SportsCenter and espnW Continue to Unveil Top 40 Female Athletes of Past 40 Years

Rachel Margolis Siegal

May 9, 2012

espnW.com will provide in-depth look at athletes over 40 days leading to Title IX anniversary

Nos. 30-26 to be revealed daily beginning Monday, May 14

SportsCenter, in conjunction with espnW, will continue to unveil the Top 40 Female Athletes of the Past 40 Years, as part of ESPN’s companywide initiative The Power of IX – recognizing the 40^th anniversary of Title IX. Nos. 30-26 will be revealed, one per day, beginning Monday, May 14, during the 10 a.m. ET weekday edition of SportsCenter.

Athletes 30-26 (in alphabetical order):

Michelle Akers (soccer) – United States Soccer Federation Female Athlete of the Year twice and won a Gold Medal at the Atlanta Olympic Games
Gail Devers (track) – Three-time Olympic Champion
Chamique Holdsclaw (basketball) – Four-time All-American and three-time NCAA Champion at the University of Tennessee
Nancy Lieberman (basketball) – Inductee to the Naismith Memorial and Women’s Basketball Hall of Fames; first female coach of a men’s team under the NBA umbrella
Grete Waitz (runner) – Marathon runner and former world record holder; won nine New York City Marathons between 1978 and 1988, along with an Olympic Silver Medal

Quotes from select vignettes:
Billie Jean King on Nancy Lieberman: “She had guts! Nancy Lieberman, oh pioneer, spoke out – didn’t care about the consequences – took a lot of hits for all of us – she just changed things.”

Julie Foudy on Michelle Akers: “She is a legend, a giant of the game, that I’m so grateful I had a chance to play with because she could finish in any way possible. She could finish from the outside, inside, with the head. Just a remarkable player.”

Each vignette is introduced by ESPN’s Hannah Storm, and includes footage and/or still action photos, along with video, from past or present coaches, teammates or a respected authority from within the women’s sports world.

The top 10 female athletes will be revealed during the 11 p.m. weeknight SportsCenter (June 11-22), culminating with the No. 1 female athlete of the past 40 years announced Friday, June 22 – one day prior to the 40^th anniversary of Title IX (June 23).

espnW.com will provide an in-depth look at every athlete as chosen by an industry-wide blue-ribbon panel and based on athletic achievement. espnW.com has been the digital destination for ESPN’s The Power of IX initiative.

Previously announced athletes: No. 40 Fu Mingxia (diving), No. 39 Julie Krone (jockey), No. 38 Mary Lou Retton (gymnastic), No. 37 Cammi Granato (ice hockey), No. 36 Kristine Lilly (soccer), No. 35 Diana Taurasi (basketball), No. 34 Flo Hyman (volleyball) and No. 33 Abby Wambach (soccer).

The 24 voters: Val Ackerman, Christine Brennan, Doris Burke, Jim Caple, Linda Cohn, Luke Cyphers, Anita DeFrantz, Sue Enquist, Chris Fowler, Jemele Hill, Johnette Howard, Sally Jenkins, Richard Lapchick, Nicole LaVoi, Donna Lopiano, Jackie MacMullan, Juliet Macur, Chris McKendry, Kathryn Olson, Robin Roberts, Le Anne Schreiber, Hannah Storm, Judy Sweet and Lesley Visser.

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