Athletes and Sports Stars Born in 1978 (Part 2)

Birthdays 201 - 353 of 353

Aug 21 Jason Marquis, American baseball pitcher, born in Manhasset, NY
Aug 21 Lee Gronkiewicz, American baseball player, born in Los Angeles, California
Aug 21 Reuben Droughns, American football player, born in Chicago, Illinois

Kobe Bryant (1978-2020)

Aug 23 American basketball guard (NBA champion 2000–02, 09-10; NBA MVP 2008; 18 x NBA All Star; LA Lakers; Olympic gold 2008,12), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Aug 24 Rafael Furcal, Dominican baseball player, born in Loma de Cabrera, Dominican Republic
Aug 29 Celestine Babayaro, Nigerian footballer, born in Kaduna, Nigeria
Aug 30 Cliff Lee, American baseball player, born in Benton, Arkansas
Aug 31 Philippe Christanval, French footballer
Sep 1 Max Vieri, Australian soccer forward (6 caps; Verona, Napoli), born in Sydney, Australia
Sep 2 Matthew Watkins, Welsh rugby union centre (18 caps; Newport, Llanelli Scarlets), born in Newport, Wales (d. 2020)
Sep 3 John Curtis, English footballer, born in Nuneaton, England
Sep 3 Michal Rozsival, Czech ice hockey player, born in Vlašim, Czechoslovakia
Sep 5 Chris Jack, New Zealand rugby union footballer (All Blacks), born in Christchurch, New Zealand
Sep 5 Sylvester Joseph, West Indian cricketer, born in New Winthorpes, Antigua
Sep 5 Zhang Zhong, Chinese-Singaporean chess player, born in Chongqing, China
Sep 6 Alex Escobar, Venezuelan baseball player, born in Valencia, Carabobo, Venezuela
Sep 7 Erwin Koen, Dutch footballer, born in Den Helder, Netherlands
Sep 8 Gerard Autet, Spanish footballer, born in Manlleu, Spain
Sep 8 Gil Meche, American baseball player, born in Lafayette, Louisiana
Sep 9 Kurt Ainsworth, American baseball pitcher, born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Sep 9 Mariano Puerta, Argentine tennis player (World #9 2005; French Open runner-up 2005), born in San Francisco, Argentina
Sep 9 Shane Battier, American basketball player, born in Birmingham, Michigan
Sep 11 Dejan Stanković, Serbian footballer (Serbia National Team captain), born in Belgrade, Serbia
Sep 11 Ed Reed, American Pro Football HOF safety (Super Bowl 2012 Baltimore Ravens; NFL Defensive Player of the Year 2004; 5 × First-team All-Pro; 9 × Pro Bowl), born in St. Rose, Louisiana
Sep 13 Darren Kenton, English footballer (Norwich City), born in Wandsworth, England
Sep 14 Ben Cohen, English rugby union outside back (57 Tests; Northampton RFC, CA Brive, Sale Sharks RFC), born in Northampton, England
Sep 15 Eiður Guðjohnsen, Icelandic footballer (Chelsea, Barcelona) and manager, born in Reykjavík, iceland
Sep 16 Dan Dickau, American basketball player, born in Portland, Oregon
Sep 17 Shawn Horcoff, Canadian ice hockey player
Sep 18 Augustine Simo, Cameroonian footballer, born in Bangangté, Cameroon
Sep 19 Nick Johnson, American baseball player, born in Tempe, Arizona
Sep 20 Dante Hall, American football player
Sep 20 T.J. Tucker, American baseball player
Sep 21 Doug Howlett, New Zealand rugby union footballer, born in Auckland, New Zealand
Sep 22 Ed Joyce, Irish-English cricketer, born in Dublin, Ireland
Sep 25 Joel Pineiro, Puerto Rican baseball player, born in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Sep 25 Ricardo Gardner, Jamaican soccer winger (111 caps; Bolton Wanderers 342 games), born in St. Andrew Parish, Jamaica
Sep 25 Roudolphe Douala, Cameroonian footballer, born in Douala, Cameroon

Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot (45 years old)

