American basketball player A’ja Wilson
Credit: © Thurman James, CSM/Alamy Images

On Sunday, September 18, the Las Vegas Aces defeated the Connecticut Sun, 78-71, to clinch the best-of-five Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Finals, three games to one. The Las Vegas took home their first championship in team history. Aces guard Chelsea Gray, who had 20 points and 6 assists in Game 4, was named the series MVP. Gray celebrated with league MVP A’ja Wilson and their teammates on the Sun home court at Mohegan Sun Arena, on the Mohegan Reservation in Uncasville, Connecticut. The Connecticut Sun remained without a title in four trips to the Finals.

First-year Aces Coach Becky Hammon, helped the Aces meld their exceptional individual talents into a strong championship unit. Hammon had been an assistant coach with the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs and a seven-time All-Star in a 16 year WNBA career.

The basketball teams met for Game 4 before a large Sun home crowd. The score was close throughout, but the steady Aces extended their two-point halftime lead into a final margin of seven. In addition to Gray’s heroics, Wilson played all 40 minutes of the game, totaling 11 points and 14 rebounds. The Sun’s Alyssa Thomas also played 40 minutes, recording a second straight triple-double in the loss. Aces Kelsey Plum scored 15, and guard Riquna Williams added 18 points to help the Aces win their first title. The Aces’ party continued on September 20, when the team held a rally with their fans on the Las Vegas Strip.

American women’s basketball star Breanna Stewart
Credit: © Zach Bolinger, Icon Sportswire/AP Photo

The Aces’ Wilson won her second MVP award. She also led the WNBA in blocked shots and was named Defensive Player of the Year. The All-WNBA Team included Wilson, her teammate Plum, the Seattle Storm’s Breanna Stewart, the Chicago Sky’s Candace Parker, and Skylar Diggins-Smith of the Phoenix Mercury. The Aces’ Hammon was named Coach of the Year.

Serena Williams, an American tennis star, ranks among the most dominant players in women’s tennis. She is noted for her muscular body, her powerful shot making, and her foot speed.
© Leonard Zhukovsky, Shutterstock

Game, set, match, career! One of the most dominating players in women’s tennis, Serena Williams, has retired from the sport. In August 2022, Williams announced her plans to retire after the US Open. She waved goodbye to fans and other players after losing her match against Australian Ajla Tomljanović on September 2nd. Williams is noted for her muscular body, her powerful shot making, and her foot speed. In 1999, Williams won the US Open, defeating top-seeded Martina Hingis of Switzerland. Williams became the first African American woman to win a grand slam event since Althea Gibson won the tournament in 1958. The grand slam consists of the Australian Open, French Open, US Open, and Wimbledon in England.

Serena Williams, shown here at the Nasdaq-100 in 2003, is one of the most dominant players in women’s professional tennis.
© Ezra Shaw, Getty Images

In 2002, Williams won the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. She gained the number-one ranking for the first time that year. She defeated her sister Venus in the final match in each tournament. When she defeated Venus for the Australian Open championship in 2003, she became only the fifth woman to hold all four grand slam titles at the same time. Serena also won Wimbledon in 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015, and 2016; the Australian Open in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2015, and 2017; the US Open in 2008, 2012, 2013, and 2014; and the French Open in 2013 and 2015.

She defeated her sister for the 2009 Wimbledon title and the 2017 Australian Open title. At the 2017 Australian Open, Serena won her 23rd grand slam title, setting a record for the most grand slam singles titles in the open era. The open era began in 1968, when the International Tennis Federation allowed professional players to compete in major tournaments. Previously, only amateurs could compete in such tournaments. Only the Australian Margaret Smith Court, who began playing before the open era, has won more grand slam singles titles, with 24.

Serena won the gold medal in women’s singles at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Serena and her sister also won the gold medal in women’s doubles in 2000, 2008, and 2012. Serena and Venus have won all four grand slam women’s doubles titles, though not in the same year.

Serena Jameka Williams was born on Sept. 26, 1981, in Saginaw, Michigan, and grew up in Compton, California. She began playing tennis at about the age of 5 under the guidance of her father, Richard. She turned professional in 1995. Williams discussed her personal life and her tennis career in the memoir On the Line (2009).

English-born Australian actress and singer Olivia Newton-John
Credit: © DFree/Shutterstock

Olivia Newton-John was an English-born Australian singer and actress. Her recording career extended from the 1960′s into the early 2000′s. She co-starred with John Travolta in the musical motion picture Grease (1978), one of the most popular movie musicals ever made. From that film, two of her duets with Travolta, “You’re the One that I Want” and “Summer Nights,” became hits. Newton-John won a number of Grammy Awards for her music. She passed away on Monday, Aug. 8, 2022.

