![\"Billie](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0cd1a26c-63ec-4a6e-b0ba-39398c87a15a.jpg\" "\\"Billie")
<\/p>\nIt\u2019s 2026, and Billie Jean King is still the coolest girl in the room. When I walk into an unassuming Midtown studio for her photo shoot with adidas, she\u2019s rocking one of the brand\u2019s iconic tracksuits paired with a hoodie underneath. A string of pearls rests between the sweatshirt and jacket (that has her face on it, I might add), and good lord, it\u2019s the flyest thing I\u2019ve seen all week. It\u2019s mid-April, but I make a mental note to re-create the look come fall.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t the first time the sports legend has influenced me or any girl who has benefited from organized sports and athletics in her lifetime. Perhaps the earliest moment was well before I was even conceived, when she argued in favor of Title IX in 1972 before it became law.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told them that sports do the same thing for women as men: It helps us with character, with leadership, and with health,\u201d says Billie Jean of her advocacy during that time. \u201cTitle IX is the reason every woman has the opportunity today. Did you get an athletic scholarship?\u201d she asks, flipping the interview on me. We\u2019re sitting at a table in the photo studio, rolling a blue tennis ball back and forth across it. I tell her I did, accomplishing a goal I set for myself when I was a little girl of playing Division I basketball at my dream university. \u201cThat\u2019s the reason,\u201d she responds. \u201cThey left the word \u2018activity\u2019 in [the statute], and it\u2019s the reason we have women\u2019s sports.\u201d<\/p>\n
In many ways, so is she. Maybe not as direct as a law, sure, but it\u2019s not hyperbolic to say that the current booming landscape of women\u2019s sports is a direct result of her\u2014both what she accomplished as a player on the court and her advocacy off it.<\/p>\n
A major moment was when she defeated self-proclaimed male chauvinist Bobby Riggs in the historic Battle of the Sexes match in 1973. Title IX was still in its infancy, and the future perception of women in sports hung on her shoulders, on this moment. \u201cI had to win,\u201d she says. There was enormous pressure, but that didn\u2019t shake Billie Jean or her mission.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we announced it, I remember telling Bobby\u2014I was sitting here; he was sitting there,\u201d she motions, \u201cand I go, \u2018Bobby, I\u2019m not Margaret Court\u2014I like pressure.\u2019 He looked at me like he could tell something was different.\u201d Billie Jean, who was 29 at the time, crushed Bobby, who was 55, in straight sets.<\/p>\n
During the match, Billie Jean wore her now-iconic blue suede shoes. Today, more than 50 years later, the sneakers still represent that game-changing moment for women\u2019s sports and gender equality as a whole. The impact of that one match is still reverberating throughout women\u2019s athletics, from the sold-out arenas to the millionaires investing in teams to the new heights of visibility, power, and influence. Billie Jean laid the groundwork, and now she\u2019s still thinking about\u2014and doing the work to shape\u2014where women\u2019s sports goes next.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Coliena Rentmeester<\/p>\n
You were basically the first woman to have a signature shoe. How did you feel about that?<\/strong><\/p>\n Today, people are used to women getting signature shoes, but not in those days. I was the very first one, I think. I told them I wanted a shoe with color instead of just black and white because television was now in color. I said that when I play Bobby, I want to have a color because it shows up. And I love blue. We talked about it, and they got it. I\u2019ve always been indebted to adidas because they have the guts. You had to move heaven and earth for any change in those days, and they did it. Anytime a woman gets a signature shoe, I know it started with adidas and with me. And it makes me happy.<\/p>\n I once read that you said you felt like if you didn\u2019t win, you would send women back 50 years. <\/strong><\/p>\n Can you imagine what would happen? Ninety million people saw it. This wasn\u2019t a little thing. The Super Bowl [that year] had 53 million. That should give you an idea. It\u2019s still the most-watched tennis match of all time. I had to win.<\/p>\n Did you get to see the impact of the win over Bobby in real time?<\/strong><\/p>\n It really helped girls to feel stronger, more self-confident. I\u2019ve had women come up to me and say, \u201cI was giving up on life, had no aspirations, but you beating Bobby Riggs, I said to myself, You know, I can do this; I\u2019m going to be happy.\u201d And so they changed. But the men changed, too. They were more reflective.<\/p>\n I wanted to change the game. What do you mean?<\/strong><\/p>\n They were really interesting. They\u2019re the ones who would cry more. The women are more joyous. The men would go, \u201cYou know, I never thought about my daughter until I watched that match. And I want her to have the same as my son\u2014why wouldn\u2019t I? But I hadn\u2019t really thought about it. I realized they really don\u2019t have the same.