Athletes Born on September 12

  • 1884 Bob Groom, American baseball pitcher (Washington Senators; no-hitter 1917 St. Louis Browns), born in Belleville, Illinois (d. 1948)
  • 1909 Spud Chandler, American baseball player (AL MVP 1943), born in Commerce, Georgia (d. 1990)

Jesse Owens (1913-1980)

American athlete (4 Olympic gold 100/200m, long jump, 4x100m relay 1936), born in Oakville, Alabama

  • 1916 Tony Bettenhausen, American race car driver, born in Tinley Park, Illinois (d. 1961)
  • 1925 Stan Lopata, American baseball player, born in Delray, Detroit, Michigan (d. 2013)
  • 1932 Waqar Hasan, Pakistani cricket batsman (21 Tests, top score 189; member Pakistan's inaugural Test squad), born in Amritsar, Punjab, India (d. 2020)
  • 1933 Denny Stolz, American college football coach (Alma College, Michigan State University, Bowling Green State Uni, San Diego State Uni), born in Lansing, Michigan (d. 2023)
  • 1933 Stafford Heginbotham, British toymaker (Tebro Toys) and Bradford Football Club Chairman (during time of the fire), (d. 1995)
  • 1934 Glenn Davis, American athlete (Olympic gold 1956,60), born in Wellsburg, West Virginia (d. 2009)
  • 1935 Víctor Benítez, Peruvian soccer centre-back/defensive midfielder (11 caps; AC Milan, Roma, Inter Milan, Boca Juniors), born in Lima, Peru (d. 2022)
  • 1937 George Chuvalo, Canadian boxer, born in Toronto, Ontario
  • 1937 Wes Hall, West Indian cricket fast bowler (48 Tests, 192 wickets; Barbados, Queensland CA, Trinidad) and politician (Minister of Tourism & Sport, Barbados), born in Glebe Land, Station Hill, Barbados
  • 1938 Claude Ruel, Canadian NHL coach (Stanley Cup 1968-69, Montreal Canadiens), born in Sherbrooke, Quebec (d. 2015)
  • 1940 Mickey Lolich, American pitcher (Detroit Tiger, won 25 in 1971), born in Portland, Oregon
  • 1943 Ralph Neely, American football offensive tackle (Super Bowl 1971, 77 Dallas Cowboys; Pro Bowl 1967, 69; All Pro 1966-69), born in Little Rock, Arkansas (d. 2022)
  • 1944 Ron Ward, Canadian ice hockey player (Toronto Maple Leafs), born in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada
  • 1944 Yoshio Kikugawa, Japanese soccer defender (16 caps; Mitsubishi Motors FC) and manager (Avispa Fukuoka FC 1982-94), born in Fujieda, Japan (d. 2022)
  • 1948 Max Walker, Australian cricket fast bowler (34 Tests, 138 wickets) and broadcaster (Nine Network), born in Hobart, Australia (d. 2016)
  • 1949 Irina Rodnina, Russian pairs figure skater (Olympic gold 1972, 76, 80), born in Moscow, Soviet Union
  • 1950 Gustav Brunner, Austrian Formula One designer and engineer, born in Graz, Austria
  • 1953 John Williams, American archer (Olympic gold individual 1972; World C'ship gold 1971), born in Cranesville, Pennsylvania
  • 1954 Neal Brendel, American rugby union prop (6 Tests; Pittsburgh RC) and executive (Chairman USA Rugby 2002-05), born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania (d. 2021)
  • 1956 Chip Beck, American golfer (US Open 1986, 89, Masters 1993 runner-up; shot 59 in 1991), born in Fayetteville, North Carolina
  • 1956 Ricky Rudd, American auto racer (NASCAR Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year 1977; IROC Champion 1992; Brickyard 400 1997, born in Norfolk County, Virginia

Wilfred Benítez (65 years old)

