"I was not treated as a girl growing up, I was treated as an athlete" - Martina Navratilova recalls playing against men and still not beating them

Martina Navratilova has recalled her experience of competing against men as she continued her criticism of popular science magazine 'Scientific American' for publishing an article which denied sex-based differences in male and female athletes.

Navratilova has been outspoken about her beliefs that biological males possess certain advantages that women do not. As such, the 18-time Grand Slam champion did not take kindly to the article which attributed the disparity between male and female athletes to biases in how they were treated rather than inherent biological distinctions.

"The inequity between male and female athletes is a result not of inherent biological differences between the sexes but of biases in how they are treated in sports," the article read.

The article cited the treatment of pacesetters in endurance-running events as an illustrative example.

"As an example, some endurance-running events allow the use of professional runners called pacesetters to help competitors perform their best. Men are not permitted to act as pacesetters in many women's events because of the belief that they will make the women 'artificially faster,' as though women were not actually doing the running themselves," the article continued.

Martina Navratilova reacted to the quotes on social media and conveyed her outrage at the article's stance.

"Hey @sciam - how the h*ll can you print this utter nonsense?? I mean how dare you. A name change is needed to Unscientific American," she posted on X.

After a user on X, formerly Twitter, concurred with the article's position, Navratilova recalled her experience of competing against men. She disclosed that she was unable to defeat the top male athletes and dismissed the article as "utter rubbish."

"I was not treated as a girl or a woman growing up - I was treated as an athlete. Played against boys and men all the time. Never can I beat top guys- it’s called biology. This is utter rubbish," she commented.

After the user suggested that Navratilova's experience in tennis might not apply to endurance running, the former World No. 1 reiterated her views and asserted that men were 10% faster than women.

"Nope. Men are still 10% faster than women," Martina Navratilova responded.

Martina Navratilova pays tribute to Sir Bobby Charlton after football legend dies at 86

Martina Navratilova

Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, English football player Sir Bobby Charlton passed away peacefully on Saturday, October 21.

Charlton played a pivotal role in England's 1966 FIFA World Cup triumph, winning the Ballon d'Or that same year. Over the course of his international career, he made 106 appearances for the national team and scored 49 goals, making him England's third-highest all-time goalscorer.

Martina Navratilova paid tribute to Sir Bobby Charlton on social media, fondly recalling his kindness, humility and remarkable football career.

"RIP Sir Bobby Charlton- a kind man, a humble man and also a pretty good footballer:). We miss you," she posted on X.