Martina Navratilova endorses Olympic president hopeful who suggests ban on trans athletes from women’s sports

Former women’s tennis star Martina Navratilova expressed her desire to see former British Olympic champion Sebastian Coe become the next president of the International Olympics Committee (IOC). 

The key issue that drives Navratilova’s endorsement is banning trans athletes from women’s competition — an issue the the former tennis star has been a prominent advocate of. 

“IOC’s shift may alter DSD (Differences of Sexual Development) trans rules – here is hoping Seb Coe is the next president!” Navratilova wrote in a post on X while re-sharing an article that lays out Coe’s stances. 

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The former Czech tennis player Martina Navratilova receives the golden racket during the Italian tennis internationals at the Foro Italico. Rome (Italy), May 21st, 2023. (Massimo Insabato/Archivio Massimo Insabato/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

Coe published his manifesto for his vision as International Olympics Committee (IOC) president, as he campaigns for the position going into 2025, and it stressed the importance of protecting female athletes.

Unlike current IOC president Thomas Bach, Coe staunchly opposes trans inclusion in the women’s category, and said he would explore a complete ban on trans athletes in a previous interview with Sky News.

“We will have a very clear policy that will be un-ambiguous,” Coe said. “We’ve been very clear in World Athletics that transgender athletes will not be competing in the female category at the elite level.”

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Lord Sebastian Coe speaks during a Memorial Service for Kevan Gosper AO in the Olympic Room at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on September 17, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia. Mr Gosper was an Olympian, former AOC President and IOC Vice President, who passed away on 19 July 2024 after a short illness.  (Daniel Pockett/Getty Images for the AOC)

Coe declined to state whether he would advocate for mandatory sex-eligibility tests for Olympians.

Coe is the current head of World Athletics — the governing body for international track & field competition. In 2023, the governing body tightened its regulations on trans athletes to exclude transgender women who have gone through male puberty from competing in the female category. That regulation also lowered the maximum testosterone level for eligible female competitors. 

Coe said that if his becomes IOC president, the new Olympic policy on trans inclusion will “probably” reflect the one he has established in World Athletics.

While criticizing the IOC’s current policies on the issue, Coe referenced an incident at the recent Paris Olympics. The recent summer games were overshadowed by controversy when Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan won gold medals in women’s boxing. 

Both athletes had previously been disqualified from international competitions for failing gender-eligibility tests. However, the IOC and current President Thomas Bach supported the inclusion of both athletes, insisting they were qualified to compete as women under the current rules. 

Coe previously said the situation involving Khelif and Lin made him feel “uncomfortable,” in a November interview with the BBC. Neither athlete has been confirmed to be transgender. 

NCAA PREZ SUGGESTS ONUS ON FEMALE ATHLETES TO USE OTHER FACILITIES IF UNCOMFORTABLE SHARING WITH TRANS PLAYERS

Algeria’s Imane Khelif (in red) punches Italy’s Angela Carini in the women’s 66kg preliminaries round of 16 boxing match during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the North Paris Arena, in Villepinte on August 1, 2024. (MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images)

The United Nations released study findings saying that nearly 900 biological females have fallen short of the podium because they have been beaten out by transgender athletes.

The study, titled “Violence against women and girls in sports,” said that more than 600 athletes did not medal in more than 400 competitions in 29 different sports, totaling over 890 medals, according to information obtained up to March 30.

“The replacement of the female sports category with a mixed-sex category has resulted in an increasing number of female athletes losing opportunities, including medals, when competing against males,” the report said.

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