She won a total of 12 Grand Slam Singles titles, including six Wimbledon crowns, along with 16 Grand Slams in women’s doubles and a further 11 in mixed doubles.
Yet, Billie Jean King was much more than a tennis champion. She is easily one of the most influential personalities in the history of the sport as she showed the world that a female athlete can survive pressure-filled situations as she became a global symbol of gender equality.
King, with the singular force of her presence, created a tennis boom in the United States as well as the entire globe and became the face of the sport.
The complex at Flushing Meadows in New York, where the US Open is held annually, is named after King in honor of her contributions to tennis, sport and the change she brought to American society.
“I aspire do for wrestling, what Billie Jean King did for tennis,” said Adeline Gray after she led her Revanta Mumbai Garuda side to victory against the Mangalyatan University Dilli Veer. This win makes it four wins in a row for the Mumbai side and cements their place at the top of the table in the Pro Wrestling League.
The Garuda captain spoke to the media after the match and talked at length about her team, her interactions with the Indian wrestlers and the state of the sport back home. She said that there was no such league in the United States and that the top wrestlers were not as famous as other sporting stars in the country.
Wrestling in the US is quite below in the pecking order in a nation that loves to watch baseball, basketball, gridiron football, ice hockey and even golf – all sports that involve huge amounts of money and where players enjoy the attention of fans all over the country.
Gray stated that wrestling is enjoyed in certain pockets in the USA, but as a whole, the quantum of money involved is minuscule in comparison to the popular sports.
She also explained the concept of collegiate wrestling and how it is popular in the US, rather than the Olympic forms – freestyle and Greco-Roman. Gray even went on and compared it to America following the Imperial system of measurements while the rest of the world follows the metric system!
She did say that there has been a gradual shift to the other two forms, but bringing the sport to the eyes of the general public will take a lot of time and effort.
Gray is a three-time World Champion and her latest triumph in September this year helped raise her and the sport’s profile in her country. She has become the face of American wrestling and is looking to become the first American to win an Olympic gold in wrestling at Rio 2016, something that will certainly provide a serious boost to the sport in the US.
Coming back to her team’s victory, she showered praise on her teammates and declared her team as the side to beat in the league. She applauded the Indian wrestlers in her side and stated that they were the heart of the team.
Gray also singled out Sakshi Malik as a special talent and said that she can’t wait to try some tricks she learned from the Commonwealth Games silver medalist.
If Gray’s performances in the Pro Wrestling League are anything to go by, she looks all set to pick up the crown at the upcoming Olympic Games. She has been unbeaten so far in the tournament and has dominated every bout she has contested, conceding just one point in four games.
She may not have to defeat a Bobby Riggs of her own to make a splash, but with her grit, determination and hopefully an Olympic gold, Gray can certainly change the way wrestling is seen in the US as well as other western countries.
She has made a mark on the Indian audience with her superb displays, and like Billie Jean King, she has the power to revolutionize an entire sport and immortalize her name in the history books!
