Athletes and Sports Stars Born in 1981

Birthdays 1 - 200 of 365

Eli Manning (43 years old)

Jan 3 American football quarterback (MVP Super Bowls XLII, XLVI; Pro Bowl 2008, 11, 12, 15; NY Giants), born in New Orleans, Louisiana

Jan 5 Corey Flynn, New Zealand rugby union hooker (15 caps; Canterbury Crusaders), born in Invercargill, New Zealand
Jan 6 Asante Samuel, National Football League Defensive Back, born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Jan 7 Alex Auld, Canadian ice hockey player, born in Cold Lake, Canada
Jan 7 Marquis Daniels, American basketball player, born in Jasper, Florida
Jan 8 Jeff Francis, Canadian baseball player, born in Vancouver, British Columbia
Jan 8 Xie Xingfang, Chinese badminton player, born in Guangzhou, China
Jan 9 Ebi Smolarek, Polish soccer striker (47 caps; Feyenoord Rotterdam, Borussia Dortmund, Racing Santander), born in Łódź, Poland
Jan 15 El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese footballer, born in Dakar, Senegal
Jan 15 Sean Lamont, Scottish rugby union footballer, born in Perth, United Kingdom
Jan 16 Bobby Zamora, English footballer, born in Barking, United Kingdom
Jan 17 Warren Feeney, Northern Irish footballer, born in Belfast, Northern Ireland
Jan 18 Khari Stephenson, Jamaican footballer, born in Kingston, Jamaica
Jan 18 Olivier Rochus, Belgian tennis player, born in Namur, Belgium
Jan 19 Asier Del Horno, Spanish footballer, born in Barakaldo, Spain
Jan 19 Lucho González, Argentine footballer, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Jan 20 Freddy Guzmán, Dominican baseball player, born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Jan 20 Owen Hargreaves, English football player and television pundit, born in Calgary, Canada
Jan 21 Dany Heatley, Canadian ice hockey player
Jan 21 Ivan Ergić, Serbian footballer
Jan 21 Jamie Dalrymple, English cricketer
Jan 22 Ibrahima Sonko, French footballer, born in Bignona, Senegal
Jan 23 Rob Friend, Canadian soccer forward (32 caps; Molde FK, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Hertha BSC, 1860 Munich), born in Rosetown, Canada
Jan 27 Alicia Molik, Australian tennis player
Jan 28 Rick Razzano, American football player
Jan 30 Dimitar Berbatov, Bulgarian footballer, born in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
Jan 30 Mathias Lauda, Austrian racing driver, born in Salzburg, Austria
Jan 30 Peter Crouch, English footballer, born in Macclesfield, United Kingdom
Jan 31 Julio Arca, Argentinian football player, born in Quilmes, Argentina
Feb 1 Graeme Smith, South African cricket batsman, captain & broadcaster (117 Tests, 9,265 runs @ 48.25, 27 x 100s; HS 277, 197 ODIs; Gauteng, Hampshire CCC, Western Province, Surrey CCC), born in Johannesburg, South Africa
Feb 1 Luis Lamá, Angolan soccer goalkeeper (56 caps; Petro Luanda), born in Luanda, Angola
Feb 1 Rob Austin, British auto racer (British GT Championship - GT4 runner-up 2008), born in Evesham, England
Feb 2 Jason Kapono, American basketball small forward (NBA C'ship 2006 Miami Heat; NBA 3-Point Contest champion 2007, 08), born in Long Beach, California
Feb 3 Maurice Ross, Scottish soccer midfielder (13 caps; Rangers FC) and manager (Víkingur, Cowdenbeath FC), born in Dundee, Scotland
Feb 4 Ben Hendrickson, American baseball player, born in St. Cloud, Minnesota
Feb 4 Johan Van Summeren, Belgian cyclist, born in Lommel, Belgium
Feb 4 Tom Mastny, Indonesian baseball player, born in Bontang, Indonesia
Feb 5 Loukas Vyntra, Greek football player, born in Město Albrechtice, Czechia
Feb 6 Ty Warren, American football defensive lineman, born in Bryan, Texas
Feb 9 Joël Camathias, Swiss racing driver
Feb 10 Andrew Johnson, English footballer, born in Bedford, United Kingdom
Feb 11 Scot Thompson, American soccer player, born in New York City
Feb 13 Liam Miller, Irish soccer midfielder (21 caps; Sunderland, Hibernian), born in Cork, Republic of Ireland (d. 2018)
Feb 13 Luisão [Ânderson Luís da Silva], Brazilian footballer, born in São Paulo, Brazil