Sep 26 Kenyan long-distance runner, born in Kapsabet, Kenya

Sep 27 Jon Rauch, American baseball player (tied equal tallest MLB player at 6ft 11in), born in Louisville, Kentucky
Sep 30 Candice Michelle, American female wrestler
Oct 3 Claudio Pizarro, Peruvian soccer striker (85 caps; Bayern Munich 224 games, 87 goals), born in Callao, Peru
Oct 3 Gerald Asamoah, German soccer forward (43 caps; Schalke 04 279 games, 44 goals), born in Mampong, Ghana
Oct 4 Kyle Lohse, American baseball pitcher (14th pitcher to beat all 30 MLB teams; Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals), born in Chico, California
Oct 5 Jesse Palmer, Canadian-born American football player, born in Toronto, Ontario
Oct 5 Shane Ryan, Irish Gaelic footballer, born in Dublin, Ireland
Oct 6 Ricky Hatton, English boxer, born in Stockport, England
Oct 7 Zaheer Khan, Indian cricketer, born in Shrirampur, India
Oct 8 Antonino D'Agostino, Italian football player, born in Turin, Italy
Oct 8 Mick O'Driscoll, Irish rugby player, born in Cork, Ireland
Oct 9 Juan Dixon, American basketball player, born in Baltimore, Maryland
Oct 11 Kali, Angolan soccer defender (73 caps), born in Luanda, Angola
Oct 12 Baden Cooke, Australian cyclist, born in Benalla, Victoria, Australia
Oct 13 Jermaine O'Neal, American basketball forward (6 × NBA All-Star 2002–07; NBA Most Improved Player 2002 Indiana Pacers; Portland Trailblazers), born in Columbia, South Carolina
Oct 14 Javon Walker, American football player
Oct 14 Paul Hunter, English snooker player (Masters 2001, 02, 04), born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England (d. 2006)
Oct 14 Ryan Church, American baseball player
Oct 14 Steven Thompson, Scottish footballer
Oct 18 Mike Tindall, English rugby union player
Oct 19 Enrique Bernoldi, Brazilian race car driver
Oct 19 Zakhar Dubenskiy, Russian footballer
Oct 20 Virender Sehwag, Indian cricketer (Wisden Leading World Cricketer 2008), born in Delhi, India
Oct 21 Joey Harrington, American football player
Oct 22 Chaswe Nsofwa, Zambian soccer striker (33 caps; Zanaco FC), born in Lusaka, Zambia (d. 2007)
Oct 22 Owais Shah, English cricket batsman (6 Tests, 2 x 50s; 71 ODIs; Middlesex CCC, Essex CCC), born in Karachi, Pakistan
Oct 23 Archie Thompson, Australian footballer, born in Otorohanga, New Zealand
Oct 23 Jimmy Bullard, English footballer and TV host (Soccer AM), born in East Ham, England
Oct 23 Steve Harmison, English cricketer, born in Ashington, England
Oct 24 Carlos Edwards, Trinidadian footballer (Trinidad and Tobago national football team), born in Diego Martin, Trinidad and Tobago
Oct 25 Russell Anderson, Scottish footballer (Sunderland), born in Aberdeen, Scotland
Oct 26 Jimmy Aggrey, English footballer (Torquay United), born in Hammersmith, London
Oct 27 Sergei Samsonov, Russian ice hockey player, born in Moscow, Soviet Union
Oct 27 Vanessa-Mae [Vanakorn Nicholson], Singaporean-British violinist and Olympic alpine skier, born in Singapore
Oct 29 Kelly Smith, English football player (Arsenal Ladies), born in Watford, England
Oct 29 Travis Henry, American football player, born in Frostproof, Florida
Oct 30 Martin Dossett, American football player, born in Portland, Texas
Oct 31 Emmanuel Izonritei, Nigerian boxer
Oct 31 Martin Verkerk, Dutch tennis player, born in Leiderdorp, Netherlands
Nov 1 Danny Koevermans, Dutch soccer striker and coach (4 caps; Sparta Rotterdam), born in Schiedam, Netherlands
Nov 4 John Grabow, American baseball player, born in Arcadia, California
Nov 5 Bubba Watson Jr., American golfer (US Masters 2012, 2014), born in Bagdad, Florida
Nov 6 Scott Piercy, American golfer (US Open 2016 runner-up), born in Las Vegas, Nevada
Nov 6 Zak Morioka, Brazilian racing driver, born in São Paulo, Brazil
Nov 7 Coy Wire, American NFL football player (Buffalo Bills, Atlanta Falcons), and TV sports broadcaster (CNN), born in Lemoyne, Pennsylvania
Nov 7 Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Dutch footballer (PSV Eindhoven), born in Oldenzaal, Netherlands
Nov 7 Rio Ferdinand, English footballer (England national team 1997-2001), born in Camberwell, England
Nov 8 Ali Karimi, Iranian footballer, born in Karaj, Iran
Nov 8 Júlio Sérgio Bertagnoli, Brazilian footballer, born in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
Nov 8 Spyros Gogolos, Greek footballer, born in Corfu Island, Greece
Nov 8 Tim de Cler, Dutch footballer, born in Leiden, Netherlands
Nov 11 Lou Vincent, New Zealand cricketer, born in Warkworth, New Zealand
Nov 12 Lena Yada, American actress, model, surfer and WWE Diva, born in Honolulu, Hawaii
Nov 14 Bobby Allen, American ice hockey player
Nov 14 Xavier Nady, American baseball player
Nov 16 Eric Crouch, American football quarterback (Heisman Trophy 2001, U of Nebraska; Green Bay Packers; Toronto Argonauts), born in Omaha, Nebraska
Nov 16 Gary Naysmith, Scottish footballer, born in Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Nov 16 Kip Bouknight, American baseball player, born in Columbia, South Carolina
Nov 17 Reggie Wayne, American football player
Nov 18 Damien Johnson, Northern Irish footballer
Nov 19 Věra Pospíšilová-Cechlová, Czech athlete, born in Litoměřice, Czechoslovakia
Nov 22 Magdalena Grzybowska, Polish tennis star (1995 Futures Slovakia), born in Poznań, Poland
Nov 26 Andrejs Rubins, Latvian soccer midfielder (117 caps; FC Skonto, Crystal Palace, Spartak Moscow, Inter Baku FC), born in Riga, Latvia (d. 2022)
Nov 27 Jimmy Rollins, American baseball player
Nov 28 Freddie Mitchell, American football player
Nov 28 Haytham Tambal, Sudanese footballer
Nov 28 Mehdi Nafti, Tunisian footballer
Nov 29 Alessandro Fei, Italian volleyball player, born in Saronno, Italy
Nov 29 Dimitrious Konstantopolous, Greek footballer, born in Thessaloniki, Greece
Dec 2 Jarron Collins, American NBA basketball center, 2001-11 (Utah Jazz and 3 other teams); assistant coach (Golden State Warriors NBA C'ships 2015, 17-18; New Orleans Pelicans), born in Northridge, California
Dec 2 Jason Collins, American NBA basketball center, 2001-14 (first openly gay athlete to play in any major North American pro sports league; New Jersey Nets, Atlanta Hawks, and 5 other teams), born in Northridge, California
Dec 2 Maëlle Ricker, Canadian snowboarder (Olympic gold snowboard cross 2010; World C'ship gold 2005, 13), born in North Vancouver, British Columbia
Dec 5 Marcelo Zalayeta, Uruguayan footballer (Juventus), born in Montevideo, Uruguay
Dec 5 Olli Jokinen, Finnish ice hockey player, born in Kuopio, Finland
Dec 6 Chris Başak, American baseball player, born in North Platte, Nebraska
Dec 6 Darrell Jackson, American NFL wide receiver, born in Dayton, Ohio
Dec 8 Anwar Siraj, Ethiopian footballer
Dec 8 John Oster, Welsh footballer, born in Boston, England
Dec 8 Kate Robinson, American figure skater and ice dancer, born in Peoria, Illinois
Dec 8 Vernon Wells III, American baseball center fielder (Toronto Blue Jays; 3-time MLB All-Star & Gold Glove), born in Shreveport, Louisiana
Dec 14 Kim St-Pierre, Canadian ice hockey player, born in Châteauguay, Canada
Dec 14 Patty Schnyder, Swiss tennis player, born in Basel, Switzerland
Dec 15 Henrietta Nagyová, Slovakian tennis player (9 WTA, 9 ITF titles), born in Nové Zámky, Slovakia
Dec 16 Gunter Van Handenhoven, Belgian footballer
Dec 17 Alex Cintrón, Puerto Rican MLB baseball infielder, 2001-09 (Arizona Diamondbacks, and 3 other teams), and hitting coach, born in Humacao, Puerto Rico
Dec 17 Chase Utley, American MLB second baseman, 2003-18, 6X All-Star (Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers), and baseball ambassador, born in Pasadena, California

