The Most Famous
ATHLETES from Zimbabwe
This page contains a list of the greatest Zimbabwean Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 3,059 Athletes, 5 of which were born in Zimbabwe. This makes Zimbabwe the birth place of the 75th most number of Athletes behind Philippines and Haiti.
Top 5
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Zimbabwean Athletes of all time. This list of famous Zimbabwean Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Maureen George (1955 - )
With an HPI of 34.57, Maureen George is the most famous Zimbabwean Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages on wikipedia.
Maureen Jean George (born September 1, 1955 in Bulawayo) is a former field hockey player from Zimbabwe, who was a member of the national team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Because of the boycott of the United States and other countries, only one team was available to compete in the Women's Field Hockey Tournament: the hosting USSR team. A late request was sent to the government of the African nation, which quickly assembled a team less than a week before the competition started. To everyone's surprise they won, claiming Zimbabwe's only medal in the 1980 Games.
2. Susan Huggett (1954 - )
With an HPI of 32.82, Susan Huggett is the 2nd most famous Zimbabwean Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Susan ("Sue") Huggett (born June 29, 1954 in Bulawayo) is a former field hockey player from Zimbabwe, who was a member of the national team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Because of the boycott of the United States and other countries, only one team was available to compete in the Women's Field Hockey Tournament: the hosting USSR team. A late request was sent to the government of the African nation, which quickly assembled a team less than a week before the competition started. To everyone's surprise they won, claiming Zimbabwe's only medal in the 1980 Games.
3. Liz Chase (1950 - 2018)
With an HPI of 32.39, Liz Chase is the 3rd most famous Zimbabwean Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Elizabeth Muriel Chase (26 April 1950 – 9 May 2018) was a Zimbabwean field hockey player and member of the national team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Previously, she represented South Africa. Born in Umtali (today Mutare), Chase attended Girls High School in Salisbury (today Harare). She was on the national schools field hockey team in 1966, and later the national under-21 team. After graduating, she went to South Africa to get a degree in physical education. There, she played for the university varsity team and the local provincial sides of Wits and Southern Transvaal. In 1973/74 she was chosen to play for the South Africa B team, and in 1976/77 she represented the Springbok Ladies hockey team. During the 1970s, she lost friends and family in the Rhodesian Bush War. Upon returning to Rhodesia, Chase played for the Old Hararians club and taught physical education at Oriel Girls High School in Salisbury. She was selected every year for the Zimbabwe women's national team before she emigrated to South Africa in the early 1980s. She worked as head of the physical education department at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2000 and retired in 2015. Chase died of cancer on 9 May 2018 in Johannesburg, two weeks after her 68th birthday.
4. Ann Grant (1955 - )
With an HPI of 24.62, Ann Grant is the 4th most famous Zimbabwean Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Ann Mary Gwynne Grant (née Fletcher; born May 6, 1955) is a former field hockey player from Zimbabwe, who captained the national team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Because of a boycott by western European, Australasian and other countries, the Women's Field Hockey Tournament contained fewer teams than normal. A late request was sent to the government of Zimbabwe, which quickly assembled a team less than a week before the competition started. To everyone's surprise they won, claiming Zimbabwe's only medal in the 1980 Games. Grant captained the team. Grant is the sister of former Zimbabwe cricketer and India cricket coach Duncan Fletcher.
5. Patricia McKillop (1956 - )
With an HPI of 22.32, Patricia McKillop is the 5th most famous Zimbabwean Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Patricia ("Pat") Jean McKillop, née Fraser, and now Buckle also simply known as Pat McKillop (born July 15, 1956) is a former field hockey player from Zimbabwe, who was a member of the national team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Because of the boycott led by the United States in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, only the Soviet team remained. The Soviets and international Olympic authorities then invited countries that had not qualified for the tournament. A late request was sent to the government of the African nation, which hastily assembled a team less than a week before the competition started. To everyone's surprise, they won. They defeated Poland 4-0, drew 2-2 with Czechoslovakia, won 2-0 over the host Soviet Union, drew 1-1 with India and lastly trounced Austria 4-1 to claim Zimbabwe's only medal in the 1980 Games. McKillop was the co-top scorer of the tournament with six goals, including three penalty corners, tied with the Soviet Union's Natella Krasnikova. McKillop represented Matabeleland in basketball. She played her club hockey for the Bulawayo Athletic Club and went on to coach the Zimbabwe Under-21 women’s team for three years, leading them to the Women's Hockey Junior World Cup in Canada in 1989. She has also represented Zimbabwe in golf.
Pantheon has 5 people classified as athletes born between 1950 and 1956. Of these 5, 4 (80.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living athletes include Maureen George, Susan Huggett, and Ann Grant. The most famous deceased athletes include Liz Chase. As of April 2022, 4 new athletes have been added to Pantheon including Maureen George, Susan Huggett, and Ann Grant.
Living Athletes
Go to all Rankings
Maureen George
1955 - Present
HPI: 34.57
Susan Huggett
1954 - Present
HPI: 32.82
Ann Grant
1955 - Present
HPI: 24.62
Patricia McKillop
1956 - Present
HPI: 22.32
Deceased Athletes
Go to all RankingsNewly Added Athletes (2022)
Go to all RankingsMaureen George
1955 - Present
HPI: 34.57
Susan Huggett
1954 - Present
HPI: 32.82
Ann Grant
1955 - Present
HPI: 24.62
Patricia McKillop
1956 - Present
HPI: 22.32
