Canadian figure skaters It is the dream of perhaps every amateur athlete: to mount the podium and accept an Olympic gold medal. It happened for Canadian pairs skaters Jamie Sale (pronounced SA-lay) and David Pelletier (PELL-tee-ay). But in their case, the glow of the gold was tarnished somewhat by the taint of scandal that preceded it. Theirs was one of the most compelling stories to come out of t…
1951- Swedish hockey player Anders (Borje) Salming was the first European player to achieve fame in North American professional hockey. In his sixteen seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Salming galvanized a struggling team and became a crowd favorite at its legendary home venue, Maple Leaf Gardens. A six-time National Hockey League (NHL) All-Star player, Salming opened the door for a new genera…
1920- Spanish athletic administrator In his two decades at the helm of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Juan Antonio Samaranch worked a miraculous transformation, turning what was a largely amateur enterprise into a billion-dollar showcase for the world's finest professional athletes. Sadly, however, when he stepped down as IOC president in July 2001, he left behind an organizatio…
1971- American tennis player Pete Sampras During 2002 Sampras earned his record fourteenth Grand Slam title when he won the U.S. Open. With eight titles at Wimbledon, five at the U.S. Open, and three at the Australian Open, only the clay courts of the French Open have persistently denied Sampras a Grand Slam championship. His unemotional but powerful game is built on a serve that crosses th…
1971- Spanish tennis player Arantxa Sanchez Vicario had the privilege and the misfortune of playing tennis during the reign of Steffi Graf and Monica Seles. Despite playing in their long shadows, Sanchez Vicario won the French Open three times and the U.S. Open once, as well as six Grand Slam doubles titles and four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. Her peppy, expressive personality endeared her to…
1968- American football player One of football's greatest running backs of all time, Barry Sanders is a bundle of contradictions. His sudden departure from professional football in the summer of 1999 still has observers scratching their heads. He left the game less than 1,500 yards short of eclipsing the career rushing yardage of the late Walter Payton. (As of late October 2002, Sanders, wi…
1967- American football and baseball player The only man in professional sports history to play in both the Super Bowl and World Series, Deion Sanders has been a top-ranked athlete since his high school years. Sanders credits sports with keeping him out of trouble as a teenager. Nicknamed "Prime Time" during high school, Sanders has probably received more prime-time sports coverage t…
1972- American swimmer In the early 1990s, American Summer Sanders was a dominant swimmer. She represented the United States at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, becoming a hero for her four medal-winning performance. She also won eight national championships. After her swimming career ended, Sanders became a broadcaster, working on a number of sports-related programs. Sanders was born…
1929-1970 Canadian hockey player He's been called the greatest goaltender in National Hockey League (NHL) history. He won the Stanley Cup four times, earned the Vezina Trophy for the year's best goalie four times, and his performance in a 1967 playoff game is still called the best display of goaltending ever. Goalies ever since have imitated the way he crouched in front of the goal. …
1943- American football player Knee injuries cut short the brilliant football career of running back Gale Sayers, but not before the "Kansas Comet" was recognized by the National Football League (NFL) as the greatest running back in the first 50 years of the league's history. Although he played only 68 games in professional football, in 1977 Sayers, at the age of only 34, beca…
1928- American basketball player Dolph Schayes is generally credited with being the first modern basketball forward. His career began in 1948, before the formation of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1949. His playing career totaled 16 years with the Syracuse Nationals, which became the Philadelphia 76ers in 1964. He played for the Nationals from 1948 to 1964, and during that time, he …
1966- American baseball player At 6'4" and 215 pounds, Curt Schilling is an intimidating presence on the pitcher's mound. By 2002 the 37-year-old starting pitcher could boast 45 wins in two years with the Arizona Diamondbacks, tying Jim Palmer's record of consecutive wins set during the Curt Schilling 1975-76 season. But those who know him well know a different C…
1905- German boxer Widely vilified as a willing propaganda tool of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich, Max Schmeling was Max Schmeling nevertheless one of Europe's greatest boxers of all time. His professional career stretched from 1924 to 1948, during which time he compiled a career record of fifty-six wins, ten losses, and four ties. World Heavyweight Champion from 1930 to 1932, Sch…
1949- American baseball player In his eighteen-year major league baseball career, Mike Schmidt's skill helped lead his team to five division titles, Mike Schmidt two National League (NL) pennant titles, and two World Series games. He was an essential part of the Philadelphia Phillies' 1980 World Series championship—the only one for that team. When he retired in 1989, he…
1963-2000 Canadian curler Sandra Schmirler, known as "the Queen of Curling" and "Schmirler the Curler" in her native Canada, dominated Canadian women's curling in the 1990s until her death from cancer in 2000, at the age of 36. She and her team (known as a "rink" in curling parlance) won the Canadian and world champions three times during the 1990s;…
