.Sep 17, 2024, 09:18 PM ETWASHINGTON-- Billie Jean Master will definitely come to be the 1st specific ladies's athlete to be rewarded the Congressional Gold Medal.Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and also Mikie Sherrill of New Jacket introduced Tuesday that their bipartisan laws had passed our home of Panels and also would be sent to President Joe Biden for his signature.The costs to honor Master, the tennis Hall of Famer as well as protestor, had actually passed unanimously in the Senate.Sherrill, a Democrat, claimed in a declaration that King's "life time of proposal as well as hard work altered the landscape for girls and women on the courtroom, in the classroom, and also the office." The bill was actually launched in September 2023 on the 50th anniversary of Master's triumph over Bobby Riggs in the "Struggle of the Sexes," still the most-watched ping pong match of perpetuity. The award, rewarded through Congress for prominent achievements as well as additions to community, has formerly been actually given to professional athletes, consisting of pitcher Jackie Robinson and also Roberto Clemente and also golfers Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson as well as Arnold Palmer.King had currently been actually rewarded the Presidential Award of Freedom in 2009. Fitzpatrick, a Republican, states she possesses "faulty barriers, led uncharted pathways, as well as influenced numerous individuals to stand up happily with nerve and strong belief in the defend what is right.".