Female representation in sport is FINALLY getting the attention it deserves in this incredibly inspiring new BBC series
Yesterday, 15-year-old Cori Gauff defeated five-time champion Venus Williams during the first round of Wimbledon. After the shocking turn of events, the two opponents united in an act of rare sporting camaraderie as they showed their heartfelt support for each other. Cori hailed the Williams sisters her 'idols', while Venus stated 'the sky's the limit,' for her up-and-coming competitor.
This act of female unity sat perfectly in line with Wimbledon's new guidelines that scrapped the use of single and marital prefixes for women during matches 'to move with the times'. Along with its stance on equal pay, Wimbledon is leading the charge in women's sports where other disciplines and tournaments should follow suit. As Maria Sharapova stated in her exclusive interview with GLAMOUR, "female athletes are fighting for that equality, which is the right thing to do but is it right to still be doing it in 2019? No!".
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This match is one of many iconic moments to happen in this summer's celebration of women's sport. The England female football team are through to the semi-finals of the Women's World Cup, all eyes are on the kickass ladies smashing it in the Netball World Cup (Sky are streaming all 60 matches) and British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith triumphed her Olympic rivals in the women's 200m sprint at the Stockholm Diamond League. And thank f*ck these sporting heroines are getting the recognition they deserve because, let's face it, it's long overdue.
Now, the BBC is bringing us a brand new sports series, Legends. This is part of the channel's Change the Game campaign aimed at celebrating the summer season of women's sport and putting influential female athletes into the limelight.
In Legends, big names stars including Alicia Keys, Maddie Ziegler, Ian Wright and Jessie J will honour the careers of some of the world's most esteemed female athletes including Serena Williams, Simone Biles, Kelly Smith, Lindsey Vonn and Cathy Freeman, who have challenged stereotypes, overcome obstacles and ultimately paved the way for women in sport.
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In the first episode, Alicia Keys says of Serena Williams, “the amount of power that is in that body a