1928- American baseball executive Throughout the decade and a half that she was owner of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Cincinnati Reds, Marge Schott managed to offend just about everyone—including players, fans, and her fellow owners—with the use of racial slurs and other insensitive remarks. Twice suspended by the MLB for such comments, Schott remained feisty and combative un…
1920- American football executive Tex Schramm It isn't easy to measure Tex Schramm's impact on professional football, for his mark is on so much of the game as we know it today. Schramm is perhaps best known for building a little-known expansion team in Dallas into one of football's most venerable franchises, so widely popular across the nation that it came to be known …
1969- German race car driver Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher reigns in the elite, highly competitive, and glamorous world of Formula One (F1) auto racing. He has broken the world records for most wins and most championship points in F1, and tied the record for most wins in 2002 with his fifth championship title. Arguably the greatest F1 driver in history, Schumacher is also one of the…
1921-1990 American race car driver Wendell Scott had a lot working against him in his career as a Grand National NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) driver. He was an independent driver racing against factory-backed drivers. This meant he never drove a new car, often buying last Wendell Scott year's cars from competitors. He drove without sponsorship, sometimes ma…
1971- American soccer player As the only African-American starter on the U.S. women's national soccer team in the 1990s, Briana Scurry revolutionized the way young black children looked at soccer. Her tenacious goalkeeping and unflappable demeanor provided a rock-solid base for the women's triumphs in the 1996 Olympics and the 1999 World Cup, victories which catapulted soccer to new …
1969- American football player Known for his dominance on the defensive side of the ball, Junior Seau entered the league in 1990 as a first-round draft pick by the San Diego Chargers and soon became a linebacker whose name was mentioned with other contemporary greats, such as Lawrence Taylor and Derrick Thomas. In a sport known for its brutality and the need for its players to maintain an air of i…
1944- American baseball player As Tom Seaver himself put it, there was nothing like "seeing someone do what they love, and do it so well … then later on being able to do it myself." For millions of fans, Seaver was the epitome of a baseball pitcher, and for nearly two decades they watched this hard-working perfectionist, the first true superstar of the New York Mets, lead that…
1970- Finnish hockey player Teemu Selanne Known as the Finnish Flash, right wing sharp shooter Teemu Selanne set a record by scoring seventy-six goals in his rookie season. Selanne began his career with the Winnipeg Jets (who later moved to Phoenix and became the Coyotes), before being traded to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, and later the San Jose Sharks. During his time in Anaheim, Selanne oft…
1973- Yugoslav tennis player With youth, personality and talent on her side, as well as a number one ranking and one of the game's most memorable grunts, Monica Seles put power into her shots and dominated tennis in the early nineties. But when a crazed fan at a German tournament attacked her in 1993, her subsequent two years away from the sport left many wondering if she would ever return;…
1934- American baseball commissioner As Major League Baseball (MLB) commissioner for more than a decade (the first six as acting commissioner), Bud Selig has won few friends. In fact, he seems to have an uncanny ability to do things that will enrage the maximum number of people in and around the game. Even when Selig engineered a last-minute compromise settlement between players and owners to aver…
1965- American football player Awide receiver for the Green Bay Packers from 1988 to 1994, Sterling Sharpe made it to five Pro Bowls with his team during his career. A receiver of exceptional ability, Sharpe is the first player in the National Football League (NFL) to make 500 catches before playing seven seasons in the NFL. In 1993, Sharpe's 112 receptions broke the record for the most num…
1910-2002 American speed skater Jack Shea's two Olympic gold medals were only the beginning of his lifelong involvement with the Olympic Games. After his speed skating victories in his hometown of Lake Placid in 1932, Shea raised another Olympian, his son James, while staying involved in the Olympic movement. Shea was a major figure in the drive to bring the winter Olympics back to Lake Pla…
1968- American baseball player One of the most feared sluggers in baseball, Gary Sheffield has had a controversial, up-and-down career. The nephew of Dwight Gooden, the once overpowering pitcher of the New York Mets, he overcame an upbringing in a rough neighborhood in Tampa and became the top high school player in the nation. Frequently traded and often injured, Sheffield has been quick to critic…
1931- American jockey In the unlikely role of jockey, Willie Shoemaker became known throughout the world during the course of a phenomenal career. After first entering the winner's circle in 1949, he went on to set record after record. Willie Shoemaker Among these, Shoemaker claimed the highest total purse money among riders ten times and for twenty-nine years had the most wins ever …
1920- American sports activist Eunice Kennedy Shriver can be recognized by her name alone. That was not good enough for her, however, and she forged her own way in the world. Shriver's life was deeply touched by her older sister Rosemary, who was mentally challenged. She noticed how Rosemary struggled to keep up with her and her siblings. Shriver wanted to make a difference for others like …
