduced from its current 12-team competition to an eight-team event in 2025. This is to replicate the current Davis Cup playing structure.
This change aims to bring the international team competitions in both women’s and men’s tennis closer together. In order to make this transition, the 2025 competition qualifiers will play across seven group events in April, with three teams in each group.
The round-robin competition style will be implemented in the course of three days of events that will all take place in one location. A host country will compete in the finals alongside seven group winners.
Furthermore, home-and-away matches will be reinstated in the qualifying matches starting 2026.
ITF president David Haggerty said: “I am excited for the future of both competitions… The format amendments aim to build on the success we have seen across both events in recent years and contribute towards our long-term ambition to bring them more in sync under the World Cup of Tennis banner.”
Meanwhile, the September stage of the Davis Cup in 2025 will consist of seven home-or-away matches in the course of two days instead of the current four group-stage matches spread over six days. The seven winning teams will compete in the final eight against a host country in November.
Jasmine Paolini defeated Rebecca Sramkova 6-2, 6-1 in the second singles match to complete a 2-0 victory against Slovakia in the finals of the Billie Jean King Cup, leading Italy to their fifth victory title.
After she won, the athlete said: “It’s unbelievable, amazing, I don’t have words to describe how I feel right now, it’s just incredible.”
She added: “I think we played an unbelievable week and I’m so proud of how we did it in every match. I’m very happy that this year we finally were able to bring the title back to Italy.”
In a social media post, Paolini shared: “WORLD CHAMPIONS!! 🇮🇹 Fantastic to be part of this team, an incredible victory together!! 🏆💪🏾”
In last year’s final in Seville, Paolini lost to Leylah Fernandez of Canada 6-2, 6-3.
Reflecting on last year’s performance, she stated: “I think last year Leylah (Fernandez) played really well, she played better than me. That’s the way it is sometimes in sports…. Today when I stepped on court I told myself that I was going to give 100 percent… If you win, you win. But if you lose you have to accept that. We are going to fight for every ball and today it went well for us.”
Italy was put on the road to victory by Lucia Bronzetti who, playing only her second BJK Cup singles match, defeated Viktoria Hruncakova 6-2, 6-4.
Bronzetti stated: “I’m very proud to be here, to represent Italy, I’m so happy for this win… It was not as easy as it may have looked. We are in the final so every match is tough. I’m very happy to have earned the point for Italy.”
