# 1986 in sports

1986 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

## Alpine skiing

* Alpine Skiing World Cup –
** Men's overall season champion: Marc Girardelli, Luxembourg
** Women's overall season champion: Maria Walliser, Switzerland

## American football

* Super Bowl XX – the Chicago Bears (NFC) won 46–10 over the New England Patriots (AFC)
** Location: Superdome
** Attendance: 73,818
** MVP: Richard Dent, DE (Chicago)
* Linebacker Lawrence Taylor of the New York Giants wins the NFL Most Valuable Player Award
* January 1 – Orange Bowl (1985 season):
** The Oklahoma Sooners won 25–10 over the Penn State Nittany Lions to win the national championship
* Quarterback Vinny Testaverde of the Miami Hurricanes is awarded the Heisman Trophy

## Association football

* 1986 FIFA World Cup – In the final, Argentina defeated West Germany 3–2 and won their second World Cup title. It was played for the second time in Mexico City, Azteca Stadium.
* UEFA Champions League – Steaua București 0–0 F.C. Barcelona; Steaua București won 2–0 on penalties
* UEFA Cup –Two legs; 1st leg Real Madrid C.F. 5–1 1. FC Köln; 2nd leg 1.FC Köln 2–0 Real Madrid CF. Real Madrid CF won 5–3 on aggregate
* Cup Winners' Cup – Dinamo Kiev 3–0 Atlético Madrid
* Super Cup – Steaua București 1–0 Dinamo Kiev
* Copa Libertadores de América – Two legs; 1st leg América de Cali 1–2 River Plate; 2nd leg River Plate 1–0 América. River Plate won 3–1 on aggregate
* November 6 – Alex Ferguson is appointed manager of Manchester United F.C.
* Milk Cup Final held at Wembley Stadium – Oxford United 3–0 QPR
* Intercontinental Cup – River Plate 1–0 Steaua București

## Australian rules football

* Victorian Football League
** Hawthorn wins the 90th VFL Premiership (Hawthorn 16.14 (110) d Carlton 9.14 (68))
** Brownlow Medal awarded to Greg Williams (Sydney Swans) and Robert DiPierdomenico (Hawthorn)
** The national draft is held for the first time.

## Baseball

* Major League Baseball
** American League defeats the National League 3–2 in the 1986 Major League Baseball All-Star Game played in Houston, Texas. Roger Clemens of the Boston Red Sox is named the game's Most Valuable Player.
** All-Star Game: American League Manager Dick Howser is diagnosed with brain cancer after mixing up signals during the game.
** Dave Righetti saves 46 games for the New York Yankees, breaking a record shared by Dan Quisenberry and Bruce Sutter.
** October 27 – World Series – The New York Mets win 4 games to 3 over the Boston Red Sox. The series is best remembered for Game 6, when the Red Sox were one out away from the Series victory but blew a 2-run lead with the bases empty and 2 outs in the bottom of the 10th inning; the game's final play was a groundball that rolled through the legs of first baseman Bill Buckner.
* Jeff King of the University of Arkansas is the #1 overall pick in the 1986 MLB draft selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates
* Arizona Wildcats defeat Florida State Seminoles 10–2 in College World Series

## Basketball

* NCAA Men's Basketball Championship –
** Louisville Cardinals wins 72–69 over Duke Blue Devils
** Duke Blue Devils Guard Johnny Dawkins is named Naismith College Player of the Year
* NBA Finals
** June – Boston Celtics win 4 games to 2 over the Houston Rockets
* Boston Celtics Forward Larry Bird is awarded NBA Most Valuable Player Award
* National Basketball League (Australia) Finals:
** Adelaide 36ers defeated the Brisbane Bullets 2–1 in the best-of-three final series.
* FIBA World Championship
** United States World Champion

## Boxing

* March 10 in Las Vegas, Nevada – Marvin Hagler retains the World Middleweight Championship with an 11th-round knockout of John Mugabi.
* May 8 to 18 – Fourth World Amateur Boxing Championships are held in Reno, United States
* November 22 – Mike Tyson knocks out Trevor Berbick in round 2 to become the youngest world heavyweight-boxing champion at 20 years and 4 months old

## Canadian football

* Grey Cup – Hamilton Tiger-Cats won 39–15 over the Edmonton Eskimos
* Vanier Cup – UBC Thunderbirds won 25–23 over the Western Ontario Mustangs

## Cricket

* Sri Lanka defeats Pakistan to win the 1986 Asia Cup, the second edition of the Asia Cup.
* Pakistan national cricket team defeats India in the final to win the 1986 Austral-Asia Cup, the inaugural edition of the Austral-Asia Cup.

## Cycling

* Giro d'Italia won by Roberto Visentini of Italy
* Tour de France – Greg LeMond is the first winner from the United States
* UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race – Moreno Argentin of Italy

## Dogsled racing

* Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion –
** Susan Butcher won with lead dogs: Granite & Mattie

## Field hockey

* Men's World Cup held in London won by Australia
* Women's World Cup held in Amstelveen won by the Netherlands
* Men's Champions Trophy held in Karachi won by West Germany

## Figure skating

* World Figure Skating Championships –
** Men's champion: Brian Boitano, United States
** Ladies' champion: Debi Thomas, United States
** Pair skating champions: Ekaterina Gordeeva / Sergei Grinkov, Soviet Union
** Ice dancing champions: Natalia Bestemianova / Andrei Bukin, Soviet Union

## Gaelic Athletic Association

* Camogie
** All-Ireland Camogie Champion: Kilkenny
** National Camogie League: Cork
* Gaelic football
** All-Ireland Senior Football Championship – Kerry 2–15 died Tyrone 1–10
** National Football League – Laois 2–6 died Monaghan 2–5
* Ladies' Gaelic football
** All-Ireland Senior Football Champion: Kerry
** National Football League: Wexford
* Hurling
** All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship – Cork 4–13 died Galway 2–15
** National Hurling League – Kilkenny 2–10 beat Galway 2–6

## General

* 17 October – The IOC votes that the 1992 Olympic Summer Games will be held in Barcelona, Spain.

