American track star Sanya Richards-Ross won Olympic gold in 2004 and 2008, as part of the U.S. 400-meter relay team, and went on to win gold in the women's 400 meters in 2012.
1985-
Hall of Fame basketball guard Oscar Robertson played 14 NBA seasons. He averaged more than 25 points per game and retired as the league’s all-time assist leader.
1938-
Retired NBA basketball player David Robinson spent his entire14-year pro career with the San Antonio Spurs. He’s widely considered one of the game’s all-time great centers.
1965-
April Ross is a beach volleyball player who, along with teammate Jennifer Kessy, is a dominant figure on the international circuit. Ross and Kessy took the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.
1982-
American Kyla Ross has received various national gymnastics awards. In 2012, she helped the U.S. Olympic women's gymnastics team win a gold medal at the Summer Olympics in London.
1996-
In 1960, Wilma Rudolph became the first American woman to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Games.
1940-1994
Hailed as the greatest winner in sports, Basketball Hall of Fame center Bill Russell led the Boston Celtics to an unprecedented 11 championships in just 13 seasons.
1934-
Olympic gymnast Alicia Sacramone has won dozens of World Championship and U.S. National Championship medals—competing with such teammates as Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson—and won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
1987-
American swimmer Allison Schmitt is best known for her medal-earning performances at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where she won three gold medals, one silver and one bronze.
1990-
Maria Sharapova has won various honors throughout her career, including the 2012 French Open and a silver medal in women's singles at the 2012 Olympics.
1987-
Claressa Shields is an American boxer who made her Olympic debut at the Summer Games in London in 2012, and took home an Olympic middleweight gold medal.
1995-
African-American track and field star Tommie Smith broke both the Olympic and world records and won the 200-meter race in the 1968 Olympics.
1944-
Goalkeeper Hope Solo helped the U.S. Women's Soccer Team win gold medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. She also appeared on Dancing with the Stars in 2011.
1981-
1953-
American swimmer Mark Spitz set a world record at the 1972 Olympic Games, when he won seven gold medals across individual and team events.
1950-
Teófilo Stevenson was a Cuban boxer best known for becoming the first fighter to win three Olympic gold medals in one weight class.
1952-2012
Picabo Street won gold in the Super G women's skiing event at the 1998 Olympics.
1971-
1971-
South Korean swimming champion Park Tae-Hwan became the first Korean to win a medal in swimming, as well as the first Asian swimmer to win a gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle, at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.
1989-
1987-
Debi Thomas was a figure skater who went on to become the first African-American to win an Olympic medal at the Winter Olympics.
1967-
Australian Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe won the most gold medals of any Australian athlete, and was the youngest to win a world championship. He went on to win 10 more.
1982-
Jim Thorpe was a Native American professional football and baseball player, known for his all-around athleticism. He was a gold-medal runner at the 1912 Olympics.
1888-1953
Dana Vollmer is a swimmer and three-time Olympic gold medalist. She set the world record for the 100-meter butterfly at the London Olympics in 2012, and won two gold medals there.
1987-
Lindsey Vonn is an American alpine skiier who has won numerous competitions, including four World Cup overall titles. She won a gold medal in the downhill event at the 2010 Olympics.
1984-
Kerri Walsh-Jennings is a professional beach volleyball player and three-time Olympic gold medalist. She is the longtime competitive partner of Misty May-Treanor.
1978-
American skateboarder and snowboarder Shaun White, known as the "Flying Tomato," is a two-time Olympic gold medalist. He has also won multiple Summer and Winter X Games medals.
1986-
American gymnast Jordyn Wieber is best known as the first U.S. Olympic women's gymnastics team member to hail from Michigan.
1995-
American professional tennis player Serena Williams has won 27 Grand Slam titles, including five Wimbledon and five Australian Open championships, and several Olympic gold medals.
1981-
Venus Williams rose from a tough childhood in Compton, Los Angeles to become a champion women's tennis player and four-time Olympic gold medalist.
1980-
1959-
Kristi Yamaguchi is a U.S. figure skater and Olympic gold medalist. She is also an author, philanthropist and founder of the Always Dream Foundation.
1971-
Babe Didrikson Zaharias (1914–1956) was named "Woman Athlete of the Half Century" in 1950 for her skills in basketball, track & field, and golf.
1911-1956