Martina Navratilova hails World Aquatics' decision of an "open category" for transgender athletes ft. Lia Thomas

Tennis icon Martina Navratilova recently praised World Aquatics' action regarding transgender athletes in the sport.

Swimming's governing body has announced the creation of an 'open category' for transgender competitors. President of World Aquatics Husain Al-Musallam stated that events would take place in the future but provided no further details. However, according to reports, they could take place this year.

"This is a very complex topic," Al-Musallam said at the World Aquatics Congress. "But I am delighted to tell you today that we are now making plans for the first trial of an open category, and we hope to be able to confirm all the details soon. Our sport must be open to everybody."

18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova, who has been vocal in her opposition to transgender athletes competing in the same category as women in sports, took to Twitter to applaud the decision.

In the realm of sports, particularly swimming, the past 20 months have been marked by controversy due to American swimmer Lia Thomas' performances. Thomas made history as the first transgender woman to secure a national swimming title during the 2021-22 NCAA season.

Last year, the sport's governing body took a stance by voting against allowing transgender women who had experienced male puberty (transitioned after the age of 12) to compete in the women's divisions.

They also shared their intention to introduce an 'open category' for transgenders during last year's general congress first.

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Martina Navratilova once opened up about how poorly the tennis world reacted to her coming out as lesbian

Martina Navratilova pictured with her wife.

Martina Navratilova came out as a lesbian back in 1981 and has been married to her wife - The Real Housewives of Miami star Julia Lemigova for eight years.

However, things weren't easy for Navratilova when she came out. She revealed in 2022 that she was always subjected to jeers and muted applause because of her sexual orientation.

"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 said in an interview with Julie Bindel. "Everybody was cheering when Chris Evert was introduced or Evonne Goolagong, but when I came out onto the court it was muted applause."

"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.

The 18-time Grand Slam champion went on to say that Roger Federer never received such a hostile welcome. She also pointed out that even if Federer had more fans present, people cheered for Rafael Nadal when he walked out to face the Swiss.

"But Roger Federer never got that kind of welcome, right? Nobody jeers when Roger Federer walks onto the court. Even Rafa Nadal. Even if people are not big fans or they're in the Federer corner, they still cheer when Rafa walks onto the court. But that was not the case with me," Martina Navratilova said.