Serena Williams addressed the body-shaming that she has had to face and overcome throughout her career, emphasizing just how important internal acceptance is when seeking external success.
“I’ve had people look down on me, put me down because I didn’t look like them — I look stronger,” she said in her acceptance speech. “I’ve had people look past me because the color of my skin, I’ve had people overlook me because I was a woman, I’ve had critics say I [would] never win another Grand Slam when I was only at number seven — and here I stand today with 21 Grand Slam titles, and I’m still going.”
Williams continued, spending much of her time onstage addressing the difficult ride she’s had and the self-confidence that has been necessary to ignore the naysayers and achieve greatness.
Serena Williams attends the 2015 Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year Awards at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers on Tuesday, Dec.15, 2015, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)
This inspiring story was first published at HuffPost