1996 in sports - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

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

Alpine skiing
Alpine skiing
Alpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four...

Alpine Skiing World Cup
Alpine skiing World Cup
The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the top international circuit of alpine skiing competitions, launched in 1966 by a group of ski racing friends and experts which included French journalist Serge Lang and the alpine ski team directors from France and the USA...
- Men's overall season champion: Lasse Kjus
  Lasse Kjus
  Lasse Kjus is a retired Norwegian alpine skier who has won the overall World Cup twice, an Olympic gold medal, and several World Championships...
  
  , Norway
  Norway
  Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
- Women's overall season champion: Katja Seizinger
  Katja Seizinger
  Katja Seizinger , a former alpine ski racer, is the most successful alpine skier from Germany. She won three Olympic gold and two bronze medals, and won the World Cup championship three times...
  
  , Germany
  Germany
  Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

Super Bowl XXX
Super Bowl XXX
Super Bowl XXX was an American football game played on January 28, 1996 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona to decide the National Football League champion following the 1995 regular season...

– Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...

won 27-17 over the Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
1995 NCAA Division I-A national football championship – the Nebraska Cornhuskers
Nebraska Cornhuskers
The Nebraska Cornhuskers is the name given to several sports teams of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference...

manhandle the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...

Gators, winning 62-24, along with their second back-to-back National Championship seasons on January 2, 1996.
World Bowl 96
World Bowl IV
World Bowl '96 , the championship game of American football's WLAF, took place at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland on June 23, 1996. The 7-3 Scottish Claymores defeated the 7-3 Frankfurt Galaxy 32-27 and, led by head coach Jim Criner, completed the league's first ever worst to first...

– The Scottish Claymores
Scottish Claymores
The Scottish Claymores were an American football team from Scotland. The franchise played in the World League of American Football between 1995 and 2004, initially playing all home games at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh and latterly sharing home games with Hampden Park, Glasgow...

won 32-27 over the Frankfurt Galaxy
Frankfurt Galaxy
The Frankfurt Galaxy was a professional American football team that originally played in the World League of American Football and later in the resurrected NFL Europe. The team was based in Frankfurt, Germany and played in the Commerzbank-Arena, formerly called the Waldstadion.-History:In 1991, the...

.
Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

deactivate and move to Baltimore where they become the Baltimore Ravens
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional football franchise based in Baltimore, Maryland.The Baltimore Ravens are officially a quasi-expansion franchise, having originated in 1995 with the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy after Art Modell, then owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced his...

and reactivate in 1999.

Association football

For an extensive coverage see 1996 in Association football

Athletics
Athletics (track and field)
Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...

July–August – Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics
At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, 44 events in athletics were contested, 24 by men and 20 by women. There were a total number of 2053 participating athletes from 191 countries.-Men:...

held at Atlanta, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
- North Melbourne
  North Melbourne Football Club
  The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...
  
  wins the 100th AFL premiership (North Melbourne 19.17 (131) d Sydney Swans
  Sydney Swans
  The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
  
  13.10 (88))
- Brownlow Medal
  Brownlow Medal
  The Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...
  
  awarded to James Hird
  James Hird
  James Hird is a former professional Australian rules footballer and the current coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League....
  
  (Essendon
  Essendon Football Club
  The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
  
  ) and Michael Voss
  Michael Voss
  Michael Voss is the senior coach of the Brisbane Lions Australian Football League team and a former professional Australian rules footballer....
  
  (Brisbane Bears
  Brisbane Bears
  The Brisbane Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Bears was an Australian rules football club and the first Queensland-based club in the Victorian Football League . The club played its first match in 1987, but struggled on and off the field until it made the finals for the first time in 1995...
  
  )
- At the end of the season Fitzroy
  Fitzroy Football Club
  The Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...
  
  and the Brisbane Bears merge, forming the Brisbane Lions
  Brisbane Lions
  The Brisbane Lions is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Brisbane, Queensland. The club was formed from the merger of the Brisbane Bears and the Fitzroy Lions in 1996...
  
  .

Baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

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
Phil Niekro
Philip Henry Niekro , nicknamed "Knucksie" because of his usage and skill level with the knuckleball, is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997....

comes closest with 68 percent.
The New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

won 1996 World Series defeating the Atlanta Braves
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....

.

Basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

April 1 – NCAA Men's Basketball Championship –
- Kentucky
  University of Kentucky
  The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
  
  wins 76-67 over Syracuse
  Syracuse University
  Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
NBA Finals
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

–
- Chicago Bulls
  Chicago Bulls
  The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
  
  win 4 games to 2 over the Seattle SuperSonics
  Seattle SuperSonics
  The Seattle SuperSonics were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington that played in the Pacific and Northwest Divisions of the National Basketball Association from 1967 until 2008. Following the 2007–08 season, the team relocated to Oklahoma City, and now plays as...
  
  , after a record-breaking 72-10 regular season.
National Basketball League (Australia)
National Basketball League (Australia)
The National Basketball League, also known as the iiNet NBL Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in Australasia....

Finals:
- South East Melbourne Magic
  South East Melbourne Magic
  The South East Melbourne Magic were an Australian basketball team, that played in Melbourne, Victoria, in the National Basketball League. The team was the result of a merger of two Melbourne clubs for the 1992 season...
  
  defeated the Melbourne Tigers
  Melbourne Tigers
  The Melbourne Tigers are Australia's oldest and most respected basketball team, established circa 1931 in a local church hall League. Entering the National Basketball League in 1984, they are now the only Melbourne team, after the South Dragons withdrew from the league.The Melbourne Tigers are the...
  
  2-1 in the best-of-three final series.

Boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

March 16 – Christy Martin defeats Deirdre Gogarty
Deirdre Gogarty
Deirdre Gogarty is a female boxer who was born in Drogheda, Ireland.Due to legal issues regarding Women's Boxing in Ireland at the time, Gogarty could not engage in competition there. She currently fights out of New Orleans, Louisiana...

by a decision in six rounds to retain her Women's boxing
Women's boxing
Women's boxing first appeared in the Olympic Games at a demonstration bout in 1902. For most of the 20th century, however, it was banned in most nations. Its revival was pioneered by the Swedish Amateur Boxing Association, which sanctioned events for women in 1988. The British Amateur Boxing...

world title in front of a national tv
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

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
1996 European Amateur Boxing Championships
The Men's 1996 European Amateur Boxing Championships were held in Vejle, Denmark from March 30 to April 7. The 31st edition of the bi-annual competition, in which 304 fighters from 35 countries participated this time, was organised by the European governing body for amateur boxing, EABA.- Medal...

held in Vejle
Vejle
Vejle is a town in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle and Grejs Rivers and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality and the Region of Southern Denmark...