\u201d They make such a difference when they stick up just as much for the girl as they do the boy. My dad believed in me as much as he did my brother. That was huge. That\u2019s why I think I made it.<\/p>\n How do you want girls and women to feel today when they wear the shoe?<\/strong><\/p>\n I hope that women feel they can do anything and that they believe in themselves. And just keep going for it and never give up and have dreams for themselves. I\u2019d also like them to know history. The more you know about history, the more you know about yourself. But more importantly, it\u2019s for the future\u2014you can shape the future, and that\u2019s what I want the younger generations to do.<\/p>\n Add Cosmopolitan as a preferred source in your Google search results.<\/p>\n Use your Google account to add this to your settings.<\/p>\n Add to Google settings<\/p>\n Your dreams for yourself started when you were just a kid. Tell me a little bit about the epiphany you had when you were 12.<\/strong><\/p>\n I made a promise at 12 that I wanted to change tennis, for it not to be just a country club sport. I wanted everyone to belong. I was at the Los Angeles Tennis Club, and I\u2019d only played a year. I remember sitting there and seeing everybody, and I realized that everybody wore white clothes, played with white balls, and everybody playing was white. I was already upset about [segregation in schools]. It used to get me crazy, and so I sat there and went, \u201cThis cannot happen in tennis. This is horrible.\u201d I wanted to change the game.<\/p>\n I thought if I could be number one, just maybe I could help the world be a better place. How did your parents react when you told them what you wanted to do?<\/p>\n I don\u2019t come from tennis at all. My parents worked three jobs\u2014I\u2019m lucky I had two parents. I got in the car and go, \u201cMommy, Mommy, I know what I\u2019m gonna do with my life.\u201d She\u2019s going, \u201cThat\u2019s cute, honey, you have homework.\u201d And I\u2019m like, \u201cNo, Mommy, I want to be the number one player in the world.\u201d And she goes, \u201cThat\u2019s nice, sweetie.\u201d She\u2019s looking at me like, \u201cWell, we will do everything we can to help you, but do it because you like it and love it.\u201d I said, \u201cMommy, I love it. I love to hit the ball.\u201d I thought if I could be number one, just maybe I could help the world be a better place.<\/p>\n Were there any players before you who inspired you to want to make these changes?<\/p>\n Althea Gibson was my first shero. I got to see her in person when I was 13. Her biography, I Always Wanted to Be Somebody, came out in 1958 and I remember sleeping with it. I read it. I still have two or three [original] copies. I got to meet her and get to know her as a human being, as a friend, and I knew her until the day she died. She was a huge influence. She was also the first Black person to win a major in tennis and the first Black person to play on the LPGA\u2014she did both. She had the whole nine yards. She was fantastic.<\/p>\n Speaking of change, I want to talk about women\u2019s sports today…<\/strong><\/p>\n My dream is finally coming true. I\u2019m so glad I\u2019m still alive to watch this.<\/p>\n People are starting to think of us, women\u2019s sports, as a great investment\u2014and we are. What\u2019s been the most thrilling for you to see?<\/strong><\/p>\n I think money is very important. The women getting more money with the WNBA made me really happy. People are starting to think of us, women\u2019s sports, as a great investment\u2014and we are. You can make sales on it, you can sell shoes, everything, but they didn\u2019t pay attention to us. Are they now? Starting to. Women can make you money if you just do what you\u2019ve been doing for the guys for over 100 years.<\/p>\n What do you want women athletes today to know about power and platform?<\/p>\n I always tell players to know the business you\u2019re in. Are the other teams making money? Are the people who put up all of the millions and millions of dollars making any money back yet? Go find out now. And I want them to know the history of at least their sport.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve been devoted to progress. How can today\u2019s players keep pushing women\u2019s sports forward?<\/p>\n You don\u2019t always just help your own sport. I\u2019ve helped a lot of different sports, and I hope women athletes will stick together, no matter what sport they\u2019re in. And a lot of guys now are getting behind us, too. If you notice the athletes, they help each other\u2014they wear each other\u2019s shoes or train together sometimes. It\u2019s much healthier, much better than it\u2019s ever been. I want to keep going in that direction. I want everyone to feel they can do it. I\u2019ve always wanted inclusion.<\/p>\n This interview was edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n\n
\u2014Billie Jean King<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n![\"Google\"](\"https:\/\/www.cosmopolitan.com\/_assets\/design-tokens\/fre\/static\/icons\/social\/google.1467f37.svg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.cosmopolitan.com\/_assets\/design-tokens\/fre\/static\/icons\/info-regular.348beca.svg?primary=%2523ffffff\")
<\/p>\n\n
\u2014Billie Jean King<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
\u2014Billie Jean King<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n