Capricorn Athletes

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Ville Ritola was a Finnish athlete who specialized in long-distance running. He is best remembered for winning five Olympic gold medals, four of which were won at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. Ville Ritola also won two silver medals at the 1924 Games, a record for the most number of athletics medals won at a single Olympic event.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Muktar Edris is an Ethiopian athlete who specializes in long-distance running. He is best known for winning a gold medal each at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships. Prior to his success at the world championships, Edris had success at the World Cross Country Championships, where he won gold and a bronze medal each at the 2013 and 2015 Championships.

Jack Lovelock was a New Zealand athlete best remembered for winning the gold medal in the 1500 metres event at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. His life and career have inspired several books, a film, and a stage play. Many sports bars, playing fields, and streets in New Zealand have been named after Jack Lovelock.

Olympic gold medalist Canadian athlete Fanny Bobbie Rosenfeld earned the nickname Bobbie for the bob cut she sported. Named the Female Athlete of the First Half-Century by Canada, she also excelled in hockey, apart from track and field. Post-retirement, she worked as a sports columnist and coach.

Chilla Porter was an Australian track and field athlete and political figure. He is best remembered for his silver medal-winning performance in the high jump event at the 1956 Summer Olympics. He also won silver medals at the 1958 and 1962 Commonwealth Games. After his athletics career, Porter served as general secretary of Liberal Western Australia from 1978 to 1987.

Swedish athlete Gunder Hägg broke 15 world records throughout his illustrious career. The middle-distance runner was born to a lumberjack and first gained attention when he earned the second place at a national sports meet. Nicknamed Gunder the Wonder by his fans, he was once banned from competition for accepting payment.

Sofia Bekatorou is a sailing champion from Greece. She has participated in hundreds of main class sailing events and is the winner of one Olympic gold medal. She was the flag-bearer for her country at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, becoming the first female flag bearer for Greece in the history of the Summer Olympics.  

Belarusian athlete Elvira Herman has not just won a European Championship gold but has also bagged a team silver at the 2019 European Games. She is a master of sprint hurdles and represents the club SK FPB. She specializes in the 100m and 60m hurdles.

Apart from winning a Commonwealth Games gold, middle-distance runner Lisa Dobriskey also has a World Championship silver in her kitty. Before the London 2012 games, she recovered from severe blood clots in her lungs. In her Olympic debut in Beijing in 2008, she finished fourth, missing a medal narrowly.