"A 35-year-old Bobby Riggs would’ve beaten all of us" - Martina Navratilova rejects role of gender in Billie Jean King’s victory in Battle of Sexes
Martina Navratilova has suggested that gender identities had no role in Billie Jean King's historic triumph over Bobby Riggs in the Battle of Sexes.
On September 20, 1973, 29-year-old King took on 55-year-old Riggs in front of 30,000 people at Houston Astrodome. King, who was advocating for equal pay for men and women in tennis then, defeated her male opponent in straight sets.
Navratilova recently got into an argument with an X (formerly Twitter) user over the participation of transgender athletes in women's sports competitions. The conversation began with a tweet in which the user had written:
"In 2019 June Eastwood became the first openly MTF #transgender athlete to compete in NCAA Division I cross country, competing for the University of Montana women’s team."
Navratilova replied:
"It was wrong then and is still wrong now and always will be wrong."
The user disapproved of the 66-year-old's statement and claimed that Billie Jean King would have outperformed Bobby Riggs even if the 55-year-old was a trans woman.
"I respectfully disagree," the user tweeted. "A person's capability in sport has nothing to do with their assigned or true gender. If Bobby Riggs was a trans woman, Billie Jean King still would have won."
Martina Navratilova argued that Riggs would have defeated all the female tennis players of that time if he had been 35 years old. She claimed that his gender was not the reason he lost the Battle of Sexes.
"Because Bobby was too old," the 18-time Grand Slam champion wrote. "A 35 year old Bobby would have beaten all of us. Gender identity doesn’t hit the ball- the actual body hits the ball. The male physical advantage doesn’t go away with a gender different identity- I thought that was obvious."
Billie Jean King's victory over a male player is considered a monumental event in tennis history. Incidentally, she also established the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) in June 1973 and the US Open became the first Grand Slam tournament to offer equal pay to men and women the same year.
"Women's tennis is not for failed male athletes" - Martina Navratilova
Martina Navratilova recently slammed the United States Tennis Association after learning that transgender athlete Alicia Rowley, who identifies as a woman, had won a Women's 55+ tennis tournament in the country.
Navratilova, who is a stern opposer of the participation of transgender athletes in events meant for women, questioned the Association if the US Open would allow an individual to compete based on self-identification.
"Come on @USTA - women’s tennis is not for failed male athletes- whatever age. This is not right and it is not fair. Would this be allowed at the US Open this month? Just with self ID? I don’t think so," Martina Navratilova wrote.