, Denmark
June 7 - Oscar de la Hoya
Oscar de la Hoya
Oscar De La Hoya is a retired American boxer of Mexican descent. Nicknamed "The Golden Boy", De La Hoya won a gold medal at the Barcelona Olympic Games shortly after graduating from Garfield High School. De La Hoya comes from a boxing family. His grandfather Vicente, father Joel Sr., and brother...

defeats Julio César Chávez
Julio César Chávez
Julio César Chávez is a retired Mexican professional boxer.He is a six-time world champion in three weight divisions, and for several years he was considered the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world...

by a knockout in four rounds to win the WBC's
World Boxing Council
The World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...

world Junior Welterweight championship.

Canadian football
Canadian football
Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...

Grey Cup
Grey Cup
The Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...

– Toronto Argonauts
Toronto Argonauts
The Toronto Argonauts are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League. The Toronto, Ontario based team was founded in 1873 and is one of the oldest existing professional sports teams in North America, after the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta...

win 43-37 over the Edmonton Eskimos
Edmonton Eskimos
The Edmonton Eskimos are a Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. They currently play in the West Division of the Canadian Football League . Edmonton is currently the third-youngest franchise in the CFL, although there were clubs with the name Edmonton Eskimos as early as 1895...
Vanier Cup
Vanier Cup
The Vanier Cup is the name of the championship of Canadian Interuniversity Sport football and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is currently played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl...

– Saskatchewan Huskies
Saskatchewan Huskies
The University of Saskatchewan began in 1907 and has operated teams that compete with others since 1911. The term Huskie Athletics is defined as those student athletes from the University of Saskatchewan that compete in elite interuniversity competition administered by Canadian Interuniversity...

win 31-12 over the St. Francis Xavier X-Men
St. Francis Xavier X-Men
The St. Francis Xavier X-Men and X-Women are the men's and women's athletic teams that represent St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. Their primary home turf is Oland Stadium located at the University's campus.-History:...

Cycling
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...

Giro d'Italia
Giro d'Italia
The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...

won by Pavel Tonkov
Pavel Tonkov
Pavel Sergeyevich Tonkov is a former professional road racing cyclist from Russia. His talents were first showcased when winning the world junior title as part of the Soviet Union team in 1987. This alerted the world to his talents and he turned pro in 1992 with the RUSS-Baïkal team. His biggest...

of Russia
Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...

– Bjarne Riis
Bjarne Riis
Bjarne Lykkegård Riis , nicknamed The Eagle from Herning , is a Danish former professional road bicycle racer who placed first in the 1996 Tour de France, and is now the team owner and manager of Danish UCI ProTour outfit Team Saxo Bank Sungard...

of Denmark
World Cycling Championship
World Cycling Championship
The UCI Road World Championships, often referred to as the World Cycling Championships, is the annual world championship for bicycle road racing organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale . The UCI Road World Championships include championships for elite men's road race and individual time trial...

– Johan Museeuw
Johan Museeuw
Johan Museeuw is a retired Belgian professional road bicycle racer. He was a professional from 1988 to 2004 and was particularly successful in the classic cycle races in the nineties....

of Belgium

Dogsled racing
Dogsled racing
Sled dog racing is a winter dog sport most popular in the Arctic regions of the United States, Canada, Russia, and some European countries. It involves the timed competition of teams of sleddogs that pull a sled with the dog driver or musher standing on the runners...

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion –
- Jeff King
  Jeff King (mushing)
  Jeff King is an American long distance musher who is well known for winning both the 1,049+ mi Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across the U.S. state of Alaska and the 1,100 mi Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race across the U.S. and Canada .King moved to Alaska in 1975 and began racing in 1976...
  
  wins with lead dogs: Jake & Booster

Field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...

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

Figure skating
Figure skating
Figure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...

World Figure Skating Championships
World Figure Skating Championships
The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion...

–
- Men's champion: Todd Eldredge
  Todd Eldredge
  Todd James Eldredge is an American figure skater. He is the 1996 World Champion and a six-time national champion .-Biography:...
  
  , United States
  United States
  The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
- Ladies' champion: Michelle Kwan
  Michelle Kwan
  Michelle Wingshan Kwan is an American figure skater. She is a two-time Olympic medalist, a five-time World champion and a nine-time U.S...
  
  , United States
  United States
  The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
- Pairs' champions: Marina Eltsova
  Marina Eltsova
  Marina Alexeevna Eltsova is a Russian pair skater. She represented the Soviet Union until its fall, and, after that, Russia. With partner Andrei Bushkov, she won the 1996 World Figure Skating Championships and the 1993 and 1997 European Figure Skating Championships...
  
  / Sergei Bushkov, Russia
  Russia
  Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
- Ice dancing champions: Oksana Grishuk / Evgeny Platov
  Evgeny Platov
  Evgeny Arkadievich Platov is a Russian former ice dancer. He is best known for his partnership with Oksana Grishuk from 1989–1998...
  
  , Russia
  Russia
  Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

Gaelic Athletic Association
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...

Camogie
Camogie
Camogie is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women; it is almost identical to the game of hurling played by men. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and world wide, largely among Irish communities....
- All-Ireland Camogie Champion: Galway
  Galway GAA
  The Galway County Boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Galway GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Galway. The county boards are also responsible for the Galway inter-county teams.Unlike all other counties in Ireland,...
- National Camogie League: Cork
Gaelic football
Gaelic football
Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...
- All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
  All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
  The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the premier competition in Gaelic football, is a series of games organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association and played during the summer and early autumn...
  
  – Kerry
  Meath GAA
  The Meath County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Meath GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Meath, as well as for Meath inter-county teams.- Pre-1960s :...
  
  2-9 d. Mayo
  Mayo GAA
  The Mayo County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Mayo GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Mayo and the Mayo inter-county teams.-History:...
  
  1-11
- National Football League
  National Football League (Ireland)
  The National Football League is a Gaelic football tournament held annually between the county teams of Ireland, under the auspices of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The prize for the winning team is the New Ireland Cup, presented by the New Ireland Assurance Company...
  
  – Derry
  Derry GAA
  The Derry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Derry GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland. It is responsible for Gaelic games in the GAA county of Derry, which covers virtually the same territory as the former administrative county of Londonderry...
  
  1-16 d. Donegal
  Donegal GAA
  The Donegal County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Donegal GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Donegal. The county board is also responsible for the Donegal inter-county teams.Gaelic football is strongest in the...
  
