1997 in sports - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

1997 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: Luc Alphand
  Luc Alphand
  Luc Alphand is a French former alpine skier and race car driver.- Skiing :Born in Briançon , Alphand made his World Cup skiing debut in 1984...
  
  , France
- Women's overall season champion: Pernilla Wiberg
  Pernilla Wiberg
  Pernilla Wiberg is a Swedish former alpine ski racer, who competed on the World Cup circuit between 1990 and 2002. On club level, she represented Norrköpings SK.-Career:...
  
  , Sweden

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...

January 26 – in Super Bowl XXXI
Super Bowl XXXI
Super Bowl XXXI was an American football game played on January 26, 1997, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1996 regular season. The National Football Conference champion Green Bay Packers defeated the American...

, the Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...

won 35–21 over the New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
January 2 – in the Sugar Bowl
Sugar Bowl
The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Sugar Bowl has been played annually since January 1, 1935, and celebrated its 75th anniversary on January 2, 2009...

, University of Florida Gators won 52–20 over rival Florida State Seminoles
Florida State Seminoles
The Florida State Seminoles are the men's and women's sports teams of Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. Florida State participates in the NCAA's Division I . FSU joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1991, and competes in the Atlantic Division in any sports split into a...

to claim NCAA Football national title

Artistic gymnastics
Artistic gymnastics
Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics where gymnasts perform short routines on different apparatus, with less time for vaulting . The sport is governed by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique , which designs the Code of Points and regulates all aspects of international elite...

World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
1997 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 33rd Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1997.The 1997 Worlds were notable because they were the first major contest to be held after the elimination of compulsory exercises.-All-round:-Apparatus:...

–
- Men's all–around champion: Ivan Ivankov
  Ivan Ivankov
  Ivan Ivankov is an artistic gymnast who competed for Belarus. The 1994 and 1997 all-around World Champion and the 1994 and 1996 all-around European Champion, Ivankov has competed for over a decade on the international circuit...
  
  , Belarus
  Belarus
  Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
- Women's all–around champion: Svetlana Khorkina
  Svetlana Khorkina
  Svetlana Vasilyevna Khorkina is a popular Russian gymnast and seven-time Olympic medalist, who is now a deputy at the Russian State Duma. With an unprecedented nine gold, eight silver, and three bronze World Championships medals, she is one of the most successful female gymnasts of her era and has...
  
  , Russia
- Men's team competition champion: 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...
- Women's team competition champion: floresville

Association football

For an extensive coverage see 1997 in Association football

Champions League – Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia Dortmund, commonly BVB, are a German sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. Dortmund are one of the most successful clubs in German football history. Borussia Dortmund play in the Bundesliga, the top league of German football...

beat Juventus F.C.
Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...

3–1
UEFA Cup – FC Schalke 04
FC Schalke 04
Fußball-Club Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04, commonly known as simply FC Schalke 04 or Schalke , is a German, association-football club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. Schalke has long been one of the most popular football teams in Germany, even though major...

beat F.C. Internazionale Milano
F.C. Internazionale Milano
Football Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always...
Copa Libertadores – Cruzeiro Esporte Clube
Cruzeiro Esporte Clube
Cruzeiro Esporte Clube is a Brazilian football team, from Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, and are one of the only five clubs to have never been relegated, along with Santos, São Paulo, Flamengo and Internacional. Founded on January 2, 1921, they are only one of three clubs to have participated in...

beat Sporting Cristal
Sporting Cristal
Club Sporting Cristal is a Peruvian football team. Based in the Rímac District, in the department of Lima, it plays in the professional league known as the Peruvian First Division. Founded on November 16, 1926 in the Rimac District given its approval to the merger and Snuff Sporting merging with...

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...

August – 1997 World Championships in Athletics
1997 World Championships in Athletics
The 6th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece between August 1 and August 10, 1997. In this event participated 1882 athletes from 198 participant nations...

held at Athens

Australian football

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...
- Port Adelaide
  Port Adelaide Football Club
  The Port Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, which plays in the Australian Football League and the South Australian National Football League...
  
  join the league
  - Adelaide Crows win Grand Final for the first time - downing St. Kilda on the last day in September

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...

June 12 – Interleague play begins in 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...

, ending a 126–year tradition of separating the major leagues until the World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...

.
World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...

– Florida Marlins
Florida Marlins
The Miami Marlins are a professional baseball team based in Miami, Florida, United States. Established in 1993 as an expansion franchise called the Florida Marlins, the Marlins are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Marlins played their home games at...

won 4 games to 3 over the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...

. The Series MVP was Liván Hernández
Liván Hernández
Eisler Liván Hernández Carrera is a Cuban professional baseball pitcher. He is the half-brother of pitcher Orlando "El Duque" Hernández.-Playing career:...

, Florida

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...

NCAA Men's Basketball Championship –
- Arizona Wildcats win 84–79 in overtime over the Kentucky Wildcats. This is Arizona's first NCAA title in men's basketball.
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...
  
  earn their second repeat of the decade as they beat the Utah Jazz
  Utah Jazz
  The Utah Jazz is a professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They are currently a part of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
  
  4 games to 2 (see Steve Kerr
  Steve Kerr
  Stephen Douglas "Steve" Kerr is a retired American professional basketball player. He shot .454 from three point range over his career and currently holds the record as the most accurate three-point shooter in NBA history...
  
