18-06-2025
Martina Navratilova talks with sense and intelligence on Trump, trans and tennis
Martina Navratilova is in the news a lot these days as a prominent voice in the trans debate, arguing that athletes who were born male should not be allowed to compete in women's sports. Some say she is brave to do so because the debate is so toxic. But Amol Rajan 's interview reminded us that she has faced far bigger challenges in life. She is one of the all-time greats, and not just for the way she played tennis.
Defecting to the United States from Czechoslovakia aged 18, not knowing if you would ever see your family again? That's brave. Coming out as gay in the early 1980s, at a time when sponsors threatened to pull out of tournaments over such a 'scandal'? It takes guts. Dealing with cancer? Not for the faint-hearted.
Rajan's journalistic instincts led him to quiz Navratilova on trans issues and her unhappiness with living in Donald Trump's America (now a totalitarian state, in her eyes). But they took up just a few minutes towards the end of the programme, because he rightly identified that there is so much more to this sporting icon. Some interviews are good because of the spark and tension between the two parties. Others, like this one, are good simply because the interviewee is an engaging person with a remarkable life story, and Navratilova scores highly on both counts.
Half of the people raging about Navratilova on social media will know nothing about her early years, and Rajan was keen to fill them in. 'Your life reflected the great ideological battle of the 20th century – you went from communism to capitalism,' he told her, which is a very Amol Rajan way to look at things but led us to her memories of growing up behind the Iron Curtain, and then to archive footage of 18-year-old Martina holding a press conference to announce her defection. She made her decision after speaking to her father. 'Don't come back, no matter what we say, because they'll be telling us what to say. Don't believe us,' he said, anticipating the pressure that the authorities would apply to the family.
Navratilova watched footage of that press conference on an iPad, and claimed that it was the first time she had seen it. 'You've never seen this? That's one of the most famous videos in 20th-century sport!' cried Rajan, which may be a tad hyperbolic. Another film from the archives was very moving: a crowd at the US Open final in 1981 giving Navratilova a resounding ovation after her sexuality became public. 'I thought, wow, they are really accepting me,' she said, although when she started winning matches (many against golden girl Chris Evert) then 'the gay thing was a minus and it was difficult to deal with'.
In a 45-minute programme covering Navratilova's life story, there wasn't too much time for the tennis itself, although her domination of the game – 59 Grand Slam titles and a record-breaking nine Wimbledon singles – was celebrated.
On the trans debate, Navratilova sounded eminently sensible. She pointed out that, even if a trans athlete's testosterone levels have dropped to a level acceptable to tennis's governing body, they're not going to lose five inches in height or an advantage in reach. Girls competing at high-school level will feel that they don't stand a chance against competitors who were born male: 'Go to your local meet and there's a boy that now has a ponytail and nail polish and identifies as a girl – that's all fine and well, but the ponytail and nail polish does not a female make.'
Reporting on the interview, the BBC News website said Navratilova's assertion that trans women have biological advantages in sport is 'hotly debated'. Is it really? Against someone with Navratilova's intelligence and experience, I'd say it's no contest.
