中英双语 | 网坛名将比利•简•金：让每一个优秀女孩获得公平竞争的舞台
我们希望世界上的每一个女孩，只要足够优秀，就能获得公平竞争的舞台，并能凭借自己的成就而非外貌得到赞赏。
比利·简·金（Billie Jean King）首次接触网球是在11岁，从此与网球结下不解之缘，找到了自己为之奋斗终生的事业。她不仅成为了全球最优秀的女子网球运动员，还创立了女子网球协会（Women’s Tennis Association）和WTA巡回赛，并为推动体育界男女薪酬平等及多元化发展做出了不朽贡献。在网球生涯巅峰，她在性别之战（Battle of the Sexes）中战胜了波比·里格斯（Bobby Riggs），之后由于性别相关问题遭受了很大痛苦，但随后便开始公开为LGBTQ+群体发声。她的回忆录是《全力以赴》（All In）。
At age 11 King tried Tennis for the first time and found her calling. She not only became the top female player in the world but also founded the Women’s Tennis Association and WTA Tour and pushed for gender pay equity and more diversity in the sport. At the height of her career, after a triumph over Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes, she was publicly and painfully outed as gay, and she has since become an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. Her new memoir is All In.
HBR：请介绍下WTA巡回赛的创办历程。
HBR: Tell me about the founding of the WTA Tour.
金：1968年网球成为一项职业运动时，女性选手希望和男性选手加入同一个网球协会，但遭到了拒绝。于是在1970年，我当时的丈夫拉里·金（Larry King）建议我、罗西·卡萨尔斯（Rosie Casals）与《世界网球》（World Tennis Magazine）杂志的出版商格拉迪斯·赫尔德曼（Gladys Heldman）讨论一下创办巡回赛的事。格拉迪斯说她没钱，我跟她说，“没关系，你只要用一美元就可以把我们俩都签了。”之后共有九位选手加入了我们。
When Tennis became a pro sport, in 1968, the women wanted to have one association with the men, but they just rejected us left, right, and center, even though they were our friends. So in 1970 my then-husband, Larry King, and I were trying to figure out how to get women’s pro Tennis on the map. Larry suggested that Rosie Casals and I talk to Gladys Heldman, the publisher of World Tennis Magazine, about creating a tour. Gladys said she’d be happy to help us but didn’t have any money. So I told her, “Don’t worry. You can sign us all up for a dollar.” Nine players—Julie Heldman, Valerie Ziegenfuss, Judy Dalton, Kristy Pigeon, Peaches Bartkowicz, Kerry Melville Reid, Nancy Richey, Rosie, and I—joined.
我们当时必须在三个月内完成组织工作。1971年在菲利普·莫里斯公司（Philip Morris）的支持下，我们启动了弗吉尼亚·斯利姆斯巡回赛（Virginia Slims Tour）。大家同进退，都在拿自己的职业生涯冒险，虽然可能会被禁止参加其他比赛，但我们不在乎。
We had to get organized in three months and then, in 1971, with support from Philip Morris, we launched the Virginia Slims tour. Larry and I ran two of the first tournaments with partners, and Gladys kept adding them, so we had enough to get started. We did it as a team and put our careers on the line: We knew we might get suspended from other tournaments. But we didn’t care.
我们希望世界上的每一个女孩，只要足够优秀，就能获得公平竞争的舞台，并能凭借自己的成就而非外貌得到赞赏。最重要的是，因为我们属于业余网球选手，当时每天只能挣14美元，所以我们想创造一种方式，让我们能够真正以自己喜爱的运动为生。
We wanted any girl in the world, if she was good enough, to have a place to compete and be appreciated for her accomplishments, not her looks. Most important, because we came from the world of amateur Tennis, making $14 a day, we wanted to create a way to make a real living playing the sport we loved.
HBR：你是如何推动网球多元化发展的？
How have you worked to make Tennis more diverse?
金：巡回赛创办伊始，我们就考虑了如何让有色人种女孩加入的问题。阿尔西娅·吉布森（Althea Gibson）是第一位赢得大满贯的黑人选手，但我们还需要更多这样的人。常言道：“你也可以成为榜样”。于是格拉迪斯就去拜访了有很多黑人选手的美国网球协会（American Tennis Association），并邀请到了三名选手——邦妮·洛根（Bonnie Logan）、西尔维娅·胡克斯（Sylvia Hooks）和安·科格（Ann Koger）加入我们的巡回赛。
From the beginning of the women’s tour we thought about how to make it more diverse and give girls of color a pathway into Tennis. Althea Gibson was the first Black player of either gender to win a major, and she became one of my sheroes. But we needed more players. As they say, “If you can see it, you can be it.” So Gladys went to the American Tennis Association, which was mostly Black, and got three of their players—Bonnie Logan, Sylvia Hooks, and Ann Koger—to join the circuit.
从那以后，陆续有更多有色人种选手加入我们，比较知名的包括威廉姆斯姐妹。我认为除非主动采取行动，否则很难带来变化。
Ever since, we’ve had many women of color. Most people know Serena and Venus Williams. I think the lesson is that unless you’re intentional, things usually don’t change.
HBR：推动男女薪酬平等方面也是如此吗？
Was it the same with the push for gender pay equity?
金：是的。1968年，也就是选手开始在大满贯拿到奖金的第一年，我赢得了温网冠军，但奖金只有750英镑，而罗德·拉沃尔（Rod Laver）则是2000英镑。我觉得这非常不合理，要与这种不公平的安排进行抗争。为此我们创办了女子网球协会来为自己发声，更为实现男女薪酬平等而努力。最终我们成功了。2007年，大满贯将女性选手的奖金金额提到了与男性选手相同的水平。
Yes. In 1968, the first year that players received money in the majors, I got £750 for winning Wimbledon, and Rod Laver got £2,000. I thought, Oh, no. This is another fight we’re going to have. That’s why we founded the Women’s Tennis Association, so we would have one voice and get it done. Eventually we did. In 2007 they started paying equal prize money to men and women in the majors.
HBR：你似乎很享受网球的商业化运作。
You seem to enjoy the business side of sports.
金：是的，我跟拉里创办过一些锦标赛，其中就有世界团体网球赛（World Team Tennis）。现在，我和伴侣伊拉娜·克劳斯（Ilana Kloss）都是球队老板。我希望体育界能有更多女性领导者，希望女性关注资本，了解资本，并从资本中学习。
Yes, Larry and I owned four tournaments at one time. Then we cofounded World Team Tennis. Now my partner, Ilana Kloss, and I are part owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Angel City FC, and the Philadelphia Freedoms. I want more women in ownership positions in sports. I want us to follow the money, understand it, and learn from it.
艾莉森·比尔德（Alison Beard）| 访
夏林|译 刘隽|校 孙燕|编辑
