Last week I wrote a story about tennis legend Martina Navratilova, who was attempting to climb Kilimanjaro for the Laureus Sports For Good Foundation. At the time, she was just about to embark on her climb, calling it “just a basic hike.” Turns out, she got more than she bargained for, as she had to be assisted from the mountain and spent some time in a Nairobi hospital recovering.
According to this story, Navratilova reached as high as 4511 meters (14,800 ft.) on the 5894 meter (19,340 ft.) mountain before she turned back. Apparently, fluid had begun to collect in her lungs, and she was showing all the classic signs of altitude sickness. On Thursday of last week she abandoned her climb and was assisted down the mountain by porters, who took her to a nearby hospital before she was transferred to another in Nairobi where she spent three days recovering.
Navratilova is considered one of the greatest female athletes of all time and lives at altitude in Aspen, Colorado. But she had never been higher than 12,000 feet before this climb, and we all know that altitude can doe weird things to the body. It seems that that is the case here. No matter how fit and well trained you are, altitude is the great equalizer and can bring anyone down.
Fortunately, Navratilova is recovering just fine, and is on her way home. She’s disappointed that she didn’t complete the climb, as it was to raise funds for Laureus, but she now has a healthy respect for mountaineering, and Kilimanjaro in general.
Just a basic trek indeed!
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Martina Navratrilova is a fighter in any form of life. Be it tennis, be it battle against cancer or be it climbing the Mount Kili. She might have been asked to come down this time, but trust us she will definitely come back once again 🙂
Thanks for the great write-up and keep sharing your thoughts from the world of adventure sports!!
Thanks for posting this article about Martina's event. I had not heard about this.
She is such a strong person, mentally and physically, as well as a great tennis player.
Thanks again for the article / write-up. I am enjoying your articles.
awesome blog, do you have twitter or facebook? i will bookmark this page thanks. jasmin holzbauer
Yep! They're both listed on the side of the blog. Glad you like it!