  ).
WNBA Finals
WNBA Finals
The WNBA Finals is the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association and the conclusion of the sport's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002....

(inaugural WNBA
Women's National Basketball Association
The Women's National Basketball Association is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. It currently is composed of twelve teams. The league was founded on April 24, 1996 as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association...

season):
- Houston Comets
  Houston Comets
  The Houston Comets were a Women's National Basketball Association team based in Houston, Texas, United States. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the best original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. The Comets were the first dynasty of the WNBA and...
  
  defeat the New York Liberty
  New York Liberty
  The New York Liberty is a professional basketball team based in New York City, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was one of the eight original franchises of the league...
  
  in one game playoff series.
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:
- 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...
  
  defeated the 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...
  
  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...

January 18 – 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...

maintained his World Boxing Council super lightweight title in with a 12–round unanimous decision over Miguel Ángel González
Miguel Ángel González
Miguel Ángel González Suárez , known as Miguel Ángel, is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a goalkeeper.-Football career:...

in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

.
May 13 – death of Eduard Zakharov
Eduard Zakharov
Eduard Fyodorovich Zakharov was a male boxer from Russia. He represented his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was stopped in the quarterfinals of the men's light-welterweight division by Cuba's eventual gold medalist Héctor Vinent. Zakharov was murdered in...

(22), Russian boxer
June 28 – Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...

bites off a piece of the ear of Evander Holyfield
Evander Holyfield
Evander Holyfield is a professional boxer from the United States. He is a former undisputed world champion in both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions, earning him the nickname "The Real Deal"...

in the third round of their WBA
World Boxing Association
The World Boxing Association is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962...

Heavyweight title fight, getting disqualified by referee Mills Lane
Mills Lane
Mills Bee Lane III is a retired boxing referee, a former boxer, was a two term Washoe County District Court Judge, and television personality...

.
July 9 – Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...

's 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...

license is suspended for at least a year and he is fined $3 million for biting Evander Holyfield
Evander Holyfield
Evander Holyfield is a professional boxer from the United States. He is a former undisputed world champion in both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions, earning him the nickname "The Real Deal"...

's ear in a televised match.
October 18 to October 26 – World Amateur Boxing Championships
1997 World Amateur Boxing Championships
The Men's 1997 World Amateur Boxing Championships were held in Budapest, Hungary from October 18 to October 26. The ninth edition of this competition, a year after the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, was organised by the world governing body for amateur boxing AIBA...

held in Budapest, Hungary

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...

won 47–23 over the Saskatchewan Roughriders
Saskatchewan Roughriders
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a Canadian Football League team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. They were founded in 1910. They play their home games at 2940 10th Avenue in Regina, which has been the team's home base for its entire history, even prior to the construction of Mosaic Stadium at Taylor...
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...

– UBC Thunderbirds
UBC Thunderbirds
The UBC Thunderbirds are the athletic teams that represent the University of British Columbia in the University Endowment Lands just outside the city limits of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They are one of the most successful teams in the CIS, though a few of their teams are members of the U.S...

win 39–23 over the Ottawa Gee-Gees

Cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

The Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...

– Australia win the six test series 3–2
ICC Trophy
ICC Trophy
The ICC World Cup Qualifier is an international one-day cricket tournament run under the auspices of the International Cricket Council. Any Associate or Affiliate member of the ICC may attempt to qualify for the ICC Trophy by means of a system of regional qualifying events. The test-playing Full...

– Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
Women's Cricket World Cup
Women's Cricket World Cup
The ICC Women's Cricket World Cup is a Women's one-day international cricket competition. The first tournament was held in England in 1973, two years before the first men's ICC Cricket World Cup....

– Australia beat New Zealand by five wickets
County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...

(England and Wales) won by Glamorgan
Glamorgan
Glamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying boundaries known as Glywysing until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three...

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 Ivan Gotti
Ivan Gotti
Ivan Gotti is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist.Gotti was born at San Pellegrino Terme, Lombardy. He first came to prominence by finishing 5th overall in the 1995 Tour de France...

of Italy
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...

– Jan Ullrich
Jan Ullrich
Jan Ullrich is a German former professional road bicycle racer. In 1997, he was the first German to win the Tour de France. He went on to take five second places and a fourth in 2004 and third in 2005. He is considered one of the best time-trialists in the history of the sport...

of Germany
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...

– Laurent Brochard
Laurent Brochard
Laurent Brochard is a retired professional road racing cyclist from France. In 1997 he won a stage of the Tour de France and became world road champion in San Sebastián, Spain....

of France

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
- Martin Buser
  Martin Buser
  Martin Buser is a champion of sled dog racing.Martin Buser began mushing at age seventeen in Switzerland. In 1979, Buser moved to Alaska to train and raise sled dogs full time...
  
  won with lead dogs: Blondie & Fearless

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: Elvis Stojko
  Elvis Stojko
  Elvis Stojko, MSC, MSM is a Canadian figure skater. He is a three-time World champion , two-time Olympic silver medalist , and seven-time Canadian champion ....
  