Feb 13 Luke Ridnour, US basketball player, born in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Feb 15 Diego Martínez, Mexican soccer left back (12 caps; Club Necaxa, CD Guadalajara), born in Mexico City
Feb 16 Jay Howard, British racing driver
Feb 17 Donielle Thompson, American gymnast (World-bronze-95, Olympics 1996), born in Wheat Ridge, Colorado
Feb 18 Alex Rios, American baseball player, born in Coffee County, Alabama
Feb 18 Andrei Kirilenko, Russian basketball forward (NBA All-Star 2004, NBA blocks leader 2005 Utah Jazz; EuroBasket MVP 2007; EuroLeague MVP 2012), and executive (president Russian Basketball Federation), born in Izhevsk, Russia
Feb 18 Ivan Sproule, Irish footballer, born in Castlederg, United Kingdom
Feb 19 Gil Reyes, American boxer, born in Lawrence, Massachusetts
Feb 19 Nicky Shorey, English footballer, born in Romford, England
Feb 20 Tony Hibbert, English footballer, 1998-2016 (Everton), born in Liverpool, England
Feb 22 Fredson Camara, Brazilian footballer, born in Monção, Brazil
Feb 23 Charles Tillman, American football cornerback, born in Chicago, Illinois
Feb 23 Gareth Barry, English footballer (West Bromwich Albion F.C.), born in Hastings, United Kingdom
Feb 24 Lleyton Hewitt, Australian tennis player (US Open 2001, Wimbledon 2002), born in Adelaide, Australia
Feb 24 Mohammad Sami, Pakistani cricketer
Feb 25 Park Ji-Sung, South Korean footballer
Feb 26 Kertus Davis, American auto racer (competition director NASCAR team JD Motorsports), born in Gaffney, South Carolina
Feb 27 Elodie Ouédraogo, Belgian athlete, born in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, Belgium
Feb 28 Florent Serra, French tennis player, born in Bordeaux, France
Mar 1 Will Power, Australian auto racer (Indianapolis 500 2018), born in Toowoomba, Queensland
Mar 3 Dusty Dvoracek, American football player
Mar 3 Emmanuel Pappoe, Ghanaian footballer
Mar 5 Andreas Wiig, Norwegian snowboarder
Mar 5 Paul Martin, American ice hockey player
Mar 8 Michael Beauchamp, Australian footballer
Mar 9 Anders Nøhr, Danish footballer, born in Ikast, Denmark
Mar 9 Antonio Bryant, American football player, born in Miami, Florida
Mar 9 Clay Rapada, American baseball player, born in Chesapeake, Virginia
Mar 10 Efthimios Kouloucheris, Greek footballer
Mar 10 Samuel Eto'o, Cameroonian footballer
Mar 10 Steven Reid, English-born footballer
Mar 11 Lee Evans, American football player
Mar 13 Stephen Maguire, Scottish snooker player, born in Glasgow, Scotland
Mar 14 Bobby Jenks, American baseball player
Mar 15 Mikael Forssell, Finnish footballer
Mar 16 Andrew Bree, Irish swimmer
Mar 16 Curtis Granderson, American baseball player
Mar 16 Yoav Ziv, Israeli footballer
Mar 17 Kyle Korver, American Basketball Player
Mar 17 Servet Çetin, Turkish Football Player
Mar 18 Fabian Cancellara, Swiss cyclist (Olympic Gold 2008, 2016), born in Wohlen bei Bern, Switzerland
Mar 18 Kasib Powell, American basketball player
Mar 18 Tora Berger, Norwegian biathlete
Mar 19 Kolo Touré, Ivorian footballer
Mar 23 Erin Crocker, American NASCAR driver
Mar 23 Tony Peña, Jr., Dominican baseball player
Mar 24 Ron Hainsey, American ice hockey player
Mar 28 Edwar Ramirez, American baseball player
Mar 31 Maarten van der Weijden, Dutch distance swimmer (Olympic gold 10k open water 2008), born in Alkmaar, Netherlands
Apr 1 Antonis Fotsis, Greek basketball power forward and captain (Ilysiakos, Panathinaikos, Real Madrid; NBA: Vancouver Grizzlies), born in Maroussi, Greece
Apr 1 Bjørn Einar Romøren, Norwegian ski jumper (FIS Ski Flying World C'ship gold team 2004, world record longest jump 239m 2005, Olympic bronze LH 2006), born in Oslo, Norway
Apr 2 Michael Clarke, Australian cricket batsman and captain (115 Tests, 8,643 runs @ 49.10, 28 x 100s; 245 ODIs) and broadcaster (9 Network, FoxSports), born in Sydney, Australia
Apr 3 DeShawn Stevenson, American basketball player, born in Fresno, California
Apr 6 Robert Earnshaw, Welsh soccer striker (59 caps; scored hat-tricks in Premier League, Divisions 1, 2 & 3, FA Cup, League Cup and international match; Cardiff City), born in Mufulira, Zambia

