1986 in sports
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1986 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.
| Years in sports: | 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 |
| Centuries: | 19th century · 20th century · 21st century |
| Decades: | 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s |
| Years: | 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 |
- Alpine Skiing World Cup –
- Men's overall season champion: Marc Girardelli, Luxembourg
- Women's overall season champion: Maria Walliser, Switzerland
- Super Bowl XX – the Chicago Bears win 46–10 over the New England Patriots
- Linebacker Lawrence Taylor of the New York Giants is named NFL Most Valuable Player Award
- January 1 – Orange Bowl (1985 season):
- Oklahoma Sooners win college football national championship by defeating Penn State Nittany Lions 25-10.
- Quarterback Vinny Testaverde of the Miami Hurricanes is awarded the Heisman Trophy
- 1986 World Cup – In the final, played for second time in Mexico City, Azteca Stadium, Argentina defeated West Germany 3-2 and won their second World Cup title.
- UEFA Champions League – 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 de Cali 1-2 River Plate; 2nd leg River Plate 1-0 América. River Plate won 3-1 on aggregate
- November 6 - Alex Ferguson is appointed manager of Manchester United F.C.
- Milk Cup Final held at Wembley Stadium – Oxford United 3-0 QPR
- Intercontinental Cup – River Plate 1-0 Steaua Bucuresti
- 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.
- Major League Baseball
- American League defeats the National League 3-2 in the 1986 Major League Baseball All-Star Game played in Houston, Texas. Roger Clemens of the Boston Red Sox is named the game's Most Valuable Player.
- 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.
- October 27 - World Series – The New York Mets win 4 games to 3 over the Boston Red Sox. The series is best remembered for Game 6, when the Red Sox were one out away from the Series victory but blew a 2-run lead with the bases empty and 2 outs in the bottom of the 10th inning; the game's final play was a groundball that rolled through the legs of first baseman Bill Buckner.
- Jeff King of the University of Arkansas is the #1 overall pick in the 1986 MLB Draft selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates
- Arizona Wildcats defeat Florida State Seminoles 10-2 in College World Series
- NCAA Men's Basketball Championship –
- Louisville Cardinals wins 72-69 over Duke Blue Devils
- Duke Blue Devils Guard Johnny Dawkins is named Naismith College Player of the Year
- NBA Finals
- June - Boston Celtics win 4 games to 2 over the Houston Rockets
- Boston Celtics Forward Larry Bird is awarded NBA Most Valuable Player Award
- National Basketball League (Australia) Finals:
- Adelaide 36ers defeated the Brisbane Bullets 2-1 in the best-of-three final series.
- FIBA World Championship
- US World Champion
- March 10 in Las Vegas, Nevada – Marvin Hagler retains the World Middleweight Championship with an 11th-round knockout of John Mugabi.
- May 8 to 18 – Fourth World Amateur Boxing Championships are held in Reno, United States
- November 22 – Mike Tyson knocks out Trevor Berbick in round 2 to become the youngest world heavyweight-boxing champion at 20 years and 4 months old
- Grey Cup – Hamilton Tiger-Cats won 39-15 over the Edmonton Eskimos
- Vanier Cup – UBC Thunderbirds won 25-23 over the Western Ontario Mustangs
- Giro d'Italia won by Roberto Visentini of Italy
- Tour de France - Greg LeMond is the first winner from the United States
- UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race – Moreno Argentin of Italy
- Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion –
- Susan Butcher won with lead dogs: Granite & Mattie
- Men's World Cup held in London won by Australia
- Women's World Cup held in Amstelveen won by the Netherlands
- Men's Champions Trophy held in Karachi won by West Germany
- World Figure Skating Championships –
- Men's champion: Brian Boitano, United States
- Ladies' champion: Debi Thomas, United States
- Pair skating champions: Ekaterina Gordeeva / Sergei Grinkov, Soviet Union
- Ice dancing champions: Natalia Bestemianova / Andrei Bukin, Soviet Union
- Camogie
- Gaelic football
- All-Ireland Senior Football Championship – Kerry 2-15 died Tyrone 1-10
- National Football League – Laois 2-6 died Monaghan 2-5
- Ladies' Gaelic football
- Hurling
- All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship – Cork 4-13 died Galway 2-15
- National Hurling League –
Men's professional
- Masters Tournament - Jack Nicklaus becomes the oldest Masters winner (age 46), and wins his last major golf championship (excluding the Senior PGA Tour).