  , Canada
- Ladies' champion: Tara Lipinski
  Tara Lipinski
  Tara Kristen Lipinski is an American figure skater. At the age of 15, she won the Ladies' Singles Olympic gold medal in figure skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics. Lipinski remains the youngest individual gold medalist in the history of the Olympic Winter Games. She is also the 1997 World...
  
  , United States
- Pairs' champions: Mandy Wötzel
  Mandy Wötzel
  Mandy Wötzel is a German pair skater who represented East Germany and later Germany in international competition. With partner Ingo Steuer, she is the 1998 Olympic bronze medalist.- Biography :...
  
  & Ingo Steuer
  Ingo Steuer
  Ingo Steuer is a German pair skater and skating coach.With partner Mandy Wötzel, he was the 1998 Olympic bronze medalist the 1997 World champion, the 1995 European champion, and a four-time German national champion...
  
  , Germany
- 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

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: Cork
- 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
  Kerry GAA
  The Kerry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Kerry...
  
  0–13 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:...
  
  1–7
- 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...
  
  – Kerry
  Kerry GAA
  The Kerry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Kerry...
  
  3–7 d. Cork 1–8
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: Waterford
  Waterford GAA
  The Waterford County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Waterford GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for all levels of Gaelic games in County Waterford. The County Board is also responsible for the Waterford inter-county teams. The county...
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....
  
  – Clare
  Clare GAA
  The Clare County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Clare GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Clare. The county board is also responsible for the Clare inter-county teams....
  
  0–20 d. Tipperary
  Tipperary GAA
  The Tipperary County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or C is one of over 30 regional executive boards throughout the world. These executive boards are known as County Boards even though some no longer correspond to the area under the jurisdiction of the counties from which their names...
  
  2–13
- 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 – 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...
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...

– Ernie Els
Ernie Els
Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing...
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...

– Justin Leonard
Justin Leonard
Justin Charles Garrett Leonard is an American professional golfer.Leonard was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. He attended Lake Highlands High School and graduated in 1990. He attended the University of Texas at Austin and was the individual NCAA champion in 1994. He was a two-time All-American...
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...

– Davis Love III
Davis Love III
Davis Milton Love III is an American professional golfer.Love was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina before turning professional in 1985. He earned his PGA Tour card in the fall of 1985, on his first attempt. He quickly established himself on the PGA...
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 – 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...

– $2,066,833
PGA Tour Player of the Year – 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...
PGA Tour Rookie of the Year – Stewart Cink
Stewart Cink
Stewart Ernest Cink is an American professional golfer who won the 2009 Open Championship. He has spent over 40 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings from 2004 to 2009.-Early years and education:...
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 – Hale Irwin
Hale Irwin
Hale S. Irwin is an American professional golfer. He is one of the few players in history to have won three U.S. Opens and was one of the world's leading golfers for much of the 1970s and 1980s. He has also developed a career as a golf course architect.Irwin was born in Joplin, Missouri, but was...

– $2,343,364
Ryder Cup
Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is a biennial golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is jointly administered by the PGA of America and the PGA European Tour, and is contested every two years, the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe...

– Europe won 14½–13½ over the United States in team golf.
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...

creates an uproar with his record 12-shot victory at the Masters, and becomes the first Masters winner of African-American descent. He set the record for the lowest to-par score of -18, and the lowest 72-hole score of 272. He also rises to the No. 1 ranking
Official World Golf Rankings
The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of male professional golfers...

on June 15, in only his 42nd week as a professional – the fastest ascent to the No. 1 ranking.

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...

– Craig Watson
U.S. Amateur – Matt Kuchar
Matt Kuchar
Matthew Gregory Kuchar is an American professional golfer who has played on both the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour. He has ranked as high as number six in the Official World Golf Rankings.-Early career:...
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:***...

– Didier de Voogt

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...

– Betsy King
Betsy King
Betsy King is an American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1977 and won six major championships and 34 LPGA Tour victories in all.-Career:...
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...

– Christa Johnson
Christa Johnson
Christa Johnson is an American professional golfer.Johnson was born in Arcata, California. She attended the University of Arizona....
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...

– Alison Nicholas
Classique du Maurier – Colleen Walker
Colleen Walker
Colleen Walker is an American golfer who formerly played on the LPGA Tour. She is currently playing on the Legends Tour....
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 – 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...

– $1,236,789

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...

World Men's Handball Championship - won by Russia
Russia national handball team
The Russia national handball team is the national handball team of Russia and is controlled by the Handball Union of Russia. Russia is designated by IHF and EHF as the inheritor of the record of USSR until 1990 and the Unified Team during the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.-History of handball...
World Women's Handball Championship
1997 World Women's Handball Championship
-Final standings:Source:...

- won by Denmark
Denmark women's national handball team
The Denmark women's national handball team is the national team of Denmark. It is governed by the Dansk Håndbold Forbund and takes part in international handball competitions....

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:...

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...

– Gothic Dream
Western Dreamer won the 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....
  
  – Western Dreamer
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...
  
  – Western Dreamer
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...
  
  – Western Dreamer
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 – Malabar Man
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...
  
  – Lord Stormont
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....
  
