Sport

Athletes, coaches and commentators, and the moments they gave us. 511 people are remembered here. Light a candle, read their story, and add a memory of your own.

• 
  Sean Romeo

  1994 – 2026 · Ice hockey goaltender and meteorologist

  Record-setting Ohio State goaltender and scholar who found a second calling forecasting Maine weather.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Arch Jelley

  1922 – 2026 · Athletics coach and school principal

  The Dunedin teacher who coached John Walker to the first sub 3:50 mile and Olympic gold, and was still coaching Olympians at 93.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Bruno Spaggiari

  1933 – 2026 · Motorcycle racer

  Ducati racer from Reggio Emilia who won at Monza and came within a few drops of fuel of Imola glory.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Viorel Păunescu

  1935 – 2026 · Businessman and sports administrator

  Handball international, hotelier and Steaua president who said he would live it all again.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Jouni Yrjölä

  1959 – 2026 · Chess grandmaster

  Finland's highest ranked chess player ever, a grandmaster who led his country on top board.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Jacob "Jake" Johnson

  1980 – 2026 · High school football coach and athletic director

  Millsap's football coach, who believed his job was to build men first and football players second.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Jorge Veras

  1959 – 2026 · Footballer and coach

  The Gre-Nal Man from Fortaleza, a goalscorer and teacher of young footballers.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Hugo Rivero

  † 2026 · Footballer

  A Uruguayan defender who helped Huachipato win its first Chilean title in 1974.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Keith Bailey

  1961 – 2026 · Footballer

  A gifted, mild-natured footballer who rode every challenge, from Tampa Bay to Steeton.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Sergey Kucherov

  1980 – 2026 · Track cyclist

  A sprinter of iron will who rode for Russia at two Olympic Games.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Jack Davies

  † 2026 · Rugby union player

  Caernarfon and RGC second row who came home to play for the clubs that made him.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Florin Cotora

  1972 – 2026 · Footballer (goalkeeper) and DJ

  Sibiu's goalkeeper who helped Alba Iulia reach the top flight, then kept the music playing.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Angelo Pierleoni

  1962 – 2026 · Footballer and coach

  Celano midfielder who rose from Fermana and Teramo to Serie A and scored against Juventus.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Giorgos Vardinogiannis

  1936 – 2026 · Shipowner

  The Captain: Cretan seafarer, shipowner, and the man who steered Panathinaikos for 21 years and took it beyond Greece.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Winfried Matter

  † 2026 · Motorsport safety entrepreneur and sports administrator

  Safety pioneer whose roll cages protected drivers and who gave Germany's sport drivers a voice.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Jorge Castro

  1967 – 2026 · Professional boxer

  He turned a near stoppage into boxing's Hand of God and never stopped fighting for his community.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Marianne von Gierke

  † 2026 · IFBB Pro bodybuilder and lawyer

  A lawyer from Punta Arenas who carried Chile's flag to the Olympia stage twice.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Kasey Redfern

  1991 – 2026 · American football player (punter)

  Undrafted punter who never stopped fighting, on the field and through three years of cancer.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Chase Brown

  1985 – 2026 · Independent professional wrestler

  Philosopher, musician and wrestler who taught the world that wrestling is a form of storytelling.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Bud Zipfel

  1938 – 2026 · Baseball player

  Washington Senators first baseman whose name closed a book on 1960s big leaguers.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Ellen Meliesie

  1963 – 2026 · Rower

  World champion rower from Zwolle who never left the water, or the people she taught.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Klym Liiv

  † 2026 · Basketball player

  Ukrainian basketball player and youth coach who gave his life defending Ukraine.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Hansi Kinigadner

  1956 – 2026 · Motocross rider

  Two-time Austrian motocross champion and eldest of the Kinigadner brothers, whose will to live outlasted every setback.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Henk Cornelisse

  1940 – 2026 · Racing cyclist

  Amsterdam paver turned Olympic medallist, who rode to bronze for the Netherlands in Tokyo in 1964.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Darragh Nelson

