1976 in sports
From Exampleproblems
See also: 1975 in sports, other events of 1976, 1977 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.
Auto Racing
- Stock car racing:
- 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:January 18 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
- Italy - Torino win Serie A for the first time since the Superga air disaster wiped out the team 27 years before.
Golf
- Grand Slam of golf results:
- May - The Masters - Ray Floyd
- June - US Open - Jerry Pate
- July - British Open - Johnny Miller
- August - PGA Championship - Dave Stockton
- PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Jack Nicklaus - $266,439
- 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
Harness Racing
- 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:
- Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
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 2 - Danilo Di Luca, Italian cyclist
- January 6 - Amy Gillett, Australian rower and cyclist (d. 2005)
- January 7 - Éric Gagné, baseball player National League Cy Young Award
- January 10 - Remy Bonjasky, Surinam-born K1-fighter
- January 16 - Martina Moravcová, Slovak swimmer
- January 20 - Gretha Smit, Dutch speed skater
- January 22 - Stefan van Dijk, Dutch cyclist
- January 29 - Karsten Kroon, Dutch cyclist
- February 2 - James Hickman, English swimmer
- February 5 - Sione Jongstra, Dutch triathlete
- February 13 - Chantal de Bruijn, Dutch field hockey player
- February 15 - Oscar Freire, Spanish cyclist
- February 18 - Chanda Rubin, American tennis player
- February 27 - Ludovic Capelle, Belgian cyclist
- March 5 - Sarunas Jasikevicius, Lithuanian basketball player
- March 24 - Peyton Manning, NFL player, league co-MVP in 2003
- March 10 - Lieja Tunks, Dutch athlete
- March 17 - Alvaro Recoba, Uruguay football player
- March 19 - Mukhtarkhan Dildabekov, Kazakh boxer
- March 19 - Alessandro Nesta, Italian football player
- March 22 - Teun de Nooijer, Dutch field hockey player
- March 25 - Wladimir Klitschko, Ukrainian heavyweight boxer
- March 29 - Igor Astarloa, Spanish cyclist
- March 29 - Jennifer Capriati, American tennis player
- April 1 - Clarence Seedorf, Dutch football player
- April 8 - Tieme Klompe, Dutch football player
- 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
- April 23 - Dirk van 't Klooster, Dutch baseball player
- April 27 - Walter Pandiani, Uruguay football player
- May 1 - Patricia Stokkers, Dutch swimmer
- May 6 - Ivan de la Peña, Spanish football player
- May 27 - Bianca Netzler, Australian field hockey player
- June 3 - Jens Kruppa, German swimmer
- June 6 - Hamza Yerlikaya, Turkish Greco-Roman style wrestler
- June 8 - Lindsay Davenport, American tennis player
- June 21 - Sander van der Weide, Dutch field hockey player
- June 23 - Paola Suarez, Argentine tennis player
- June 23 - Patrick Vieira, French football player
- June 28 - Shinobu Asagoe, Japanese tennis player
- July 1 - Patrick Kluivert, Dutch football player
- July 1 - Ruud van Nistelrooy, Dutch football player
- July 4 - Marcelo Romero, Uruguay football player
- July 5 - Nuno Gomes, Portugese football player
- July 6 - Nikki Hudson, Australian field hockey player
- July 9 - Jochem Uytdehaage, Dutch speed skater
- July 23 - Judit Polgár, Hungarian chess player
- July 31 - Louise Jöhncke, Swedish swimmer
- July 31 - Paulo Wanchope, Costarican football player
- August 7 - Timme Hoyng, Dutch field hockey player
- August 9 - Rogier Wassen, Dutch tennis player
- August 15 - Boudewijn Zenden, Dutch football player
- August 27 - Carlos Moya, Spanish tennis player
- August 27 - Mark Webber, Australian Formula 1-driver
- August 29 - Jon Dahl Tomasson, Danish football player
- September 6 - Francisco Sanchez, Venezolan swimmer
- September 7 - Carmel Bakurski, Australian field hockey player
- September 8 - Sjeng Schalken, Dutch tennis player
- September 10 - Gustavo Kuerten, Brazilian tennis player
- September 10 - Reinder Nummerdor, Dutch volleybal player
- September 20 - Michael Ballack, German football player
- September 22 - Ronaldo, Brazilian football player
- September 25 - Denis Sylantiev, Ukrainian swimmer
- September 27 - Francesco Totti, Italian football player
- September 29 - Oscar Sevilla, Spanish cyclist
- September 29 - Andriy Shevchenko, Ukrainian football player
- October 8 - Renate Groenewold, Dutch speed skater
- October 10 - Bob Burnquist, Brazilian skateboarder
- October 12 - Julie Towers, Australian field hockey player
- October 14 - Nataša Kejžar, Slovenian swimmer
- October 18 - Kjell Carlström, Finnish cyclist
- November 4 - Alexander Popp, British-born tennis player
- November 7 - Mark Philippoussis, Australian tennis player
- November 8 - Sylvia Karres, Dutch field hockey player
- November 13 - Bob de Jong, Dutch speed skater
- November 16 - Martijn Zuijdweg, Dutch swimmer
- November 18 - Matt Welsh, Australian swimmer
- November 28 - Gordan Kožulj, Croatian swimmer
- December 11 - Laszlo Bodrogi, Hungarian cyclist
- December 11 - Timmy Simons, Belgian football player
- December 14 - Petter Hansson, Swedish football player
- December 14 - Peter Gade, Danish badminton player
- December 19 - Theo Lucius, Dutch football player
- December 25 - Percy Isenia, Dutch baseball player
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 boxerfr:1976 en sport