  – Take Chances
Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
- Pacers: Our Sir Vancelot
  Our Sir Vancelot
  Our Sir Vancelot is a New Zealand, standardbred stallion. Known as Sir Vancelot in New Zealand, he won a record three straight Inter Dominion finals, 1997, 1998 and 1999...
- 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...

The 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...

Saturday meeting was abandoned after two coded bomb threats were received, causing evacuation of the course. The race was eventually run on the following Monday.

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...

– Mr Mulligan
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...

– Lord Gyllene
Lord Gyllene
Lord Gyllene was a New Zealand bred racehorse whose greatest victory came in the 1997 Grand National at Aintree. He was trained by Steve Brookshaw for owner Stan Clarke and ridden by Tony Dobbin. He was retired by his owner in 2001 due to injury...

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 Might And Power
Might and Power
Might and Power was a New Zealand bred, Australian owned and trained Thoroughbred racehorse who was named Australian Horse of the Year in 1998 and 1999. As a four-year-old, Might And Power won the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups, and returned at five to become only the second horse in the history of...
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 Awesome Again
Awesome Again
Awesome Again is an Canadian Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. Owned and bred by Frank Stronach of Newmarket, Ontario, Awesome Again was sired by Deputy Minister and out of the 2000 Broodmare of the Year Primal Force....
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 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...
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 Peintre Célèbre
Peintre Celebre
Peintre Celebre, , is a champion thoroughbred racehorse.Bred and owned by Daniel Wildenstein , the renowned French art dealer and highly successful horseman, Peintre Celebre came from a line of outstanding thoroughbreds. He was a son of Nureyev, France's champion miler in 1980, who was in turn the...
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 Desert King
Desert King
Desert King is a Thoroughbred racehorse. Desert King won the Irish Derby Stakes and Irish 2,000 Guineas and was the sire of 13 stakeswinners with 34 stakeswins including Makybe Diva ....
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 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...
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 – Entrepreneur
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...
  
  – Benny the Dip
  Benny the Dip
  Benny the Dip was an American-bred and British-trained Thoroughbred race horse, winner of the Epsom Derby in 1997 by a short head from the future St Leger winner Silver Patriarch....
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...
  
  – Silver Patriarch
  Silver Patriarch
  Silver Patriarch was a racehorse, winner of the 1997 St Leger and of seven other races. He was ridden by Pat Eddery in all but three of his races....
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...
  
  – Silver Charm
  Silver Charm
  Silver Charm is an American Champion Thoroughbred race horse. Trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Gary Stevens, Silver Charm will be remembered most for winning the 1997 Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes in the Triple Crown....
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...
  
  – Silver Charm
  Silver Charm
  Silver Charm is an American Champion Thoroughbred race horse. Trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Gary Stevens, Silver Charm will be remembered most for winning the 1997 Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes in the Triple Crown....
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...
  
  – Touch Gold
  Touch Gold
  Touch Gold is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known as the winner of the Classic Belmont Stakes in which he ended Silver Charm's bid for the U.S.Triple Crown....
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...
  
  – Skip Away
  Skip Away
  Skip Away , a gray Thoroughbred race horse, was named America's Champion 3 Year Old Male in 1996 and twice named America's Champion Handicap Horse...
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'...
  
  – Ajina
  Ajina
  Ajina is an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse.-Bckground:Bred by renowned horseman Allen E. Paulson, Ajina was purchased by Janice and Robert McNair's Stonerside Stable of Paris, Kentucky....
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....
  
  – Favorite Trick
  Favorite Trick
  Favorite Trick was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who in 1997 became the first 2-year-old in twenty-five years to be voted United States Horse of the Year....
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...
  
  – Countess Diana
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...
  
  – Spinning World
  Spinning World
  Spinning World is a French thoroughbred racehorse who was one of the top European milers during the 1990s.After winning the 1996 Irish 2,000 Guineas at The Curragh in Ireland, and the Prix Jacques Le Marois at Deauville Racecourse in France, Spinning World finished second to Da Hoss in the...
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...
  
  – Elmhurst
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...
  
  – Chief Bearhart
  Chief Bearhart
  Chief Bearhart is a retired Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire. A turf specialist, he won six Sovereign Awards and was voted American Champion Male Turf Horse for 1997.-Background:...

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: Dominik Hasek
Dominik Hašek
Dominik Hašek is a Czech ice hockey goaltender who is currently with HC Spartak Moscow of the KHL.In his 16-season National Hockey League career, he played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, and the Ottawa Senators. During his years in Buffalo, he became one of the...

of the Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League .-Founding and early success: 1970-71—1980-81:...
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...

– Detroit Red Wings
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...

win 4 games to 0 over the Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
World Hockey Championship
- Men's champion: Canada defeated Sweden
- Junior Men's champion: Finland defeated Russia
- Women's champion: Canada defeated the United States

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 Rochester Knighthawks
Rochester Knighthawks
The Rochester Knighthawks are a professional lacrosse team in the National Lacrosse League. They play in Rochester, New York at the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial. The Knighthawks were previously members of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League from 1995 to 1997...

defeat 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....

15–12 to win the Major Indoor Lacrosse League championship
- The National Lacrosse League
  National Lacrosse League
  The National Lacrosse League is a men's professional indoor lacrosse league in North America. It currently has nine teams; three in Canada and six in the United States. Unlike other lacrosse leagues which play in the summer, the NLL plays its games in the winter and spring. Each year, the playoff...
  
