1972 in sports

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • A.J. Foyt won the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Richard Petty
• Indianapolis 500 - Mark Donohue
• USAC Racing - Joe Leonard won the season championship
• Formula One Championship - Emerson Fittipaldi of Brazil
• 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Henri Pescarolo / Graham Hill won, driving a Matra MS670
• Rally racing - Sandro Munari / Mario Manucci won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Lancia Fulvia 1.6HF
• Drag racing - Don Moody won "Top Fuel" at the NHRA Supernationals

Baseball

• World Series: Oakland Athletics won their 6th World Title by defeating the Cincinnati Reds, 4 games to 3.

• December 31 - The Pittsburgh Pirates' legendary right fielder Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash near Puerto Rico on his way to bring relief supplies to Nicaraguan earthquake victims.

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • UCLA wins 81-76 over Florida St.

• NBA Finals:
  • Los Angeles Lakers won 4 games to 1 over the New York Knicks

Boxing

• June 26 - Roberto Duran stopped Ken Buchanan in the thirteenth round to win the WBA Lightweight Championship.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Eddy Merckx of Belgium
• Tour de France - Eddy Merckx of Belgium
• World Cycling Championship: Marino Basso of Italy

Figure skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Ondrej Nepala, Czechoslovakia
  • Women's champion: Beatrix Schuba, Austria
  • Pairs champions: Irina Rodnina & Alexej Ulanow, Soviet Union

Football (Soccer)

• England - FA Cup: Leeds United won 1-0 over Arsenal

Football (American)

• Super Bowl VI: Dallas Cowboys won 24-3 over the Miami Dolphins

Canadian Football League

• Grey Cup: Hamilton Tiger-Cats won 13-10 over the Saskatchewan Roughriders
• Vanier Cup: Alberta Golden Bears won 20-7 over the Waterloo Golden Hawks

Golf

Men's Golf

• The European PGA tour begins its first season of competition.

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Jack Nicklaus
  2. June - US Open - Jack Nicklaus
  3. July - British Open - Lee Trevino
  4. August - PGA Championship - Gary Player

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Jack Nicklaus - $320,542

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Susie Berning
• LPGA Championship - Kathy Ahern
• Kathy Whitworth: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $65,063

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Piping Lane
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Victoria Song
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - San San
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Steel Pulse

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - High Top
  2. Epsom Derby - Roberto
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Boucher

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Riva Ridge
  2. Preakness Stakes - Bee Bee Bee
  3. Belmont Stakes - Riva Ridge

Harness Racing

• September 21 - Strike Out became the first Canadian owned harness racing horse to ever win the Little Brown Jug.

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Hilarious Way
  2. Little Brown Jug - Strike Out
  3. Messenger Stakes - Silent Majority

• Super Bowl wins the United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Super Bowl
  2. Yonkers Trot - Super Bowl
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Super Bowl

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Welcome Advice

Ice Hockey

• World Hockey Association (WHA) formed to compete with the NHL. This new league signed several of the top NHL stars including Bobby Hull and Derek Sanderson.

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Phil Esposito, Boston Bruins

• Hart Memorial Trophy: for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins

• Stanley Cup - Boston Bruins win 4 games to 2 over the New York Rangers

• September 28 - Paul Henderson scores the “goal of the century” to give Canada the series win in the first ever Canada versus the Soviet Union hockey showdown.

• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Czechoslovakia defeated the Soviet Union

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Gustavo Thoeni, Italy
  • The women's overall season champion: Annemarie Pröll, Austria

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis mens results:
  1. Australian Open - Ken Rosewall
  2. French Open - Andres Gimeno
  3. Wimbledon championships - Stan Smith
  4. US Open - Ilie Nastase

• Grand Slam in tennis womens results:
  1. Australian Open - Virginia Wade
  2. French Open - Billie Jean King
  3. Wimbledon championships - Billie Jean King
  4. US Open - Billie Jean King

• Davis Cup: United States wins 3-2 over Romania in world tennis.

General sporting events

• Alex Higgins won the World Professional Snooker Championship

Births

• February 11 - Dennis Iliohan, Dutch football player
• February 15 - Jaromir Jagr, ice hockey star
• February 17 - Philippe Candeloro, figure skater
• March 6 - Shaquille O' Neal, basketball player
• March 17 - Mia Hamm, soccer player
• March 22 - Elvis Stojko, figure skating champion
• April 17 - Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lankan cricketer
• June 23 - Zinedine Zidane, French football star
• November 4 - Luis Figo, Portuguese football star

Deaths

• February 28 - Victor Barna, Hungarian-born, 5 time World table tennis champ
• February 28 - Dizzy Trout, Major League Baseball pitcher (1939-1957)
• March 11 - Zack Wheat, Major League Baseball player (1909-1927)
• March 16 - Pie Traynor, Major League Baseball player (1920-1937)
• March 28 - Donie Bush, Major League Baseball player (1908-1923)
• April 2 - Gil Hodges, Major League Baseball player/manager (1943-1963)
• October 9 - Dave Bancroft, Major League Baseball player (1915-1930)
• October 17 - Turk Broda, ice hockey goaltender
• October 24 - Jackie Robinson, (Baseball Hall of Famer) (1947-1956)
• December 31 - Roberto Clemente, (Baseball Hall of Famer) (1955-1972)
• December 20 - Gabby Hartnett, Major League Baseball player (1922-1941)

Referenced By