1991 in sports

See also: 1990 in sports, other events of 1991, 1992 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Table of contents

1 Auto Racing 2 Baseball 3 Basketball 4 Boxing 5 Cricket 6 Cycling 7 Field Hockey 8 Figure Skating 9 Football (Soccer) 10 Football (American) 11 Canadian Football League 12 Golf 13 Thoroughbred Horse Racing 14 Harness Racing 15 Ice Hockey 16 Skiing 17 Snooker 18 Tennis 19 General sporting events 20 Births 21 Deaths

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • Ernie Irvan won the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Dale Earnhardt
• CART Racing - Michael Andretti won the season championship
  • Indianapolis 500 - Rick Mears
• Formula One Championship - Ayrton Senna of Brazil
• 24 hours of Le Mans: won by Volker Weidler / Johnny Herbert / Bertrand Gachot driving a Mazda 787
• Rally racing - Juha Kankkunen in a Lancia won the World Rally Championship
  • the team of Carlos Sainz / Luis Moya won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Toyota Celica GT4
• Drag racing - Joe Amato won the NHRA "Top Fuel" championship.

Baseball

• Dave Righetti breaks Sparky Lyle's major league record for left-handers of 238 career saves.
• July 28 - Dennis Martinez of the Montreal Expos pitches the 13th perfect game in major league history, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-0.
• World Series: The Minnesota Twins win 4 games to 3 over the Atlanta Braves. The series MVP is Jack Morris of Minnesota.

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Duke wins 72-65 over Kansas
• NBA Finals: Chicago Bulls win 4 games to 1 over the Los Angeles Lakers to earn the franchise's first championship.
• June 12 - The Chicago Bulls win their first National Basketball Association championship. The Bulls beat the Los Angeles Lakers four games to one.
• November 7 - Basketball player Magic Johnson announces he tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS, and that he was retiring.

Boxing

• June 1 at Palm Springs, California: Terry Norris knocked out Donald Curry in the 8th Round to win the WBC Super Welterweight Championship.

Cricket

• South Africa readmitted to the International Cricket Council following the abolition of apartheid, and play their first international game since 1970.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Franco Chiocciolo of Italy
• Tour de France - Miguel Induraín of Spain
• World Cycling Championship: Gianni Bugno of Italy

Field Hockey

• September 13 - 22 - Thirteenth Men's Champions Trophy held at Berlin, Germany won by hosts. Pakistan end 2nd

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Kurt Browning, Canada
  • Women's champion: Kristi Yamaguchi, United States
  • Pairs champions: Natalja Mishkutienok & Artur Dimitrijev, Soviet Union

Football (Soccer)

• England - FA Cup: Tottenham Hotspur won 2-1 (aet) over Nottingham Forest

• FIFA Women's World Cup - United States won 2-1 over Norway

Football (American)

• Super Bowl XXV: New York Giants won 20-19 over the Buffalo Bills

Canadian Football League

• Grey Cup: Toronto Argonauts win 36-21 over the Calgary Stampeders
• Vanier Cup: Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks win 25-18 over the Mount Allison Mounties

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters golf tournament - Ian Woosnam
  2. June - US Open - Payne Stewart
  3. July - British Open - Ian Baker-Finch
  4. August - PGA Championship - John Daly

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Corey Pavin - $979,430
• PGA Champions Tour leading money winner: Mike Hill - $1,065,657
• Ryder Cup: United States team won 14 1/2 - 13 ½ over the European team in world golf.

• Tiger Woods, at age 15, won his first USGA title, the U.S. Junior Amateur.

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Meg Mallon
• LPGA Championship - Meg Mallon
• Pat Bradley: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $763,118.

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Let's Elope
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Dance Smartly
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Suave Dancer
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Generous

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Mystiko
  2. Epsom Derby - Generous
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Toulon

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Strike the Gold
  2. Preakness Stakes - Hansel
  3. Belmont Stakes - Hansel

• Breeders' Cup:
  1. Breeders' Cup Classic - Black Tie Affair
  2. Breeders' Cup Distaff - Dance Smartly
  3. Breeders' Cup Juvenile - Arazi
  4. Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies - Pleasant Stage
  5. Breeders' Cup Mile - Opening Verse
  6. Breeders' Cup Sprint - Sheikh Albadou
  7. Breeders' Cup Turf - Miss Alleged

Harness Racing

• North America Cup - Precious Bunny

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Silky Stallone
  2. Little Brown Jug - Precious Bunny
  3. Messenger Stakes - Die Laughing

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Giant Victory
  2. Yonkers Trot -
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Whiteland Janice

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Mark Ranover
  • Trotters: Fraggle Rock

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Brett Hull, St. Louis Blues

• Stanley Cup:
  • Pittsburgh Penguins win 4 games to 2 over the Minnesota North Stars

• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Sweden defeated Canada
  • Junior Men's champion: Canada defeated the USSR

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Marc Girardelli, Luxembourg
  • The women's overall season champion: Petra Kronberger, Austria

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: John Parrott beats Jimmy White 18-11
• World rankings: Stephen Hendry remains world number one for 1991/92

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Boris Becker
  2. French Open - Jim Courier
  3. Wimbledon championships - Michael Stich
  4. US Open - Stefan Edberg

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Monica Seles
  2. French Open - Monica Seles
  3. Wimbledon championships - Steffi Graf
  4. US Open - Monica Seles

• Davis Cup: France won 3-1 over the United States in world tennis.

General sporting events

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
  • Rick Swenson won with lead dog: Goose

Births

Deaths

• January 3 - Luke Appling, Major League Baseball player (1930-1950)
• January 21 - Red Grange, National Football League great
• March 2 - James "Cool Papa" Bell, Negro League baseball star
• April 4 - Luc de Rijck, Belgian soccer player
• April 20 - Bucky Walters, Major League Baseball pitcher (1934-1950)
• April 25 - Theo Laseroms, Dutch soccer player
• May 6 - Chucky Mullins, United States soccer player
• May 20 - Pete Runnels, Major League Baseball player (1951-1964)
• June 8 - Mary Bacon, jockey
• September 15 - Smoky Burgess, Major League Baseball player (1949-1967)
• October 7 - Leo Durocher, MLB player (1925-1945), and manager
• November 26 - Bob Johnson - ice hockey coach, Pittsburgh Penguins
• December 16 - Horatio Luro, race horse trainer including Northern Dancer
• December 25 - Mahmood Hussain, Pakistani cricketer