Photo: Allen J. Schaben/getty
Billie Jean King had the special task of flipping the coin atSuper Bowl 2022.
The tennis icon, 78, carried out the honorary coin toss at the big game on Sunday, where she walked on field at SoFi Stadium to kick off the showdown between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals.
After the referee explained that the Super Bowl 56 logo would be “heads” and the AFC and NFC Championship Team logo would be “tails,” the Rams claimed “tails.”
King then stepped up to toss the coin, which fell on “heads,” kicking off the Super Bowl with the Bengals starting.
King — a native of Long Beach, California and the first female athlete to receive the presidential medal of freedom — tossed the coin to mark the 50th anniversary of sports gender equality legislations Title IX, according toTennis.com.
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“It is an honor to stand with these outstanding student athletes and celebrate the 50th anniversary of Title IX on one of the world’s biggest stages,” King said in a statement, per Tennis.com.
She added, “It’s hard to understand inclusion until you have been excluded, and I am proud to be part of this year’s Super Bowl Coin Toss and the NFL’s commitment to bring us together and make us stronger.”
Before tossing the coin, King shared some practice footage toTwitter, in clip of herself filmed in a room backstage. In the video, King said she’d received “lots and lots of help,” including a tip that she should bend her knees during the toss.
“Pressure is a privilege,” she wrote, adding the hashtags, “#SuperBowlLVI #SuperBowl.”
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While the Super Bowl coin toss has become a tradition, it also has a superstitious past. According toCBS Sports, it’s commonly understood that whoever wins the coin toss will lose the game.
source: people.com