  † 2026 · Gaelic footballer

  Ballyboden's All-Ireland winning captain and a Dublin All-Ireland medallist, loved by his club to the end.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Joe Hamilton

  † 2026 · High school football coach

  The Blackhawk coach who taught fundamentals by the book and won 342 games over 49 seasons.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Bernard Boileau

  1959 – 2026 · Tennis player

  Eight times Belgian champion whose backhand Yannick Noah called the most beautiful on the circuit.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Ángel Arroyo

  1956 – 2026 · Professional road cyclist (climber)

  El Salvaje of El Barraco, who won on the Puy de Dôme and led Spain back to the Tour de France podium.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Jan Roelof Kruithof

  1936 – 2026 · Marathon speed skater

  Dutch marathon skater, nine-time Alternatieve Elfstedentocht winner.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Tony Reno

  1974 – 2026 · College football coach

  Yale's second-winningest football coach, who led the Bulldogs to five Ivy League titles.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Geoff Hickson

  1939 – 2026 · Footballer (goalkeeper)

  Crewe's own goalkeeper, a promotion winner at Gresty Road in 1963.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  James Walker

  1987 – 2026 · Footballer (striker)

  Former Southend striker and England youth international, remembered for courage after cardiac arrest.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Gabriele Sabatini

  1976 – 2026 · Footballer and football coach

  Spezia playmaker and coach who taught values as well as tactics. Ciao Mister.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Caupolicán Peña

  1930 – 2026 · Footballer

  Colo-Colo great, Chile international, first Sifup president, and Palestino title-winning coach.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Dave Rosello

  1950 – 2026 · MLB infielder (Chicago Cubs

  Puerto Rican MLB infielder for the Cubs and Indians, and Chicago's first Puerto Rican infielder.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Tay Baker

  1927 – 2026 · College basketball player and coach

  Bearcat player, title-era assistant, and coach who bridged Cincinnati's greatest basketball years.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Pat Clohessy

  1933 – 2026 · Distance runner and athletics coach

  Australian distance coach who guided Rob de Castella and a generation of AIS runners.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Kathy Cornelius

  1932 – 2026 · Professional golfer

  1956 U.S. Women's Open champion and pioneering LPGA Tour winner.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Pac

  1986 – 2026 · Professional wrestler

  English high flyer who made gravity look optional, from Newcastle to NXT, Dragon Gate and AEW.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Pierre Plante

  1951 – 2026 · Ice hockey right winger

  Durable NHL winger and 1971 Flyers first-round pick from Valleyfield.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Benjamin Satterley (PAC)

  1986 – 2026 · Professional wrestler

  The Man That Gravity Forgot, England's high-flying AEW and WWE star

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Hirokazu Ueyonabaru

  1971 – 2026 · Paralympic wheelchair racer

  Okinawa's enduring T52 racer who turned injury into Paralympic silver and bronze.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Leo T. Gaje Jr.

  1938 – 2026 · Filipino martial artist

  Grand Tuhon of Pekiti-Tirsia Kali who opened a Filipino family blade art to the world.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Kerwin Peter Engelhart

  1929 – 2026 · High school basketball coach and athletic administrator

  Rochester's longtime coach and athletic director who put students first for sixty years.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Bob Pettit

  1932 – 2026 · NBA basketball player

  NBA's first MVP, 1958 Hawks champion, and the first player to score 20,000 points.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Leon Sirois

  1935 – 2026 · Racing driver (midget

  Indy lore's hard-luck rookie whose waved-off pole day became the Jigger Award.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Dee Brock

  1930 – 2026 · Educator

  Founding director who integrated and reinvented the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders into America's Sweethearts.

  4 candles · 1 tributes
• 
  Leon Duray "Jigger" Sirois

  1935 – 2026 · Racing driver (midget

  Indy 500 hard-luck rookie whose waved-off 1969 pole run became racing folklore.

  4 candles · 1 tributes