  (NLL) is formed from the Major Indoor Lacrosse League (MILL), with the decision to move from league ownership of all teams to individual team ownership.
Mann Cup
Mann Cup
The Mann Cup is the trophy awarded to the senior men's lacrosse champions of Canada. The championship series is played between the Western Lacrosse Association champion and the Major Series Lacrosse champion...

for the Canadian
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...

box lacrosse
Box lacrosse
Box lacrosse, also known as indoor lacrosse and sometimes shortened to boxla, LAX or simply box, is an indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America. The game originated in Canada, where it is the most popular version of the game played in contrast to the traditional field lacrosse game...

championship: Victoria Shamrocks
Victoria Shamrocks
The Victoria Shamrocks are a Senior A box lacrosse club, based in Victoria, British Columbia. The team competes in the 7-team Western Lacrosse Association .The Shamrocks have won the Mann Cup 8 times...

of the Western Lacrosse Association
Western Lacrosse Association
The Western Lacrosse Association is an amateur league of men's Senior A box lacrosse sanctioned by the Canadian Lacrosse Association. It consists of seven teams, based in cities throughout southwestern British Columbia. Each year, the playoff teams battle for the right to compete against the...
European Lacrosse Championships
European Lacrosse Championships
The European Lacrosse Championships are held every four years, and have been held since 1995 to determine the best national lacrosse team of Europe...

–
- Men's champion: England defeats the 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....
- Women's champion: England defeats Wales
  Wales
  Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

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...

UFC 12

UFC 12: Judgement Day was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on February 7, 1997 at the Dothan Civic Center in Dothan, Alabama...

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Dothan

Dothan, Alabama

Dothan is a city located in the southeastern corner of the US state of Alabama, situated approximately west of the Georgia state line and north of Florida. It is the seat of Houston County, with portions extending into nearby Dale County and Henry County...

, 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...

, USA
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UFC 13

-External links:***...

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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...

UFC 14

-External links:***...

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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

PRIDE 1

Pride 1 was the first mixed martial arts event held by KRS-Pride . It took place at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on October 11, 1997 and attracted a crowd of 47,860 spectators....

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Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, 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...

UFC 15

UFC 15: Collision Course was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on October 17, 1997, in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The event was seen live on pay per view in the United States, and later released on home video.-History:...

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Bay St. Louis

Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

Bay Saint Louis is a city located in Hancock County, Mississippi. It is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 8,209. It is the county seat of Hancock County...

, Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

UFC Japan

UFC Japan: Ultimate Japan was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on December 21, 1997, in Yokohama, Japan...

|UFC 15.5
|

Yokohama

is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...

, Japan

Japan

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Motor racing

March 21 – death of John Nemechek
John Nemechek
John Nemechek , was a race car driver who was killed in an accident during a Craftsman truck race at Homestead, Florida.-Life and racing career:...

(27), NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...

race driver
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...

–
- Jeff Gordon
  Jeff Gordon
  Jeffery Michael "Jeff" Gordon is a professional NASCAR driver. He is the driver of the #24 Drive to End Hunger/DuPont/Pepsi Chevrolet Impala. He is a four-time Sprint Cup Series champion and a three-time Daytona 500 winner. He is third on the all-time wins list, with 85 career wins, and has the...
  
  is the youngest driver ever to win 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....
  
  on February 16
- NASCAR Championship – Jeff Gordon
  Jeff Gordon
  Jeffery Michael "Jeff" Gordon is a professional NASCAR driver. He is the driver of the #24 Drive to End Hunger/DuPont/Pepsi Chevrolet Impala. He is a four-time Sprint Cup Series champion and a three-time Daytona 500 winner. He is third on the all-time wins list, with 85 career wins, and has the...
Indy Racing League –
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...

– Arie Luyendyk
Arie Luyendyk
Arie Luyendyk, originally Arie Luijendijk is a Dutch auto racing driver, twice winner of the Indianapolis 500....

of the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
Champ CarCART Racing – Alex Zanardi
Alex Zanardi
Alessandro "Alex" Zanardi is an Italian racing driver and paracyclist.He won two CART championship titles in North America during the late 1990s. He also had a less successful career as a Formula One driver...

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...

– Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve, , is a Canadian musician and automobile racing driver. He is the son of the late Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve, and is the namesake of his uncle...

of Canada
V8 Supercars Australia
V8 Supercar
V8 Supercars is a touring car racing category based in Australia and run as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile regulations...
- Championship Series
  V8 Supercar
  V8 Supercars is a touring car racing category based in Australia and run as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile regulations...
  
  won by Glenn Seton
  Glenn Seton
  Glenn Seton is an Australian racing driver.Seton, father of Courtney and Aaron Seton and husband to Jayne Seton, retired from full time racing after the 2005 V8 Supercar season, and is only one of five drivers to have competed in over 200 rounds in the series. The other drivers are Dick Johnson ,...
  
  in a Ford Falcon
  Ford Falcon (Australia)
  The Ford Falcon is a full-size car which has been manufactured by Ford Australia since 1960. Each model from the XA series of 1972 onward has been designed, developed and built in Australia and/or New Zealand, following the phasing out of the American Falcon of 1960–71 which had been re-engineered...
  
