Martina Navratilova has spoken out after a fellow athlete was removed from a fencing tournament over the weekend for refusing to take on a transgender competitor.
Stephanie Turner was handed a black card by the USA Fencing board during an appearance at the Cherry Blossom Open in Maryland for condemning trans fencer Redmond Sullivan’s involvement.
In footage that has since gone viral online – racking up over four million views, Turner could be seen removing her fencing mask and throwing it to the ground before kneeling before Sullivan.
She, in turn, appeared visibly shocked by the move, with Turner later revealing that Sullivan had immediately approached the kneeling sports star to check if she was injured.
Turner was disqualified for the move (icons_women/X)
Speaking to FOX News afterwards, Turner recalled: “When I took the knee, I looked at the ref and I said, ‘I’m sorry, I cannot do this. I am a woman, and this is a man, and this is a women’s tournament. And I will not fence this individual.”
She continued: “Redmond says to me, ‘Well you know, there is a member on the board of directors here who supports me, and there is a policy that acknowledges me as a woman, so I am allowed to fence, and you will get black carded’, and I said, ‘I know’.”
The controversy has since divided thousands of fans of the sport, some of whom have slammed organisers for the ‘massive punishment’ given to Turner. Among them is former tennis champ Martina Navratilova.
Taking to Twitter, the 68-year-old Czech–American retired player hit out: “This is what happens when female athletes protest!
“Anyone here still thinks this is fair???
“I am fuming… and shame on @USAFencing, shame on you for doing this. How dare you throw women under the gender bullsh*t bus!!!”
Despite rejecting accusations of transphobia, Navratilova has long been a vocal critic of allowing transgender women to compete in women’s sports.
Reportedly, she has previously signed a letter to the National Collegiate Athletic Association to see trans women student athletes banned from competing in female sports and became a leader of the Women’s Sports Policy Working Group, which was formed in response a mandate that offered blanket inclusion for all trans women athletes put into place by Joe Biden.
The tennis player also boycotted Nike for partnering up with trans TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney, and last summer she condemned the IOC for allowing female boxer Imane Khelif to compete, believing she was a ‘biological male’ despite there being no evidence of this.