  1-9
Ladies' Gaelic football
Ladies' Gaelic football
Ladies' Gaelic football is a team sport for women, very similar to Gaelic football, and co-ordinated by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association...
- All-Ireland Senior Football Champion: Monaghan
  Monaghan GAA
  The Monaghan County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Monaghan GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Monaghan and the Monaghan inter-county football and hurling teams. Separate county boards are responsible for the...
- National Football League: Monaghan
  Monaghan GAA
  The Monaghan County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Monaghan GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Monaghan and the Monaghan inter-county football and hurling teams. Separate county boards are responsible for the...
Hurling
Hurling
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...
- All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
  All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
  The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1887 for the top hurling teams in Ireland....
  
  – Wexford
  Wexford GAA
  The Wexford County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Wexford GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Wexford. The county board is also responsible for the Wexford inter-county teams.-History:Hurling has been played in...
  
  1-13 d. Limerick
  Limerick GAA
  The Limerick County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Limerick GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Limerick...
  
  0-14
- National Hurling League
  National Hurling League
  The National Hurling League is an annual hurling competition between the county teams of Ireland. Contested by 35 teams , it operates on a system of promotion and relegation between four different divisions, with Division One...
  
  –

Golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

Men's professional

Masters Tournament - Nick Faldo
Nick Faldo
Sir Nicholas Alexander "Nick" Faldo, MBE is an English professional golfer on the European Tour who now mainly works as an on air golf analyst. Over his career, he has won six majors: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was ranked the World No...
U.S. Open
U.S. Open (golf)
The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...

- Steve Jones
Steve Jones (golfer)
Steven Glen Jones is an American professional golfer who is best known for winning the U.S. Open in 1996.- Early life and education :Jones was born in Artesia, New Mexico. He was a semi-finalist at the U.S. Junior Amateur in 1976...
British Open
The Open Championship
The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...

- Tom Lehman
Tom Lehman
Thomas Edward Lehman is an American professional golfer.Lehman was born in Austin, Minnesota, but Alexandria, Minnesota is credited as his official Minnesota hometown. He attended the University of Minnesota, graduating with a degree in Business/Accounting and turned professional in 1982. It took...
PGA Championship
PGA Championship
The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship...

- Mark Brooks
Mark Brooks (golfer)
Mark David Brooks is an American professional golfer.Brooks was born in Fort Worth, Texas. He attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a three-time All-American as a member of the golf team. He turned professional in 1983.Brooks has seven wins on the PGA Tour, including one major,...
PGA Tour
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...

money leader - Tom Lehman
Tom Lehman
Thomas Edward Lehman is an American professional golfer.Lehman was born in Austin, Minnesota, but Alexandria, Minnesota is credited as his official Minnesota hometown. He attended the University of Minnesota, graduating with a degree in Business/Accounting and turned professional in 1982. It took...

- $1,780,159
Senior PGA Tour
Champions Tour
The Champions Tour, a golf tour run by the PGA Tour, hosts a series of events annually in the United States and the United Kingdom for golfers 50 years of age and older. Many of the PGA Tour's most successful golfers have gone on to play on the Champions Tour.The Senior PGA Championship, founded in...

money leader - Jim Colbert
Jim Colbert
James Joseph Colbert is an American professional golfer.Colbert was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He attended Kansas State University, where he finished second in the NCAA golf championships in 1964, before graduating and turning professional in 1965.Colbert won eight times on the PGA Tour,...

- $1,627,890
Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...

turns professional in September. In the last five regular tournaments of the year on the PGA Tour
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...

, 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
The Tour Championship
The Tour Championship was historically the final event of golf's PGA Tour season. Since 2007, it has been the final event of the FedEx Cup, the competition for the first official championship trophy for the PGA Tour season. From 1987 to 1996, several courses hosted the event...

. Woods named the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.

Men's amateur

British Amateur
The Amateur Championship
The Amateur Championship is a golf tournament which is held annually in the United Kingdom. It is one of the two leading individual tournaments for amateur golfers, alongside the U.S. Amateur...

- Warren Bladon
U.S. Amateur - Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...

becomes the first golfer to win three consecutive U.S. Amateur titles. This was the sixth consecutive year in which he won a USGA
United States Golf Association
The United States Golf Association is the United States' national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the Rules of Golf. The USGA also provides a national handicap system...

championship, one short of Bobby Jones
Bobby Jones (golfer)
Robert Tyre "Bobby" Jones Jr. was an American amateur golfer, and a lawyer by profession. Jones was the most successful amateur golfer ever to compete on a national and international level...

' record of seven.
European Amateur
European Amateur
The European Amateur Championship is an annual amateur golf tournament. It is played at various locations throughout Europe. It is organized by the European Golf Association and was first played in 1986. The winner receives an invitation to The Open Championship.-Winners:-External links:***...

- Daniel Olsson

Women's professional

Nabisco Dinah Shore
Kraft Nabisco Championship
The Kraft Nabisco Championship is one of the four major championships on the LPGA Tour. It was founded in 1972 by Dinah Shore and has been classified as a major since 1983...

- Patty Sheehan
Patty Sheehan
Patty Sheehan is an American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1980 and won six major championships and 35 LPGA Tour events in all. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame....
LPGA Championship
LPGA Championship
The LPGA Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Wegmans LPGA Championship, is the second-longest running tournament in the history of the Ladies Professional Golf Association surpassed only by the U.S. Women's Open. It is one of four majors on the LPGA tour...

- Laura Davies
Laura Davies
Laura Jane Davies CBE is an English professional golfer.She is considered the most accomplished English female golfer of modern times being the first non-American to finish at the top of the LPGA money list...
U.S. Women's Open
United States Women's Open Championship (golf)
The United States Women's Open Golf Championship, one of thirteen national championships conducted by the United States Golf Association , is one of the LPGA's major championships along with the LPGA Championship, the Women's British Open, and the Kraft Nabisco Championship...

- Annika Sörenstam
Annika Sörenstam
Annika Sörenstam is a Swedish-American professional golfer whose achievements rank her as one of the most successful golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she won 90 international tournaments as a professional, making her the female golfer...
Classique du Maurier - Laura Davies
Laura Davies
Laura Jane Davies CBE is an English professional golfer.She is considered the most accomplished English female golfer of modern times being the first non-American to finish at the top of the LPGA money list...
LPGA Tour
LPGA
The LPGA, in full the Ladies Professional Golf Association, is an American organization for female professional golfers. The organization, whose headquarters is in Daytona Beach, Florida, is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from...

money leader - Karrie Webb
Karrie Webb
Karrie Ann Webb AM is Australia's most successful female professional golfer, and one of the top players in the history of global women's golf. She currently plays mainly on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and also turns out once or twice a year on the ALPG Tour in her home country. She is a member of...

- $1,002,000 - becomes the first ever woman to earn more than a million dollars in one golf season.
The United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

team retained the Solheim Cup
1996 Solheim Cup
The fourth Solheim Cup took place from 20 September to 22 September 1996 at St. Pierre Hotel & Country Club, Chepstow, Wales. The United States team retained the cup beating the European team by 17 points to 11.-Teams:...

beating the Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an team 17 to 11.

