03-06-2025
Martina Navratilova sends blistering message in defense of high jumpers who protested against a trans rival
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has defended the two athletes at the Oregon high jump state championships who refused to step on the podium after facing a trans rival over the weekend.
Reese Eckard of Sherwood High School and Alexa Anderson of Tigard High School have been praised as heroes on social media after abandoning the medal ceremony in an apparent protest of a fifth-place finisher, who is reportedly transgender. Reese finished fourth in the state final while Anderson was third.
Rather than taking their spots on the podium, footage surfaced on social media that showed the girls turning their backs to the crowd before being ushered away from the ceremony by an official.
Navratilova saw the clip and reposted it, saying: 'Women and girls are punished no matter what they do in this misogynistic world…'
She then replied to many of her followers who offered their own views about what is becoming a major talking point in school sports.
In one notable reply, Navratilova wrote: 'Feminists never asked for this. At least not the great majority of us… never.'
The 68-year-old Navratilova, one of the all-time greats in tennis who won 18 major titles in her career, has been a consistent voice in calling for lawmakers to protect women's sports and stop biological men from competing.
She has also been a critic of Donald Trump but has lamented hesitancy from the Democrat party in following the lead of Republicans on the issue.
In April, she said on X: 'I hate that the Democrats totally failed women and girls on this very clear issue of women's sports being for females only.'
Anderson, meanwhile, spoke to Fox News about her decision over the weekend.
'We didn't refuse to stand on the podium out of hate,' she said. 'We did it because someone has to say this isn't right.
'In order to protect the integrity and fairness of girls sports we must stand up for what is right.'
Oregon is one of several states challenging President Donald Trump's 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports' executive order, which threatens to deny federal funding to rogue governments.
A recent AP-NORC poll found that about 7 in 10 U.S. adults think transgender female athletes should not be allowed to participate in girls and women's sports at high school, college or professional level.
That view was shared by about 9 in 10 Republicans and roughly half of Democrats.
