1986 in sports

See also: 1985 in sports, other events of 1986, 1987 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • Geoff Bodine won the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship – Dale Earnhardt
• CART Racing – Bobby Rahal
  • Indianapolis 500 – Bobby Rahal
• Formula One Championship – Alain Prost of France
• 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Derek Bell / Hans-Joachim Stuck / Al Holbert won, driving a Porsche 962C
• Rally racing – Juha Kankkunen in a Peugeot won the World Rally Championship
  • the team of Henri Toivonen / Sergio Cresto won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Lancia Delta S4
• Drag racing:
  • Don Garlits won the NHRA "Top Fuel" championship
  • Darrell Gwynn won Top Fuel at the NHRA Winston Finals

Baseball

• All-Star Game: American League Manager Dick Howser is diagnosed with brain cancer after mixing up signals during the game.
• Dave Righetti saves 46 games for the New York Yankees, breaking a record shared by Dan Quisenberry and Bruce Sutter.
• World Series: The New York Mets win 4 games to 3 over the Boston Red Sox.

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • Louisville wins 72–69 over Duke
• NBA Finals:
  • Boston Celtics win 4 games to 2 over the Houston Rockets
• FIBA World Championship
  • USA World Champion

Boxing

• March 10 in Las Vegas, Nevada – Marvin Hagler retained the World Middleweight Championship with an 11th round knockout of John Mugabi.
• November 22 – Mike Tyson knocks-out Trevor Berbick in a round 2 fight, becoming the youngest world heavyweight-boxing champion (He 20 years, 4 months old).

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Roberto Visentini of Italy
• Tour de France – Greg Lemond is the first winner from the United States
• World Cycling Championship: Moreno Argentin of Italy

Field Hockey

• April 4 – 11 – Eighth Men's Champions Trophy held in Karachi, Pakistan won for the first time by Germany. Australia finish second.

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Brian Boitano, United States
  • Women's champion: Debi Thomas, United States
  • Pairs champions: Jekaterina Gordejewa & Sergej Grinkow, Soviet Union

Football (American)

• Super Bowl XX: Chicago Bears won 46–10 over the New England Patriots

Football (Australian Rules)

• Victorian Football League
  • Hawthorn wins the 90th VFL Premiership (Hawthorn 16.14 (110) d Carlton 9.14 (68))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Greg Williams (Sydney Swans) and Robert DiPierdomenico (Hawthorn)
  • The national draft is held for the first time.

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Hamilton Tiger-Cats won 39–15 over the Edmonton Eskimos
• Vanier Cup: UBC Thunderbirds won 25–23 over the Western Ontario Mustangs

Football (Soccer)

• World Cup: Final: Argentina 3–2 West Germany. Hosts: Mexico
• Champions' Cup: Steaua Bucuresti 0–0 F.C. Barcelona; Steaua Bucuresti won 2–0 on penalties
• UEFA Cup:Two legs; 1st leg Real Madrid C.F. 5–1 1. FC Köln; 2nd leg 1.FC Köln 2–0 Real Madrid CF. Real Madrid CF won 5–3 on aggregate
• Cup Winners' Cup: Dinamo Kiev 3–0 Atlético Madrid
• Super Cup: Steaua Bucuresti 1–0 Dinamo Kiev
• Copa Libertadores de América: Two legs; 1st leg América 1–2 River Plate; 2nd leg River Plate 1–0 América. River Plate won 3–1 on aggregate
• League champions
  • Argentina: River Plate
  • Brazil: São Paulo Futebol Clube
  • England: Liverpool F.C.
  • France: Paris Saint-Germain
  • Italy: Juventus
  • Netherlands: PSV Eindhoven
  • Portugal: SL Benfica
  • Scotland: Celtic F.C.
  • Spain: Real Madrid C.F.
  • West Germany: FC Bayern München
• England – FA Cup: Liverpool won 3–1 over Everton

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May – The Masters – Jack Nicklaus
  2. June – US Open – Ray Floyd
  3. July – British Open – Greg Norman
  4. August – PGA Championship – Bob Tway

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Greg Norman – $653,296
• PGA Champions Tour leading money winner: Bruce Crampton – $454,299

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open – Jane Geddes
• LPGA Championship – Pat Bradley
• Pat Bradley: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $492,021

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia – Melbourne Cup – At Talaq
• Canada – Queen's Plate – Golden Choice
• France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe – Dancing Brave
• Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes – Shahrastani

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes – Dancing Brave
  2. Epsom Derby – Shahrastani
  3. St. Leger Stakes – Moon Madness

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby – Ferdinand
  2. Preakness Stakes – Snow Chief
  3. Belmont Stakes – Danzig Connection

• Breeders' Cup:
  1. Breeders' Cup Classic – Skywalker
  2. Breeders' Cup Distaff – Lady's Secret
  3. Breeders' Cup Juvenile – Capote
  4. Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies – Brave Raj
  5. Breeders' Cup Mile – Last Tycoon
  6. Breeders' Cup Sprint – Smile
  7. Breeders' Cup Turf – Manila

Harness Racing

• North America Cup – Goalie Jeff

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace – Barberry Spur
  2. Little Brown Jug – Barberry Spur
  3. Messenger Stakes – Amity Chef

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian – Nuclear Kosmos
  2. Yonkers Trot – Gunslinger Spur
  3. Kentucky Futurity – Sugarcane Hanover

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Village Kid

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers

• Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens won 4 games to 1 over the Calgary Flames

• World Hockey Championship:
  • Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Sweden
  • Junior Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Canada

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Marc Girardelli, Luxembourg
  • The women's overall season champion: Maria Walliser, Switzerland

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: Joe Johnson beats Steve Davis 18–12
• World rankings: Steve Davis remains world number one for 1986/87

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open – no tournament held
  2. French Open – Ivan Lendl
  3. Wimbledon championships – Boris Becker
  4. US Open – Boris Becker

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open – no tournament held
  2. French Open – Chris Evert
  3. Wimbledon championships – Martina Navratilova
  4. US Open – Martina Navratilova

• Davis Cup: Australia won 3–2 over Sweden in world tennis.

General sporting events

• British Commonwealth Games held in Edinburgh, Scotland

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
  • Susan Butcher won with lead dogs: Granite & Mattie

Births

• February 6 – Mathew Tait, English rugby union player

Deaths

• January 1 – Alfredo Binda, Italian cyclist
• February 17 – Red Ruffing, Major League Baseball pitcher (1924–1947)
• February 27 – Jacques Plante, NHL ice hockey star
• April 6 – Bill Cook, NHL star, New York Rangers
• June 19 – Len Bias, top draft pick of the Boston Celtics, cocaine-induced seizure
• June 27 – Don Rogers, football player, Cleveland Browns, cocaine poisoning
• July 2 – Peanuts Lowrey, Major League Baseball player (1942–1955)
• July 15 – Billy Haughton, Hall of Fame harness-racing driver
• July 25 – Ted Lyons, Major League Baseball pitcher (1923–1946)
• September 4 – Hank Greenberg, Detroit Tigers baseball great (1930–1947)
• October 12 – Norm Cash, Detroit Tigers baseball great (1958–1974)
• December 1 – Bobby Layne, football player, Detroit Lions