Olivia Newton-John, left , and the American actor John Travolta, right , starred in the motion picture Grease (1978), one of the most successful musicals in Hollywood history.
Credit: © Paramount Pictures

Newton-John was born on Sept. 26, 1948, in Cambridge, England. She moved with her family to Australia at the age of 5. When she was 14 years old, she formed her own musical group in Melbourne. In 1966, she won the Johnny O’Keefe “Sing, Sing, Sing” talent quest. The prize was a trip to England, where she recorded her first single record. She remained in England and built her career as a singer and television performer. During the 1970′s, she worked in the United States, where she became a best-selling country singer. She won a Grammy Award as best female country vocalist for her first American album, Let Me Be There (1973).

Newton-John also starred in the motion-picture musical Xanadu (1980). She had a hit with “Magic” from that film. Her other hit recordings include ”If Not For You” (1971), “Let Me Be There” (1973), ”If You Love Me, Let Me Know” and “I Honestly Love You” (both 1974), “Have You Never Been Mellow” and “Please Mr. Please” (both 1975), “A Little More Love” (1978), “Physical” (1981), “Heart Attack” and “Twist of Fate” (both 1983), and “Livin’ in Desperate Times” (1984).

Her other films include Funny Things Happen Down Under (1965), Toomorrow (1970), Two of a Kind (1983), It’s My Party (1996), Sordid Lives (2000), Score: A Hockey Musical (2010), and A Few Best Men (2011). She also acted in a number of television series and made-for-television movies.

In 1979, Newton-John was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire for her services to the performing arts. In 2010, she was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for her services to the entertainment industry and to the community through organizations supporting breast cancer treatment, education, training and research, and the environment. She was made a Companion of the Order of Australia, a higher degree in the order, in 2019. The Order of Australia is Australia’s highest award for service to the country or to humanity. In 2020, Newton-John was made a dame commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to charity, cancer research, and entertainment. She then became known as Dame Olivia Newton-John.

American gymnast Simone Biles receives the Presidential medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden during a ceremony where President Joe Biden will award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to seventeen recipients in the East Room of The White House on July 7, 2022 in Washington, DC.
Credit: © Oliver Contreras, SIPA USA/Alamy Images

With seven Olympic gold medals, one silver, two bronze, and now a President Medal of Freedom, Simone Biles has quite a collection! Simone Biles, an American gymnastics star, is the most decorated gymnast in the history of the sport. In 2019, she surpassed the record previously held by Vitaly Scherbo of Belarus, winning 25 world championship medals. Biles has been celebrated internationally for her grace and athletic skill in executing the most difficult moves in women’s gymnastics.

On July 7, 2022, Biles received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden, becoming the youngest living person in United States history to earn the honor. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian honor awarded by the president of the United States for outstanding service. The medal recognizes individuals who have made “an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, or to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”

The honor was established on July 6, 1945, as the U.S. Medal of Freedom by President Harry S. Truman to recognize notable civilian service that aided the United States during a time of war. On Feb. 22, 1963, after extensive study by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Arthur J. Goldberg and Assistant Secretary of Labor Daniel Patrick Moynihan, President John F. Kennedy reintroduced the medal as an honor for distinguished civilian service in peacetime. It was renamed the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Recipients have included educators, diplomats, former presidents and first ladies, authors, scientists, medical researchers, military leaders, humanitarians, religious leaders, civil rights activists, business executives, journalists, athletes, and performers.

Biles was a star of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She won a team gold medal as well as individual gold medals in the all-around, vault, and floor exercise events, plus a bronze medal on the balance beam. By winning five medals, Biles tied the record for the most medals won by an American woman gymnast in a single Olympics. Her four gold medals tied the world record for the most gold medals won in a single Olympics by a female gymnast.

In 2019, Biles became the first woman to win five world championships in the all-around event. She is the first Black American to hold the women’s world all-around champion title. She won the world floor exercise title five times, the balance beam title in three times, and the vault title two times. Biles won the United States national all-around championship seven times. She was also a member of the American team that won gold medals in the 2014 and 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

At the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Biles brought attention to the intense pressure Olympic athletes face. (The games were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.) After balking on the vault event in the team final, she withdrew from the rest of the team competition and four individual events—all-around, vault, uneven bars, and floor exercise—citing mental health issues. Biles went on to win a bronze medal on the balance beam. She also won a team silver medal.