Suzann Pettersen (43 years old)

Apr 7 Norwegian golfer (LPGA C'ship 2007, Evian C'ship 2013), born in Oslo, Norway

Apr 8 Brian Burres, American baseball player, born in Oregon City, Oregon
Apr 9 Dennis Sarfate, American baseball player, born in Queens, New York
Apr 9 Ireneusz Jeleń, Polish footballer (Polish national football team), born in Cieszyn, Poland
Apr 9 Milan Bartovič, Slovak ice hockey player, born in Trenčín, Slovakia
Apr 11 Alex Burrows, Canadian ice hockey left wing (Vancouver Canucks) and ball hockey player (International Player of the Year 2005; World C'ship gold 2003, 05), born in Pincourt, Quebec
Apr 12 Brian Vandborg, Danish cyclist, born in Snejbjerg, Denmark
Apr 12 Nicolás Burdisso, Argentine soccer defender (49 caps; Boca Juniors, Internazionale, Roma, Genoa, Torino), born in Altos de Chipión, Argentina
Apr 13 Nat Borchers, American soccer player, born in Tucson, Arizona
Apr 15 Andrés D'Alessandro, Argentine football player
Apr 17 Ryan Raburn, American baseball player, born in Tampa, Florida
Apr 18 Brian Buscher, American MLB third baseman, born in Jacksonville, Florida
Apr 19 Martin Havlát, Czech ice hockey player, born in Mladá Boleslav, Czechoslovakia
Apr 19 Troy Polamalu, American football player (Pittsburgh Steelers), born in Garden Grove, California
Apr 22 Ken Dorsey, American football player
Apr 23 Chris Sharma, American rock climber, born in Santa Cruz, California
Apr 23 Sean Henn, American baseball player (NY Yankees), born in Fort Worth, Texas
Apr 25 Anja Pärson, Swedish alpine skier, born in Umeå, Sweden
Apr 25 Dwone Hicks, American NFL running back, born in Huntsville, Alabama
Apr 25 Felipe Massa, Brazilian Formula One racing driver (11 wins), born in São Paulo, Brazil
Apr 25 John McFall, British Paralympic sprinter and ESA astronaut, born in Frimley, Surrey, England
Apr 26 Matthieu Delpierre, French footballer, born in Nancy, France
Apr 27 Joey Gathright, American baseball player, born in Columbia, Mississippi
Apr 27 Patrik Gerrbrand, Swedish footballer, born in Älvsjö, Sweden
Apr 29 George McCartney, Northern Irish footballer
Apr 30 John O'Shea, Irish footballer
May 1 Aliaksandr Hleb, Belarusian soccer winger (80 caps; VfB Stuttgart, Arsenal), born in Minsk, Belarus
May 1 Wes Welker, American football wide receiver (First-team All-Pro 2009, 11; 5 × Pro Bowl; NFL receptions leader 2007, 09, 11; NE Patriots), born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
May 2 Chris Kirkland, English football goalkeeper, born in Barwell, England
May 4 Eric Djemba-Djemba, Cameroonian soccer midfielder (34 caps; FC Nantes, Manchester United, Aston Villa), born in Douala, Cameroon
May 5 Chris Duncan, American baseball player, born in Tucson, Arizona
