Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams and Australian football sensation Mary Fowler are among the nine athletes being celebrated with Barbie dolls modeled after them.
Mattel's initiative aims to highlight female sports role models ahead of the Paris Olympics.
Unveiled on Wednesday, each doll comes with personalized accessories: Fowler’s doll features gloves and a football, while Williams' doll, dressed in a classic white tennis outfit with a visor and earrings, includes a miniature racket.
The former world No. 1 expressed her hope that the doll would inspire young girls to pursue sports.
"I literally can’t imagine my life without sports and without the game," Williams said in a video, in which she held the doll.
"I want other young girls to have that invaluable experience of playing a sport and what it teaches you and what you learn and what you take from it, not just that moment (but) for the rest of your life ... I think it’s so important for girls to be in sports."
Other sports figures to have a doll in their likeness include French boxer Estelle Mossely, Polish sprinter Ewa Swoboda, Spanish doctor and paratriathlon athlete Susana Rodriguez, Italian former swimmer Federica Pellegrini, Canadian football player Christine Sinclair, as well as Mexican and Brazilian gymnasts Alexa Moreno and Rebeca Andrade.
The dolls, unveiled as Barbie turns 65 this year, "(recognize) the impact of sport in fostering self-confidence and ambition among the next generation," Krista Berger, senior vice president of Barbie and Mattel’s Global Head of Dolls, said.
"By shining a light on these inspirational athletes and their stories, we hope to champion the belief that every young girl deserves the opportunity to pursue her passions and turn her dreams into reality," she said in a statement.