Simone Arianne Biles was born on March 14, 1997, in Columbus, Ohio. She grew up in Texas, raised by her grandparents. Biles was introduced to gymnastics at the age of six on a day-care field trip to a gym in Spring, Texas. She began copying the moves of gymnasts practicing in the gym, attracting the attention of a coach. Biles soon enrolled in recreational classes at the gym under instructor Aimee Boorman, who became her coach. Biles, who stands only 4 feet 8 inches (1.42 meters) tall, entered her first competition in 2011. She won her first gold medals in 2013. Within two years, she became one of the most celebrated and dominant gymnasts in history.

Asian American actress Anna May Wong.
Credit: © Paramount Pictures

March is Women’s History Month, an annual observance of women’s achievements and contributions to society. This month, Behind the Headlines will feature woman pioneers in a variety of areas.

Her face has gone from the big screen to quarters! Anna May Wong was an Asian American actress. She became famous during the early years of American cinema. In her time, she was one of the few Asian performers to achieve widespread success. Wong eventually grew disappointed with the limited roles offered to her. She also became an outspoken critic of the casting of white performers in Asian roles. The U.S. Mint announced in 2021 that Wong would be one of five women commemorated on the quarter in their American Women Quarters series.

U.S. Mint’s American Women Quarters Program 2022 quarters.
Credit: US Mint

Wong Liu Tsong was born Jan. 3, 1905, in Los Angeles, California. Her parents operated a laundry. She made her first motion-picture appearance as an extra in The Red Lantern (1919). Wong continued acting in small roles. For years, she hid her work as an extra from her family. Her first credited role was in Bits of Life (1921). When her father learned of her acting career, he insisted on being present when she was on set.

Wong starred in the 1923 film Toll of the Sea, the first widely released feature film made in Technicolor. Before Technicolor, films were either shown in black and white or colored by hand. In Toll of the Sea, Wong played the romantic lead, bringing her new fame. However, her stardom started to strain her family life, with photographers and fans showing up at the family laundry to see her. Her family was further upset with her role in The Thief of Bagdad (1924) as an untrustworthy “Mongol slave.”

By the late 1920’s, Wong had grown disappointed in Hollywood. She was consistently offered roles as villains, slaves, or temptresses. In contrast, sympathetic leading roles were often reserved for white performers. Even Asian lead roles were often performed by better-known white actors made up to look Asian. In The Crimson City (1928), for example, Wong played a supporting role to lead actress Myrna Loy, a white woman made to look Asian. Wong moved to Europe in hopes of finding more realistic roles. There, she learned to speak French, German, and Italian. In 1929, Wong starred alongside the British actor Laurence Olivier in the play A Circle of Chalk in London.

In 1931, Wong starred as the lead in the Broadway play On the Spot. The role led to a return to Hollywood, with Daughter of the Dragon (1931) and Shanghai Express (1932). Both films offered the type of Asian villainess roles Wong had sought to escape. Yet Shanghai Express allowed for a more nuanced portrayal. Wong played Hui Fei, a prostitute (sex worker) and ally of a Chinese warlord who later turns on him, killing him.

Despite the acclaim she received for Shanghai Express, Wong continued to be offered disappointing roles. Producers had wanted Wong to play Lotus, a dancer, in the film adaptation of the novel The Good Earth. Wong wanted to play O-Lan, the female lead. The German actress Luise Rainer went on to win an Academy Award for portraying O-Lan.

In 1936, Wong again left Hollywood, this time for China. In China, Wong was criticized for her early film roles and for being too western for Chinese audiences. When she returned to America, filmmakers were more interested in hiring her to coach white actors performing Asian roles. In 1942, she retired from acting in films.

During the 1950’s, Wong acted in television shows, including her own series in 1951. In “The Gallery of Mme. Liu Tsong,” Wong portrayed a gallery owner who solved crimes. In 1960, she attempted a return to film, portraying a housekeeper in Portrait in Black. Wong died Feb. 3, 1961, from a heart attack. The Chinese American actress Michelle Krusiec played Wong in the television miniseries Hollywood (2020).

U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe
© Romain Biard, Shutterstock

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month. All month long, Behind the Headlines will feature lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning pioneers in a variety of areas.

