1987 in sports

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • Bill Elliott[?] won the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Dale Earnhardt
• Indianapolis 500 - Al Unser, Sr.[?]
• CART Racing - Bobby Rahal[?] won the season championship
• Formula One Championship - Nelson Piquet of Brazil
• 24 hours of Le Mans: won by the team of Derek Bell[?] / Hans-Joachim Stuck[?] / Al Holbert[?] driving a Porsche 962C
• Rally racing - the team of Miki Biasion[?] / Tiziano Siviero[?] won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Lancia Delta HF 4x4
• Drag racing:
  • Dick LaHaie[?] won the NHRA "Top Fuel" championship.
  • Darrell Gwynn[?] won "Top Fuel" at the NHRA Winston Finals

Baseball

• World Series: Minnesota Twins won 4 games to 3 over the St. Louis Cardinals. The Series MVP was Frank Viola[?], Minnesota

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • Indiana wins 74-73 over Syracuse

• NBA Finals:
  • Los Angeles Lakers won 4 games to 2 over the Boston Celtics

Boxing

• March 7 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Mike Tyson became the youngest heavyweight titlist ever when he beat James Smith in a 12 round decision.

• April 6 - Sugar Ray Leonard beats Marvin Hagler for boxing's world Middleweight championship.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Stephen Roche[?] of Ireland
• Tour de France - Stephen Roche[?] of Ireland
• World Cycling Championship: Stephen Roche[?] of Ireland

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Brian Orser[?], Canada
  • Women's champion: Katarina Witt, Germany
  • Pairs champions: Jekaterina Gordejewa[?] & Sergej Grinkow[?], Soviet Union

Football (Soccer)

• England - FA Cup: Coventry[?] won 3-2 (aet) over Tottenham Hotspur

Football (American)

• Super Bowl XXI: New York Giants won 39-20 over the Denver Broncos

Canadian Football League

• Grey Cup: Edmonton Eskimos won 38-36 over the Toronto Argonauts
• Vanier Cup: McGill Redmen[?] won 47-11 over the UBC Thunderbirds[?]

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Larry Mize[?]
  2. June - US Open - Scott Simpson[?]
  3. July - British Open - Nick Faldo[?]
  4. August - PGA Championship - Larry Nelson[?]

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Curtis Strange[?] - $925,941
• PGA Champions Tour leading money winner Chi Chi Rodriguez[?] - $509,145
• Ryder Cup: Europe won 15-13 over the United States in world team golf.

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Laura Davies[?]
• LPGA Championship - Jane Geddes[?]
• Ayako Okamoto[?]: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $466,034

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Kensl[?]
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Market Control[?]
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Trempolino[?]
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Sir Harry Lewis[?]

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Don't Forget Me[?]
  2. Epsom Derby - Reference Point[?]
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Reference Point[?]

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Alysheba[?]
  2. Preakness Stakes - Alysheba[?]
  3. Belmont Stakes - Bet Twice[?]

Harness Racing

• The North America Cup - Runnymede Lobell[?]

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Righteous Bucks[?]
  2. Little Brown Jug - Jaguar Spur[?]
  3. Messenger Stakes - Redskin[?]

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

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Lightning Blue[?]
  • Trotters: Tussle[?]

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: Edmonton Oilers won 4 games to 3 over the Philadelphia Flyers

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

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Pirmin Zurbriggen[?], Switzerland
  • The women's overall season champion: Maria Walliser[?], Switzerland

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Stefan Edberg[?]
  2. French Open - Ivan Lendl[?]
  3. Wimbledon championships - Pat Cash[?]
  4. US Open - Ivan Lendl[?]

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Hana Mandlikova
  2. French Open - Steffi Graf
  3. Wimbledon championships - Martina Navratilova
  4. US Open - Martina Navratilova

• Davis Cup: Sweden won 5-0 over India in world tennis.

General sporting events

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

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

Births

Deaths

• March 11 - Woody Hayes[?], football coach at Ohio State University
• March 23 - Dean Paul Martin[?] 29, tennis pro killed in plane crash, son of singer Dean Martin
• April 15 - Northern Dancer, thoroughbred race horse
• May 31 - Dequinha[?], Brazilian[?] soccer star
• May 31 - Jerry Adair[?], Major League Baseball player, (1958-1970)
• August 16 - Nick Vanos[?], NBA basketball player, died in a plane crash
• November 17 - Paul Derringer[?], Major League Baseball pitcher, (1931-1945)
• November 18 - Jacques Anquetil[?], great French cyclist