Tennis great Martina Navratilova is speaking out after a male identifying as a woman won the women’s category of the Tour of the Gila bicycle race in New Mexico.
Austin Killips, a man, became the first trans cyclist to win an official event in the women’s category of a race under the authority of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the world’s governing body for cycling.
Navratilova thinks Killips should also be the last trans cyclist to win a UCI event. In a captioned tweet of a New York Post article about Killips’ “victory,” the tennis legend took the UCI to task.
Transgender cyclist Austin Killips wins women’s race, causes outrage- this will happen more and more- women’s sports is NOT THE PLACE for trans identified male athletes https://t.co/1KDuhYqyoh
— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) May 3, 2023
Initially, UCI defended its position on allowing trans cyclists.
“The UCI acknowledges that transgender athletes may wish to compete in accordance with their gender identity,” the organization said Tuesday.
“The UCI rules are based on the latest scientific knowledge and have been applied in a consistent manner. The UCI continues to follow the evolution of scientific findings and may change its rules in the future as scientific knowledge evolves.”
However, on Thursday, the world’s cycling governing body backpedaled from that claim and indicated a willingness to reconsider its lenient trans policies.
“The UCI’s objective remains the same: to take into consideration, in the context of the evolution of our society, the desire of transgender athletes to practice cycling,” the group said, according to The Guardian. “The UCI also hears the voices of female athletes and their concerns about an equal playing field for competitors, and will take into account all elements, including the evolution of scientific knowledge.”
Navratilova has frequently criticized trans athletes who infiltrate women’s sports and the governing bodies that allow it to happen. Most recently, she took transgender swimmer Lia Thomas to task for claiming that critics of trans athletes use feminism as a mask to hide transphobia.
“NEWSFLASH Lia- it’s not fair. We shouldn’t have to explain it to you over and over. Also- stop explaining feminism to feminists….” Navratilova wrote on Twitter.
Lia Thomas Says Her Critics Using ‘Feminism’ Claims To Hide Transphobia- NEWSFLASH Lia- it’s not fair. We shouldn’t have to explain it to you over and over. Also- stop explaining feminism to feminists…. https://t.co/vZxEva3rm2
— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) April 26, 2023
As Breitbart’s Warner Todd Huston notes, in March, “Navratilova praised the new policy posted by World Athletics banning transgender athletes from women’s categories, calling the new policy a ‘step in the right direction.’”