The professional soccer player Megan Rapinoe is a champion both on and off the field. As a midfielder for the U.S. Women’s National Team, Rapinoe is known for her dynamic skills as a scorer and playmaker. In soccer, a playmaker controls a team’s offense, often coordinating scoring chances through precise passing. Off the field, Rapinoe—along with her soccer-playing twin sister, Rachael—runs soccer training clinics. She has also worked with a number of human rights organizations, including groups devoted to LGBTQ+ rights.

Rapinoe helped the U.S. Women’s National Team to win a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. In 2015 and again in 2019, she helped lead the United States to FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament championships. FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association (International Federation of Association Football). FIFA is the governing body for soccer, which is called football in many parts of the world. In 2019, Rapinoe was awarded the Golden Ball as the World Cup tournament’s best player. Rapinoe also played on the U.S. World Cup team in 2011 and the U.S. Olympic team in 2016. In 2019, Rapinoe earned the Best FIFA Women’s Player award as soccer’s best female player. The award replaced the Ballon d’Or in 2016.

Megan Anna Rapinoe was born on July 5, 1985, in Redding, California. She began playing soccer when she was young. In high school, Rapinoe played for Elk Grove Pride United, a team for players under age 19, and the Elk Grove Pride of the Women’s Premier Soccer League, a semiprofessional league in the second tier of women’s soccer in the United States. Rapinoe then played soccer at the University of Portland in Oregon, where she helped the team win a college national championship in 2005. She also played on U.S. national youth teams before debuting for the U.S. Women’s National Team in 2006. Injuries caused her to miss international tournaments in 2007 and 2008.

From 2009 through 2012, Rapinoe played in the Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) league and the United Soccer League’s W-League. Rapinoe also played for Olympique Lyonnais in France’s top women’s league. Since 2013, Rapinoe has played for the Seattle Reign FC (now OL Reign) of the National Women’s Soccer League, the top tier of women’s soccer in the United States.

Chloé Zhao
Credit: © Chris Pizzello, Reuters/Alamy Images

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. All month long, Behind the Headlines will feature AAPI pioneers in a variety of areas.

In April, the Chinese filmmaker Chloé Zhao became the first Asian woman to win an Academy Award for best director, for the motion picture Nomadland (2020). The film tells the story of a widow who travels across the United States in a van after losing everything in an economic recession. Zhao was only the second woman to win the Oscar for best director, after the American director Kathryn Bigelow won it in 2010. In addition to directing, Zhao also has written and produced many of her films.

Frances McDormand as Fern in the film “Nomadland” (2020).
Credit: © Searchlight Pictures

Chloé Zhao was born Zhao Ting on March 31, 1982, in Beijing, China. She attended boarding school in London, England. She finished high school in the United States. She then attended Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. In 2005, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. Zhao later studied at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Zhao won several awards for her short film Daughters (2010). It tells the story of a young woman in rural China forced into an arranged marriage. Zhao’s first feature-length film was Songs My Brothers Taught Me. It explores the relationship between a Lakota Sioux brother and sister. Zhao’s other movies include The Rider (2017).

United States Senator Tammy Duckworth
Credit: U.S. Congress

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. All month long, Behind the Headlines will feature AAPI pioneers in a variety of areas.

Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat from Illinois, was elected to the United States Senate in 2016. As a senator, she has been a champion for civil rights, environmental justice, and veterans’ affairs.

Ladda Tammy Duckworth was born in Bangkok, Thailand, on March 12, 1968, to a Thai mother and an American father. Her father had been serving in Southeast Asia in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War (1957-1975). When Tammy Duckworth was a child, the family moved around the region while her father worked with the United Nations and private corporations. She became fluent in Thai, Indonesian, and English. The family later moved to Hawaii, where Duckworth finished high school. She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Hawaii (also spelled University of Hawai‘i) in 1989.

Duckworth joined the Army Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) in 1990 while working on a master’s degree in international affairs at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She completed her degree in 1992. That year, she also got her commission as a reserve officer and trained as an army helicopter pilot. In 1996, while studying for a doctorate in political science at Northern Illinois University, she transferred to the Illinois National Guard. She later completed a doctorate in human services at Capella University, an online-based school.

In 2004, while Duckworth was still a student at Northern Illinois, her National Guard regiment was sent to Iraq. On November 12, her helicopter was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade. She lost both legs and some of the use of her right arm. In December, she was awarded a Purple Heart for her injuries. The Purple Heart is a medal given to soldiers of the U.S. armed forces who are wounded or killed in combat. Following a lengthy recovery, Duckworth began working for better medical care for veterans. In 2006, she ran unsuccessfully for an Illinois seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich then named her director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs. In 2009, President Barack Obama appointed her assistant secretary of Veterans Affairs.

