The following comprises ESPN's press release on Martina, the #19 athlete on their SportsCentury list. Tuesday, September 21 Athlete No. 19 - Martina Navratilova As part of ESPN's extensive SportsCentury project presented by GM, a distinguished panel of knowledgeable journalists and observers has named Martina Navratilova the No. 19 greatest North American athlete of the 20th century. The network will present a 30-minute profile on the career and life of the tennis star, Fri., Sept. 24 at 10:30 p.m. ET, part of 49 weekly programs counting down the century's 50 greatest athletes. The program will be reaired on ESPN Sun, Sept. 26 at 8 a.m. and 12 p.m., and Wed., Sept. 29 at 12:30 a.m.; and on ESPN2 Thu., Sept. 30 at 10 p.m. ESPN Classic will televise the program Sat., Sept. 25 at 5:30 p.m., Wed., Sept. 29 at 8:30 p.m. and Thu., Sept. 30 at 12:30 a.m., 4:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. According to the panel, Navratilova is the greatest North American tennis player of the 20th century (no tennis players remain), ahead of the previously announced seven on the top 100 list (Bill Tilden - No. 45, Pete Sampras - No. 48, Chris Evert - No. 50, Billie Jean King - No. 59, Althea Gibson - No. 65, Jimmy Connors - No. 81 and Don Budge - No. 98). With Babe Didrikson as the only other female remaining, Martina Navratilova is the highest ranking living female on the list. While the panel was asked to vote based on athletic ability alone, the program will also address Navratilova's rivalry with Chris Evert, training with Nancy Lieberman-Cline and the controversy surrounding her sexuality as it related to her career. The panel, which draws from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences, includes 48 distinguished professionals such as Lucy Danzinger, Frank Deford, Dick Enberg, Sally Jenkins, Tony Kornheiser, Richard Lapchick, Robin Roberts, Bob Ryan, Pat Summerall and Mike Wilbon. Quotes on Navratilova Jim Lampley "Martina is driven by ego. It is a powerful, supremely consumptive ego. And if she decided that the way to make a mark on the history of the sport was to pursue conditioning, she was going to condition herself like no other woman athlete of her time." George Vecsey "No player I saw before or after her went quite to the net with so much strength, so much speed, so much aggressiveness -- that you enjoyed watching her play." Mary Carillo "Martina looked like she was a lot bigger than Chrissy, but the fact is it galled Martina that people didn't know that they both wore a size eight skirt." Martina Navratilova "I did imagine Chris (Evert) as the enemy when I was practicing, when I was doing all those workouts." Martina Navratilova "I don't feel as American as I would like to because I am not allowed to feel like an American. I can't fight for the country. I can't adopt a child...try to teach in a public school." Martina Navratilova Born October 18, 1956 in Czechoslovakia, Navratilova defected to the U.S. in 1975 and became a U.S. citizen in 1981. She became the No. 1 player in the world in 1978 and over the course of her career, became one of the most successful players to ever play the game. She finished her career with 18 major singles titles and 38 doubles crowns for a total of 56 Grand Slam championships. In all, she captured 167 tournaments and 1,438 matches (against just 212 losses) and held the top-ranked spot for 331 weeks. She compiled consecutive match winning streaks of 74, 58 and 54 and won six consecutive Grand Slam singles titles in a 14-month stretch. In 1990, she won her record ninth Wimbledon and officially retired from the singles tour in 1994. Her rivalry with star Chris Evert was legendary. Navratilova finished her career with a 43-37 edge, despite losing 21 of the first 25 matches with Evert. In a poll of espn.com users who were asked "Do you think Martina Navratilova is one of the top 50 athletes of the 20th century?" - 73.5% of the 2,941 voters said yes.