December 27 Birthdays

1925
Heinrich Otto Ulzheimer, Germany, middle distance. Heinz Ulzheimer finished third in the men's 800m at the 1952 (Helsinki) Olympic Games, running 1:49.7 behind Mal Whitfield (1st, 1:49.2) of the United States and Arthur Wint (2nd, 1:49.4) of Jamaica. Ulzheimer's bronze medal in that event was Germany's first Olympic medal since the end of World War II. In the same Games, Ulzheimer also ran third leg on Germany's bronze medal 4 x 400m relay team.

1956
Doina Melinte, Romania, middle distance. Melinte achieved an impressive double at the 1984 (Los Angeles) Olympic Games, winning a gold medal in the women's 800m (1:57.60) and a silver medal in the women's 1,500m (4:03.76). At the 1987 (Rome) World Championships Melinte won the bronze medal in the women's 1,500m, running 3:59.27 behind Russia's Tatyana Dorovskikh (1st, 3:58.56) and East Germany's Hildegard Körner (2nd, 3:58.67).

1976
Daimí Pernía, Cuba, 400m hurdles. Daimí Pernía ran her career-best 400m hurdles race at the 1999 (Seville) World Championships, winning the women's race with a world-leading time of 52.89. Running for Cuba in the 2000 () Olympic Games, Pernía placed fourth in the women's 400m hurdles (53.68). Pernía returned to the World Championships in 2001 (Edmonton), where she won a bronze medal in the women's 400m hurdles, running 54.51.

1986
Shelly-Ann Fraser, Jamaica, sprints. In 2008, Fraser ran 11.00 seconds to win the (Beijing) Olympic gold medal in the women's 100m dash. In 2009, Fraser ran 10.73 to win the women's 100m at the (Berlin) World Championships. In 2010, Fraser was suspended from competition after testing positive for a banned substance.