- U.S. Open - Raymond Floyd
- British Open - Greg Norman
- PGA Championship - Bob Tway
- PGA Tour money leader - Greg Norman - $653,296
- Senior PGA Tour money leader - Bruce Crampton - $454,299
Men's amateur
Women's professional
- Nabisco Dinah Shore - Pat Bradley
- LPGA Championship - Pat Bradley
- U.S. Women's Open - Jane Geddes
- Classique du Maurier Classic - Pat Bradley
- LPGA Tour money leader - Pat Bradley - $492,021
- North America Cup - Quite A Sensation
- United States Pacing Triple Crown races –
- United States Trotting Triple Crown races –
- Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
- Pacers: Village Kid
Steeplechases
Flat races
- Australia – Melbourne Cup won by At Talaq
- Canada – Queen's Plate won by Golden Choice
- France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Dancing Brave
- Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Shahrastani
- Japan – Japan Cup won by Jupiter Island
- English Triple Crown Races:
- United States Triple Crown Races:
- Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships:
- 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
- The 5th World Lacrosse Championship is held in Toronto, Ontario. The United States win, and Canada is the runner-up.
- The first Japanese lacrosse team is formed at Keio University.
- The Major Indoor Lacrosse League (MILL) is formed as the Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League.
- The New Westminster Salmonbellies win the Mann Cup.
- Mississauga wins the Founders Cup.
- The Peterborough Maulers win the Minto Cup.
- Stock car racing –
- February- Geoff Bodine won the Daytona 500
- NASCAR Championship - Dale Earnhardt
- CART Racing - Bobby Rahal
- June - Indianapolis 500 - Bobby Rahal Note: this race was run on a Saturday 6 days after the race was rained out.
- 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
- Air Racing –
- Reno Air Races[1]
- Rick Brickert wins the unlimited gold race in the Hawker Sea Fury 'Dreadnought' at 434.488 mph.
- Jon Sharpe wins the formula 1 gold in 'Bilbo' at 229.614 mph.
- Eddie Van Fossen wins the T-6 class in 'Miss TnT' at 223.450 mph.
- Alan Preston wins the Bi-plane class in 'Miss Lake Tahoe' at 192.665 mph.
- Reno Air Races[1]
- Third Amateur Radio Direction Finding World Championship held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.
- 1986 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France
- 1986 National Panasonic Cup
- 1986 New Zealand rugby league season
- 1986 NSWRL season
- 1986 Pacific Cup
- 1986–87 Rugby Football League season / 1985–86 Rugby Football League season
- 1986 State of Origin series
- 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup
- 92nd Five Nations Championship series is shared by France and Scotland
- World Snooker Championship – Joe Johnson beats Steve Davis 18-12
- World rankings – Steve Davis remains world number one for 1986/87
- The fifth FINA World Championships held in Madrid, Spain
- June 26 – Matt Biondi clocks 22.33 to take the world record from fellow American Tom Jager (22.40) in the 50m freestyle (long course)
- Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
- Australian Open - no tournament held
- French Open - Ivan Lendl
- Wimbledon championships - Boris Becker
- US Open - Ivan Lendl
- Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
- Australian Open - no tournament held
- French Open - Chris Evert
- Wimbledon championships - Martina Navratilova
- US Open - Martina Navratilova
- Davis Cup – Australia won 3-2 over Sweden in world tennis.
- Men's World Championship held in Paris won by USA
- Women's World Championship held in Prague won by China
- Men's World Championship held in Madrid won by Yugoslavia
- Women's World Championship held in won by Australia
- Asian Games held in Seoul, South Korea
- Winter Asian Games held in Sapporo, Japan
- Central American and Caribbean Games held in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic
- British Commonwealth Games held in Edinburgh, Scotland
- Summer Goodwill Games held in Moscow, Soviet Union
Awards
- Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Larry Bird, NBA Finals NBA basketball
- Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Martina Navratilova, Tennis
- Joe Paterno is named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year