Martina Navratilova lauds Roanoke College swim team for defending women's rights after protest over transgender student inclusion

Martina Navratilova recently praised a team of female athletes for standing up against a transgender athlete being allowed to compete alongside biological women.

10 members of the women’s swimming team of Roanoke College, Virginia on Thursday took center stage at a news conference expressing displeasure at a transgender women joining their team. The event - 'NCAA - Save Women' - arose when a transgender swimmer, who was on the Roanoke College men’s swim team last year, joined the women’s team this year.

Martina Navratilova, who actively advocates women's sport and often speaks against transgender females participating in women's sport, supported this event. She shared the post with an affirming caption.

“Well done girls!!! This is exactly what it will take to change the rules!” Navratilova wrote on Twitter.

The post she re-shared praised this move, calling it an ‘historic’ one in the context of female athletes standing together in public to defend their right to competition.

“This is historic. A LIVE event happening right now in #Virginia. It is the FIRST TIME an entire team of female athletes have stood together in public to defend their rights to sex-based eligibility in #sports. Shame on @NCAA and @RoanokeCollege . STOP gutting women's rights. START defending #TitleIX in the #USA. #SaveWomensSports #Fairness4Females” read the post.

The women swimmers demanded USA Swimming and the NCAA to change the transgender athletes rules that allow trans athletes to compete. However, a news release by Roanoke College on Thursday stated that the transgender student in question “withdrew her request for participation on the women’s swim team” before the NCAA Division III school’s board meeting.

Martina Navratilova also slammed Gymnastics Australia for allowing transgender athletes to play in the women’s category

Internazionali BNL D'Italia 2023 - Day Fourteen

This is not the first time that 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova has argued against the inclusion of transgender females in the women’s category of any sort of sport.

Earlier this week, she had criticized Gymnastics Australia for their decision to allow athletes to compete in whichever category they believed to fit their gender identity best.

The Czech-American tennis icon shared her discontent on social media, saying the organization ignored the welfare of females and girls with such a decision.

"To say this won’t end well is an understatement. To say Gymnastics Australia just threw females and girls under the bus is an understatement. What is wrong with you guys???"

"This “inclusion” actually will EXCLUDE biological women and most of all girls. #whataboutthegirls ???" Martina Navratilova tweeted.