Groundbreakers

Julie Foudy recounts the story of the 1999 Women’s World Cup to Suni Lee. At the time, women’s soccer was a fledgling enterprise – the players were making just $10 a day as a per diem. But the tournament drew huge crowds and record TV ratings, which was just the leverage the team had been waiting for.

Celebrate 50 years of female excellence in sports through the eyes of athletes who changed the system. Hosted by sports icon and champion of equality Billie Jean King, the film weaves together eight athletes’ discussions of how their own struggles and achievements shaped women’s sports. Features Naomi Osaka, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Chloe Kim, Nancy Lieberman, Suni Lee, Julie Foudy and Diana Flores.

Celebrate 50 years of female excellence in sports through the eyes of athletes who changed the system. Hosted by sports icon and champion of equality Billie Jean King, the film weaves together eight athletes’ discussions of how their own struggles and achievements shaped women’s sports. Features Naomi Osaka, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Chloe Kim, Nancy Lieberman, Suni Lee, Julie Foudy and Diana Flores.

Diana Flores tells Billie Jean King about the beginnings of her flag football career, and the challenges she had to overcome as a woman playing a male-dominated sport.

Tennis champion Naomi Osaka talks to Jackie Joyner-Kersee about her challenging 2018 U.S. Open win against her childhood hero, Serena Williams, and her later decision to withdraw from the French Open in 2021. The two athletes discuss the need to be prioritize mental health, and the hope that speaking about struggles publicly will help destigmatize the issue.

Basketball Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman talks with snowboarding champion Chloe Kim about being pioneers in their sports, and serving as role models for the next generation of athletes.

Discover the story behind Title IX. Billie Jean King shares the legislative history of the law that “opened the floodgates for women’s sports,” led by Reps. Edith Green and Patsy Mink in the House of Representatives and Sen. Birch Bayh in the Senate.