Capricorn Athletes

Two-time Olympic gold medalist middle-distance runner Caster Semenya in an intersex woman, with high testosterone levels. The two-time Olympic gold medalist was asked to take medication to decrease her testosterone levels, to participate in the 2021 Olympics women’s events, and filed a case in the European Court of Human Rights.

Yohan Blake is a Jamaican sprinter who became the youngest 100 meters world champion when he won a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships in 2011. He also won gold medals at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games as part of the Jamaican relay team. Yohan Blake is the second-fastest man in both 100 meters and 200 meters events.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is a Jamaican sprinter who achieved international recognition in 2008 when she won the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Beijing. She then went on to win gold medals at the 2012 and 2020 Olympic Games. Counted among the greatest sprinters of all time, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce also has many World Championship gold medals under her belt.

Ben Johnson is a Canadian retired sprinter who was adjudged the world's fastest man during the 1987–88 season after he broke the 60m and 100m indoor world records. He is best known for his performance in the 1984 Olympic Games, where he won two bronze medals. Ben Johnson also won a gold medal at the 1985 World Indoor Championships.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson is an English heptathlete whose performance at the 2018 Commonwealth Games earned her a gold medal. She also won the gold at the 2019 World Championships. Katarina Johnson-Thompson holds the British record for the women's pentathlon with 5,000 points. A highly talented athlete, Katarina Johnson-Thompson also holds the British records for high jump in both outdoors and indoors.

At age 2, Sadako Sasaki survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, being just 2km away from the bombing site. However, years later, she developed leukemia, as an aftermath of the bombing. While in hospital, battling the terminal disease, she folded over 1,000 origami cranes, in the hope of getting better.

Francois Pienaar is a former rugby player who captained the South African national team from 1993 to 1996. He is best-known for helping his team win the 1995 Rugby World Cup. In 2004, he was ranked 50th in a list named Top 100 Great South Africans. In 2005, he was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame.

Kathrine Switzer was a 20-year-old Syracuse University student when she registered for the Boston Marathon in 1967. Though women were practically barred from competing, she competed as KV Switzer, avoiding mentioning her gender. Attacked at the event, she made history and became a champion for women’s rights.

Best known for her roles in Lizzie McGuire and Material Girls, arm-wrestler-cum-actress Dot-Marie Jones never aspired to become an actress. Instead she competed in shot put and power lifting, eventually becoming 15-time world arm wrestling champion. Discovered at a body-building tournament by Shirley Eson, she debuted on screen with Knights and Warriors, thereafter appearing in numerous films and television productions

Claude Giroux is a Canadian ice hockey player who plays as a forward for the Ottawa Senators of the NHL. He has also played for other popular clubs like the Florida Panthers and the Philadelphia Flyers. In 2022, Claude Giroux won the NHL All-Star Game MVP award.

Sifan Hassan is an Ethiopian-born Dutch athlete who specializes in middle and long-distance running. She is best known for winning two gold medals at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. At the same Olympics, she also won a brone medal. Prior to her success at the 2020 Games, Sifan Hassan also won two gold medals at the 2019 World Championships.

Indian javelin sensation Neeraj Chopra created history by becoming the second Indian individual Olympic gold medalist and the first from the track-and-field category. Once an obese kid, he took up sports to lose weight. Now a glamor icon, too, he has bagged several modeling offers and a Vogue cover, too.

Winner of the 1997 World Championship and the 1998 European Cup, British sprinter Iwan Thomas is the current UK 400m record holder, having run a time of 44.36s. He has also represented United Kingdom at the 1996 Olympic Games in the 400 metres.  A popular television personality, he makes regular appearances on small screen, mostly as guest, panelist or presenter.

Canadian ice-hockey defense Alex Pietrangelo is not just an Olympic gold medalist but is also a former Canada Cup/World Cup Champion. Also known as Petro, he has been the alternate captain for the NHL team Vegas Golden Knights. He has previously played for the St. Louis Blues, too.

Jeff Carter is a Canadian ice hockey player who currently plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL. He has also played for other popular NHL teams like the Los Angeles Kings, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Philadelphia Flyers. Jeff Carter has won two Stanley Cups and has played in a couple of All-Star Games so far in his career.

Brian Moore is an English former rugby union footballer. He played as a hooker for Nottingham, Harlequins, and Richmond. He was abandoned by his father as a child and had a difficult childhood. He sought solace in rugby and became a formidable player. He is currently a rugby presenter and pundit for BBC Sport, Talksport, and Love Sport Radio. 

Danny Care is an English rugby union player. He currently plays for Harlequins in the Premiership as a scrum-half. He began playing rugby union as a small child and made his international debut with the England Sevens team in 2006. In 2008, he made his debut for England and has since won 84 caps. 

Martin Offiah is an English former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer. He was active in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s and scored over 500 tries during his rugby league career. He is counted among the greatest rugby league players of his era and was inducted into the Rugby League Hall of Fame in 2013.  

Spiridon Louis was a Greek water carrier-turned-national hero. Louis achieved widespread popularity after becoming the first person to win the modern-day Olympic marathon at the 1896 Olympics in Athens. A former soldier, Louis is an example of an early rags-to-riches story where he wins the Olympic medal at a crucial moment and later becomes a police officer.

Sean Day is a Belgian-born Canadian-American ice hockey player who plays as a defenceman. He currently plays in the American Hockey League for the Syracuse Crunch. Sean Day made his National Hockey League (NHL) debut in 2021, when he played for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Former Iranian judoka Saeid Mollaei had won a World Championship, among other titles, representing Iran but later defected to Mongolia, after being asked by Iran to lose in the 2019 World Championships to avoid a match against Israel. A black belt in judo, he later won an Olympic silver medal, representing Mongolia.

Olympic silver medalist Canadian long-distance runner Mohammed Ahmed scripted history as Canada’s first medal winner at the 5,000m at both the World Championships and the Olympics. The Somalia-born athlete spent a part of his childhood in Kenya, before moving to Canada at age 11.

Starting her career as a cross-country skier, Finnish athlete Kaisa Makarainen stepped into biathlon at age 20. Apart from being a 3-time Olympian, she has also been a World Champion and a 3-time World Cup winner. She is known for her speed in both shooting and skiing.

Wang Junxia is a Chinese retired long-distance runner who currently holds the world record for 3000-metre run. From 1993 to 2016, she was the world record holder for the 10,000-metre run. After winning the 1993 World Championships, Wang went on to win the gold medal at the 1994 Asian Games for 10,000 meters. She won an Olympic gold in 1996.

Rugby union player, Mark Cueto played mostly on the wing and some time as full back for Sale Sharks.  An enthusiastic footballer in his school years, he later switched to rugby, eventually representing England in the 2000-01 World Sevens Series, making 56 appearances for the National Team and 303 for his club, amassing record-breaking 90 Premiership tries during his career.

Patrik Sjöberg is a former high-jumper who broke the world record by recording a jump of 2.42 meters in 1987. His record is currently the third-best in the world and the best in Europe. He has represented Sweden in three Olympic Games, winning two silver medals and a bronze. He also won four gold medals at the European Indoor Championships.

Dick Quax was a Dutch-born New Zealand athlete best remembered for winning the silver medal in the 5000 metres event at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. Dick Quax had also won the silver medal in the 1500 metres event at the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh.

While just beginning his senior career, Scottish rugby player Sean Lamont also studied sports science at Sheffield Hallam University. He was named the Famous Grouse Player of the Season in 2007. He gained 105 caps for Scotland before he retired and later also coached the Scotland Blues.