1930- American football coach The winningest coach in professional football, Don Shula compiled an unparalleled record of 347-173-6 over thirty-three seasons coaching in the National Football League (NFL). On November 14, 1993, as coach of the Miami Dolphins, Shula broke the record of 324 wins set by the legendary George Halas. Shula went on to extend Don Shula his record of wins to 347 bef…
1935- American college lacrosse coach Roy Simmons Jr. has done it all for the Syracuse University men's lacrosse team—he's served as ballboy, mascot, player, freshman coach, assistant coach and, from 1970 to 1998, varsity head coach. Simmons was born into all of these roles. His father, Roy Simmons Sr., served as a coach for the Orangemen for forty-five years prior to his son&…
1947- American football player O.J. Simpson O.J. Simpson's squeaky clean image and rags to riches story was the type of "only in America" success story that the sports world holds up as an example of how much can be achieved in athletics. His electrifying career with the Buffalo Bills and the endless opportunities it led to after his retirement were an inspiration to hi…
1939- Russian speed skater Before American speed skaters Eric Heiden and Bonnie Blair raced to fame as Olympic champions, Soviet speed skater Lydia Skoblikova set a standard of excellence. She was the first athlete, man or woman, to win six gold medals in Olympic competition and remains the only woman to win four gold medals in a single Winter Olympic Games. Along the way, she debunked stereo-type…
1950- Canadian hockey player Billy Smith was the National Hockey League's (NHL) dominant goalie of the early 1980s. A clutch performer who shone particularly bright in the post-season, Smith's goaltending led the New York Islanders to four consecutive Stanley Cup championships between 1979 and 1983, during which he set an NHL record for goalies, winning eighty-eight of 132 playoff ga…
1969- American football player Emmitt Smith Running back Emmitt Smith has been playing with the Dallas Cowboys football team since 1990. He is the NFL's all-time rushing leader, and was the first player to rush for more than 1,400 yards in five straight NFL seasons (1991-1995); he won rushing titles in 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1995. He has led the Cowboys to three Super Bowl titles and …
1944- American track and field athlete Tommie Smith Sprinter Tommie Smith once held eleven world and American records at the same time, but is most noted for his silent civil rights protest at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968. Standing on the podium after accepting his gold medal for a world-record performance in the 200 meters, Smith raised one black-gloved fist in a salute to African-Amer…
1961- American triathlete Endurance athlete Karen Smyers, who has participated in triathlons since 1984, has a never-give-up attitude. A seven-time U.S.A. Triathlon Elite National Champion and winner of both the Hawaiian Ironman World Championship and the International Triathlon Union (ITU) Triathlon World Championship in 1995, Smyers soon afterward became known for her brave battles against injur…
1970- Swedish golfer Swedish star Annika Sorenstam is one of the best players, male or female, in the history of golf. This hard-working young woman has shattered numerous records in the course of her career; in 2001 alone she tied or broke thirty of them. Yet even though her dominance in the sport of golf seems nearly unchallenged, she still continues to push herself to work harder and to further…
1968- Dominican baseball player Relatively unknown outside Chicago, Cubs outfielder Sammy Sosa burst upon the national scene with a vengeance during the summer of 1998, as he battled Sammy Sosa Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals for the single-season home run record. Although McGwire eventually won the competition, besting Roger Maris's 1961 record of 61 homers by nine for a new…
1956- American boxer Michael Spinks was a virtual unknown, a tough young fighter from a rough part of St. Louis, when he and his older brother Leon rocketed to fame by Michael Spinks both winning gold medals in boxing at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. With his "Spinks Jinx," a mean cross-over right-handed punch, Spinks was unbeatable for over ten years. His one and only professio…
1950- American swimmer During the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, West Germany, young American swimmer Mark Spitz won seven gold medals, the most by any individual in any Olympiad, and set as many world records. Spitz, a detailed strategist in and out of the water, was named 1972 World Swimmer of the Year. He over-came his share of disappointment and even tragedy, which may have made him an even str…
1970- American basketball player Latrell Sprewell, a gutsy floor leader, became an unexpected, and at times highly unpopular, star in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He did not play organized basketball until he was a senior in high school, and his college play, although outstanding, drew little recognition. Even after posting stellar numbers as a rookie playing for the Golden State War…
1970- American basketball player From humble beginnings in a North Philadelphia housing project, Dawn Staley dedicated herself to being one of the best female basketball players. Among her numerous honors, are USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year, National Player of the Year, and NCAA Region Most Outstanding Player. Staley was a member of the first women's Dream Team in the 1996 and 20…
1947- American race car driver At age 45, when many athletes are retired or over the hill, Lyn St. James was blazing a trail. St. James, one of the few women in professional automobile racing, was a rookie of the year at that age, finishing 11th at the 1992 Indianapolis 500 among 33 competitors. She became the second woman to race at Indy and competed in that event a total of seven times. St. Jame…