Handball
Team handball
Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...

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

Harness racing
Harness racing
Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait . They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, although racing under saddle is also conducted in Europe.-Breeds:...

June 22 - the fastest race mile in harness racing history was set by Jenna's Beach Boy (1:47.3) at Meadowlands Racetrack
Meadowlands Racetrack
The Meadowlands Racetrack is a horse racing track at the MetLife Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States.The track hosts both thoroughbred racing and harness racing...
North America Cup
North America Cup
The North America Cup is an annual harness racing event for 3-year-old standardbred pacing horses which is held at Mohawk Raceway in Campbellville, Ontario, Canada. From 1984-1993, the event was held at Greenwood Raceway and from 1994-2006, the North America Cup was held at Woodbine Entertainment...

- Arizona Jack
United States Pacing Triple Crown races
Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers
The Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers consists of the following horse races:#Cane Pace, held at Freehold Raceway in Freehold, New Jersey#Little Brown Jug, held at the Delaware County Fair in Delaware, Ohio...

–
1. Cane Pace
  Cane Pace
  The Cane Pace is a harness horse race run annually since 1955. In 1956 the race joined with the Little Brown Jug and the Messenger Stakes to become the first leg in the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers....
  
  - Scoot To Power
2. Little Brown Jug
  Little Brown Jug (horse racing)
  The Little Brown Jug is a harness race for three-year-old pacing standardbreds hosted by the Delaware County Agricultural Society since 1946 at the County Fairgrounds in Delaware, Ohio. The race takes place every year on the third Thursday after Labor Day. Along with the Hambletonian, a race for...
  
  - Armbro Operative
3. Messenger Stakes
  Messenger Stakes
  The Messenger Stakes is an American harness racing event for 3-year-old pacing horses. It was organized in 1956 at Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury, New York to join with the Cane Pace and the Little Brown Jug to create the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers...
  
  - Go For Grins
United States Trotting Triple Crown races
Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Trotters
The Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Trotters consists of the following horse races:*Hambletonian, held at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, New Jersey*Yonkers Trot, held at Yonkers Raceway in Yonkers, New York...

–
1. Hambletonian - Continentalvictory
2. Yonkers Trot
  Yonkers Trot
  The Yonkers Trot is a harness race for three-year old trotting standardbreds held at Yonkers Raceway in New York. In 2008, it was the first leg of the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Trotters. In 2009, the order of the events has been changed and Yonkers Trot will be the second leg of the Triple...
  
  - Continentalvictory
3. Kentucky Futurity
  Kentucky Futurity
  The Kentucky Futurity is a stakes race for three-year-old trotters, held annually at The Red Mile in Lexington, Kentucky since 1893. It is part of the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Trotters....
  
  - Running Sea
Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
- Pacers: Young Mister Charles
- Trotters: Pride Of Petite

Horse racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

Inaugural running of the Dubai World Cup
Dubai World Cup
The Dubai World Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1996 and from 2010 at the Meydan Racecourse in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates...

, promoted as the "world's richest horse race", at the Nad Al Sheba Racecourse
Nad Al Sheba Racecourse
Nad Al Sheba Racecourse is a former Thoroughbred horse racing facility in Dubai, United Arab Emirates opened in 1986. It has a 2,200 metre left-handed dirt race track and a left-handed turf course of the same distance...

in Dubai.

Steeplechases

Cheltenham Gold Cup
Cheltenham Gold Cup
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt chase in the United Kingdom which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 3 miles and 2½ furlongs , and during its running there are twenty-two fences to be jumped...

– Imperial Call
Grand National
Grand National
The Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...

– Rough Quest
Rough Quest
Rough Quest is a Thoroughbred racehorse most famous for his victory in the 1996 Grand National at Aintree.The horse went to Aintree that year in very good form, having won the Racing Post Chase and finishing second in the recent Cheltenham Gold Cup with the result that the public made him race...

Flat races

Australia – Melbourne Cup
Melbourne Cup
The Melbourne Cup is Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race. Marketed as "the race that stops a nation", it is a 3,200 metre race for three-year-olds and over. It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races...

won by Saintly
Saintly
Saintly was an Australian Thoroughbred racehorse who was named Australia's champion racehorse in 1997. A giant chestnut gelding by Sky Chase out of All Grace , he was bred by his trainer, Bart Cummings, who owned him in partnership with a Malaysian businessman, Dato Tan Chin Nam.Saintly gained...
Canada – Queen's Plate
Queen's Plate
The Queen's Plate is Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race. It is run at a distance of 1¼ miles for 3-year-old thoroughbred horses foaled in Canada. The race takes place each summer in June or July at Woodbine Racetrack, Etobicoke , Ontario...

won by Victor Cooley
Dubai – Dubai World Cup
Dubai World Cup
The Dubai World Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1996 and from 2010 at the Meydan Racecourse in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates...

won by Cigar
Cigar (horse)
Cigar , is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse, who in 1995 and 1996 became the first American racehorse racing against top-class competition to win 16 consecutive races since the Triple Crown winner, Citation did so in 1948 and 1950...
France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a Group 1 flat horse race in France which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year, usually on the first Sunday in October.Popularly referred to as the...

won by Helissio
Helissio
Helissio is a Thoroughbred racehorse sired by Fairy King and a grandson of Northern Dancer. Owned by the Spanish businessman Enrique Sarasola, he was voted the European Horse of the Year for 1996...
Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes
Irish Derby Stakes
The Irish Derby is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 4 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late June or early July.It is Ireland's equivalent of the Epsom Derby,...

won by Zagreb
Japan – Japan Cup
Japan Cup
The is the most prestigious horse race run in Japan. It is contested at the end of November at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, Tokyo at a distance of 2400 meters over the grass. With a purse of ¥476 million , the Japan Cup is one of the richest races in the world.The Japan Cup is an invitational event...

won by Singspiel
Singspiel (horse)
Singspiel was an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse. The Bay horse was out of the Eclipse Award winner and Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame mare, Glorious Song...
English Triple Crown races
Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...

:
1. 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Mark of Esteem
  Mark of Esteem
  Mark of Esteem is a retired Irish bred thoroughbred racehorse. In his two years racing he achieved 4 wins and 1 placed finish from 7 Runs amassing total Prize Money of £365,139.00.-1995: Two-Year-Old Season:...
2. Epsom Derby
  Epsom Derby
  The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...
  
  – Shaamit
  Shaamit
  Shaamit was an Irish-bred and British-trained Thoroughbred race horse, winner of the Epsom Derby in 1996.Shaamit was foaled on 11 February 1993 and was sired by Mtoto, winner of the Eclipse Stakes in 1987 and 1988 and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 1988...
3. St. Leger Stakes
  St. Leger Stakes
  The St. Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 1 mile, 6 furlongs and 132 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in September.Established in 1776, the St. Leger...
  
