February 29th is just another day to me. I don’t buy any of the Leap Year superstitions, and I don’t do anything special for our extra day. I am, however, amazed that a bunch of goofballs in tights could figure out that the Earth circles the sun in 365 1/4 days.

Since the Leap Year is every 4 years, people with a birthday on February 29th get shortchanged.. And I’ve always wondered how they decided which day to celebrate their birthday in a non Leap Year. Do they have to pick February 28th or March 1st or can they go with the closest weekend? I would want the closest weekend.

So which athletes were born in a Leap Year? I’m glad you asked.

Athletes with Leap Year Birthdays:
1904 John “Pepper” Martin – Feisty 3rd baseman for St. Louis ‘Gashouse Gang’.
(NL stolen base leader 1933, 34, 36) (d. 1965)
1908 Alf Gover, English cricketer (bowled in 4 Tests for England/famous coach) (d. 2001)
1924 Al Rosen – Ballplayer, slugging Cleveland 3rd baseman.
1932 Gavin Stevens, cricket (Australian bat on 59-60 India/Pakistan tour)
1932 Masten Gregory, American F1 Driver
1936 Alwin Schockemohle, Germany, equestrian jumper (Olympic-gold-1976)
1936 Henri “The Pocket Rocket” Richard – NHL Hall of Fame Center, Montreal Canadians.
1940 Billy Turner – Thoroughbred horse trainer, “Seattle Slew”.
1944 John Niland – NFL guard for Dallas Cowboys.
1948 Yuri Pimenov, USSR, coxless pair rowers (Olympic-silver-1976)
1948 Nikolai Pimenov, USSR, coxless pair rowers (Olympic-silver-1976)
1952 Raisa Smetanina, USSR, cross country skier (Olympic-gold-1976, 80, 92)
1952 Raul Gonzalez, Mexican 50K speed walker (world record)
1960 Dan Daoust – NHL center for Toronto Maple Leafs.
1964 Lyndon Byers, Canadian hockey player
1964 Henrik Sundstrom, Sweden, tennis star
1968 Chucky Brown, NBA forward (Houston Rockets, Atlanta Hawks)
1968 Cary Conklin, NFL quarterback (SF 49ers)
1968 Pete Fenson, American curler
1968 Bryce Paup, American football player, NFL linebacker (Green Bay Packers, Buffalo Bills)
1972 Cyrus Beasley, Rowe NY, rower (Olympics-1996)
1972 Fabien Bownes, NFL wide receiver (Chic Bears)
1972 Chris Devine, Allentown Pa, diver (Olympics-96)
1972 Mark Farraway, CFL offensive linebacker (Edmonton Eskimos)
1976 Bryan Gillooly, Auburn NY, diver (Olympics-96)
1980 Simon Gagne, Canadian Hockey player, NHL player (Philly Flyers) who has been an all-star
1980 Taylor Twellman, American soccer player
1984 Darren Ambrose, English footballer
1984 Cam Ward, Canadian hockey player
1984 Adam Sinclair, Indian Hockey player
1988 Scott Golbourne, English footballer

Other Notable Leap Year Babies:
1468 Pope Paul III
1904 Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd
Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William
Xerxes Yancy Zeus Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenberdorft Sr., Germany; had a Christian
name for every letter in the alphabet, shortened it to Mr Wolfe Plus 585 Sr. The world’s
longest name officially used by a person.
1960 Anthony Robbins – American Motivational Speaker
1960 Heidi Henriksen – The 1st of 3 siblings born on consecutive Leap Days.
1964 Olav Henriksen – The 2nd of 3 siblings born on consecutive Leap Days.
1968 Leif-Martin Henriksen – The 3rd of 3 siblings born on consecutive Leap Days.
1972 Antonio Sabato, Jr. – Italian-born actor
1972 Saul Williams – Rap Poet, Actor, USA
1976 Ja Rule – American Rapper and Actor

Tags: Leap Year, birthdays, sports, February 29th