At 75 years young, WTA founder Billie Jean King is still winning trophies.

The all-time great was honored for lifetime achievement at the annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards on Sunday evening.

"This part of the world has played a major role in my life and my career. I won my first national championship at the Irish Open in 1963 and I won my final professional WTA Tour title right here in Birmingham in 1983," King said in her acceptance speech.

"We all stand on the shoulders of those who came before us and we all have an opportunity to share our lives, our experiences and our vision for the future.

"Each of us is an influencer, and to all the athletes who truly have a platform, let's continue to use the power of our voices and our actions to inspire others."


King joins Martina Navratilova (2003) and Bjorn Borg (2006) as tennis players to be honored with selection for the award, which began in 1996. 

"At 12, I had an epiphany while sitting at the Los Angeles Tennis Club. Everybody who played played in white shoes, white clothes, played with white tennis balls and everybody who played tennis was white," she continued.

"At 12, I asked myself, where is everybody else? From that moment on, I committed myself to fight for equality and inclusion for all for the rest of my life."


She is the third woman to win the award after Navratilova and British track and field star Jessica Ennis-Hill, who won it last year.