  – Shantou
  Shantou (horse)
  Shantou is a classic-winning thoroughbred racehorse. He won the St. Leger, the Gran Premio del Jockey Club and the Gran Premio di Milano....
United States Triple Crown races
Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...

:
1. Kentucky Derby
  Kentucky Derby
  The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
  
  – Grindstone
  Grindstone (horse)
  Grindstone is a thoroughbred racehorse who won the Kentucky Derby in 1996. He became jockey Jerry Bailey's 2nd Kentucky Derby winner and the second in a row for trainer D. Wayne Lukas....
2. Preakness Stakes
  Preakness Stakes
  The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...
  
  – Louis Quatorze
  Louis Quatorze (horse)
  Louis Quatorze is an American thoroughbred stallion racehorse. He was sired by Sovereign Dancer, who in turn was a son of the great 1964 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner, Northern Dancer out of the mare, On To Royalty....
3. Belmont Stakes
  Belmont Stakes
  The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...
  
  – Editor's Note
  Editor's Note
  Editor's Note is an American thoroughbred Stallion racehorse. He was sired by 1992 U.S. Champion 2 YO Colt Forty Niner, who in turn was a son of Champion sire Mr. Prospector and out of the mare, Beware Of The Cat.Trained by D...
Breeders' Cup
Breeders' Cup
The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Thoroughbred horse races, most but not all Grade I, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was a single-day event; starting in 2007, it expanded to two days. The location...

World Thoroughbred Championships:
1. Breeders' Cup Classic
  Breeders' Cup Classic
  The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3 year olds and older run at a distance of 1¼ miles on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships...
  
  – Alphabet Soup
2. Breeders' Cup Distaff
  Breeders' Cup Distaff
  The Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares, 3 years old and up. Known as the Breeders' Cup Distaff from its inception in 1984 through 2007, it is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders'...
  
  – Jewel Princess
  Jewel Princess
  Jewel Princess is an American Thoroughbred Champion filly racehorse and winner of the 1996 Breeders' Cup Distaff. She was voted the Eclipse Award as the 1996 American Champion Older Female Horse. -References:*...
3. Breeders' Cup Juvenile
  Breeders' Cup Juvenile
  The Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old colts and geldings raced on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships....
  
  – Boston Harbor
  Boston Harbor (horse)
  Boston Harbor is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred by William T. Young's Overbrook Farm near Lexington, Boston Harbor was a son of Capote who won the 1996 Breeders' Cup Juvenile and was voted that year's U.S. Champion 2-Yr-Old Colt.Trained by D...
4. Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies
  Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies
  The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies is a 1 1/16-mile thoroughbred horse race on dirt for two-year-old fillies run annually since 1984 at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships.-Automatic Berths:Beginning in 2007, the Breeders' Cup...
  
  – Storm Song
5. Breeders' Cup Mile
  Breeders' Cup Mile
  The Breeders' Cup Mile is a Grade 1 Weight for Age stakes race for thoroughbred racehorses three years old and up, run on a grass course. It has been conducted annually as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships since the event's inception in 1984...
  
  – Da Hoss
  Da Hoss
  Da Hoss by Gone West out of Jolly Saint is a bay Thoroughbred gelding best known for twice winning the Breeders' Cup Mile. He was bred in Kentucky by Fares Farms and originally owned by Prestonwood Farm as well as Wallstreet Racing Stables.Bought for only $6,000 as a yearling at the Keeneland...
6. Breeders' Cup Sprint
  Breeders' Cup Sprint
  The Breeders' Cup Sprint is an American Weight for Age Grade I Thoroughbred horse race for three year olds & up. Run on dirt over a distance of 6 Furlongs , the race has been held annually since 1984 at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World...
  
  – Lit de Justice
  Lit de Justice
  Lit de Justice is an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred by Robert Sangster's Swettenham Stud, and purchased by the French racing operation Mise de Moratalla who named him for a famous Parlement of Paris known as the Lit de justice...
7. Breeders' Cup Turf
  Breeders' Cup Turf
  The Breeders' Cup Turf is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race on turf for three-year-olds and up. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships. The race's current title sponsor is Emirates Airlines.The forerunner...
  
  – Pilsudski
  Pilsudski (horse)
  Pilsudski is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire who was bred in Ireland, but trained in the United Kingdom during a racing career which lasted from 1994 to 1997. In a four season career he progressed from winning modest handicap races to become regarded as one of the best racehorses...

Ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

's leading scorer during the regular season: Mario Lemieux
Mario Lemieux
Mario Lemieux, OC, CQ is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He is acknowledged to be one of the best players of all time. He played 17 seasons as a forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League between 1984 and 2006...

, Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...
Hart Memorial Trophy
Hart Memorial Trophy
The Hart Memorial Trophy, originally known as the Hart Trophy, the "oldest and most prestigious individual award in hockey", is awarded annually to the "player adjudged most valuable to his team" in the National Hockey League . The Hart Memorial Trophy has been awarded 86 times to 53 different...

– for the NHL
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

's Most Valuable Player: Mario Lemieux
Mario Lemieux
Mario Lemieux, OC, CQ is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He is acknowledged to be one of the best players of all time. He played 17 seasons as a forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League between 1984 and 2006...

, Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...
Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...

- the Colorado Avalanche
Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver, Colorado, United States. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Avalanche have won the Stanley Cup twice, in 1995–96 and 2000–01. The franchise...

defeat the Florida Panthers
Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in Sunrise, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . They play their games at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise and are the...

4 games to 0 for their first-ever Stanley Cup title. It was also the franchise's first season since relocating from Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

, where they were known as the Nordiques
Quebec Nordiques
The Quebec Nordiques were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association and the National Hockey League...

.
World Hockey Championship
- Men's champion: Czech Republic
  Czech Republic
  The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
  
  defeated Canada
  Canada
  Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
- Junior Men's champion: Canada
  Canada
  Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
  
  defeated Sweden
  Sweden
  Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

Lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...

The Buffalo Bandits
Buffalo Bandits
The Buffalo Bandits are a team in the National Lacrosse League . They play at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York. The Bandits played in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League from 1992 to 1997, until the MILL turned into the NLL in 1998....

defeat the Philadelphia Wings
Philadelphia Wings
The Philadelphia Wings are a member of the National Lacrosse League, a professional box lacrosse league in North America. They play at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....

13–12 to win the Major Indoor Lacrosse League championship

Mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts
Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...

The following is a list of major noteworthy MMA events during 1996 in chronological order.

It should be noted that before 1997, the Ultimate Fighting Championship

Ultimate Fighting Championship

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest mixed martial arts promotion company in the world that hosts most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport...

