Martina Navratilova Slams Austin Killips, The Transgender Cyclist Who Took Home Women's Title

Published•Updated

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has been outspoken about transgender women (biological men) competing against biological female athletes, and she's not happy with cyclist Austin Killips' latest stunt.

Killips recently became the first transgender woman to win an official Union Cycliste International (UCI) event at a race in New Mexico. With his win, Killips also won the overall title for the Tour of the Gila five-race event.

Navratilova spoke out against Killips' win on Twitter by sharing a New York Post story about the race writing, "women's sports is NOT THE PLACE for trans identified male athletes."

The UCI defended its rules allowing biological men to race against women. Not only that, but the UCI implies that "scientific findings" haven't shown a reason to ban men from racing against women.

"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."

Navratilova, an 18-time Grand Slam winner, showed support for World Athletics' decision in March to ban transgender athletes from competing in all women's events.

Tags
Written by

Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee, but wants it on the record that he does not bleed orange. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets, including BroBible, SB Nation, and The Spun. Mark also wrote for the Chicago Cubs' Double-A affiliate in 2016, the year the curse was broken. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.