Martina Navratilova reacts to Simone Biles reportedly donating $4 million for HarrisWalz campaign

By Animesh Pandey

Modified Sep 10, 2024 07:27 GMT

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Martina Navratilova has praised Simone Biles' decision to support the presidential campaign of incumbent US Vice President Kamala Harris. According to X user Andy Behrman, Simone Biles would be donating $4 million to the Harris-Walz campaign.

Navratilova reacted to this decision by expressing her admiration on social media. She wrote,

"Wow! That is amazing!"

As per the post by Behrman, Biles would be donating $4 million to the presidential campaign, with every million indicating the medals won by her at the Paris Olympics. Kamala Harris is aiming to create history as the first female President in the history of the United States of America. Tim Walz, Governor of Minnesota, will be her running mate for the post of Vice President. Navratilova has been a vocal supporter of Harris for a long time.

However, Biles has yet to validate Behrman's claim of her $4M donation. Moreover, if she directly donates to the campaign, it might come under the radar of the financial authorities in the USA. According to the rules laid out for the US elections, an individual cannot donate more than $3300 to any candidate during the election campaign.

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Martina Navratilova's persistent support for Simone Biles

Martina Navratilova in action at an exhibition match in Wimbledon 2024 [Image Source: Getty]

Martina Navratilova has been unequivocal in her support for Simone Biles. The former tennis champion has backed the Olympic legend through thick and thin.

In March 2024, Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina and Republican politician Mark Robinson criticized Simone Biles for taking a mental health break in 2021. He said that he was no 'weak gymnast' who quits when the going gets tough.

Navratilova replied to his comments, as she wrote on her X account,

"When was the last time Mark did a somersault. What an utter a**! He is just vile beyond any help."

For the unversed, Simone Biles had withdrawn from most of her events at the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021, citing her mental health issues. She had won only a silver medal in the team all-around event and a bronze medal in the balance beam event, compared to the four gold medals and a bronze medal she won at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

Navratilova's support did not come out of the blue. In 2022, when Jenna Ellis, who is legal advisor to ex-President and current GOP candidate Donald Trump, criticized Joe Biden for awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Simone Biles and Megan Rapinoe, Martina Navratilova hit back, commenting,

"That's President Biden to you and the only loser in this tweet is you. Signed - a so so tennis player."

Martina Navratilova is considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Her best performance at the Olympics came in Athens, where she and Lisa Raymond reached the quarterfinals, but lost to Shinobu Asagoe and Ai Sugiyama of Japan.