## Golf

Men's professional
* Masters Tournament – Jack Nicklaus becomes the oldest Masters winner (age 46), and wins his last major golf championship (excluding the Senior PGA Tour).
* U.S. Open – Raymond Floyd
* British Open – Greg Norman
* PGA Championship – Bob Tway
* PGA Tour money leader – Greg Norman – $653,296
* Senior PGA Tour money leader – Bruce Crampton – $454,299
Men's amateur
* British Amateur – David Curry
* U.S. Amateur – Buddy Alexander
* European Amateur – Anders Haglund
Women's professional
* Nabisco Dinah Shore – Pat Bradley
* LPGA Championship – Pat Bradley
* U.S. Women's Open – Jane Geddes
* Classique du Maurier Classic – Pat Bradley
* LPGA Tour money leader – Pat Bradley – $492,021

## Harness racing

* North America Cup – Quite A Sensation
* United States Pacing Triple Crown races –
** Cane Pace – Barberry Spur
** Little Brown Jug – Barberry Spur
** Messenger Stakes – Amity Chef
* United States Trotting Triple Crown races –
** Hambletonian – Nuclear Kosmos
** Yonkers Trot – Gunslinger Spur
** Kentucky Futurity – Sugarcane Hanover
* Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
** Pacers: Village Kid

## Horse racing

Steeplechases
* Cheltenham Gold Cup – Dawn Run
* Grand National – West Tip
Flat races
* Australia – Melbourne Cup won by At Talaq
* Canada – Queen's Plate won by Golden Choice
* France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Dancing Brave
* Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Shahrastani
* Japan – Japan Cup won by Jupiter Island
* English Triple Crown Races:
** 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Dancing Brave
** The Derby – Shahrastani
** St. Leger Stakes – Moon Madness
* United States Triple Crown Races:
** Kentucky Derby – Ferdinand
** Preakness Stakes – Snow Chief
** Belmont Stakes – Danzig Connection
* Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships:
** Breeders' Cup Classic – Skywalker
** Breeders' Cup Distaff – Lady's Secret
** Breeders' Cup Juvenile – Capote
** Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies – Brave Raj
** Breeders' Cup Mile – Last Tycoon
** Breeders' Cup Sprint – Smile
** Breeders' Cup Turf – Manila

## Ice hockey

* Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
* Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
* Stanley Cup – Montreal Canadiens won 4 games to 1 over the Calgary Flames
* World Hockey Championship –
** Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Sweden
** Junior Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Canada

## Lacrosse

* The 5th World Lacrosse Championship is held in Toronto. The United States win, and Canada is the runner-up.
* The first Japanese lacrosse team is formed at Keio University.
* The Major Indoor Lacrosse League (MILL) is formed as the Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League.
* The New Westminster Salmonbellies win the Mann Cup.
* Mississauga wins the Founders Cup.
* The Peterborough Maulers win the Minto Cup.

## Radiosport

* Third Amateur Radio Direction Finding World Championship held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.

## Rugby league

* 1986 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France
* 1986 National Panasonic Cup
* 1986 New Zealand rugby league season
* 1986 NSWRL season
* 1986 Pacific Cup
* 1986–87 Rugby Football League season / 1985–86 Rugby Football League season
* 1986 State of Origin series
* 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup

## Rugby union

* 92nd Five Nations Championship series is shared by France and Scotland

## Snooker

* World Snooker Championship – Joe Johnson beats Steve Davis 18–12
* World rankings – Steve Davis remains world number one for 1986/87

## Swimming

* The fifth FINA World Championships held in Madrid, Spain
* June 26 – Matt Biondi clocks 22.33 to take the world record from fellow American Tom Jager (22.40) in the 50m freestyle (long course)

## Tennis

* Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
** Australian Open – no tournament held
** French Open – Ivan Lendl
** Wimbledon championships – Boris Becker
** U.S. Open – Ivan Lendl
* Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
** Australian Open – no tournament held
** French Open – Chris Evert
** Wimbledon championships – Martina Navratilova
** U.S. Open – Martina Navratilova
* Davis Cup – Australia won 3–2 over Sweden in world tennis.

## Volleyball

* Men's World Championship held in Paris won by USA
* Women's World Championship held in Prague won by China

## Water polo

* Men's World Championship held in Madrid won by Yugoslavia
* Women's World Championship held in Madrid won by Australia

## Multi-sport events

* Asian Games held in Seoul, South Korea
* Winter Asian Games held in Sapporo, Japan
* Central American and Caribbean Games held in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic
* Commonwealth Games held in Edinburgh, Scotland
* Summer Goodwill Games held in Moscow, Soviet Union

## Awards

* ABC Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year – Debi Thomas, Figure Skating
* Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Larry Bird, NBA Finals NBA basketball
* Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Martina Navratilova, Tennis
* Joe Paterno is named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year