1976 in sports

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • David Pearson[?] won the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Cale Yarborough[?]
• Indianapolis 500 - Johnny Rutherford[?]
• USAC Racing - Gordon Johncock[?] won the season championship
• Formula One Championship:
  • James Hunt[?] of Great Britain
  • Niki Lauda's famous accident occurred during the German Grand Prix at Nurburgring.
• 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Jacky Ickx / Gijs van Lennep[?] won, driving a Porsche 936
• Rally racing - the team of Sandro Munari[?] / Mario Manucci[?] won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Lancia Stratos HF[?]
• Drag racing: Shirley Muldowney[?] won "Top Fuel" at the NHRA World Finals

Baseball

• World Series: Cincinnati Reds (aka the "Big Red Machine") sweep the New York Yankees 4 games to 0

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • Indiana wins 86-68 over Michigan

• NBA Finals:
  • Boston Celtics win 4 games to 2 over the Phoenix Suns

Boxing

• October 8 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, former world featherweight champion Eder Jofre[?] fought his last fight, outpointing Mexico's Octavio (Famoso) Gomez[?] in ten rounds.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Felice Gimondi[?] of Italy
• Tour de France - Lucien Van Impe[?] of Belgium
• World Cycling Championship: Freddy Maertens[?] of Belgium

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: John Curry[?], Great Britain
  • Women's champion: Dorothy Hamill[?], United States
  • Pairs champions: Irina Rodnina[?] & Alexander Saizew[?], Soviet Union

Football (Soccer)

• England - FA Cup: Southampton won 1-0 over Manchester United

Football (American)

• Super Bowl X: Pittsburgh Steelers won 21-17 over the Dallas Cowboys

Canadian Football League

• Grey Cup: Ottawa Rough Riders won 23-20 over the Saskatchewan Roughriders
• Vanier Cup: Western Ontario Mustangs[?] won 29-13 over the Acadia Axmen[?]

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Ray Floyd[?]
  2. June - US Open - Jerry Pate[?]
  3. July - British Open - Johnny Miller[?]
  4. August - PGA Championship - Dave Stockton[?]

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Jack Nicklaus - $266,439

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - JoAnne Carner[?]
• LPGA Championship - Betty Burfeindt[?]
• Judy Rankin[?] is the leading money winner on the LPGA tour. With total earnings of $150,734, she is the first to ever earn more than $100,000 in a season.

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Van der Hum[?]
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Norcliffe[?]
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Ivanjica[?]
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Malacate[?]

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Wollow[?]
  2. Epsom Derby - Empery[?]
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Crow[?]

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Bold Forbes[?]
  2. Preakness Stakes - Elocutionist[?]
  3. Belmont Stakes - Bold Forbes[?]

Harness Racing

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Keystone Ore[?]
  2. Little Brown Jug - Keystone Ore[?]
  3. Messenger Stakes - Windshield Wiper[?]

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Steve Lobell[?]
  2. Yonkers Trot - Steve Lobell[?]
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Quick Pay[?]

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Carclew[?]
  • Trotters: Bay Johnny[?]

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Guy Lafleur[?], Montreal Canadiens

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Bobby Clarke[?] - Philadelphia Flyers

• Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 0 over the Philadelphia Flyers

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

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Ingemar Stenmark[?], Sweden
  • The women's overall season champion: Rosi Mittermaier[?], W. Germany

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Mark Edmondson[?]
  2. French Open - Adriano Panatta[?]
  3. Wimbledon championships - Bjorn Borg
  4. US Open - Jimmy Connors

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Evonne Goolagong Cawley
  2. French Open - Sue Barker[?]
  3. Wimbledon championships - Chris Evert
  4. US Open - Chris Evert

• Davis Cup: Italy wins 4-1 over Chile in world tennis.

General sporting events

• Embassy World Snooker Championship[?]:
  • Ray Reardon[?] wins the first ever title, 27-16 over Alex Higgins[?]

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
  • Gerald Riley[?] won with lead dogs: Puppy & Sugar

Births

Deaths

• January 18 - Ad Verhoeven[?], Dutch soccer player
• February 2 - Harry Elliott[?], English cricket wicketkeeper
• March 6 - Max 'Slapsie Maxie' Rosenbloom[?], boxer, actor
• March 11 - Larry Gardner[?], Major League Baseball player (1908-1924)
• May 30 - Max Carey[?], Major League Baseball player (1910-1929)
• June 15 - Jimmy Dykes[?], Major League Baseball player (1918-1939)
• September 25 - Red Faber[?], Major League Baseball, pitcher (1914-1933)