Dec 17 Filipino boxer, only fighter in history to win 12 major world titles in 8 different weight divisions and the lineal championship in 5 different weight divisions, born in Kibawe, Bukidnon, Philippines

Dec 18 Naomi Lang, American ice dancer (with Peter Tchernyshev), born in Arcata, California
Dec 20 Andrei Markov, Russian ice hockey player, born in Voskresensk, Moscow Oblast, Russia
Dec 20 Geremi Njitap, Cameroon footballer, born in Bafoussam, Cameroon
Dec 21 Amber Corwin, American figure skater (1997 National Sr - 5th), born in Harbor City, California
Dec 23 Andra Davis, American football player, born in Live Oak, Florida
Dec 23 Víctor Martínez, Venezuelan baseball player, born in Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela
Dec 24 Yıldıray Baştürk, Turkish footballer, born in Herne, Germany
Dec 25 Simon Jones, English cricket fast bowler (18 Tests, 59 wickets, BB 6/53; Glamorgan CCC, Worcestershire CCC, Hampshire CCC), born in Swansea, Wales
Dec 26 Kaoru Sugayama, Japanese volleyball player, born in Iwanuma, Japan
Dec 28 Chris Coyne, Australian footballer (Bayswater City SC), born in Brisbane, Australia
Dec 29 Kieron Dyer, English football player, born in Ipswich, United Kingdom