UFC 8

UFC 8: David vs. Goliath was a mixed martial arts event held by Ultimate Fighting Championship on February 16, 1996, at Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum in Bayamon, Puerto Rico...

|
|

Bayamón

Bayamón, Puerto Rico

Bayamón is a municipality of Puerto Rico located on the northern coastal valley, north of Aguas Buenas and Comerío; south of Toa Baja and Cataño; west of Guaynabo; and east of Toa Alta and Naranjito. Bayamón is spread over 11 wards and Bayamón Pueblo...

, Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

|13,000
|160,000
|
|-align=center
|May 17
|UFC 9: Motor City Madness

UFC 9

UFC 9: Motor City Madness was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on May 17, 1996, at the Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan...

|
|

Detroit, Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

UFC 10

-External links:***...

|
|

Birmingham

Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...

, Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

UFC 11

UFC 11: The Proving Ground was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on September 20th, 1996, at the Augusta Civic Center in Augusta, Georgia...

|
|

Augusta

Augusta, Georgia

Augusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located along the Savannah River. As of the 2010 census, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 195,844 not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County...

, Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

Birmingham

Birmingham, Alabama

, Alabama

Alabama

, USA
|6,000
|
|
|-align=center

Motor racing

Stock car racing
Stock car racing
Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing found mainly in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Great Britain, Brazil and Argentina. Traditionally, races are run on oval tracks measuring approximately in length...

–
- Dale Jarrett
  Dale Jarrett
  Dale Arnold Jarrett is a former American race car driver and current sports commentator known for winning the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship...
  
  won the Daytona 500
  Daytona 500
  The Daytona 500 is a -long NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is one of four restrictor plate races on the Cup schedule....
NASCAR Championship - Terry Labonte
Terry Labonte
Terrance Lee Labonte is a semi-retired NASCAR driver who occasionally drives in the Sprint Cup Series when called upon and is a two-time Winston Cup and IROC champion. He currently drives the #32 U.S. Chrome Ford for FAS Lane Racing. Labonte was introduced to the sport through his father, who had...
- Rusty Wallace
  Rusty Wallace
  Russell William Wallace, Jr. is a past NASCAR Winston Cup Champion, currently a broadcaster on ESPN, car owner in the Nationwide Series, and a co-host of NASCAR Angels.-Early racing career:...
  
  wins the Suzuka NASCAR Thunder 100 at Suzuka City November 24, the first NASCAR event held in Japan
  Japan
  Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
  
  .
Indy Racing League - Scott Sharp
Scott Sharp
Scott Sharp is an American race car driver in the American Le Mans Series. He is the son of six-time SCCA champion Bob Sharp. Scott Sharp is best known for his years as a competitor in the Indy Racing League....

and Buzz Calkins
Buzz Calkins
Bradley "Buzz" Calkins is a former Indy Racing League driver. After a successful run in Indy Lights from 1993 to 1995 where he finished 11th, 10th, and 6th in his three seasons, he and his Bradley Motorsports team purchased a 1995 Reynard chassis to compete in the inaugural season of the IRL...

tie for the inaugural IRL championship
- Indianapolis 500
  Indianapolis 500
  The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
  
  - Buddy Lazier
  Buddy Lazier
  Robert Buddy Lazier is an American Indycar driver. He won the 1996 Indianapolis 500 and has finished in the Top Ten in that race six times...
CART - Jimmy Vasser
Jimmy Vasser
Jimmy Vasser is a retired American racing driver and current co-owner of KV Racing Technology. Vasser won the 1996 IndyCar season championship with Chip Ganassi Racing, and scored ten victories in the series...

won the season championship
Formula One Championship
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

- Damon Hill
Damon Hill
Damon Graham Devereux Hill OBE is a retired British racing driver. In 1996 Hill won the Formula One World Championship. As the son of the late Graham Hill, he is the only son of a world champion to win the title...

of Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
24 hours of Le Mans
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...

– won by the team of Manuel Reuter
Manuel Reuter
Manuel Reuter is a German former race car driver.He has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice:*in 1989 24 Hours of Le Mans for Sauber-Mercedes*in 1996 24 Hours of Le Mans for Joest Racing...

/ Davy Jones / Alexander Wurz
Alexander Wurz
Alexander Wurz is an Austrian racing driver. He competed in Formula One from until , and is also a two-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours....

driving a TWR-Porsche
Rallying
Rallying
Rallying, also known as rally racing, is a form of auto racing that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars...

- Tommi Mäkinen
Tommi Mäkinen
"Turbo" Tommi Antero Mäkinen , tied with Juha Kankkunen and behind Sébastien Loeb , and fifth in wins .He is a four-time World Rally Champion, a series he first won, and then successfully defended, continuously throughout 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999, on all occasions driving the Ralliart Mitsubishi...

won the World Rally Championship
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13...
- the team of Patrick Bernardini / Bernard Occelli won the Monte Carlo Rally
  Monte Carlo Rally
  The Monte Carlo Rally or Rally Monte Carlo is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco which also organises the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix and the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique. The rally takes place along the French Riviera in the Principality of Monaco and...
  
  driving a Ford Escort RS Cosworth
  Ford Escort RS Cosworth
  The Ford Escort RS Cosworth was a sports derivative of the Ford Escort. It was available from 1992-96 in very limited numbers.It was instantly recognisable due to its large "whale tail" rear spoiler...
Drag racing
Drag racing
Drag racing is a competition in which specially prepared automobiles or motorcycles compete two at a time to be the first to cross a set finish line, from a standing start, in a straight line, over a measured distance, most commonly a ¼-mile straight track....

- Kenny Bernstein
Kenny Bernstein
Kenny Bernstein is an American drag racer and former NASCAR and IndyCar team owner. He is nicknamed the "Bud King" for his success in the Budweiser King dragster, he has also been nicknamed "The King of Speed," because he was the first driver to break 300 miles per hour in the standing-start...

won the NHRA "Top Fuel
Top Fuel
Top Fuel racing is a class of drag racing in which the cars are run on a mix of approximately 90% nitromethane and 10% methanol rather than gasoline or simply methanol. The cars are purpose-built for drag racing, with an exaggerated layout that in some ways resembles open-wheel circuit racing...

" championship.

Professional Wrestling
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...

July 7: Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan
Terrance Gene "Terry" Bollea , better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American Semi-retired professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....

becomes a villain
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...

and forms the New World Order
New World Order (professional wrestling)
The New World Order was a professional wrestling stable that originally wrestled for World Championship Wrestling . The group later appeared in the World Wrestling Federation after the purchase of WCW by the WWF...

.

