Billie Jean King is a tennis legend, on and off the court docket. After receiving, on August 12, 2009, from the arms of Barack Obama, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest American civilian award, for her battle for the rights of girls and LGBT38 folks, the 78-year-old American will be decorated of the Legion of Honor.
She will be obtained at the Élysée Palace this Friday by Emmanuel Macron, the French Tennis Federation introduced in a press launch. The day earlier than, the former world primary, was current on the Philippe Chatrier court docket to attend a ceremony in his honor, on the event of the fiftieth anniversary of his victory at Roland-Garros.
READ ALSO. PORTRAIT. Billie Jean King, tennis legend, homosexual icon and everlasting activist
In whole, Billie Jean King has received 12 Grand Slam titles. The American didn't solely forge her legend on the tennis courts. First athlete to disclose her homosexuality, she fiercely fought in opposition to all varieties of discrimination and for the emancipation of girls.