By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Monday, October 7, 2024
Picture credit score: J. Emilio Flores/Cal State LA
Grand Slam champion Billie Jean King will deliver within the New Yr as Grand Marshall for the Rose Parade.
The 39-time Grand Slam champion from Lengthy Seaside is returning to her roots to function Grand Marshall for the 136th Rose Parade.
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Event of Roses President Ed Morales introduced in the present day on the entrance steps of the enduring Event Home as King made a grand entrance to Elton John’s hit tune “Philadelphia Freedom”—a tune famously written in her honor that served because the theme for her WTT squad.
King’s choice as Grand Marshal ties seamlessly into this 12 months’s parade theme: “Greatest Day Ever!”, celebrating life’s finest moments.
Billie Jean King’s impression extends far past sports activities and the tennis court docket. Named one of many “100 Most Necessary Individuals of the twentieth Century” by LIFE journal, she is the primary girl athlete to obtain the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and she is going to change into the primary particular person girl athlete to obtain the Congressional Gold Medal.
King can be the founding father of the Ladies’s Sports activities Basis, the Ladies’s Tennis Affiliation, and the Billie Jean King Basis.
As Grand Marshal, King will journey down Colorado Boulevard, ushering within the new 12 months with the sweetness and custom the Parade is thought for and take part within the pre-game ceremony on the Faculty Soccer Playoff Quarterfinal on the 111th Rose Bowl Recreation.
“Being from Lengthy Seaside and rising up in Southern California I’ve fond reminiscences of watching the parade with my household and I’m deeply honored to be named Grand Marshal of the 2025 Rose Parade,” mentioned King. “This parade is a superb celebration of pleasure and neighborhood, and it really represents the “Greatest Day Ever” for all who attend or watch.”