Radiosport
Radiosport
The term radiosport is of modern Eastern European origin and is used to describe any of several competitive amateur radio activities. It is most often written as a single word, as in radiosport, but can be found as two separate words, as in radio sport.The Friendship Radiosport Games is a...

The second World Radiosport Team Championship
World Radiosport Team Championship
The World Radiosport Team Championship is an amateur radio contest. WRTC is an invitation-only event in which the world's elite contesters compete against one another using amateur radio stations that are in one geographic area of the world and are equipped with similar antennas and operating...

held in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

, USA. Gold medals go to Jeff Steinman KRØY and Dan Street K1TO of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

January: England - The 1995–96 Rugby Football League season ends with Wigan declared champions.
March 29: Paris – the new Super League
Super League
Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...

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
Sheffield Eagles
Sheffield Eagles RLFC are an English rugby league club based in the South Yorkshire city of Sheffield. They currently play in the Co-operative Championship. Their home games are played at Bramall Lane after leaving Don Valley Stadium in late 2009....

at Charlety Stadium before 17,873.
August 31: Salford, England - The 1996 Student Rugby League World Cup culminates in Australia's 28 - 16 defeat of Samoa
September 29: Sydney, Australia - The 1996 ARL season culminates the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League's Telstra Premiership, the premier rugby league competition of Australasia...

' 20–8 grand final victory over the St. George Dragons
St. George Dragons
The St George Dragons was an Australian Rugby league football club in St George, Sydney, New South Wales that played in Australia's top-level Rugby league competition from New South Wales Rugby Football League in 1921 until 1998; in 1999 they formed a joint venture with the Illawarra Steelers,...

at the Sydney Football Stadium before a crowd of 40,985
June 26: Cardiff, Wales - The 1996 European Rugby League Championship
1996 European Rugby League Championship
-Final standings:...

is won by England
England national rugby league team
The England national rugby league team represent England in international rugby league football tournaments. The team has now seen a revival, having largely formed from the Great Britain team, who also represented Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The team is run under the auspices of the Rugby Football...

who defeated Wales
Wales national rugby league team
The Wales national rugby league team represent Wales in international rugby league football matches. Currently the team is seventh in the RLIF World Rankings. The team were run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League, but an independent body, Wales Rugby League, now runs the team from...

26-12 at Cardiff Arms Park
Cardiff Arms Park
Cardiff Arms Park , also known as The Arms Park, is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green, and is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. The Arms Park was host to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958, and hosted four games in the 1991 Rugby World...

before a crowd of 5,245
The 1996 Queensland Cup Season
1996 Queensland Cup Season
The 1996 Queensland Cup Season was the first Season of the State-Wide League in Queensland. It had been formed after the Winfield State League was closed after the end of the 1995 Season. It was subsequently superseded by the Queensland Cup....

is won by the Toowoomba Clydesdales
Toowoomba Clydesdales
The Toowoomba Clydesdales are a rugby league football club based in Toowoomba, Queensland, named after the Scottish horse breed. They played in the Queensland Wizard Cup since the competition began in 1996 but no longer play in this competition....
June 3: Sydney, Australia - The 1996 State of Origin series is wrapped up as New South Wales
New South Wales rugby league team
The New South Wales rugby league team has represented the Australian state of New South Wales in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1907. Administered by the New South Wales Rugby League, the team competes in the annual State of Origin series against arch-rivals, the...

defeat Queensland
Queensland rugby league team
The Queensland rugby league team have represented the Australian state of Queensland in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1908...

18–6 in Game II at the Sydney Football Stadium before a crowd of 41,955.
Super League I
Super League I
The year 1996's Stones Bitter Super League I was the official name for the 102nd season of top-level rugby league football, and the first year of Europe's new championship: Super League. It is also the first season of rugby league to be played in summer...

ends with St. Helens being crowned champions for finishing on top of the League

Rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

102nd Five Nations Championship
Six Nations Championship
The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....

series is won by England
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
SANZAR
SANZAR
SANZAR is the body which operates Super Rugby and Tri Nations competitions in rugby union. It is a joint venture of the South African Rugby Union, the New Zealand Rugby Union and the Australian Rugby Union, formed in 1996.Created shortly after rugby's move to professionalism in 1995, SANZAR's two...

'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
All Blacks
The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....

Snooker
Snooker
Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regular table is . It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white , 15 worth one point each, and six balls of different :...

World Snooker Championship
World Snooker Championship
The World Snooker Championship is the leading professional snooker tournament in terms of both prize money and ranking points. The first championship was held in 1927; since 1977, it has been played at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, England...

– Stephen Hendry
Stephen Hendry
Stephen Gordon Hendry, MBE is a Scottish professional snooker player. In 1990, he was the youngest-ever snooker World Champion, at the age of 21. He has won the World Championship a record seven times and was snooker's world number one for eight consecutive years between 1990 and 1998, and again...

beats Peter Ebdon
Peter Ebdon
Peter "Ebbo" Ebdon is an English professional snooker player and former world champion renowned for his remarkably focused, determined style of play.-Early years:...

18-12
World rankings
Snooker world rankings
The snooker world rankings are the official system of ranking professional snooker players to determine automatic qualification and seeding for tournaments on the World Snooker Tour. They are maintained by the sport's governing body, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association...

– Stephen Hendry
Stephen Hendry
Stephen Gordon Hendry, MBE is a Scottish professional snooker player. In 1990, he was the youngest-ever snooker World Champion, at the age of 21. He has won the World Championship a record seven times and was snooker's world number one for eight consecutive years between 1990 and 1998, and again...

remains world number one
Snooker world number ones
There have been three ranking systems in place since 1975, which have seen nine players hold the number one position: Ray Reardon, Cliff Thorburn, Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, John Higgins, Mark Williams, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Neil Robertson and Mark Selby....

for 1996-97

Swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

XXVI Olympic Games
Swimming at the 1996 Summer Olympics
The swimming competition at the 1996 Summer Olympics was held at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta, United States, which was built for the Games...

, held in Atlanta United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

(July 20 – July 26)
First European SC Championships
European SC Championships 1996
The first edition of the European Short Course Championships was held in Rostock, Germany, from December 13 to December 15, 1996. The event, just a couple of months after the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, replaced the European Sprint Swimming Championships, where only the 50 m events...

, held in Riesa
Riesa
Riesa is a town in the district of Meißen in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is located at the river Elbe, approx. 40 km northwest of Dresden.The world's first 110 kV power line was inaugurated between Riesa and Lauchhammer in 1912....

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

(December 13 – 15)
- Germany wins the most medals (39) and the most gold medals (14)
December 1 – American swimmer Misty Hyman
Misty Hyman
Misty Dawn Marie Hyman is a former American swimmer who won the gold medal in the 200 m butterfly at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.-1996 Olympic Trials:...

clocks 58:29 to break the world record in the women's 100m butterfly (short course)

Tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
1. Australian Open
  Australian Open
  The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...
  
