On Tuesday night the legendary Serena Williams took to the stage to accept her accolade at the Sports Illustrated “Sportsperson of the Year” ceremony. Note, this is “sportsperson” not “sportswoman”. Serena is the first woman to be awarded this title in more than three decades.

Serena has endured racism and body shaming through her career but has never ever let that stop her from dominating in her sport and pushing hard as a pure role model for our youth.

She deserves this award in every single way.

She addressed some of the struggles she has faced in her career, especially the body shaming. Here are some of the things she said in her speech.

“For all the ladies out there, yes we can do it,” she said. “My hope by winning this award [is that I] can inspire many, many, many more women … to stand right here on this podium and accept another ‘Sportsperson of the Year,’ so yes ladies it can be done.

“In 1984 in Compton is where I began my journey of becoming a tennis player on beaten down courts,” she said.

“Now 30 years later, I still have goals and still have dreams of winning, and this award actually makes me want to work harder to reach more goals.

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“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.”

Serena, you are a true inspiration! Below is the full speech.