1986 in sports

See also: 1985 in sports, other events of 1986, 1987 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Table of contents

1 Auto Racing 2 Baseball 3 Basketball 4 Boxing 5 Cycling 6 Field Hockey 7 Figure Skating 8 Football (Soccer) 9 Football (American) 10 Canadian Football League 11 Golf 12 Thoroughbred Horse Racing 13 Harness Racing 14 Ice Hockey 15 Skiing 16 Snooker 17 Tennis 18 General sporting events 19 Births 20 Deaths

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • Geoff Bodine won the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Dale Earnhardt
• CART Racing - Bobby Rahal
  • Indianapolis 500 - Bobby Rahal
• Formula One Championship - Alain Prost of France
• 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Derek Bell / Hans-Joachim Stuck / Al Holbert won, driving a Porsche 962C
• Rally racing - Juha Kankkunen in a Peugeot won the World Rally Championship
  • the team of Henri Toivonen / Sergio Cresto won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Lancia Delta S4
• Drag racing:
  • Don Garlits won the NHRA "Top Fuel" championship
  • Darrell Gwynn won Top Fuel at the NHRA Winston Finals

Baseball

• All-Star Game: American League Manager Dick Howser is diagnosed with brain cancer after mixing up signals during the game.
• Dave Righetti saves 46 games for the New York Yankees, breaking a record shared by Dan Quisenberry and Bruce Sutter.
• World Series: The New York Mets win 4 games to 3 over the Boston Red Sox.

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • Louisville wins 72-69 over Duke
• NBA Finals:
  • Boston Celtics win 4 games to 2 over the Houston Rockets

Boxing

• March 10 in Las Vegas, Nevada - Marvin Hagler retained the World Middleweight Championship with an 11th round knockout of John Mugabi.
• November 22 - Mike Tyson knocks-out Trevor Berbick in a round 2 fight, becoming the youngest world heavyweight-boxing champion (He 20 years, 4 months old).

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Roberto Visentini of Italy
• Tour de France - Greg Lemond is the first winner from the United States
• World Cycling Championship: Moreno Argentin of Italy

Field Hockey

• April 4 - 11 - Eighth Men's Champions Trophy held in Karachi, Pakistan won for the first time by Germany. Australia finish second.

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Brian Boitano, United States
  • Women's champion: Debi Thomas, United States
  • Pairs champions: Jekaterina Gordejewa & Sergej Grinkow, Soviet Union

Football (Soccer)

• World Cup: Final: Argentina 3-2 West Germany. Hosts: Mexico
• Champions' Cup: Steaua Bucuresti 0-0 F.C. Barcelona; Steaua Bucuresti won 2-0 on penalties
• UEFA Cup:Two legs; 1st leg Real Madrid C.F 5-1 1. FC Köln; 2nd leg 1.FC Köln 2-0 Real Madrid CF. Real Madrid CF won 5-3 on aggregate
• Cup Winners' Cup: Dinamo Kiev 3-0 Atlético Madrid
• Super Cup: Steaua Bucuresti 1-0 Dinamo Kiev
• Copa Libertadores de América: Two legs; 1st leg América 1-2 River Plate; 2nd leg River Plate 1-0 América. River Plate won 3-1 on aggregate
• League champions
  • Argentina: River Plate
  • Brazil: São Paulo Futebol Clube
  • England: Liverpool F.C
  • France: Paris Saint-Germain
  • Italy: Juventus
  • Netherlands: PSV Eindhoven
  • Portugal: SL Benfica
  • Scotland: Glasgow Celtic
  • Spain: Real Madrid C.F
  • West Germany: FC Bayern München
• England - FA Cup: Liverpool won 3-1 over Everton

Football (American)

• Super Bowl XX: Chicago Bears won 46-10 over the New England Patriots

Canadian Football League

• Grey Cup: Hamilton Tiger-Cats won 39-15 over the Edmonton Eskimos
• Vanier Cup: UBC Thunderbirds won 25-23 over the Western Ontario Mustangs

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Jack Nicklaus
  2. June - US Open - Ray Floyd
  3. July - British Open - Greg Norman
  4. August - PGA Championship - Bob Tway

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Greg Norman - $653,296
• PGA Champions Tour leading money winner: Bruce Crampton - $454,299

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Jane Geddes
• LPGA Championship - Pat Bradley
• Pat Bradley: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $492,021

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - At Talaq
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Golden Choice
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Dancing Brave
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Shahrastani

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Dancing Brave
  2. Epsom Derby - Shahrastani
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Moon Madness

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Ferdinand
  2. Preakness Stakes - Snow Chief
  3. Belmont Stakes - Danzig Connection

• Breeders' Cup:
  1. Breeders' Cup Classic - Skywalker
  2. Breeders' Cup Distaff - Lady's Secret
  3. Breeders' Cup Juvenile - Capote
  4. Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies - Brave Raj
  5. Breeders' Cup Mile - Last Tycoon
  6. Breeders' Cup Sprint - Smile
  7. Breeders' Cup Turf - Manila

Harness Racing

• North America Cup - Goalie Jeff

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Barberry Spur
  2. Little Brown Jug - Barberry Spur
  3. Messenger Stakes - Amity Chef

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Nuclear Kosmos
  2. Yonkers Trot - Gunslinger Spur
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Sugarcane Hanover

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Village Kid

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers

• Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens won 4 games to 1 over the Calgary Flames

• World Hockey Championship:
  • Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Sweden
  • Junior Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Canada

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Marc Girardelli, Luxembourg
  • The women's overall season champion: Maria Walliser, Switzerland

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: Joe Johnson beats Steve Davis 18-12
• World rankings: Steve Davis remains world number one for 1986/87

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - no tournament held
  2. French Open - Ivan Lendl
  3. Wimbledon championships - Boris Becker
  4. US Open - Boris Becker

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - no tournament held
  2. French Open - Chris Evert
  3. Wimbledon championships - Martina Navratilova
  4. US Open - Martina Navratilova

• Davis Cup: Australia won 3-2 over Sweden in world tennis.

General sporting events

• British Commonwealth Games held in Edinburgh, Scotland

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
  • Susan Butcher won with lead dogs: Granite & Mattie

Births

Deaths

• January 1 - Alfredo Binda, Italian cyclist
• February 17 - Red Ruffing, Major League Baseball pitcher (1924-1947)
• February 27 - Jacques Plante, NHL ice hockey star
• April 6 - Bill Cook, NHL star, New York Rangers
• June 19 - Len Bias, top draft pick of the Boston Celtics, cocaine-induced seizure
• June 27 - Don Rogers, football player, Cleveland Browns, cocaine poisoning
• July 2 - Peanuts Lowrey, Major League Baseball player (1942-1955)
• July 15 - Billy Haughton, Hall of Fame harness-racing driver
• July 25 - Ted Lyons, Major League Baseball pitcher (1923-1946)
• September 4 - Hank Greenberg, Detroit Tigers baseball great (1930-1947)
• October 12 - Norm Cash, Detroit Tigers baseball great (1958-1974)
• December 1 - Bobby Layne, football player, Detroit Lions