  EL.
- Bathurst 1000
  Bathurst 1000
  The Bathurst 1000 is a touring car race held annually at Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia...
  
  for V8 Supercars won by Russel Ingall and Larry Perkins in a Holden
  Holden
  GM Holden Ltd is an automaker that operates in Australia, based in Port Melbourne, Victoria. The company was founded in 1856 as a saddlery manufacturer. In 1908 it moved into the automotive field, before becoming a subsidiary of the U.S.-based General Motors in 1931...
  
  Commodore VS.
- Bathurst 1000
  Bathurst 1000
  The Bathurst 1000 is a touring car race held annually at Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia...
  
  for Super Touring won by Jim Richards
  Jim Richards (race driver)
  Jim Richards is a New Zealand racing driver who has spent most of his racing life in Australia. While retired from professional racing, Richards continues to compete in the historic category Touring Car Masters while running a team in the Australian GT Championship...
  
  and Rickard Rydell
  Rickard Rydell
  Rickard Rydell is a Swedish racing driver. He won the 1998 British Touring Car Championship, the 2011 Scandinavian Touring Car Championship, and has also been a frontrunner in the European/World Touring Car Championship.-Early career:In the early 1990s, Rydell raced in various Formula Three series...
  
  . Rydell setting a shootout lap of 2:14.x, fastest super touring lap ever around the mountain at that time.
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...

– the team of Michele Alboreto
Michele Alboreto
Michele Alboreto was an Italian racing driver. He is famous for finishing runner up to Alain Prost in the 1985 Formula One World Championship, as well as winning the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans and 2001 12 Hours of Sebring sports car races...

/ Stefan Johansson
Stefan Johansson
Stefan Nils Edwin Johansson is a former Formula One driver from who drove for among others both Ferrari and McLaren during his Grand Prix career. Since leaving Formula One he has raced in a number of categories, including CART, various kinds of Sports car racing, and Grand Prix Masters...

/ Tom Kristensen
Tom Kristensen
Tom Kristensen is a Danish racing driver. He has won many championships in auto racing but his most famous achievement is being the only person to win the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans eight times, six of which were consecutive...

won, 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 Piero Liatti
  Piero Liatti
  Piero Liatti is an Italian rally driver. His speciality was driving on Tarmac rallies like Monte Carlo, Catalunya, Corsica and the San Remo Rally.-Biography:...
  
  / Fabrizia Pons 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 Subaru Impreza WRC97
  Subaru
  ; is the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries .Subaru is internationally known for their use of the boxer engine layout popularized in cars by the Volkswagen Beetle and Porsche 911, in most of their vehicles above 1500 cc as well as...
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....

– Gary Scelzi
Gary Scelzi
Gary Scelzi, , is an American dragster racer and midget car owner who has won the NHRA Powerade Top Fuel championship on three occasions and the Funny Car title once...

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.

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...

Eighth Amateur Radio Direction Finding
Amateur Radio Direction Finding
Amateur radio direction finding is an amateur racing sport that combines radio direction finding with the map and compass skills of orienteering...

World Championship held in Sankt Englmar
Sankt Englmar
Sankt Englmar is a municipality in the district of Straubing-Bogen in Bavaria, Germany....

, Germany.
Second High Speed Telegraphy
High Speed Telegraphy
High Speed Telegraphy competitions challenge individuals to correctly receive and copy Morse code transmissions sent at very high speeds. It is most popular in Eastern Europe, where it is one of several activities collectively referred to as radiosport...

World Championship held in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Rowing
Rowing (sport)
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...

McGill University Rowing Club
McGill University Rowing Club
The McGill University Rowing Club is a rowing club that represents McGill University in Montreal. The club is currently a Level 2 intercollegiate program and thus receives partial funding from the university. As the only Quebec university with a rowing program, the club participates in the Ontario...

wins the inaugural McGill-Queen's Challenge Boat Race.

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...

March 1 at Townsville, Queensland
Townsville, Queensland
Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Australia, in the state of Queensland. Adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef, it is in the dry tropics region of Queensland. Townsville is Australia's largest urban centre north of the Sunshine Coast, with a 2006 census...

– Adelaide Rams
Adelaide Rams
The Adelaide Rams were an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The team was formed in 1995 for the planned rebel Super League competition, which eventually ran parallel to the rival Australian Rugby League competition in 1997...

play their first match, a 16-24 loss to the North Queensland Cowboys
North Queensland Cowboys
The North Queensland Cowboys are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership...

at Dairy Farmers Stadium
Dairy Farmers Stadium
The Willows Sports Complex, currently known as Dairy Farmers Stadium due to sponsorship rights, is a grass football stadium situated in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It has historically been used mainly for rugby league, and is the home ground of the National Rugby League club the North...

before 17,738.
March 2 at Newcastle, Australia – Hunter Mariners
Hunter Mariners
The Hunter Mariners were an Australian rugby league club based in the Hunter Valley region's largest city, Newcastle. Hunter was formed in mid 1995 and was later disbanded at the end of 1997. The club was formed because of the Super League war, which was the rivalry between the traditional...

play their first match: a 16-20 loss to the Canterbury Bulldogs
Canterbury Bulldogs
The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League premiership, as well as New South Wales Rugby League junior competitions...

at Topper Stadium before 6,579. The new club only lasts until the end of the season when it is closed.
April 25 at Sydney, Australia – Super League
Super League (Australia)
Super League was an Australian rugby league football administrative body that conducted professional competition in Australasia for one season in 1997. Along with Super League of Europe, it was created by News Corporation during the Super League war which arose following an unsuccessful attempt to...

