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

Martina Navratilova recently affirmed that her fight is distinctively against "male bodies competing as women" and not against trans athletes in general.

Since giving up professional tennis in the year 2006, Navratilova has been a torchbearer for women in sports. Over the years, she has been fiercely vocal about the rights of female athletes.

The Czech-American has also voiced her discontent against transgender persons entering women's spaces in sports owing to which she has also been labeled 'transphobic' several times.

The 18-time Grand Slam champion, however, defended her viewpoint during a recent episode of the On with Kara Swisher podcast, saying:

"We are not against trans athletes. 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 mentioned that her opposition is against biologically male athletes taking advantage of their physical superiorities while competing amongst women.

"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.

Navratilova then listed out attributes of the male body which gives them a headstart over female competitors. She 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."

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Martina Navratilova: "We tried to figure out a way to include males that identify as women in women's sports and found that it's impossible"

Martina Navratilova

Martina Navratilova further stated that she has tried her best to find a middle path to accommodate trans athletes in women's spaces as a leader of the Women's Sports Policy Working Group. She, however, asserted that she failed in her mission.

"I became a part of this Women's Sports Policy Working Group. If you go on our website, you see where we stand. We're trying to figure out a way to include trans women, males that identify as women, in women's sports. And we found that it's literally impossible to do it," she said.

According to Navratilova, the solution to not deny transgender athletes their right to play competitive sports is to have a separate category for them.

"So we came to the conclusion that either you have to have three categories, for non-binary, male, or you have an open category for everybody, or just females, that's the only way to go forward," she added.