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1996 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

Alpine skiing

• Alpine Skiing World Cup
  • Men's overall season champion: Lasse Kjus, Norway
  • Women's overall season champion: Katja Seizinger, Germany

American football

• Super Bowl XXX – Dallas Cowboys won 27-17 over the Pittsburgh Steelers
• 1995NCAA Division I-A national football championship – the Nebraska Cornhuskers manhandle the University of Florida Gators, winning 62-24, along with their second back-to-back National Championship seasons on January 2, 1996.
• World Bowl 96 – The Scottish Claymores won 32-27 over the Frankfurt Galaxy.
• Cleveland Browns deactivate and move to Baltimore where they become the Baltimore Ravens and reactivate in 1999.

Association football

For an extensive coverage see 1996 in Association football

Athletics

• July-August – Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics held at Atlanta, Georgia

Australian rules football

• Australian Football League
  • North Melbourne wins the 100th AFL premiership (North Melbourne 19.17 (131) d Sydney Swans 13.10 (88))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to James Hird (Essendon) and Michael Voss (Brisbane Bears)
  • At the end of the season Fitzroy and the Brisbane Bears merge, forming the Brisbane Lions.

Baseball

• January 8 – For the first time in 25 years, no one garners 75 percent of the votes needed to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Phil Niekro comes closest with 68 percent.
• World Series, October 26 – New York Yankees won 4 games to 2 over the Atlanta Braves. Their 23rd World Championship and their first since 1978. The Series MVP was relief pitcher John Wetteland of New York.

Basketball

• April 1 – NCAA Men's Basketball Championship –
  • Kentucky wins 76-67 over Syracuse
• NBA Finals –
  • Chicago Bulls win 4 games to 2 over the Seattle SuperSonics, after a record-breaking 72-10 regular season.
  • The Sacramento Kings first playoff appearance since 1986.
• National Basketball League (Australia) Finals:
  • South East Melbourne Magic defeated the Melbourne Tigers 2-1 in the best-of-three final series.

Boxing

• March 16 – Christy Martin defeats Deirdre Gogarty by a decision in six rounds to retain her Women's boxing world title in front of a national tv audience. This fight is credited with making the general public aware of women's boxing.
• March 30 to April 7 – 31st European Amateur Boxing Championships held in Vejle, Denmark
• June 7 - Oscar de la Hoya defeats Julio César Chávez by a knockout in four rounds to win the WBC's world Junior Welterweight championship.

Canadian football

• Grey Cup – Toronto Argonauts win 43-37 over the Edmonton Eskimos
• Vanier Cup – Saskatchewan Huskies win 31-12 over the St. Francis Xavier X-Men

Cricket

• Cricket World Cup – Final: Sri Lanka beat Australia by 7 wickets

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Pavel Tonkov of Russia
• Tour de France – Bjarne Riis of Denmark
• World Cycling Championship – Johan Museeuw of Belgium

Dogsled racing

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion –
  • Jeff King wins with lead dogs: Jake & Booster

Field hockey

• Olympic Games Men's Competition: Netherlands
• Olympic Games Women's Competition: Australia

Figure skating

• World Figure Skating Championships –
  • Men's champion: Todd Eldredge, United States
  • Ladies' champion: Michelle Kwan, United States
  • Pairs' champions: Marina Eltsova / Sergei Bushkov, Russia
  • Ice dancing champions: Oksana Grishuk / Evgeny Platov, Russia

Gaelic Athletic Association

• Camogie
  • All-Ireland Camogie Champion: Galway
  • National Camogie League: Cork
• Gaelic football
  • All-Ireland Senior Football Championship – Kerry 2-9 d. Mayo 1-11
  • National Football League – Derry 1-16 d. Donegal 1-9
• Ladies' Gaelic football
  • All-Ireland Senior Football Champion: Monaghan
  • National Football League: Monaghan
• Hurling
  • All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship – Wexford 1-13 d. Limerick 0-14
  • National Hurling League –

Golf

Men's professional

• Masters Tournament - Nick Faldo
• U.S. Open - Steve Jones
• British Open - Tom Lehman
• PGA Championship - Mark Brooks
• PGA Tour money leader - Tom Lehman - $1,780,159
• Senior PGA Tour money leader - Jim Colbert - $1,627,890
• Tiger Woods turns professional in September. In the last five regular tournaments of the year on the PGA Tour, his finishes were T5-T3-1-3-1, placing him among the tour's top 30 money-winners for the year and thereby qualifying him for the season-ending The Tour Championship. Woods named the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.

Men's amateur

• British Amateur - Warren Bladon
• U.S. Amateur - Tiger Woods becomes the first golfer to win three consecutive U.S. Amateur titles. This was the sixth consecutive year in which he won a USGA championship, one short of Bobby Jones' record of seven.
• European Amateur - Daniel Olsson

Women's professional

• Nabisco Dinah Shore - Patty Sheehan
• LPGA Championship - Laura Davies
• U.S. Women's Open - Annika Sörenstam
• Classique du Maurier - Laura Davies
• LPGA Tour money leader - Karrie Webb - $1,002,000 - becomes the first ever woman to earn more than a million dollars in one golf season.
• The United States team retained the Solheim Cup beating the European team 17 to 11.

Handball

• Men's European Championship: Russia
• Women's European Championship: Denmark

Harness racing

• June 22 - the fastest race mile in harness racing history was set by Jenna's Beach Boy (1:47.3) at Meadowlands Racetrack
• North America Cup - Arizona Jack
• United States Pacing Triple Crown races –
  1. Cane Pace - Scoot To Power
  2. Little Brown Jug - Armbro Operative
  3. Messenger Stakes - Go For Grins
• United States Trotting Triple Crown races –
  1. Hambletonian - Continentalvictory
  2. Yonkers Trot - Continentalvictory
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Running Sea
• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
  • Pacers: Young Mister Charles
  • Trotters: Pride Of Petite

Horse racing

• Inaugural running of the Dubai World Cup, promoted as the "world's richest horse race", at the Nad Al Sheba Racecourse in Dubai.