's inaugural ANZAC Test
ANZAC Test
The Anzac Test is an annual rugby league football test match . The test match is played annually between Australia and New Zealand on or around Anzac Day for the Bill Kelly Memorial Trophy.-Origins:Australia and New Zealand had competed in Rugby League Tests since 1908...

match is won by Australia 34-22 against New Zealand at the Sydney Football Stadium before 23,829.
May 19 at Brisbane, Australia – Super League Tri-series
Super League Tri-series
The Super League Tri-series was a rugby league football tournament contested in 1997 between Queensland, New South Wales and New Zealand representative rugby league teams...

tournament culminates with 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...

' 23-22 win against Queensland in the final at ANZ Stadium before 35,570. This match is notable for being the longest ever played, at 104 minutes.
June 11 at Melbourne, Australia – The 1997 State of Origin series is wrapped up by 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...

in game two of the three-match series against Queensland at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...

before 25,105.
August 31 at Brisbane, Australia – South Queensland Crushers
South Queensland Crushers
The South Queensland Crushers were an Australian rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. In 1992 it was decided that the team would be admitted into the New South Wales Rugby League competition, along with three other teams, as part of the League's expansion plans for professional...

play their final game before folding: a 39-18 win over the Western Suburbs Magpies
Western Suburbs Magpies
The Western Suburbs Magpies are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly referred to, were one of the nine foundation clubs of the first New South Wales Rugby League competition in Australia...

at Lang Park before 11,588.
August 31 in England – Super League II
Super League II
Stones Bitter Super League II was the official name for the year 1997's Super League championship season, the 103rd season of top-level professional rugby league football in Britain, and the second championship run by Super League.-Season summary:...

's final match is played and Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league....

, who finished on top of the table, are crowned champions.
September 20 at Brisbane, Australia – the Australasian 1997 Super League season
Super League (Australia) season 1997
The 1997 Super League season was the 90th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the first and only to be run by the News Limited-controlled Super League organisation...

culminates in the Brisbane Broncos
Brisbane Broncos
The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the city of Brisbane, the capital of the state of Queensland. Founded in 1988, the Broncos play in Australasia's elite competition, the National Rugby League premiership. They have won six premierships and two...

' 26-8 win over the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the grand final at ANZ Stadium before 58,912.
September 28 at Sydney, Australia – the 1997 ARL season culminates in the Newcastle Knights
Newcastle Knights
The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership...

' 22-16 win over 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...

in the grand final at the Sydney Football Stadium before 42,482.
October 17 at Auckland, New Zealand – 1997 World Club Championship tournament culminates in the Brisbane Broncos
Brisbane Broncos
The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the city of Brisbane, the capital of the state of Queensland. Founded in 1988, the Broncos play in Australasia's elite competition, the National Rugby League premiership. They have won six premierships and two...

' 36-12 win over the Hunter Mariners
Hunter Mariners
The Hunter Mariners were an Australian rugby league club based in the Hunter Valley region's largest city, Newcastle. Hunter was formed in mid 1995 and was later disbanded at the end of 1997. The club was formed because of the Super League war, which was the rivalry between the traditional...

at Mount Smart Stadium before 12,000. This was the Mariners' final match before folding at the close of the season.
November 16 in Leeds, England The Super League Test series
Super League Test series
The Super League Test series was a three-Test match series between the Great Britain national rugby league team and Super League's Australian national team held during November 1997 in England...

is won by Australia who defeat Great Britain
Great Britain national rugby league team
The Great Britain national rugby league team represents the United Kingdom in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League , the team is nicknamed "The Lions" or "Great Britain Lions"....

20 - 37 in the third and deciding match at Elland Road
Elland Road
Elland Road is an all-seater football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has been the permanent residence of Leeds United A.F.C...

before a crowd of 39,337.

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...

103rd 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 France
France national rugby union team
The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...

who complete the Grand Slam
Grand Slam (Rugby Union)
In rugby union, a Grand Slam occurs when one team in the Six Nations Championship manages to beat all the others during one year's competition...

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...

– Ken Doherty
Ken Doherty
Ken Doherty is an Irish professional snooker player. He is the only player ever to have been world amateur and world professional champion...

beats 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...

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 1997/98

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...

March 28 – Japan's Ayari Aoyama
Ayari Aoyama
is a retired Japanese female butterfly swimmer. She represented her native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a former world record holder in the women's 100m butterfly event.-References:*...

breaks 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:...

's world record in the Women's 100m Butterfly (short course): 58:24
Third World Short Course Championships
1997 FINA Short Course World Championships
The 3rd FINA Short Course World Championships were held at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg, Sweden from April 17 – April 20, 1997.-Men:-Women:-Medal table:-References:* * *...

