Martina Navratilova taken aback by news of IOC allegedly funding study claiming transwomen athletes are at a disadvantage compared to women

Martina Navratilova recently reacted to the news that the International Olympic Committee allegedly funded a study that compared transgender women with female athletes to prove that trans women were at a disadvantage as compared to female athletes.

According to The Telegraph, the IOC was accused of funding a study that reported transgender women "performed worse in certain cardiovascular tests and had less lower-body strength than cisgender females".

Sky News Australia contributor Katherine Deves Morgan shared The Telegraph article and wrote,

"So @iocmedia compared a bunch of unfit chubby blokes in dresses that they found online to a handful of athletic females They concluded “transwomen” have a physical disadvantage compared to actual women Now all the blokes on hormones can play with the women otherwise it’s “unfair” Have I got that right?"

This caught Martina Navratilova's eye, who has always voiced her strong concerns against letting transgender women participate in women's sports.

She said that she would like to talk to the people in charge at IOC. Navratilova wrote,

"I would really love to speak to these people in charge at the IOC…."

Martina Navratilova is vocal about not letting trans women compete in women's sports

Martina Navratilova pictured at the 2022 US Open

Martina Navratilova has always taken a strong stand against the inclusion of transgender women in women's sports. Recently, she engaged in a heated debate with a tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg.

Rothenberg wrote that it was a "bummer' that a tennis icon resorted to "petty bullying"

"Hard to overstate what a bummer it is to see this continued turn from an icon of both women's tennis and LGBT history. And I think this petty bullying meaningfully undercut Navratilova's attempt at claiming moral high ground when it came to women's tennis going to Saudi Arabia."

Navratilova responded to him with a series of tweets. She said that Rothenberg was clueless about the topic and recommended that he refrain from offering any recommendations pertaining to this topic.

"Oh Ben- just shows how utterly clueless you are when it comes to this…"

"We just loooove when men tell what we should do or what we should think. Just sit this one out."

Navratilova further explained that many people would not be okay with having men in women's locker rooms.

"It’s about women’s sex based spaces- and you are just another male who thinks that’s ok. You might be ok with naked females in the men’s locker room but we are NOT ok with naked males in women’s locker rooms."

Screengrab of Martina Navratilova's tweets