Steeplechases

• Cheltenham Gold Cup – Imperial Call
• Grand National – Rough Quest

Flat races

• Australia – Melbourne Cup won by Saintly
• Canada – Queen's Plate won by Victor Cooley
• Dubai – Dubai World Cup won by Cigar
• France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Helissio
• Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Zagreb
• Japan – Japan Cup won by Singspiel
• English Triple Crown races:
  1. 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Mark of Esteem
  2. Epsom Derby – Shaamit
  3. St. Leger Stakes – Shantou
• United States Triple Crown races:
  1. Kentucky Derby – Grindstone
  2. Preakness Stakes – Louis Quatorze
  3. Belmont Stakes – Editor's Note
• Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships:
  1. Breeders' Cup Classic – Alphabet Soup
  2. Breeders' Cup Distaff – Jewel Princess
  3. Breeders' Cup Juvenile – Boston Harbor
  4. Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies – Storm Song
  5. Breeders' Cup Mile – Da Hoss
  6. Breeders' Cup Sprint – Lit de Justice
  7. Breeders' Cup Turf – Pilsudski

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: Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Stanley Cup - the Colorado Avalanche defeat the Florida Panthers 4 games to 0.
• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Czech Republic defeated Canada
  • Junior Men's champion: Canada defeated Sweden

Lacrosse

• The Buffalo Bandits defeat the Philadelphia Wings 13–12 to win the Major Indoor Lacrosse League championship

Martial arts

• October 11 – Vitor Belfort makes his professional debut at a Superbrawl event in Honolulu, Hawaii. He defeats Jon Hess by KO in twelve seconds.

Motor racing

• Stock car racing –
  • Dale Jarrett won the Daytona 500
• NASCAR Championship - Terry Labonte
  • Rusty Wallace wins the Suzuka NASCAR Thunder 100 at Suzuka City November 24, the first NASCAR event held in Japan.
• Indy Racing League - Scott Sharp and Buzz Calkins tie for the inaugural IRL championship
  • Indianapolis 500 - Buddy Lazier
• CART - Jimmy Vasser won the season championship
• Formula One Championship - Damon Hill of Great Britain
• 24 hours of Le Mans – won by the team of Manuel Reuter / Davy Jones / Alexander Wurz driving a TWR-Porsche
• Rallying - Tommi Mäkinen won the World Rally Championship
  • the team of Patrick Bernardini / Bernard Occelli won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Ford Escort RS Cosworth
• Drag racing - Kenny Bernstein won the NHRA "Top Fuel" championship.

Radiosport

• The second World Radiosport Team Championship held in San Francisco, California, USA. Gold medals go to Jeff Steinman KRØY and Dan Street K1TO of the United States.

Rugby league

• March 29 at Paris – the new Super League competition, the first ever season of professional rugby to be played in summer, begins with new team Paris Saint Germain's first match: a 30-24 win over Sheffield Eagles at Charlety Stadium before 17,873.
• August 31 at Salford, England - The 1996 Student Rugby League World Cup culminates in Australia's 28 - 16 defeat of Samoa

Rugby union

• 102nd Five Nations Championship series is won by England
• SANZAR's new leagues the Super 12 (now Super 14) and the Tri Nations Series begin. The Super 12 is won by the Auckland Blues and the Tri Nations is won by the New Zealand All Blacks

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship – Stephen Hendry beats Peter Ebdon 18-12
• World rankings – Stephen Hendry remains world number one for 1996-97

Swimming

• XXVI Olympic Games, held in Atlanta, Georgia USA (July 20 – July 26)
• First European SC Championships, held in Riesa, Germany (December 13 – 15)
  • Germany wins the most medals (39) and the most gold medals (14)
• December 1 – American swimmer Misty Hyman clocks 58:29 to break the world record in the women's 100m butterfly (short course)

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Boris Becker
  2. French Open - Yevgeny Kafelnikov
  3. Wimbledon championships - Richard Krajicek
  4. US Open - Pete Sampras
• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Monica Seles
  2. French Open - Steffi Graf
  3. Wimbledon championships - Steffi Graf
  4. US Open - Steffi Graf
• 1996 Summer Olympics
  • Men's Singles Competition – Andre Agassi
  • Women's Singles Competition – Lindsay Davenport
  • Men's Doubles Competition – Todd Woodbridge & Mark Woodforde
  • Women's Doubles Competition – Gigi Fernández & Mary Joe Fernández
• Davis Cup final:
  • France wins 3-2 over Sweden
• Fed Cup final:
  • USA wins 5-0 over Spain

Volleyball

• Men's World League: Netherlands
• Women's World Grand Prix: Brazil
• Olympic Games Men's Competition: Netherlands
• Olympic Games Women's Competition: Cuba

Water polo

• Olympic Games Men's Competition: Spain
• Olympic Games Women's Competition: Netherlands

Multi-sport events

• 1996 Summer Olympics takes place in Atlanta, United States
  • United States wins the most medals (101), and the most gold medals (44).
• Winter Asian Games held in Harbin, China
• Athletic competition in the Big 12 Conference is inaugurated with a football game between Kansas State University and Texas Tech University, in Manhattan, Kansas on August 31.

Awards

• Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Michael Johnson, Track and field
• Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Amy Van Dyken, Swimming

References