  - Boris Becker
  Boris Becker
  Boris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17...
2. French Open - Yevgeny Kafelnikov
  Yevgeny Kafelnikov
  Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Kafelnikov is a former World No. 1 tennis player from Russia. He won two Grand Slam singles titles , four Grand Slam doubles titles, and the men's singles gold medal at the Sydney Olympic Games. He also helped Russia win the Davis Cup in 2002...
3. Wimbledon championships - Richard Krajicek
  Richard Krajicek
  Richard Peter Stanislav Krajicek is a Dutch former professional tennis player. In 1996 he won the men's singles title at Wimbledon, the only Dutch player to have done so. In the quarterfinals of that tournament he defeated Pete Sampras. This was Sampras' only singles defeat at Wimbledon between...
4. US Open - Pete Sampras
  Pete Sampras
  Pete Sampras is a retired American tennis player and former world no. 1. During his 15-year tour career, he won 14 Grand Slam singles titles and became recognized as one of the greatest tennis players of all time....
Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
1. Australian Open
  Australian Open
  The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...
  
  - Monica Seles
  Monica Seles
  Monica Seles is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player and a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She was born in Novi Sad, Serbia, former Yugoslavia to Hungarian parents. She became a naturalized United States citizen in 1994 and also received Hungarian citizenship in June 2007...
2. French Open - Steffi Graf
  Steffi Graf
  Steffi Graf is a former World No. 1 German tennis player.In total, Graf won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, second among male and female players only to Margaret Court's 24...
3. Wimbledon championships - Steffi Graf
  Steffi Graf
  Steffi Graf is a former World No. 1 German tennis player.In total, Graf won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, second among male and female players only to Margaret Court's 24...
4. US Open - Steffi Graf
  Steffi Graf
  Steffi Graf is a former World No. 1 German tennis player.In total, Graf won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, second among male and female players only to Margaret Court's 24...
1996 Summer Olympics
Tennis at the 1996 Summer Olympics
At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, the host nation United States won 3 of the 4 gold medals in tennis. For the first time at the Olympics, a single bronze medal was awarded in each event.-Medal table:-Events:-References:*...
- Men's Singles Competition – Andre Agassi
  Andre Agassi
  Andre Kirk Agassi is a retired American professional tennis player and former world no. 1. Generally considered by critics and fellow players to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Agassi has been called the best service returner in the history of the game...
- Women's Singles Competition – Lindsay Davenport
  Lindsay Davenport
  Lindsay Ann Davenport is a former World No. 1 American professional tennis player. She has won three Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. In 2005, TENNIS Magazine ranked her as the 29th-best player of the preceding forty years...
- Men's Doubles Competition – Todd Woodbridge
  Todd Woodbridge
  Todd Andrew Woodbridge is an Australian former tennis player. He was born in Sydney and turned professional in 1988. He is best known for his successful Doubles partnerships with Mark Woodforde and later Jonas Björkman...
  
  & Mark Woodforde
  Mark Woodforde
  Mark Woodforde is a former professional tennis player from Australia. He is best known as one half of "The Woodies", a doubles partnership with Todd Woodbridge....
- Women's Doubles Competition – Gigi Fernández
  Gigi Fernández
  Beatriz "Gigi" Fernández is a former professional tennis player, the first female athlete from her native Puerto Rico to turn professional, the first Puerto Rican woman to ever win an Olympic gold medal and the first to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.Fernandez won 17 Grand...
  
  & Mary Joe Fernández
  Mary Joe Fernández
  Mary Joe Fernández Godsick is an American former professional tennis player...
Davis Cup
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...

final:
- France wins 3-2 over Sweden
Fed Cup
Fed Cup
Fed Cup is the premier team competition in women's tennis, launched in 1963 to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the International Tennis Federation...

final:
- USA wins 5-0 over Spain

Volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

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
Water polo
Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...

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

Multi-sport event
Multi-sport event
A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports between organized teams of athletes from nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of international significance was the modern Olympic Games.Many...

s

1996 Summer Olympics
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....

takes place in Atlanta, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
- United States
  United States
  The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
  
  wins the most medals (101), and the most gold medals (44).
Winter Asian Games
1996 Winter Asian Games
The 3rd Asian Winter Games were held from February 4 to 11, 1996 in Harbin, China. North Korea was originally scheduled to host the games in 1995, but was not able to honour its commitment...

held in Harbin
Harbin
Harbin ; Manchu language: , Harbin; Russian: Харби́н Kharbin ), is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, lying on the southern bank of the Songhua River...

, China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
Athletic competition in the Big 12 Conference
Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of ten schools located in the Central United States, with its headquarters located in Las Colinas, a community in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Irving...

is inaugurated with a football game between Kansas State University
Kansas State Wildcats
Kansas State University's athletic teams are called the Wildcats. The official color of the teams is Royal Purple, making Kansas State one of very few schools that have only one official color; white and silver are generally used as complementary colors.Kansas State participates in...

and Texas Tech University
Texas Tech Red Raiders football
Texas Tech Red Raiders football program is a college football team that represents Texas Tech University . The team competes, as a member of the Big 12 Conference, which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...

, in Manhattan, Kansas
Manhattan, Kansas
Manhattan is a city located in the northeastern part of the state of Kansas in the United States, at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. It is the county seat of Riley County and the city extends into Pottawatomie County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 52,281...

on August 31.

Awards

Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Michael Johnson
Michael Johnson (athlete)
Michael Duane Johnson is a retired American sprinter. He won four Olympic gold medals and eight world championship gold medals. Johnson currently holds the world and Olympic records in the 400 m and 4 x 400 meters relay. He formerly held the world and Olympic record in the 200 m, and the world...

, Track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Amy Van Dyken
Amy Van Dyken
Amy Van Dyken is an American swimmer who has six career Olympic gold medals. Four of these gold medals came in the 1996 Summer Olympics, making her the first American woman to accomplish such a feat and the most successful athlete at the 1996 Summer Olympics...

, Swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Association football

AthleticsAthletics (track and field)Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...

Australian rules footballAustralian rules footballAustralian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

BaseballBaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

BasketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

BoxingBoxingBoxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

CyclingCyclingCycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...

Dogsled racingDogsled racingSled dog racing is a winter dog sport most popular in the Arctic regions of the United States, Canada, Russia, and some European countries. It involves the timed competition of teams of sleddogs that pull a sled with the dog driver or musher standing on the runners...

Field hockeyField hockeyField Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...

GolfGolfGolf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

HandballTeam handballHandball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...

Harness racingHarness racingHarness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait . They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, although racing under saddle is also conducted in Europe.-Breeds:...

Horse racingHorse racingHorse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...