Buy a classic sport photograph: Billie Jean King – living the dream
Billie Jean King (pictured at Wimbledon in 1975) was one of the most decorated tennis players of her era, winning 12 grand slam singles titles. Yet her career has been defined as much by her achievements off the court as by those on it. A lifelong campaigner for gender equality, she was one of the nine women who, in 1970, formed the Virginia Slams Circuit in protest at the lack of prize money in the women’s game and later became the first president of the newly-formed Women’s Tennis Association. She also swatted aside the former men’s pro Bobby Riggs in the so-called “Battle of the Sexes” – an exhibition contest borne of Riggs’s sexist belief that no female player could defeat him. The match was worth $100,000 to the winner, but, as King said, much more was at stake: “I thought it would set [women] back 50 years if I didn’t win that match – it would ruin the women’s tour and affect all women’s self-esteem.” She duly trounced her opponent in straight sets (6-4, 6-3, 6-3) in front of a global TV audience of almost 100 million. She recently urged other women to live their dreams.
Photograph: Gerry Cranham / Offside
Words: Jonny Weeks
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Price
£55 including free delivery (30x40cm print size).
Prints
Photographs are presented on museum-grade, fine-art paper stocks, with archival standards guaranteeing quality for 100-plus years. All editions are printed and quality checked by experts at theprintspace, the UK’s leading photo and fine-art print provider.
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Other prints you can buy
Heavyweight boxer Cassius Clay holds up five fingers to predict that he will win his fight with Henry Cooper in five rounds. Photograph: Gerry Cranham/Offside
Cassius Clay predicts the future (above)
Maradona, the God of Naples
Swimming turn
Kelly Holmes’ eye-popping celebration
Euphoria at the 1966 World Cup (below)
England physiotherapist Harold Shepherdson jumps for joy as England win the World Cup. Photograph: Gerry Cranham/Offside
Alex Ferguson’s hairdryer treatment
Dog Bites Ball at Italia 90
Cassius Clay training in London
Jumping in the Fog at White Hart Lane (below)
Tottenham goalkeeper John Hollowbread jumps to keep warm during an FA Cup match in 1964. Photograph: Gerry Cranham/Offside
See the full series here