The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Uruguay

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This page contains a list of the greatest Uruguayan Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 4 of which were born in Uruguay. This makes Uruguay the birth place of the 77th most number of Athletes behind Zimbabwe, and Turkmenistan.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Uruguayan Athletes of all time. This list of famous Uruguayan Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Uruguayan Athletes.

Photo of Juan Rodríguez

1. Juan Rodríguez (1928 - 2019)

With an HPI of 44.65, Juan Rodríguez is the most famous Uruguayan Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages on wikipedia.

Juan A. Rodríguez Iglesias (9 July 1928 – 27 September 2019) was a rower from Uruguay, who represented his native country twice at the Summer Olympics (1948 and 1952). In both tournaments he won the bronze medal in the men's doubles sculls event. He was born in Dolores, Uruguay.

Photo of Guillermo Douglas

2. Guillermo Douglas (1909 - 1967)

With an HPI of 42.74, Guillermo Douglas is the 2nd most famous Uruguayan Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Guillermo Rafael Douglas Sabattini (January 1909, in Paysandú, Uruguay – 1967) was a rower from Uruguay. He competed for Uruguay in the 1932 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles, United States in the single sculls event where he finished in third place.

Photo of William Jones

3. William Jones (1925 - 2014)

With an HPI of 41.77, William Jones is the 3rd most famous Uruguayan Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

William Jones (6 December 1924 – 7 August 2014) was a Uruguayan rower who competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics. In 1948 he won the bronze medal with his partner Juan Rodríguez in the double sculls event. He died in his sleep at his residence in Inverness, Florida, at the age of 89 on 7 August 2014.

Photo of Miguel Seijas

4. Miguel Seijas (b. 1930)

With an HPI of 41.75, Miguel Seijas is the 4th most famous Uruguayan Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Miguel Ángel Seijas Cuestas (born 20 May 1930) is a retired rower from Uruguay who represented his country at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. There he won the bronze medal with Juan Rodríguez in the men's doubles sculls event. Seijas also competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics. He was born in Montevideo.

Photo of Milton Wynants

5. Milton Wynants (b. 1972)

With an HPI of 31.23, Milton Wynants is the 5th most famous Uruguayan Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Milton Ariel Wynants Vázquez (born March 29, 1972, in Paysandú) is a racing cyclist from Uruguay, who was affiliated with the Veloz Club Sanducero. Wynants competed in four consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country (From Atlanta 1996 to Beijing 2008). He won the silver medal in the men's points race at his second Olympic appearance, in Sydney, Australia (2000), the first Olympic medal for Uruguay in 36 years and the only one since. He has collected medals at each Pan American Games between 1995 and 2007: silver at the Points Race that edition, bronze at the Points Race in 1999, gold at the Points Race and Individual Road Race in 2003, and bronze at the Points Race in 2007. Wynants competed with Tomás Margalef in the 2002 Pan American Championships, winning the madison bronze medal.

Photo of Pablo Defazio

6. Pablo Defazio (b. 1981)

With an HPI of 0.00, Pablo Defazio is the 6th most famous Uruguayan Athlete.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Pablo Defazio (born 15 May 1981) is a Uruguayan sailor. He and Mariana Foglia placed 17th in the Nacra 17 event at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Photo of María Pía Fernández

7. María Pía Fernández (b. 1995)

With an HPI of 0.00, María Pía Fernández is the 7th most famous Uruguayan Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

María Pía Fernández Moreira (born 1 April 1995) is a Uruguayan middle-distance runner. She has won multiple medals at regional level. Her personal best of 4:09.45 is the current national record in the 1500 metres.

Photo of Felipe Klüver

8. Felipe Klüver (b. 2000)

With an HPI of 0.00, Felipe Klüver is the 8th most famous Uruguayan Athlete.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Felipe Klüver Ferreira (born 7 June 2000) is a Uruguayan rower. Klüver started rowing at age 15 at Club de Remeros Mercedes. He is a graduate of the Mercedes Technical School. He won Uruguay its first world championship medal, a bronze in single lightweight. Together with Bruno Cetraro, he took part in the 2020 Summer Olympics, where they were finalists. He won in the under-23 lightweight class at the 2021 World Indoor Rowing Championship. In Cali, Colombia, at the 2021 Junior Pan American Games, he won gold medals in three competitions (M2x, M4x, M4–). He was the standard bearer for Uruguay in that event and at the 2022 South American Games in Asunción, Paraguay. He was under-23 single lightweight world champion in Varese, Italy, 2022.

Photo of Elizabeth Anyanacho

9. Elizabeth Anyanacho (b. 1999)

With an HPI of 0.00, Elizabeth Anyanacho is the 9th most famous Uruguayan Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Elizabeth Oluchi Anyanacho (born 9 April 1999) is a Nigerian taekwondo athlete. She participated at the 2019 African Games, winning a bronze medal at 67 kg. She qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics, although she had not intended to compete at the Olympics until 2024. She would have been the first Nigerian to compete in her sport for 16 years if the Olympics had not been postponed. The previous competitor was Princess Dudu in 2004.

Photo of Bruno Cetraro

10. Bruno Cetraro (b. )

With an HPI of 0.00, Bruno Cetraro is the 10th most famous Uruguayan Athlete.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Bruno Cetraro Berriolo (born 20 March 1998) is a Uruguayan rower. He represented Uruguay in rowing at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, racing in the lightweight men's double sculls. He began rowing after his father saw Rodolfo Collazo competing at the 2008 Summer Olympics on television. A graduate of the University of the Republic, he is a member of Montevideo Rowing Club. He won two gold medals at Under-23 South American Rowing Championships in Rio de Janeiro in 2019. He also initially won the gold medal at the 2019 Pan American Games with Martín González, Leandro Salvagno and Marcos Sarraute, before Sarraute was stripped of his medal for a doping violation. He has represented Uruguay at the 2015, 2017, 2019, 2022, and 2023 World Rowing Championships. Along with Déborah Rodríguez, Cetraro served as flagbearer for Uruguay at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Together with Felipe Klüver, Cetraro finished second place in the semi-final of the lightweight double sculls, qualifying for the grand final of their category at the Olympic Games; in the finals they finished sixth.

People

Pantheon has 13 people classified as Uruguayan athletes born between 1909 and 2000. Of these 13, 10 (76.92%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Uruguayan athletes include Miguel Seijas, Milton Wynants, and Pablo Defazio. The most famous deceased Uruguayan athletes include Juan Rodríguez, Guillermo Douglas, and William Jones. As of April 2024, 8 new Uruguayan athletes have been added to Pantheon including Pablo Defazio, María Pía Fernández, and Felipe Klüver.

Living Uruguayan Athletes

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Deceased Uruguayan Athletes

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Newly Added Uruguayan Athletes (2024)

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