# 1896 in sports

1896 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

## Athletics

* USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
* March 22 - Greek runner Charilaos Vasilakos wins the first modern marathon (3:18)

## American football

College championship
* College football national championship – Princeton Tigers
Professional championships
* Western Pennsylvania champions – Allegheny Athletic Association

## Association football

Canada
* March 15th - The Newfoundland Football League is founded.
* March 19th - The Manitoba Football Association is founded.
England
* The Football League – Aston Villa 45 points, Derby County 41, Everton 39, Bolton Wanderers 37, Sunderland 37, Stoke FC 30
* FA Cup final – The Wednesday 2–1 Wolverhampton Wanderers at Crystal Palace, London.
Scotland
* Scottish Football League – Celtic
* Scottish Cup final – Hearts 3–1 Hibernian at Logie Green

## Australian Rules Football

* Victorian Football Association premiers - Collingwood
* SANFL premiers - South Adelaide
* WAFL premiers - Fremantle

## Baseball

National championship
* Baltimore Orioles win the third of three successive National League championships
Events
* Temple Cup – Baltimore Orioles 4–0 Cleveland Spiders

## Boxing

* 10 March - After Bob Fitzsimmons KOs much larger Jim Corbett to win world HW championship he says, The bigger they are, the harder they fall
Lineal world champions
* World Heavyweight Championship – James J. Corbett
* World Middleweight Championship – title vacant
* World Welterweight Championship – Tommy Ryan
* World Lightweight Championship – vacant → George "Kid" Lavigne
* World Featherweight Championship – George Dixon
* World Bantamweight Championship – Jimmy Barry

## Canadian Football

* Ontario Rugby Football Union - University of Toronto
* Quebec Rugby Football Union - Ottawa College
* Manitoba Rugby Football Union - St John's
* Northwest Championship - Winnipeg
* Dominion Championship - Ottawa College defeats the University of Toronto 12-8

## Cricket

Events
* England retain The Ashes, defeating Australia 2–1 in a three-match series. In a low-scoring decider at The Oval, England win by 66 runs.
England
* County Championship – Yorkshire
* Minor Counties Championship – Worcestershire
* Most runs – K S Ranjitsinhji 2780 @ 57.91 (HS 171*)
* Most wickets – J T Hearne 257 @ 14.28 (BB 9–73)
* Wisden Five Cricketers of the Season – Syd Gregory, Dick Lilley, K S Ranjitsinhji, Tom Richardson, Hugh Trumble
Australia
* Sheffield Shield – New South Wales
* Most runs – Harry Donnan 626 @ 69.55 (HS 160)
* Most wickets – Tom McKibbin 46 @ 23.86 (BB 8–93)
India
* Bombay Presidency – Europeans shared with Parsees
South Africa
* Currie Cup – not contested
West Indies
* Inter-Colonial Tournament – not contested

## Figure skating

Events
* Inaugural World Figure Skating Championships (open to men only) is held in Saint Petersburg
World Figure Skating Championships
* World Men's Champion – Gilbert Fuchs (Germany)

## Golf

Major tournaments
* British Open – Harry Vardon (the first of Vardon's six British Open titles)
* U.S. Open – James Foulis
Other tournaments
* British Amateur – Freddie Tait
* US Amateur – H. J. Whigham

## Horse racing

England
* Grand National – The Soarer
* 1,000 Guineas Stakes – Thais
* 2,000 Guineas Stakes – St. Frusquin
* The Derby – Persimmon
* The Oaks – Canterbury Pilgrim
* St. Leger Stakes – Persimmon
Australia
* Melbourne Cup – Newhaven
Canada
* Queen's Plate – Millbrook
Ireland
* Irish Grand National – Royston Crow
* Irish Derby Stakes – Gulsalberk
USA
* Kentucky Derby – Lieut. Gibson
* Preakness Stakes – Margrave
* Belmont Stakes – Hastings

## Ice hockey

* 14 February — the Winnipeg Victorias defeat the Montreal Victorias 2–0 in a challenge match to win the 1896 Stanley Cup championship
* 7 March — the Montreal Victorias are the 1896 AHAC season champions.
* March — Queen's University defeats Stratford, Ontario 12–3 to win the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) title. The club does not challenge Winnipeg.
* 17 November — the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, which later became the first ice hockey league to openly trade and hire players, began play at Pittsburgh's Schenley Park Casino.
* 17 December — the Schenley Park Casino, which was the first multi-purpose arena with the technology to create an artificial ice surface in North America as well as the home to the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, was destroyed in a fire.
* 30 December — the Montreal Victorias defeat the Winnipeg Victorias 6–5 in a challenge match to regain the Stanley Cup

## Motor racing

Paris-Marseille-Paris Trail
* The 1896 Paris–Marseille–Paris Trail is held over 1710 km from 24 September to 3 October and won by Émile Mayade driving a Panhard-Levassor 8 hp model in a time of 67:42:58. The race is in retrospect sometimes referred to as the II Grand Prix de l'ACF.

## Olympic Games

1896 Summer Olympics
* The 1896 Summer Olympics, the first modern Games, takes place in Athens with 13 nations competing, the most competitors coming from Greece, Germany and France.
* 16 April — American James Connolly wins the triple jump to become the first Olympic champion in over 1,500 years.
* Winners receive a silver medal and a crown of olive branches; Greece wins the most medals (46) and the United States wins the most gold medals (11).

## Rowing

The Boat Race
* 28 March — Oxford wins the 53rd Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race
* There is no Harvard–Yale Regatta during "a breakdown in relations between the two schools". From the third Race in 1859, the only exceptions outside major wars are 1871 and 1896.

## Rugby league

Events
* In the 1895–96 Northern Rugby Football Union season's final match, Manningham defeats Halifax to claim the inaugural Rugby Football League Championship.
* The inaugural Rugby League Challenge Cup competition begins in the 1896–97 season.
England
* Championship – Manningham
* Lancashire League Championship – Runcorn
* Yorkshire League Championship – Manningham

## Rugby union

Home Nations Championship
* 14th Home Nations Championship series is won by Ireland

## Skiing

* The foundation of the Ski-Club of Grenoble by Henry Duhamel.

## Speed skating

Speed Skating World Championships
* Men's All-round Champion – Jaap Eden (Netherlands)

## Tennis

England
* Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship – Harold Mahony (Ireland) defeats Wilfred Baddeley (GB) 6–2 6–8 5–7 8–6 6–3
* Wimbledon Women's Singles Championship – Charlotte Cooper Sterry (GB) defeats Alice Simpson-Pickering (GB) 6–2 6–3
France
* French Men's Singles Championship – André Vacherot (France) defeats Gérard Brosselin (France) 6–1 7–5
USA
* American Men's Singles Championship – Robert Wrenn (USA) defeats Fred Hovey (USA) 7–5 3–6 6–0 1–6 6–1
* American Women's Singles Championship – Elisabeth Moore (USA) defeats Juliette Atkinson (USA) 6–4 4–6 6–2 6–2