Martina Navratilova

Martina Navratilova, a tennis champion, popular commentator and inspiring pioneer of LGBT+ awareness, was described as "the greatest singles, doubles and mixed doubles player to every exist" by the legendary Billie Jean King. To this day, Martina is one of best female tennis players to ever hit the court. At the peak of her career, she remained undefeated for 332 weeks in the singles, and 237 weeks in the doubles, breaking the record. Including 18 Grand Slam singles and 31 major women’s doubles titles, she shares the secrets to sporting success with audiences. Martina came out as gay in 1981, marking the start of her LGBT+ advocacy. When booked for events, she opens her audience’s eyes to the struggles faced by the gay community, and how corporations can make their workplace more inclusive.

In the Open Era, Martina holds the tennis record for the most singles and doubles titles, with a whopping 167 and 177 wins. As one of the most formidable tennis players in the sport, she is widely considered to be the most consistently successful professional athletes in the world. With a ratio of three losses to a staggering 87 wins, Martina holds the record for the longest winning streak in the Open Era, dominating the tournament for 74 consecutive matches. As the only player to have won eight separate tournaments an incredible seven times, the 10th ranked singles player is dismantling stereotypes surrounding female athletes. Martina has proven, both as a formidable tennis player and female inspirational speaker, that a woman’s potential is limitless. This is further corroborated by her BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award, the Czech Sports Legend Award, Phillipe Chatrier Award and her 7-time recognition as Player of the Year by the Women's Tennis Association.

Since coming out as bisexual in the early 1980s and later announcing that she was a lesbian, Martina has become one of the most vocal advocates for the LGBT+ community available to book. Following setbacks, discrimination, injuries and health conditions, Martina showed an incredible amount of human endurance to continue competing in the sport that she loved. Among her other campaigns, Martina took part in a lawsuit to protect sexual orientation in Colorado in 1992, and spoke at the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation only a year later. In celebration of her work, she was awarded the 2000 National Equality Award, a testament to Martina’s determined advocacy for the LGBT+ community.

Aside from her influential input on gay rights, Martina is also a supporter of animal rights and disadvantaged children. She was recognised by the Equality Forum as one of 31 Icons of LGBT History Month in 2006, and a first class of inductee into the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame, in 2013. In celebration of her sporting success, Martina was named one of the 30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future by Time in 2011. Her talent has been highlighted in several books, including "Martina Navratilova: Being Myself" and "Shape Your Self". When booked for events, Martina’s broad influence means that she can talk on a wealth of topics, from tennis to gay rights. She is an inspiring advocate for women and the LGBT+ community, and regularly enlightens her audience’s perspective of gender and sexuality.