Champions of equal pay

American tennis star Billie Jean King won 12 Grand Slams, including seven titles at Wimbledon (picture). In 1973 she threatened not to appear at the US Open unless the tournament's organizers agreed to pay the women the same prize money as the men. The organizers backed down, making this the first time that the men and women earned equal prize money at a Grand Slam tournament.

"Wimbledon has sent me a message: I’m only a second-class champion," wrote Venus Williams in a guest article for "The Times" in 2006. At that time, she had already won the world's most prestigious tennis tournament three times. In her 2005 triumph, she collected around €100,000 ($102,000) less than Roger Federer. In 2007, they both won again, this time receiving the same amount of money.

In 2011, at the age of 19, Dipika Pallikal won the Indian squash Championship for the first time. For the next four years, she boycotted the national Championship because the prize money for women was only 40% of what the men received. When the prize money was equalized in 2016, she competed again – and won. "It wasn't just about me, it was about the whole women's squash community," Pallikal said.

In 2017 the US ice hockey team threatened to boycott the World Championship in Plymouth unless they were granted "fair compensation." Their annual pay compensation was raised to around $70,000 (€69,000) per player. The team won the World Championship as well as a gold medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang (pictured).

In 2019, world champion sprinter Allyson Felix wrote an op-ed in "The New York Times" stating that her sponsor Nike had informed her that it would pay her 70% less than she had earned before she became pregnant – despite her many accomplishments on the track. Nike later amended its rules on maternity leave, but by that time Felix had bolted to another sponsor.

The Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper was among the Spanish footballers who went out on strike in 2019. "We want equality, equal rights," wrote Ainhoa Tirapu in Britain's "The Guardian". After 16 months of negotiations, a new collective agreement was reached, which includes a minimum annual salary of €16,000 and maternity leave.

"It's easy to talk about supporting women, but doing it requires a different perspective and awareness," Nneka Ogwumike of the Los Angeles Sparks once said. As president of the WNBA Players Association, a post to which she was first elected in 2016, Ogwumike leads the fight for higher minimum salaries, sponsorships and a greater share of league revenue for the players.

Portia Modise was the face of the South African national team. With 101 goals, she is the highest scorer in "Banyana Banyana" history. Modise later revealed that: "At the time I was the top scorer in African soccer, I was living in a shack. They took advantage of me." Her words added momentum to the debate about equal pay in South African football.

After winning a longboard event in 2021, Australian professional surfer Lucy Small held up the winner's check, grabbed the microphone to describe her victory as "bittersweet" as she was only paid half of what her male counterpart received. Since a video of that statement went viral, she has been fighting for equal pay in sports.

USA national team striker Alex Morgan (right) wrote in "Cosmopolitan" in 2016 of how so few fan items were available at the 2015 World Cup, that her father had T-shirts printed. "Equal Pay for Equal Play. It's a pretty simple concept," she wrote.

Megan Rapinoe (right) has been another driving force in the cause. The 2019 World Player of the Year and the rest of the US national team sued US Soccer for $66 million in damages under the Equal Pay Act over allegations of gender discrimination. In February 2022, the two sides reached an equal pay agreement. "This is a turning point for women's sports," Rapinoe declared.