The “Battle of the Sexes” was a landmark tennis competition watched by 90 million spectators worldwide. When Bobby Riggs, a self-proclaimed male chauvinist provocateur and former Wimbledon tennis champion, made incendiary comments that women’s tennis was an inferior sport, 29-year-old Billie Jean King accepted his challenge to a match in order to defend the dignity of female athletes and women’s sports. Considered one of the most important cultural events of the 20th century, on September 20, 1973, King trounced Riggs in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, and 6-3.
Billie Jean King proved that women could compete on and off the court, which legitimized the newly formed women’s professional tennis tours and led to the creation of the Women’s Tennis Association. Her win coincided perfectly with the era of Title IX legislation, which expanded the playing field by guaranteeing equal opportunities in education and sports for girls. At the time, sports were considered a rite of passage for boys. School budgets funded football, basketball, baseball, soccer, and lacrosse teams for boys, while girls’ sports were an afterthought.
Decades after her resounding success in the Battle of the Sexes, Billie Jean King won many accolades, trophies, and awards, including 39 Grand Slam titles. She became the number one-ranked player in the world and the first female athlete to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She also championed gender equality for women both on and off the court.
During graduation season, colleges and universities bestow honorary degrees and invite famous people from all walks of life to be commencement speakers. On May 28, 82-year-old Billie Jean King donned a cap and gown and walked across the stage to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree in History. This accomplished a goal she began more than sixty years earlier when she left college after her third year to pursue her tennis career full-time. She said, “It is a privilege for me to be here as a member of your graduating class. Yeah, baby! Only 61 years!” She explained why it held extra meaning for her. “Like so many of today’s graduates,” King said, “I am the very first member of my immediate family to graduate from college.”
According to cardiologist and longevity researcher Eric Topol, Director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, Billie Jean King is a “Super-ager,” modeling two strong contributors to healthy aging: continuing to learn new things and maintaining a sense of purpose.
Topol defines a super-ager as anyone over 85 years old with good cognitive function, without cancer, cardiovascular, or neurodegenerative disease. Researchers attribute the two systems that are the main determinants of health span to the brain and the immune system. There is a lot of research about the benefits of physical activity on longevity, but cognitive engagement is also a key driver.
As she lobbed autographed tennis balls into the hands of fellow graduates in the audience, she exemplified a true champion living her best life … both on and off the court.
