Since no other male professional athlete in the US had come out during their playing careers, NBA player Jason Collins had to look back at a female superstar who did it 33 years ago.

That is Martina Navratilova who in 1981 came out publicly at the age of 23. She had two Wimbledon singles crown to her credit at the time and would go on to win 16 more grand slam singles titles as an openly gay athlete.

‘You know, I look at her as one of my heroes,’ Collins told ABC News this week. ‘She’s been a role model for me, the way that she — the dignity and the class that she’s lived her life and all that she’s achieved in her career. And, you know, how she is my role model – hopefully — going forward I can be someone else’s role model.’

Because of the ground she broke more than three decades ago and her continued prominence as a sports commentator and activist, Navratilova has been asked for her reaction to Collins historic coming out.

‘Now that Jason Collins has come out, he is the proverbial ‘game-changer,’” she wrote in a column for Sports Illustrated. ‘One of the last bastions of homophobia has been challenged. How many LGBT kids, once closeted, are now more likely to pursue a team sport and won’t be scared away by a straight culture?’

She added: ‘Collins has led the way to freedom. Yes, freedom — because that closet is completely and utterly suffocating. It’s only when you come out that you can breathe properly. It’s only when you come out that you can be exactly who you are. Collins’ action will save lives. This is no exaggeration: Fully one third of suicides among teenagers occur because of their sexuality. Collins will truly affect lives, too. Millions of kids will see that it is OK to be gay. No need for shame, no need for embarrassment, no need for hiding.’