1958 Puerto Rican boxer (youngest world champion at 17 years, 176 days [WBA Light Welterweight]), born in New York City

  • 1959 Cindy Rarick, American golfer (5 LPGA Tour titles), born in Glenwood, Minnesota
  • 1961 Christiane Jolissaint, Swiss tennis star, born in Vevey, Switzerland
  • 1964 Dieter Hecking, German football player and manager, born in Castrop-Rauxel, West Germany
  • 1964 Greig Oliver, Scottish rugby union scrum-half (3 Tests) and coach (development officer Munster Rugby), born in Hawick, Scotland (d. 2023)
  • 1965 Joe Schmidt, New Zealand rugby union coach (Leinster; Ireland: 6 Nations C'ship 2014, 15, 18; Grand Slam 2018; Triple Crown 2018), born in Kawakawa, New Zealand
  • 1965 Silke Hörner, German breaststroke swimmer (2 Olympic gold 1988), born in Leipzig, Germany
  • 1967 Pat Listach, American baseball infielder (Milwaukee Brewers), born in Natchitoches, Louisiana
  • 1969 Ángel Cabrera, Argentine golfer (US Open 2007, US Masters 2009), born in Córdoba, Argentina
  • 1969 Shigeki Maruyama, Japanese golfer (3 PGA Tour titles; Presidents Cup 1998, 2000), born in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture
  • 1970 Rebecca Joyce, Australian rower (World C'ship gold LW1x; Olympic bronze LW double sculls 1996), born in Melbourne, Australia
  • 1971 Terry Dehere, American politician and NBA guard (Sacramento Kings), born in New York City
  • 1972 Paul Green, Australian rugby league coach (North Queensland Cowboys NRL premiership 2015; Queensland) and halfback (Australia SL 2 games, Queensland 7 games), born in Brisbane, Australia (d. 2022)
  • 1973 Darren Campbell, British athlete (Olympic gold 4x100m relay 2004, silver 200m 2000), born in Manchester, England
  • 1973 Martin Lapointe, Canadian ice hockey player, born in Ville St. Pierre, Quebec, Canada
  • 1974 Nuno Valente, Portuguese soccer defender (32 caps; Porto, Everton), born in Lisbon, Portugal
  • 1976 Maciej Żurawski, Polish footballer, born in Poznań, Poland
  • 1977 David Thompson, English footballer, born in Birkenhead, England
  • 1977 Nathan Bracken, Australian cricket fast bowler (5 Tests, 12 wickets; 116 ODIs, 174 wickets; NSW), born in Penrith, Australia
  • 1980 Fernando César de Souza, Brazilian footballer, born in Jardinopolis, Brazil
  • 1980 Josef Vašíček, Czech ice hockey center (World C'ship gold 2005; Carolina Hurricanes), born in Havlíčkův Brod, Czechoslovakia (d. 2011)
  • 1980 Sean Burroughs, American baseball player, born in Atlanta, Georgia
  • 1980 Yao Ming, Chinese basketball player, born in Shanghai
  • 1981 Jered Guzman, American pairs skater (with partner Natalie Vlandis), born in Garden Grove, California
  • 1983 Daniel Muir, American football player, born in Washington, D.C.
  • 1984 Taylor Jenkins, American basketball head coach (Memphis Grizzlies 2019-), born in Arlington, Texas
  • 1985 Jack Wilkinson, English footballer (Hartlepool United), born in Beverley, England
  • 1989 Andrew Luck, American NFL player (Indianapolis Colts), born in Washington D.C.
  • 1992 Johannes Strolz, Austrian alpine ski racer (Olympic gold men's Combined 2022), born in Bludenz, Austria
  • 1994 Elina Svitolina, Ukrainian tennis player (WTA Finals champion 2018), born in Odessa, Ukraine
  • 1996 Joshua Cheptegei, Ugandan long-distance runner (5,000m WR 12:35.35; World C'ship gold 10,000m 2019; World Cross Country gold 2019), born in Kapsewui, Uganda