1997 in sports

See also: 1996 in sports, other events of 1997, 1998 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:
  • Jeff Gordon is the youngest driver ever to win the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Jeff Gordon
• Indy Racing League -
• Indianapolis 500 - Arie Luyendyk
• CART Racing - Alex Zanardi won the season championship
• Formula One Championship - Jacques Villeneuve of Canada
• V8 Supercars Australia
  • Championship Series won by Glenn Seton in a Ford Falcon EL.
  • Bathurst 1000 for V8 Supercars won by Russel Ingall and Larry Perkins in a Holden Commodore VS.
  • Bathurst 1000 for Super Touring won by Jim Richards and Rickard Rydell. Rydell setting a shootout lap of 2:14.x, fastest super touring lap ever around the mountain at that time.
• 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Michele Alboreto / Stefan Johansson / Tom Kristensen won, driving a TWR-Porsche
• Rally racing - Tommi Mäkinen won the World Rally Championship
  • the team of Piero Liatti / Fabrizia Pons won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Subaru Impreza WRC97
• Drag racing - Gary Scelzi won the NHRA "Top Fuel" championship.

Baseball

• June 12 - Interleague play begins in baseball, ending a 126-year tradition of separating the major leagues until the World Series.
• World Series: Florida Marlins won 4 games to 3 over the Cleveland Indians. The Series MVP was Livan Hernandez, Florida

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • Arizona wins 84-79 over Kentucky

• NBA Finals:
  • Chicago Bulls earn their second repeat of the decade as they beat the Utah Jazz 4 games to 2 (see Steve Kerr).

• WNBA Finals:
  • Houston Comets defeat the New York Liberty in one game playoff series.

Boxing

• January 18 - Las Vegas, Nevada - Oscar De La Hoya maintained his World Boxing Council super lightweight title in with a 12-round unanimous decision over Miguel Angel Gonzalez.
• June 28 - Mike Tyson bites off a piece of the ear of Evander Holyfield in the third round of their WBA Heavyweight title fight, getting disqualified by referee Mills Lane.
• July 9 - Mike Tyson's boxing license is suspended for at least a year and he is fined $3 million for biting Evander Holyfield's ear in a televised match.

Cricket

• The Ashes - Australia win the six test series 3-2
• ICC Trophy - Bangladesh
• Women's Cricket World Cup - Australia beat New Zealand by five wickets
• County Cricket Championship (England and Wales) - Glamorgan

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Ivan Gotti of Italy
• Tour de France - Jan Ullrich of Germany
• World Cycling Championship: Laurent Brochard of France

Field Hockey

• October 17 - 19 - Champions Trophy held at Adelaide, Australia won by Germany. Hosts Australia finish second.

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Elvis Stojko, Canada
  • Women's champion: Tara Lipinski, United States
  • Pairs champions: Mandy Wötzel & Ingo Steuer, Germany

Football (Soccer)

• England - FA Cup: Chelsea won 2-0 over Middlesbrough

Football (American)

• Super Bowl XXXI: Green Bay Packers won 35-21 over the New England Patriots

Canadian Football League

• Grey Cup: Toronto Argonauts won 47-23 over the Saskatchewan Roughriders
• Vanier Cup: UBC Thunderbirds win 39-23 over the Ottawa Gee Gees

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Tiger Woods
  2. June - US Open - Ernie Els
  3. July - British Open - Justin Leonard
  4. August - PGA Championship - Davis Love III

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Tiger Woods - $2,066,833
• PGA Champions Tour leading money winner: Hale Irwin - $2,343,364
• Ryder Cup: Europe won 14 1/2-13 1/2 over the United States in world team golf.

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Alison Nicholas
• LPGA Championship - Chris Johnson
• Annika Sörenstam: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $1,236,789.

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Might And Power
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Awesome Again
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Peintre Célèbre
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Desert King

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Entrepreneur
  2. Epsom Derby - Benny the Dip
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Silver Patriarch

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Silver Charm
  2. Preakness Stakes - Silver Charm
  3. Belmont Stakes - Touch Gold

• Breeders' Cup:
  1. Breeders' Cup Classic - Skip Away
  2. Breeders' Cup Distaff - Ajina
  3. Breeders' Cup Juvenile - Favorite Trick
  4. Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies - Countess Diana
  5. Breeders' Cup Mile - Spinning World
  6. Breeders' Cup Sprint - Elmhurst
  7. Breeders' Cup Turf - Chief Bearhart

Harness Racing

• North America Cup - Gothic Dream

• Western Dreamer won the United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Western Dreamer
  2. Little Brown Jug - Western Dreamer
  3. Messenger Stakes - Western Dreamer

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Malabar Man
  2. Yonkers Trot - Lord Stormont
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Take Chances

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Our Sir Vancelot
  • Trotters: Pride Of Petite

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Dominik Hasek of the Buffalo Sabres

• Stanley Cup - Detroit Red Wings win 4 games to 0 over the Philadelphia Flyers

• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Canada defeated Sweden
  • Junior Men's champion: Finland defeated Russia
  • Women's champion: Canada defeated the United States

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Luc Alphand, France
  • The women's overall season champion: Pernilla Wiberg, Sweden

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: Ken Doherty beats Stephen Hendry 18-12
• World rankings: Stephen Hendry remains world number one for 1997/98

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Pete Sampras
  2. French Open - Gustavo Kuerten
  3. Wimbledon championships - Pete Sampras
  4. US Open - Patrick Rafter

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Martina Hingis
  2. French Open - Iva Majoli
  3. Wimbledon championships - Martina Hingis
  4. US Open - Martina Hingis

• Davis Cup: Sweden won 5-0 over the United States in world tennis.

General sporting events

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
  • Martin Buser won with lead dogs: Blondie & Fearless

Births

Deaths

• Exceller - great thoroughbred racehorse
• March 21 - John Nemechek 27, NASCAR race driver
• September 9 - Richie Ashburn, Major League Baseball player
• November 14 - Eddie Arcaro, only jockey to win two Triple Crowns