"Martina Navratilova is no hater and Renee Richards is awesome" - Chris Evert responds to Twitter user's comments on gender rules in sports
Former World No. 1s Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova jumped into the conversation surrounding the participation of transgender athletes in the women's competition on Twitter.
After the International Swimming Federation (FINA) announced a ban on transgender athletes from competing against women, a user responded by claiming that Evert and Navratilova's matches against Renee Richards — who competed at the 1976 US Open after having undergone sex reassignment surgery — at Wimbledon were fair matches.
"I remember when Rene Richards competed at Wimbledon against @martina and @ChrissieEvert but I honestly don’t remember her having an advantage over either of them. This is nothing more than hate, to live in a country with so much claimed Christian value, clearly #hate prevails!," a user tweeted.
@MikeSington I remember when Rene Richards competed at Wimbledon against @martina and @ChrissieEvert but I honestly don’t remember her having an advantage over either of them. This is nothing more than hate, to live in a country with so much claimed Christian value, clearly #hate prevails!
Evert responded by pointing out that Richards had herself admitted to having held an advantage over others. She said she would struggle on court against the then 43-year-old Richards despite being the World No. 1 herself, before mentioning Richards' post-retirement interview where she said that "no genetic woman in the world would have been able to come close to me" had she undergone surgery in her 20s.
The American went on to dismiss comments dubbing Martina Navratilova a "hater" and described Richards as "awesome."
"Hi Bob, here are some facts…1) when I was #1 in the world, I struggled to beat Renee.She was 43…2)Renee has said if she had been 25, she would’ve wiped everyone off the court 3) Martina is no hater and Renee is awesome…" Evert responded.
Hi Bob, here are some facts…1) when I was #1 in the world, I struggled to beat Renee.She was 43…2)Renee has said if she had been 25, she would’ve wiped everyone off the court 3) Martina is no hater and Renee is awesome… twitter.com/bsatawake/stat…
"No hate, just fairness" - Martina Navratilova on transgender athletes competing in the women's competitions
Martina Navratilova, meanwhile, similarly pointed out Renee Richards' changed stance on allowing her to compete in the WTA Tour and Grand Slam tournaments in an earlier reply to the tweet. She said the rules were meant to ensure "fairness" and had nothing to do with hate.
The Czech legend also pointed out the factual errors in the user's initial argument, pointing out that she never played against Richards at Wimbledon.
"Funny you bring that up since Renee herself thinks she should not have been allowed to compete due to her obvious advantages. She agree with this decision /rules etc. You want to call her hateful too? Didn’t think so. Not hate, just fairness…" Navratilova tweeted.
"And also I never played against Renee at Wimbledon…. Not sure about Chrissie," the Czech wrote in another tweet.
@BSatawake @MikeSington @ChrissieEvert Funny you bring that up since Renee herself thinks she should not have been allowed to compete due to her obvious advantages. She agree with this decision /rules etc. You want to call her hateful too? Didn’t think so. Not hate, just fairness…
Notably, according to the Women's Tennis Association's transgender policy, for a transwoman to be eligible to compete on the Tour, her testosterone levels must be below 10 nmol/l.
The International Tennis Federation, the governing body for Grand Slams, meanwhile, stated that players with testosterone levels below 5 nmol/l are eligible to compete in the women's competition.