Add Martina Navratilova to the growing list of celebrities that have attempted to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa. The tennis legend is in Tanzania this week where she hopes to make the climb to raise funds for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, an organization that promotes sportsmanship and fair play in athletics.
As a competitor, Navratilova was a fantastic athlete who was always well prepared for her matches. Her conditioning will no doubt be helpful for her in the climb, as she has never been above 12,000 feet before, although she does call the Kili trek “just a basic hike.” The fact that she lives in Aspen, Colorado, and is use to altitude already, will be a benefit as well.
The goal is to raise 100,000 euros, or roughly $134,000, through her donations page, which can be found here. Reportedly, more than half of that sum was already raised before Martina ever left for Africa, which bodes well for her reaching her goal.
Over the course of the next week, the tennis great will be hiking up the mountain, and of course she’s carrying her trademark racquet and a few tennis balls with her. While she doesn’t expect to play a match at the summit, she is going to hit those balls off the top of Kilimanjaro just to see how far they’ll fly. My guess is they hit the Serengeti from all the way up there!
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As much as I admire her, I don't think throwing trash off the mountain is a good idea. Sorry even Navratilova's tennis balls are trash on the mountain.
I wondered about that too Ewa. Maybe they'll make her retrieve the balls. I know there are more concerted efforts to keep Kili clean these days.
martina said some where that she has someone down there to get the ball(s)back so martina wont leave her trash,they only thing she is leaving behind are her foot prints xxgo matina xxx