I wouldn’t have left home for Trump’s America – Navratilova

Martina Navratilova left everything she knew about communist Czechoslovakia to begin a new life in the US fifty years ago.

She would later become one of tennis’s most famous players and was one of the most prominent defectors of the Cold War at the age of 18.

She claims to have been worried that the US “wouldn’t let me in” when she spoke to Amol Rajan on the BBC.

It would not be America because it is currently not a democracy, she says, if I were to stay in that same position [as in 1975] and had to relocate somewhere.

Navratilova clearly feels frustrated when she discusses US politics. She thinks that the situation is getting worse as people ignore it.

She adds that there is “undoubtedly a turning point” between the US and immigrants.

“People are getting chucked out by Homeland Security because they don’t fully understand Donald Trump’s agenda,” she says.

She claims that it wasn’t easy to make the decision to leave the US in 1975. She describes growing up in Revnice, modern-day Czechia, with a loving family she was leaving behind, as an “idyllic” childhood. “I never knew if I would see my parents again,” he said.

However, doing so altered Navratilova’s life forever. She claimed at the time that she wanted to leave Czechoslovakia because she “couldn’t do it under those circumstances at home” and that she wanted to become the world’s number one tennis player.

Navratilova still lives in the US with her wife Julia Lemigova, a model, and is a dual citizen of the US and the Czech Republic. Does she worry that she might lose her citizenship in the current political environment?

“The whole point is up in the air right now,” the statement continues. Everyone walks on eggshells without knowing what will happen.

However, she has previously stated that she agrees with President Trump regarding the participation of transgender women in sports.

She claims she disagrees with the current World Tennis Association (WTA) regulations that allow transgender women to play in women’s sports if they provide a written and signed declaration that they are female or non-binary, that their testosterone levels have been below a certain threshold for two years, and that they continue to maintain those levels.

She claims that trans women have biological advantages in women’s sports, a theory that is rife with controversy.

Male bodies must participate in male sports, she says, “but there should be no bullying and ostracism.” They are still able to compete. Transwomen’s participation in sports is not prohibited. They just need to compete in the male category, which is the proper category. That is the nature of it.

She continues, “A woman is not getting into the tournament because a male has taken her place by including male bodies in the women’s tournament.”

The British Lawn Tennis Association changed its rules in December of last year, making transgender women no longer eligible to compete in some domestic tennis tournaments.

The UK Supreme Court ruled in April that biological sex is what constitutes a woman’s legal definition. When questioned if she thinks tennis should follow the UK court’s example, she responds, “100%.”

Navratilova has been candid about her recent 15-year battle with cancer.

At the age of 52, she was first identified with breast cancer. Then, 13 years later, it came back along with a second, unrelated throat cancer.

Navratilova says, “The way I found out, I went like this,” rubbing her hands against her face as if shocked by something. And I’m like, “Oh, this lymph node is a little bigger.” And it’s still bigger a few weeks later.

Doctors discovered the second cancer in her breast after a scan.

“We got the results, and it’s cancer,” she says. “And I’m like, I’m going to die, my God, I promise..”

She claims the treatment was “hell,” but she now feels “all right.”

She laughs, “Knock on wood, all clear, and no side effects,” noting that other than red wine, which still doesn’t taste good, I’ve turned my attention to tequila and vodka. “I’m lucky. The treatment was “hell,” but the results were fantastic.

Has Navratilova’s life completely changed as a result of cancer?