Martina Navratilova slams Nike over reported role in transgender athlete research, cites Allyson Felix pregnancy controversy
Martina Navratilova has criticized Nike after it was revealed that the company was funding research into transgender athletes. She has often used her social media platforms to give her views on a range of issues - from the new Trump administration to women's rights to the thorny issue of transgender athletes.
Navratilova's views on transgender men participating in women's sports are well known. She has argued that it was not possible to suppress the physical advantages enjoyed by biological males enough to guarantee a level playing field. According to Navratilova, the women's rights of female athletes are compromised by allowing transgender men to compete in female sports.
Navratilova was responding to the news that British physicist Joanna Harper was being funded by Nike to research a five-year project to study the effect of hormone treatment on medically transitioning adolescent boys. The news was shared on X by retired US artistic gymnast Jennifer Sey, who added her comments:
"I'm still stunned by this. @Nike is funding a study that disfigured young boys to understand if they can be physically impaired enough to compete with girls without significant 'retained male advantage'. Why is a sneaker brand doing medical experiments on children?"
Responding to Sey, 18-time Major winner Navratilova added her remarks on X, recalling the case of 11-time Olympic medalist Allyson Felix. Felix alleged that Nike offered her vastly reduced terms in her sponsorship deal once she revealed that she was pregnant. Martina Navratilova wrote:
"Joanna Harper is going too far...As is Nike, needless to say. Nike - same company that docked Allyson Felix for being pregnant. So she left and formed her own company, SAYSH. So thanks for nothing, Nike."
Martina Navratilova is an influential liberal voice, and her superstar sporting status combined with her 456,000 X followers guarantees her a significant audience.
Martina Navratilova is a long-term opponent of transgender men competing in female sports
Despite Martina Navratilova's reputation as a liberal voice in the US, many consider her views on transgender athletes to be illiberal. The 68-year-old is a vocal critic of Donald Trump and his Republican administration, and disagrees with the US president on almost every issue.
Yet, Navratilova agreed with Trump about transgender athletes. She told dailymail.co.uk this week:
'I disagree with Trump on everything but this issue... and for that I am called a Nazi homophobe... bigot... the Democrats dropped the ball, Republicans ran with it, and it’s a popular issue. But Trump is right on this. There should be no males in women’s sports, period – pun kind of intended. Because it’s obviously not fair.'
The transgender athlete debate will rumble on. Martina Navratilova has made her views on the subject clear. Scientific research will continue into the biological issues involved.