Martina Navratilova expresses gratitude to Olympian Daley Thompson for joining her fight against trans athletes in women's sports 

Martina Navratilova recently expressed her gratitude to Olympic champion Daley Thompson for supporting her campaign to save women’s sports from trans athletes.

The issue of trans athletes in women’s sports has been a controversial and divisive one, with many arguing that it violates the principles of fair play and equality. Trans women, who were born male and have gone through puberty as males, have an inherent advantage over female-born athletes in terms of muscle mass, bone density, lung capacity, and testosterone levels.

Thompson, who won two gold medals in the decathlon at the 1980 and 1984 Olympics, wrote an article for the Daily Mail on Thursday, December 28, sharing his personal experience as a male athlete and his observation of the performances of some inspirational women.

Thompson said that his body was very different from theirs – more masculine – and that this gave him an edge that they could not overcome with training. He also criticized the recent victories of trans women like American swimmer Lia Thomas and Canadian cyclist Veronica Ivy, who have dominated their respective events and broken records.

The Brit also showed his solidarity with some of his good friends, including Navratilova and British swimmer Sharron Davies, who have faced backlash and abuse for similar views.

"Some of my good friends, including the Czech-American tennis star Martina Navratilova and the record-breaking British competitive swimmer Sharron Davies, have spoken against it and been on the receiving end of shocking abuse from trans extremists as a result," Thompson wrote. "I want the whole world to know I stand beside them." (via Daily Mail)

Navratilova, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest female tennis players of all time, has been a leading voice in the debate over trans athletes in women’s sports. She shared Thompson’s article on X (formerly Twitter) and wrote:

"Thank you Daley!"

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“Not against trans athletes, we are for women to compete on a level field” - Martina Navratilova reiterates her stance on transgender inclusion in women's sports

Martina Navratilova at the 2023 WTA Finals

In a recent podcast episode with Kara Swisher, Martina Navratilova clarified that her opposition is only to "men’s bodies competing as women" and not to trans athletes in general.

The 18-time Grand Slam champion has also expressed her dissatisfaction with transgender athletes participating in women’s sports, which has earned her the label of 'transphobic' on several occasions.

"We are not against trans athletes," Navratilova reitirated. "We are for women athletes to compete on as level a playing field as possible, which means the males who now identify as women, should compete in a male category and women who identify as men but don't take testosterone can compete as women. Because there is still no advantage physically over other women athletes."

Navratilova said she is against biologically male athletes having an unfair edge over biologically female athletes in sports competitions.

"I'm all for trans rights on a civil level, a hundred percent. And this is not against trans athletes. This is against male bodies competing as women if they identify as women. Many sports don't even have any mitigation, any allowance for lowering the testosterone level, et cetera," Martina Navratilova said.

"It has been proven even when you do take those testosterone blockers or hormone therapy, even after 15 years, male bodies still retain physical advantage over women athletes. They're taller, and their bone density, their lung capacity, their skeletal structure, even their airways are larger than women," she added.