May 8 Andrea Barzagli, Italian footballer, (Juventus), born in Fiesole, Italy
May 8 John Maine, American baseball player (NY Mets), born in Fredericksburg, Virgini
May 8 Yasuko Tajima, Japanese swimmer, born in Kanagawa, Japan
May 9 Bill Murphy, American baseball player
May 10 Humberto Suazo, Chilean footballer
May 11 Daniel Ortmeier, American baseball player, born in Chattanooga, Tennessee
May 11 Lauren Jackson, Australian basketball player, born in Albury, Australia
May 13 Jimmy Yang, American wrestler, born in Los Angeles, California
May 15 Justin Morneau, Canadian baseball player
May 15 Patrice Evra, French-Senegalese footballer
May 16 Schalk Brits, South African rugby union hooker (15 Tests; Stormers, Saracens), born in Empangeni, South Africa
May 17 Beñat Albizuri, Spanish cyclist
May 17 Leon Osman, English footballer
May 18 Mahamadou Diarra, Malian footballer, born in Bamako, Mali
May 19 Georges St. Pierre, Mixed Martial Arts Fighter
May 19 Klaas-Erik Zwering, Dutch swimmer
May 19 Luciano Figueroa, Argentine footballer
May 20 Iker Casillas, Spanish footballer
May 20 Mark Winterbottom, Australian auto racer (Bathurst 1000 2013; International V8 Supercars C'ship 2015; Sandown 500 2006, 15), born in Sydney, Australia
May 21 Beth Botsford, American swimmer (Olympic gold 1996), born in Baltimore, Maryland
May 21 Josh Hamilton, Major League Baseball player, born in Raleigh, North Carolina
May 22 Jürgen Melzer, Austrian tennis player
May 24 Penny Taylor, Australian basketball forward (World C'ship gold 2006; Olympic silver 2004, 08; WNBA C'ship 2007, 09, 14 Phoenix Mercury; 3 x WNBA All-Star), born in Melbourne, Australia
May 27 Fivos Constantinou, Cypriot distance runner
May 27 Johan Elmander, Swedish footballer
May 27 Miloy, Angolan footballer
May 28 Daniel Cabrera, Dominican baseball player
May 29 Andrei Arshavin, Russian soccer midfielder (Russia 75 caps, Zenit SP, Arsenal), born in Saint Petersburg, Russia
May 30 Ahmad Elrich, Australian footballer (Parramatta FC, Australia national team), born in Sydney, Australia
May 30 Andrey Arshavin, Russian footballer (Arsenal, Zenit Saint Petersburg), born in Leningrad, Soviet Union (now Saint Petersburg, Russia)
May 30 Gianmaria Bruni, Italian racing driver (Le Mans 24 Hours 2008, 2012, 2014), born in Rome, Italy
May 31 Jake Peavy, American baseball player (San Francisco Giants), born in Mobile, Alabama
Jun 1 Carlos Zambrano, Venezuelan baseball pitcher (MLB All Star 2004, 06, 08; NL wins leader 2006; no-hitter 2008), born in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela
Jun 2 Chin-hui Tsao, Taiwanese baseball player
Jun 2 Nikolay Davydenko, Russian professional tennis player, born in Sievierodonetsk, Ukrainian SSR
Jun 4 Giourkas Seitaridis, Greek footballer

