"Including males means excluding females" - Martina Navratilova comments as Italian trans sprinter announces Paralympics debut

Martina Navratilova has once again taken a stand against trans women in women's sports as an Italian sprinter gets ready to participate at the Paris Paralympics. Navratilova has been advocating to keep trans women out of women's sports for a long time.

Recently, the BBC published an article about Italian sprinter Valentina Petrillo, who will be making her debut at the upcoming Paris Paralympics. Petrillo transitioned in 2019 and has been competing in the women's categories since the 2020 Italian Para Athletics Championships. Now, the 50-year-old is set to compete at the Paralympics in the T12 200m and 400m.

Navratilova took to X to share her opinion on the story.

"Including males in the women’s category means excluding females. It’s that simple," Navratilova wrote.

In the comments, a fan inquired about a similar situation that tennis faced in 1976 when Renee Richards, who transitioned in 1975 and applied to play at the US Open as a woman.

"Didn’t that same thing in tennis many years ago with Dr. Renee Richards?" a fan inquired.

Navratilova pointed out that it was a one-off case, with Richards later saying that she should not have been allowed to compete in women's categories.

"Renee was one off, won a lawsuit to compete and now says she shouldn’t have been allowed to compete. And for that current opinion she is called either too old to know better!!!!! or a self hating trans. Has been living as a woman for 50 years or so. Go figure," she replied.

It's worth noting that Richards coached Navratilova and the duo won two Wimbledon titles together.

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Martina Navratilova: "Renee Richards is on the same side with me on this"

Martina Navratilova at the Wimbledon 2024 (Image: Getty)

Martina Navratilova, in an episode of 'On with Kara Swisher' podcast, revealed how she began her stance against trans women in women's sports. She also pointed out that she played with and against Renee Richards (the first transgender player in women's tennis) and even hired her as a coach.

"So I came at this about four or five years ago. I made some comments about male athletes in women's sports. I'm like, that can't be right. Of course, I come from way back in the seventies when Renee Richards was the first transgender woman to sue for the right to compete in women's tennis and won. And in fact, I played doubles with her. I played singles against her. And then she ended up being my coach and a friend, right? And we're still friends," Martina Navratilova said in an episode of 'On with Kara Swisher' podcast.

Navratilova added that Richards has since changed her stance on this issue and now believes that trans women must not be allowed in women's sports.

"And she is on the same side with me on this, in that she now says, I don't think I should have been allowed to compete because the advantage is too big. The only reason Renee didn't win back then was because she was in her forties and out of shape. Had she been in her twenties and in shape, she would've wiped the floor with us." she added

Martina Navratilova won 18 Grand Slam titles in singles, 31 in doubles, and 10 in mixed doubles over her playing career in tennis.