.Sep 17, 2024, 09:18 PM ETWASHINGTON-- Billie Jean King will definitely come to be the initial specific women's sportsmen to become granted the Congressional Gold Medal.Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania as well as Mikie Sherrill of New Shirt revealed Tuesday that their bipartisan legislation had actually passed the House of Agents and also would be sent to Head of state Joe Biden for his signature.The expense to honor Master, the tennis Lobby of Famer as well as activist, had currently passed all in the Senate.Sherrill, a Democrat, claimed in a declaration that King's "lifetime of advocacy and hard work changed the garden for girls and also girls on the courthouse, in the classroom, as well as the office." The costs was launched in September 2023 on the 50th anniversary of Master's success over Bobby Riggs in the "Fight of the Sexes," still the most-watched ping pong match of perpetuity. The medal, rewarded through Congress for distinguished accomplishments and also contributions to culture, has actually formerly been actually provided athletes, featuring baseball players Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente as well as golfers Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson as well as Arnold Palmer.King had presently been rewarded the Presidential Award of Independence in 2009. Fitzpatrick, a Republican politician, mentions she possesses "broken obstacles, led undiscovered pathways, and also motivated many individuals to stand happily along with tenacity as well as conviction in the fight for what is right.".