Anna Kournikova (42 years old)

Jun 7 Russian tennis player (Australian Open doubles 1999, 2002), born in Moscow, USSR

Jun 7 Kevin Kyle, Scottish soccer striker (Scotland 10 caps, Sunderland), born in Stranraer, Wigtownshire
Jun 11 Emiliano Moretti, Italian soccer centre-back (2 caps; Valencia CF, Genoa CF, Torino FC), born in Rome, Italy
Jun 16 Miguel Villalta, Peruvian soccer defender (28 caps; Sporting Cristal CS 233 games, CS Cienciano), born in Cusco, Peru
Jun 17 Kyle Boller, American football quarterback
Jun 17 Shane Watson, Australian Test cricket all-rounder (2005-2015), born in Ipswich, Queensland
Jun 20 Ardian Gashi, Albanian-Norwegian footballer
Jun 21 Yann Danis, Canadian NHL hockey goaltender, 2004-17 (New York Islanders, and 3 other teams), born in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec
Jun 25 Simon Ammann, Swiss ski jumper (Olympic gold- 2002, 2010), born in Grabs, Switzerland
Jun 29 Joe Johnson, American basketball player, born in Little Rock, Arkansas
Jun 29 Nicolás Vuyovich, Argentine racing driver, born in Orán, Province of Salta, Argentina (d. 2005)
Jun 30 Can Artam, Turkish racing driver, born in Istanbul, Turkey
Jul 2 Aaron Voros, Canadian hockey player
Jul 2 Angel Pagán, Puerto Rican baseball player
Jul 4 Francisco Cruceta, Dominican baseball player, born in La Vega, Dominican Republic
Jul 5 Jesse Crain, Canadian baseball pitcher (MLB All Star 2013; Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox; career W-L 45-30), born in Toronto, Ontario
Jul 6 Nnamdi Asomugha, American football player, born in Lafayette, Louisiana

MS Dhoni (42 years old)

Jul 7 Indian cricket wicket-keeper and captain (90 Tests, 6 x 100, HS 224, 294 dismissals; Bihar, Jharkhand, Chennai Super Kings), born in Jharkhand, India

Jul 8 Anastasia Myskina, Russian tennis player (2004 French Open; World #2 2004; Federation Cup 2004, 05), born in Moscow, Russia
Jul 9 Kimveer Gill, Canadian spree shooter (Dawson College shooting) (d. 2006)
Jul 11 Andre Johnson, American Pro Football HOF wide receiver (First-team All-Pro 2008, 09; 7 × Pro Bowl; NFL receptions leader 2006, 08 Houston Texans), born in Miami, Florida
Jul 11 Mary Beth Arnold, American gymnast (World-bronze-95), born in Reno, Nevada
Jul 19 David Bernard, West Indian cricketer, born in Kingston, Jamaica
Jul 19 Jimmy Gobble, American baseball player (Kansas City Royals), born in Bristol, Tennessee
Jul 19 Naomi Grabow, American pairs skater (with partner Benjamin Oberman), born in lLke Arrowhead California
Jul 19 Nené [Anderson Luiz de Carvalho], Brazilian footballer (La Liga), born in Jundiaí, Brazil
Jul 20 Damien Delaney, Irish footballer (Crystal Palace), born in Cork, Ireland
Jul 21 Joaquín Sánchez, Spanish soccer winger (51 caps; Real Betis 445 games; Valencia, Málaga, Fiorentina), born in El Puerto de Santa María, Spain
Jul 21 Stefan Schumacher, German cyclist, born in Ostfildern, West Germany
Jul 21 Titus Bramble, English footballer, born in Ipswich, Engalnd
Jul 23 Jarkko Nieminen, Finnish tennis player, born in Masku, Finland