See also: 1970 in sports, other events of 1971, 1972 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Contents

1 Auto Racing 2 Baseball 3 Basketball 4 Boxing 5 Cricket 6 Cycling 7 Figure Skating 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:
  • Richard Petty won the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Richard Petty
• Indianapolis 500 - Al Unser, Sr.
• USAC Racing - Joe Leonard
• Formula One Championship - Jackie Stewart of Great Britain
• 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Helmut Marko / Gijs van Lennep won, driving a Porsche 917
• Rally racing - the team of Ove Andersson / David Stone won the Monte Carlo Rally driving an Alpine-Renault A110
• Drag racing:
  • The NHRA announces the first "Grandnational" in Canada at Sanair International Drag Strip, near Montreal, Quebec.
  • Hank Johnson won Top Fuel at the NHRA Supernationals.

Baseball

• World Series: Pittsburgh Pirates won 4 games to 3 over the Baltimore Orioles. Game two was the first night game in World Series history.

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship:
  • UCLA wins 68-62 over Villanova

• NBA Finals:
  • Milwaukee Bucks win 4 games to 0 over the Baltimore Bullets

Boxing

• March 8 - Joe Frazier defeats Muhammad Ali in the first of three epic bouts. Frazier defends the World Heavyweight Championship in a star-studded Madison Square Garden.

Cricket

• 5 January, Melbourne - First one-day international, played bion after a Test match abandoned because of rain. Australia won by 5 wickets.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Gosta Pettersson of Sweden
• Tour de France - Eddy Merckx of Belgium
• World Cycling Championship: Eddy Merckx of Belgium

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Ondrej Nepala , Czechoslovakia
  • Women's champion: Beatrix Schuba, Austria
  • Pairs champions: Irina Rodnina & Alexei Ulyanov , Soviet Union

Football (American)

• Super Bowl V: Baltimore Colts won 16-13 over the Dallas Cowboys

• December 25 - The Miami Dolphins defeat the Kansas City Chiefs in a divisional playoff game. The double-overtime contest is the longest game in NFL history, and the Chiefs' last-ever home game at Municipal Stadium.

Football (Australian Rules)

• Victorian Football League
  • Hawthorn wins the 75th VFL Premiership (Hawthorn 12.10 (82) d St Kilda 11.9 (75))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Ian Stewart (Richmond)

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Calgary Stampeders won 14-11 over the Toronto Argonauts
• Vanier Cup: Western Ontario Mustangs won 15-14 over the Alberta Golden Bears

Football (Soccer)

• Arsenal are the English First Division champions

• England - FA Cup: Arsenal won 2-1 over Liverpool to win The Double

• European Championship Cup Final: Ajax - Panathinaikos 2-0

• January 2 - At the end of a Rangers-Celtic match at Ibrox Park in Glasgow, Scotland, barriers at Stairway 13 give way under a mass of fans, killing 66 and injuring over 200 others.

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Charles Coody
  2. June - US Open - Lee Trevino
  3. July - British Open - Lee Trevino
  4. August - PGA Championship - Jack Nicklaus

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Jack Nicklaus - $244,491

• Ryder Cup: United States won 18 1/2 to 13 1/2 over Britain in world team golf

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - JoAnne Carner
• LPGA Championship - Kathy Whitworth
• Kathy Whitworth: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $41,181

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Silver Knight
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Kennedy Road
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Mill Reef
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Irish Ball

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Brigadier Gerard
  2. Epsom Derby - Mill Reef
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Athens Wood

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Canonero II
  2. Preakness Stakes - Canonero II
  3. Belmont Stakes - Pass catcher

Harness Racing

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Albatross
  2. Little Brown Jug - Nansemond
  3. Messenger Stakes - Albatross

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Speedy Crown
  2. Yonkers Trot
  3. Kentucky Futurity

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Stella Frost
  • Trotters: Geffini

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Phil Esposito, Boston Bruins

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins

• Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 3 over the Chicago Blackhawks

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

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Gustavo Thoeni , Italy
  • The women's overall season champion: Annemarie Pröll , Austria

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: John Spencer beats Warren Simpson 37-29

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Ken Rosewall
  2. French Open - Jan Kodes
  3. Wimbledon championships - John Newcombe
  4. US Open - Stan Smith

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Margaret Smith Court
  2. French Open - Evonne Goolagong
  3. Wimbledon championships - Evonne Goolagong
  4. US Open - Billie Jean King

• Davis Cup: United States wins 3-2 over Romania in world tennis.

• Sixteen year old Chris Evert makes her US Open debut reaching the semifinals where she is defeated by eventual champion Billie Jean King.
• First time in 16 years that Americans won both the men's and women's title at the US Open.

General sporting events

Births

• January 2 - Karina Massota , Argentinian field hockey international
• January 4 - Melanie Cremer , German field hockey international
• March 31 - Pavel Bure, ice hockey player
• April 2 - Todd Woodbridge, tennis player
• April 10 - Helen Clarke, New Zealand field hockey goalkeeper
• June 21 - Irene Van Dyk, netballer
• July 9 - Hilary Rose, British field hockey goalkeeper
• August 4 - Jeff Gordon, NASCAR driver
• August 10 - Roy Keane, Irish international footballer
• August 12 - Pete Sampras, tennis player
• August 26 - Lisa Keightley , Australian cricketer
• August 28 - Janet Evans, Olympic swimming champion
• September 1 - Hakan Şükür, Turkish international footballer
• September 18 - Lance Armstrong, cyclist
• September 20 - Henrik Larsson, Swedish international footballer
• October 25 - Pedro Martinez, Major League Baseball player
• November 27 - Sam Smith, British tennis player

Deaths

• January 6 - Sonny Liston (date he was found dead)
• March 15 - Jean-Pierre Monser , age 22‚ Flemish cyclist
• April 4 - Carl Mays, Major League Baseball pitcher (1915-1929)
• April 13 - Michel Briere 21, star rookie ice-hockey player, Pittsburgh Penguins
• April 7 - Charles Pahud de Mortanges , Dutch 2 time Olympic Equestrian gold medalist
• May 12 - Heinie Manush, Major League Baseball player (1923-1939)
• May 15 - Goose Goslin, Major League Baseball player (1921-1938)
• June 17 - C. Christopher Morris , American cricketer
• October 24 - Chuck Hughes , Detroit Lions wide receiver collapsed during a game