See also: 1975 in sports, other events of 1976, 1977 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Contents

1 Auto Racing 2 Baseball 3 Basketball 4 Boxing 5 Cycling 6 Figure Skating 7 Field Hockey 8 Football (American) 9 Football (Australian Rules) 10 Football (Canadian) 11 Football (Soccer) 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:
  • David Pearson won the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Cale Yarborough
• Indianapolis 500 - Johnny Rutherford
• USAC Racing - Gordon Johncock won the season championship
• Formula One Championship:
  • James Hunt of Britain
  • Niki Lauda's famous accident occurred during the German Grand Prix at Nurburgring.
• 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Jacky Ickx / Gijs van Lennep won, driving a Porsche 936
• Rally racing - the team of Sandro Munari / Mario Manucci won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Lancia Stratos HF
• Drag racing: Shirley Muldowney won "Top Fuel" at the NHRA World Finals

Baseball

• April 25 - Chicago Cubs outfielder Rick Monday rescues an American flag just as two protestors are about to burn it in the outfield during a game at Dodger Stadium.
• Sparky Lyle breaks Hoyt Wilhelm's American League record of 154 career saves.
• World Series: The Cincinnati Reds (aka the "Big Red Machine") sweep the New York Yankees, 4 games to 0, to win their second straight championship.

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship:
  • Indiana wins 86-68 over Michigan

• NBA Finals:
  • Boston Celtics win 4 games to 2 over the Phoenix Suns

Boxing

• October 8 in São Paulo, Brazil, former world featherweight champion Eder Jofre fought his last fight, outpointing Mexico's Octavio (Famoso) Gomez in ten rounds.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Felice Gimondi of Italy
• Tour de France - Lucien Van Impe of Belgium
• World Cycling Championship: Freddy Maertens of Belgium

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: John Curry, Britain
  • Women's champion: Dorothy Hamill, United States
  • Pairs champions: Irina Rodnina & Alexander Saizew , Soviet Union

Field Hockey

• March 13 - In an international women's field hockey match at Wembley Stadium,England. England beat Scotland 3-0.
• Women's Field Hockey World Cup - Germany are the World Champions.

Football (American)

• Super Bowl X: Pittsburgh Steelers won 21-17 over the Dallas Cowboys

Football (Australian Rules)

• Victorian Football League
  • Hawthorn wins the 80th VFL Premiership (Hawthorn 13.22 (100) d North Melbourne 10.10 (70))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Graham Moss (Essendon)

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Ottawa Rough Riders won 23-20 over the Saskatchewan Roughriders
• Vanier Cup: Western Ontario Mustangs won 29-13 over the Acadia Axmen

Football (Soccer)

• England - FA Cup: Southampton won 1-0 over Manchester United

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Ray Floyd
  2. June - US Open - Jerry Pate
  3. July - British Open - Johnny Miller
  4. August - PGA Championship - Dave Stockton

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Jack Nicklaus - $266,439

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - JoAnne Carner
• LPGA Championship - Betty Burfeindt
• Judy Rankin is the leading money winner on the LPGA tour. With total earnings of $150,734, she is the first to ever earn more than $100,000 in a season.

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Van der Hum
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Norcliffe
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Ivanjica
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Malacate

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Wollow
  2. Epsom Derby - Empery
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Crow

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Bold Forbes
  2. Preakness Stakes - Elocutionist
  3. Belmont Stakes - Bold Forbes

Harness Racing

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Keystone Ore
  2. Little Brown Jug - Keystone Ore
  3. Messenger Stakes - Windshield Wiper

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Steve Lobell
  2. Yonkers Trot - Steve Lobell
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Quick Pay

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Carclew
  • Trotters: Bay Johnny

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Guy Lafleur, Montreal Canadiens

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Bobby Clarke - Philadelphia Flyers

• Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 0 over the Philadelphia Flyers

• World Hockey Championship:
  • Men's champion: Czechoslovakia defeated the Soviet Union

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Ingemar Stenmark, Sweden
  • The women's overall season champion: Rosi Mittermaier, W. Germany

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: Ray Reardon beats Alex Higgins 27-16
• World rankings are introduced. Ray Reardon becomes the first world number one, for 1976/77.

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Mark Edmondson
  2. French Open - Adriano Panatta
  3. Wimbledon championships - Björn Borg
  4. US Open - Jimmy Connors

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Evonne Goolagong Cawley
  2. French Open - Sue Barker
  3. Wimbledon championships - Chris Evert
  4. US Open - Chris Evert

• Davis Cup: Italy wins 4-1 over Chile in world tennis.

General sporting events

• 1976 Summer Olympics takes place in Montreal, Canada
  • USSR wins the most medals (125), and the most gold medals (49).

• 1976 Winter Olympics takes place in Innsbruck, Austria
  • USSR wins the most medals (27), and the most gold medals (13).

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
  • Gerald Riley won with lead dogs: Puppy & Sugar

Births

• January 7 - Éric Gagné, Los Angeles Dodgers closer, 2003 National League Cy Young Award
• March 5 - Sarunas Jasikevicius, Lithuanian basketball player
• March 24 - Peyton Manning, NFL star, league co-MVP in 2003
• April 20 - Big Ben, world champion show-jumping horse
• April 25 - Tim Duncan, basketball player, two-time NBA MVP
• April 25 - Rainer Schuettler, German tennis player
• June 8 - Lindsay Davenport,US tennis star
• July 1 - Patrick Kluivert, Dutch football player
• July 1 - Ruud van Nistelrooy, Dutch football player
• September 10 - Gustavo Kuerten, Brazilian tennis star
• September 20 - Michael Ballack, German football player
• September 22 - Ronaldo, Brazilian football player
• September 29 - Andriy Shevchenko, Ukrainian football player
• October 10 - Bob Burnquist, Brazilian skateboarder

Deaths

• January 18 - Ad Verhoeven , Dutch soccer player
• February 2 - Harry Elliott , English cricket wicketkeeper
• March 6 - Max 'Slapsie Maxie' Rosenbloom, boxer, actor
• March 11 - Larry Gardner , Major League Baseball player (1908-1924)
• May 30 - Max Carey, Major League Baseball player (1910-1929)
• June 15 - Jimmy Dykes, Major League Baseball player (1918-1939)
• September 25 - Red Faber, Major League Baseball, pitcher (1914-1933)
• May 22 - Oscar Bonavena, Argentinian heavyweight boxer