1986 in sports

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • Geoff Bodine[?] won the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Dale Earnhardt
• Indianapolis 500 - Bobby Rahal[?]
• CART Racing - Bobby Rahal[?]
• Formula One Championship - Alain Prost of France
• 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Derek Bell[?] / Hans-Joachim Stuck[?] / Al Holbert[?] won, driving a Porsche 962C
• Rally racing - the team of Henri Toivonen[?] / Sergio Cresto[?] won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Lancia Delta S4
• Drag racing:
  • Don Garlits won the NHRA "Top Fuel" championship
  • Darrell Gwynn[?] won "Top Fuel" at the NHRA Winston Finals

Baseball

• World Series: New York Mets won 4 games to 3 over the Boston Red Sox

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • Louisville wins 72-69 over Duke
• NBA Finals:
  • Boston Celtics win 4 games to 2 over the Houston Rockets

Boxing

• March 10 in Las Vegas, Nevada - Marvin Hagler retained the World Middleweight Championship with an 11th round knockout of John Mugabi.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Roberto Visentini[?] of Italy
• Tour de France - Greg Lemond[?] is the first winner from the United States
• World Cycling Championship: Moreno Argentin[?] of Italy

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Brian Boitano, United States
  • Women's champion: Debi Thomas[?], United States
  • Pairs champions: Jekaterina Gordejewa[?] & Sergej Grinkow[?], Soviet Union

Football (Soccer)

• World Cup: Argentina won 3-2 over West Germany

• England - FA Cup: Liverpool won 3-1 over Everton

Football (American)

• Super Bowl XX: Chicago Bears won 46-10 over the New England Patriots

Canadian Football League

• Grey Cup: Hamilton Tiger-Cats won 39-15 over the Edmonton Eskimos
• Vanier Cup: UBC Thunderbirds[?] won 25-23 over the Western Ontario Mustangs[?]

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Jack Nicklaus
  2. June - US Open - Ray Floyd[?]
  3. July - British Open - Greg Norman
  4. August - PGA Championship - Bob Tway[?]

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Greg Norman - $653,296
• PGA Champions Tour leading money winner: Bruce Crampton[?] - $454,299

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Jane Geddes[?]
• LPGA Championship - Pat Bradley[?]
• Pat Bradley[?]: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $492,021

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - At Talaq[?]
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Golden Choice[?]
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Dancing Brave[?]
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Shahrastani[?]

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Dancing Brave[?]
  2. Epsom Derby - Shahrastani[?]
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Moon Madness[?]

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Ferdinand
  2. Preakness Stakes - Snow Chief[?]
  3. Belmont Stakes - Danzig Connection[?]

Harness Racing

• North America Cup - Goalie Jeff[?]

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Barberry Spur[?]
  2. Little Brown Jug - Barberry Spur[?]
  3. Messenger Stakes - Amity Chef[?]

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Nuclear Kosmos[?]
  2. Yonkers Trot -
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Sugarcane Hanover[?]

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Village Kid[?]

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial 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

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Marc Girardelli[?], Luxembourg
  • The women's overall season champion: Maria Walliser[?], Switzerland

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - no tournament held
  2. French Open - Ivan Lendl[?]
  3. Wimbledon championships - Boris Becker
  4. US Open - Boris Becker

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - no tournament held
  2. French Open - Chris Evert
  3. Wimbledon championships - Martina Navratilova
  4. US Open - Martina Navratilova

• Davis Cup: Australia won 3-2 over Sweden in world tennis.

General sporting events

• British Commonwealth Games held in Edinburgh, Scotland

• Embassy World Snooker Championship[?]:
  • Joe Johnson[?] won 18-14 over Steve Davis[?]

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
  • Susan Butcher[?] won with lead dogs: Granite & Mattie

Births

Deaths

• February 17 - Red Ruffing[?], Major League Baseball pitcher (1924-1947)
• February 27 - Jacques Plante, NHL ice hockey star
• April 6 - Bill Cook[?], NHL star, New York Rangers
• June 19 - Len Bias[?], top draft pick of the Boston Celtics, cocaine-induced seizure
• June 27 - Don Rogers[?], football player, Cleveland Browns, cocaine poisoning
• July 2 - Peanuts Lowrey[?], Major League Baseball player (1942-1955)
• July 15 - Billy Haughton[?], Hall of Fame harness-racing driver
• July 25 - Ted Lyons[?], Major League Baseball pitcher (1923-1946)
• September 4 - Hank Greenberg, Detroit Tigers baseball great (1930-1947)
• October 12 - Norm Cash[?], Detroit Tigers baseball great (1958-1974)
• December 1 - Bobby Layne[?], football player, Detroit Lions