Within sport media, it is customary for sportsmen rather than sportswomen to be accorded the privileges and responsibilities of competing not just for the nation but also on behalf of it. However, under certain circumstances, it is apparent that the typically gendered media conventions may shift to accommodate nationally important sportswomen. This study concerns the British tennis player Virginia Wade, and via a textual analysis, the print-media discourse surrounding her 1977 Wimbledon triumph is analyzed. It is argued that the wider sociohistorical and personal contexts of her victory helped facilitate a shift, whereby her national identity rather than her gender becoming the primary media frame. Not only was Wade’s win considered significant amidst the mid-1970s economic downturn in Britain, it also coincided with Wimbledon’s centenary and a visit by the Queen during jubilee year. Consequently, her victory was imbued with national symbolism through displays of “banal nationalism.” Coupled with Wimbledon’s “invented traditions,” Wade was represented as embodying the British “imagined community” through her play and approach. This study’s findings reassert the importance of examining the intersections of gender and national identity in sport media and urges for more research that foregrounds historical context as a key factor for female athlete national transcendence.
