To those of a certain age, it will seem inconceivable that tennis icon Billie Jean King was 65 this weekend.
To those of a certain age, it will seem inconceivable that tennis icon Billie Jean King was 65 this weekend.
It's 25 years since she last played a professional singles tournament, and 35 since her memorable "Battle of the Sexes" with Bobby Riggs, but she's far from ready to be pensioned off.
America's National Tennis Center was renamed in her honour in 2006 and the first permanent US women's sports hall of fame (also bearing her name) was inaugurated in New York this year, while this month the United Nations appointed her a global mentor for gender equality.
This will include helping young women gain experience in the sports industry through the Women's Sports Foundation which she established. UNESCO say much remains to be done in breaking down barriers to female opportunity.
She founded the Women's Tennis Association and a charity whose goals include promoting equal opportunities for women in such areas as the construction industry. And she is on the board of Elton John's AIDS foundation - the singer dedicated Philadelphia Freedom to her.
Born Billie Jean Moffitt, daughter of a fireman, she won 39 grand slam titles including 20 at Wimbledon (six singles, 10 doubles, four mixed). At 18, "Little Miss Moffitt" beat the singles favourite, Margaret Court, but for her first two titles at the All England club she earned the then standard daily allowance of $14.
So she led a revolt and canvassed for a professional tour for women. In 1971, the year she won the US Open for the second time, she became the first female athlete to earn $100,000 in a season. But she still won $15,000 less than the men's singles winner. Her threats of a boycott led to equal pay in 1973, but Wimbledon followed only last year.
She said equal prize money was never about the money: "We're making lots of money - it's about the message. It's empowering girls to think they can do anything. I don't want girls, or boys, to ever think they're inferior. Everyone deserves the dream. Everyone."
King has also been a gay rights activist, coining the word "sheroes" and influencing landmark US legislation which made gender equity mandatory in American schools, without which the US would never have won Olympic gold in sports such as women's football.
The King v Riggs match attracted the biggest live audience in the history of tennis. More than 30,000 flocked to the Houston Astrodome, and the pair were paid a then staggering $150,000 each. Riggs had trounced the world No.1, Margaret Court, and the credibility and survival of the fledgling women's pro game was at stake.
Riggs was 55, and a noted male chauvinist. King arrived and presented him with a pig wearing a bow. Then she deliberately prolonged rallies and ran him into the ground. She won 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. This was much more than a tennis victory and triumph over chauvinism. It was a landmark in social revolution.
She's still campaigning. In an interview this year she pointed out that women have some $1bn in sport sponsorship worldwide while men have more than $25bn. "Sports are a microcosm of society. If you know where we are in sports, you kind of know where the world is."
