In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Tennis great Martina Navratilova was on TODAY on October 2nd discussing what it was like fighting two cancers at once. As an 18-time Grand Slam winner, Martina Navratilova is known as a fierce competitor. That tenacity helped her as she faced a double-whammy of having throat and breast cancer at the same time. Even though she’s now cancer free, finally feeling well enough to go to the gym and enjoying her new hair cut, she’s still processing her experience. Navratilova said that the same mindset that helped her win tennis matches guided her through cancer treatment. “Every other point, you lose. You have to recover,” she said. “That mentality of coming back and believing and staying positive and then surrounding yourself with a good team, that was very helpful.”
In addition to reflecting on her experience with cancer, Navratilova joined TODAY to urge women to keep up with regular breast cancer screenings. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time, it had been four years since her previous mammogram. Since then, she’s been diligent about her scans, helping her catch her two most recent cancers in early stages. She also recommended women learn if they have dense breasts and undergo the appropriate additional screenings if so.
In March 2023, Navratilova shared on the U.K.’s TalkTV that doctors told her that “as far as they know, I’m cancer free,” according to the Associated Press. She returned to working at the Tennis Channel covering the Miami Open. See a clip from her interview above. Book an inspirational Cancer Survivor Keynote Speaker like Martina Navratilova at Speakers.com today.
