.Sep 17, 2024, 09:18 PM ETWASHINGTON-- Billie Jean Master will certainly come to be the initial private girls's athlete to be awarded the Legislative Gold Medal.Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania as well as Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey introduced Tuesday that their bipartisan regulations had passed your house of Agents and will be actually sent out to President Joe Biden for his signature.The expense to honor King, the ping pong Hall of Famer and also protestor, had currently passed all in the Senate.Sherrill, a Democrat, mentioned in a statement that Master's "life time of proposal and also effort transformed the landscape for women and also gals on the court, in the classroom, and the work environment." The expense was actually presented in September 2023 on the 50th anniversary of King's success over Bobby Riggs in the "Struggle of the Sexes," still the most-watched ping pong suit of perpetuity. The medal, granted by Congress for prominent achievements and also contributions to society, has previously been actually provided to athletes, featuring baseball players Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente and golf players Port Nicklaus, Byron Nelson and also Arnold Palmer.King had currently been actually rewarded the Governmental Award of Independence in 2009. Fitzpatrick, a Republican politician, says she has "faulty barricades, led undiscovered paths, and also motivated plenty of folks to stand up proudly with nerve and also conviction in the defend what is right.".