Tennis icon Martina Navratilova is not shy of expressing her opinions on several topics such as politics, sports and gender equality.
She recently commented on the death of journalist Grant Wahl during the quarter-final between Argentina and the Netherlands on December 9 at the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
There was some speculation as to the reason behind his passing, with some even mentioning 'nefarious activities' as the reason. But those were rubbished by the autopsy report and statements made by his wife.
Wahl's wife revealed that the journalist died from a slow-growing rupture and mentioned that no amount of CPR could have saved him.
“Grant died from the rupture of a slowly growing, undetected ascending aortic aneurysm with hemopericardium,” she wrote on her husband’s website. “The chest pressure he experienced shortly before his death may have represented the initial symptoms. No amount of CPR or shocks would have saved him. His death was unrelated to COVID. His death was unrelated to vaccination status. There was nothing nefarious about his death,” she said.
Before this statement, there was a lot of chatter on social media and conspiracy theories surrounding his passing. Martina Navratilova mentioned that those conspiracies were "stupid".
"Another stupid conspiracy bites the dust!" said the American.
"I didn't really see it face-to-face, it was kind of the bigger picture when I was introduced to come on the court" - Martina Navratilova
In her interview with Julie Bindel, Martina Navratilova mentioned that she was received poorly by fans in the 80s after she came out as a lesbian. She revealed that she got a "muted" response compared to fellow tennis greats Chris Evert and Evonne Goolagong.
"I didn't really see it face-to-face, it was kind of the bigger picture when I was introduced to come on the court. Everybody was cheering when Chris Evert was introduced or Evonne Goolagong but when I came out onto the court it was muted applause," Navratilova said, in a video posted on Bindel's YouTube page.
She pointed out that there were some 'jeers' and 'whistles' from the crowd when she walked out.
"There were some jeers, some whistles. It was hard not to take it personally but I realized it was mostly because I was gay. Some of it was because I was winning too much perhaps," she added.