Athletes and Sports Stars Born in July 1979

Jul 1 Forrest Griffin, American UFC HOF mixed martial artist (UFC Light Heavyweight C'ship 2008; UFC Middleweight C'ship 2011, 12), born in Columbus, Ohio

Joe Thornton (44 years old)

Jul 2 Canadian NHL center, (#1 draft pick Boston Bruins 1997; San Jose Sharks; Olympic gold 2010), born in St. Thomas, Ontario

Jul 2 Sam Hornish, Jr., American race car driver
Jul 3 Ludivine Sagnier, French actress (Swimming Pool), born in La Celle-Saint-Cloud, France
Jul 3 Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Greek soccer defender (61 caps; Panathinaikos, Rangers, Eintracht Frankfurt, AEK Athens, Liverpool), born in Trikala, Greece

Amélie Mauresmo (44 years old)

Jul 5 French tennis player (Australian Open, Wimbledon 2006; Tour Finals 2005; Federation Cup 2003), born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France

Jul 5 Stiliyan Petrov, Bulgarian soccer midfielder (105 caps; CSKA Sofia, Celtic, Aston Villa), born in Mihaylovgrad, Bulgaria
Jul 7 Anastasios Gousis, Greek sprinter, born in Corfu, Greece
Jul 7 Carl Breeze, British racing driver, born in King's Lynn, United Kingdom
Jul 11 Éric Abidal, French footballer (Lyon, Barcelona), born in Saint-Genis-Laval, France
Jul 13 Craig Bellamy, Welsh soccer forward (78 caps; Newcastle United, Norwich City, Manchester City), born in Cardiff, Wales
Jul 14 Axel Teichmann, German cross-country skier, born in Saalburg-Ebersdorf, East Germany
Jul 14 Bernie Castro, Dominican baseball player, born in Santiago, Dominican Republic
Jul 15 Alexander Frei, Swiss footballer
Jul 16 Chris Mihm, American basketball player (Chicago Bulls), born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Kim Rhode (44 years old)

Jul 16 American double trap and skeet shooter (Olympic Gold: 1996, 2004 & 2012), born in Whittier, California

Jul 18 Deion Branch, American football player
Jul 19 Dilhara Fernando, Sri Lankan cricketer, born in Colombo, Sri Lanka
Jul 19 Luke Young, English footballer (Charlton Athletic), born in Harlow, England
Jul 19 Rick Ankiel, American MLB player (St. Louis Cardinals), born in Fort Pierce, Florida
Jul 20 David Ortega, Spanish freestyle and backstroke swimmer
Jul 20 Miklos Fehér, Hungarian soccer striker (25 caps; Győri ETO, Porto, Benfica), born in Tatabánya, Hungary (d. 2004)
Jul 21 David Carr, American football quarterback (2002 NFL Draft: #1 pick Houston Texans), born in Bakersfield, California
Jul 21 Luis Ernesto Michel, Mexican soccer goalkeeper (7 caps; CD Guadalajara 252 games), born in El Grullo, Jalisco, Mexico
Jul 21 Tamika Catchings, American basketball player (Indiana Fever), born in Stratford, New Jersey
Jul 22 Lucas Luhr, German racing driver, born in Mülheim-Kärlich, West Germany
Jul 23 Ricardo Sperafico, Brazilian racing driver, born in Toledo
Jul 24 Anne-Gaëlle Sidot, French tennis player
Jul 24 José Valverde, American baseball player
Jul 24 Valerio Scassellati, Italian racing driver
Jul 25 Ali Carter, English professional snooker player, born in Colchester, Essex
Jul 26 Erik Westrum, American ice hockey player, born in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Jul 26 Peter Sarno, Canadian ice hockey player, born in Toronto, Ontario
Jul 27 Jorge Arce, Mexican boxer (second Mexican to win world titles in 4 weight divisions), born in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico
Jul 29 Karim Essediri, Tunisian footballer
Jul 30 Carlos Arroyo, Puerto Rican basketball player, born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico
Jul 30 Graeme McDowell, Irish golfer (US Open 2010), born in Portrush, Northern Ireland
Jul 31 Carlos Marchena, Spanish footballer and coach, born in Las Cabezas de San Juan, Spain
Jul 31 J. J. Furmaniak, American baseball player
Jul 31 Per Krøldrup, Danish footballer