Martina Navratilova wed her longtime partner Julia Lemigova this week. (Photo courtesy of John Wright Photo)

NEW YORK — Retired tennis champion Martina Navratilova on Dec. 15 married her longtime partner.

“It’s just really odd,” Navratilova told BBC’s Katty Kay shortly after she and Julia Lemigova tied the knot in Manhattan. “It’s about time. Growing up as a gay woman you just don’t ever think about that.”

Navratilova, who won more than two-dozen Grand Slam singles and doubles titles during her professional career, in 1981 became one of the first professional athletes to come out as gay. The Czech-born tennis champion remains a prominent LGBT rights advocate.

Navratilova proposed to Lemigova in September during the U.S. Open.