Martina Navratilova: 'Women are still judged by a different metric than men'

Amol Rajan speaks to Martina Navratilova, one of the
greatest-ever tennis players, about her life and career. The
story of her rise to the top of the game is as remarkable as the
number of tournaments she managed to win.


Born behind the Iron Curtain in Czechoslovakia in 1956, she was
11-years-old when she watched Soviet tanks roll in to the country
as Moscow sought to reassert control and quash political reform.


Navratilova, who played in her first tennis tournament when she
was eight, rose to both national and international prominence in
the years that followed.


But in 1975, following the Czech government’s efforts to control
her tennis career, she defected. Aged 18, Navratilova sought
asylum in the United States, where she later became an American
citizen. During the late 1970s and 1980s she dominated the
international tennis circuit, and by the time she retired, she
had won 59 major singles and doubles titles.


But throughout her life, Navratilova has generated headlines on
the front pages of newspapers, as well as the back. She came out
as being gay in 1981, a rare thing for high-profile athletes to
do at the time, and quickly became a prominent figure in the gay
rights movement. More recently, however, she has found herself at
odds with some groups due to her views on transgender athletes.


She has also battled cancer on two separate occasions.


Thank you to the Amol Rajan Interviews team for their help in
making this programme. The Interview brings you conversations
with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best
interviews from the BBC. You can listen on the BBC World Service,
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Presenter: Amol Rajan Producers: Ben Cooper, Joel Mapp Sound:
Dave O’Neill Editor: Nick Holland


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(Image: Martina Navratilova. Credit: Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)