In 2012, Duckworth was elected to the U.S. House, representing a district in the Chicago suburbs. She was reelected in 2014. Also in 2014, she retired from the Army Reserves, having achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 2016, Duckworth defeated incumbent Republican Senator Mark Kirk to win a seat in the U.S. Senate.

Duckworth married Bryan Bowlsbey, an officer in the Army National Guard, in 1993. In 2018, she became the first sitting U.S. senator to give birth when she delivered a daughter, Maile Pearl. The couple’s first child, Abigail, was born in 2014, while Duckworth was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Duckworth’s memoir, Every Day is a Gift, was published in 2021.

Indian-born American astronaut Kalpana Chawla
Credit: NASA

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. All month long, Behind the Headlines will feature AAPI pioneers in a variety of areas.

In 1997, the American astronaut Kalpana Chawla (1962-2003) became the first Indian-born woman to travel into space. Chawla served on two missions aboard the United States space shuttle Columbia as a mission specialist and robotic arm operator.

Chawla was born on March 17, 1962, in Karnal, northern India. Karnal was part of the state of Punjab at that time. Today, it is part of the state of Haryana. She graduated from the Punjab Engineering College in 1982. That same year, she immigrated to the United States. In 1984, she earned a master’s degree from the University of Texas in Austin. She married Jean-Pierre Harrison, an aviation teacher and author, in 1983. She received her doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1988. She then went to work at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In 1994, she was selected for training as an astronaut candidate.

In 1997, Chawla flew her first mission on the shuttle Columbia. She was the second person of Indian descent to travel in space, following the Indian-born cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma, who traveled on a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft in 1984. Chawla’s duties involved conducting experiments in microgravity, sometimes called zero gravity or weightlessness, and launching a satellite using the shuttle’s robotic arm. Her second mission was on the same shuttle in 2003. However, on Feb. 1, 2003, as the Columbia was returning to Earth after the 16-day mission, the spacecraft broke apart high over Texas. Chawla and six other crew members were killed.

Chawla received many honors for her work in space. They include the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the NASA Space Flight Medal, and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. In addition, an asteroid that orbits the sun between Mars and Jupiter is named the 51826 Kalpanachawla in her honor.

Frances McDormand as Fern in the film “Nomadland” (2020).
Credit: © Searchlight Pictures

On April 25, 2021, the 93rd Academy Awards—commonly known as the Oscars—were held in a ceremony split between Los Angeles’ Union Station and the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California. (Because of the ongoing pandemic [global outbreak] of the coronavirus disease COVID-19, several nominees gathered at other venues in such cities as Sydney, Australia, and London, England.) For the third year in a row, the ceremony went without a host. A variety of comedians, actors, and musicians introduced and handed out the awards.

The drama Nomadland took home the coveted best picture award. The film tells the story of a widow named Fern who travels across the United States in a van. The film’s director, Chloé Zhao, became the first woman of color to win the award for best director. The American actress Frances McDormand, who plays Fern, won her third award for best actress in a leading role.

Many people expected McDormand’s win. However, the British actor Anthony Hopkins took the award for best actor in a leading role, surprising many. The American actor Chadwick Boseman—who died last August—was expected to win for his performance as a trumpet player named Levee Green in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Hopkins won for his role as a man suffering from dementia in The Father. At age 83, he became the oldest actor to win an Oscar.

As for other top awards, the British actor Daniel Kaluuya won for best actor in a supporting role for Judas and the Black Messiah. Kaluuya portrayed Fred Hampton (1948-1969), an African American civil rights activist and leader of the Black Panther Party. The actress Yuh-Jung Youn became the first Korean to take home the award for best actress in a supporting role, for the film Minari. She played Soon-ja, the grandmother in a Korean-American family that moves from California to Arkansas in pursuit of a better life.

The winners used their speeches to bring attention to such themes as racism and police brutality. The American actress, author, and deaf activist Marlee Matlin presented an award in American Sign Language. Her remarks called attention to a teenager named Darnella Frazier who, in May 2020, used her cellphone to capture the death of George Floyd. (Former Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder after kneeling on the neck and back of Floyd, an unarmed Black man, for more than nine minutes leading up to his death on May 25, 2020.) Frazier’s video of the killing was perhaps the most-watched film of 2020, inspiring millions of people around the world to protest racism and to demand justice.