, held in Gothenburg, Sweden (April 17 – 20)
- April 19 – U.S.–swimmer Jenny Thompson
  Jenny Thompson
  Jennifer Beth Thompson is an American former competitive swimmer, and one of the most decorated Olympians in history, winning twelve medals, including eight gold medals , in the 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 Summer Olympics.Thompson, a Massachusetts native who calls Dover, New Hampshire her...
  
  breaks Ayari Aoyama
  Ayari Aoyama
  is a retired Japanese female butterfly swimmer. She represented her native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a former world record holder in the women's 100m butterfly event.-References:*...
  
  's world record in the Women's 100m Butterfly (short course): 57:79
- April 20 – Australia wins the most medals (17), and the most gold medals (9)
23rd European LC Championships
European LC Championships 1997
The 1997 LEN European Aquatics Championships were held in Seville, Spain from Tuesday 19 August to Sunday 24 August, in the 50 m pool of the Piscina Centro Deportivo San Pablo. The 23rd edition of the event was organised by the LEN...

, held in Seville, Spain (August 19 – 24)
- Germany wins the most medals (19), and the most gold medals (8)
XIX Summer Universiade
Swimming at the 1997 Summer Universiade
The swimming competition during the 1997 Summer Universiade, also known as the XIX Summer Universiade, was a long course event , and took place in Messina, on the island of Sicily, Italy from August 24 till August 30, 1997.-Men's events:...

, held on Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

, Italy (August 24 – 30)

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...
  
  – 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....
2. French Open – Gustavo Kuerten
  Gustavo Kuerten
  Gustavo Kuerten is a retired former World No. 1 tennis player from Brazil. He won the French Open three times between 1997 and 2001, and was the Tennis Masters Cup champion in 2000...
3. Wimbledon championships – 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....
4. US Open – Patrick Rafter
  Patrick Rafter
  Patrick "Pat" Michael Rafter is an Australian former World No. 1 tennis player. He twice won the men's singles title at the US Open and was twice the runner-up at Wimbledon. Rafter was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2006. He was known for his natural serve-and-volley style of...
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...
  
  – Martina Hingis
  Martina Hingis
  Martina Hingis is a retired Swiss professional tennis player who spent a total of 209 weeks as World No. 1. She won five Grand Slam singles titles...
2. French Open – Iva Majoli
  Iva Majoli
  Iva Majoli Marić is a former professional tennis player from Croatia. She upset Martina Hingis to win the women's singles title at the French Open in 1997. Majoli also won eight singles titles and one women's doubles title during her career.-Career:Majoli turned professional in 1991 at the age...
3. Wimbledon championships – Martina Hingis
  Martina Hingis
  Martina Hingis is a retired Swiss professional tennis player who spent a total of 209 weeks as World No. 1. She won five Grand Slam singles titles...
4. US Open – Martina Hingis
  Martina Hingis
  Martina Hingis is a retired Swiss professional tennis player who spent a total of 209 weeks as World No. 1. She won five Grand Slam singles titles...
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...

– Sweden won 5–0 over the United States in world tennis.

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: Italy
Women's World Grand Prix: Russia
Men's European Championship: Netherlands
Women's European Championship: Russia

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...

Men's World Cup: USA
Men's European Championship: Hungary
Women's European Championship: Italy

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

Second East Asian Games
East Asian Games
The East Asian Games is a multi-sport event organised by the East Asian Games Association and held every four years since 1993 among athletes from East Asian countries and territories of the Olympic Council of Asia , as well as the Pacific island of Guam, which is a member of the Oceania National...

held in Busan
Busan
Busan , formerly spelled Pusan is South Korea's second largest metropolis after Seoul, with a population of around 3.6 million. The Metropolitan area population is 4,399,515 as of 2010. It is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth largest port in the world...

, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
8th Pan Arab Games held in Beirut, Lebanon
Fifth World Games
World Games
The World Games, first held in 1981, are an international multi-sport event, meant for sports, or disciplines or events within a sport, that are not contested in the Olympic Games...

held in Lahti, Finland
13th Mediterranean Games
Mediterranean Games
The Mediterranean Games are a multi-sport games held every four years, mainly for nations bordering the Mediterranean Sea, where Europe, Africa and Asia meet. The idea was proposed at the 1948 Summer Olympics by Muhammed Taher Pasha, chairman of the Egyptian Olympic Committee, and they were first...

held in Bari, Italy
19th Summer Universiade
1997 Summer Universiade
The 1997 Summer Universiade, also known as the XIX Summer Universiade, took place in Sicily, Italy.-Medal table:...

held on Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

, Italy
18th Winter Universiade
1997 Winter Universiade
The 1997 Winter Universiade, the XVIII Winter Universiade, took place in Muju and Jeonju, South Korea.-Medal Table:...

held in Muju County
Muju County
Muju County , is a county in North Jeolla Province , South Korea. Muju is knownfor its Muju Firefly Festival and is considered the most popular tourism area.-History:...

, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

Awards

Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – 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...

, PGA golf
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis is a retired Swiss professional tennis player who spent a total of 209 weeks as World No. 1. She won five Grand Slam singles titles...

, 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...

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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 football

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...

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...