Sporting Highlights for 1994
Here are the sporting highlights of the world of sport in 1994. There were a few major world sporting events this year, such as the Winter Olympics, FIFA World Cup and the Commonwealth Games.
The FIFA World Cup came to the USA for the first time, breaking tourament attendance records with nearly 69,000 spectators per game. Brazil became the first nation to win four World Cup titles, beating Italy 3–2 in a penalty shootout after the game ended nil all. It was the first World Cup final to be decided on penalties.
The world was also shocked at the shooting death of Andrés Escobar, a Colombian footballer who was shot and killed in what is widely believed to be a murder due to his own goal in the World Cup.
In English football, Manchester United repeated their drought breaking league win from last year, but added to that the FA Cup to win a rare double. In the FA Cup final they crushed Chelsea 4-0 with Eric Cantona scoring twice from the penalty spot.
There was a Major League Baseball player's strike, lasting 232-days from August 12, 1994, to April 2, 1995. Consequently there was no Baseball World Series. The only other time no World Series was played was in 1904.
Sir Richard Hadlee of New Zealand held the record for most number of test wickets at 431 for several years until it was broken by Kapil Dev of India on Feb 8th. Kapil Dev retired from test cricket soon afterwards with a total of 434 wickets. Though the record seems insignificant today with Muttiah Muralitharan's 800 total wickets, it was a well-respected mark back then.
The year also saw the retirement of Australian great Allan Border and the emergence of West Indian Brian Lara who scored 375 runs in a single day against England. Lara later in the year also scored 390 in a single day and a total of 501 runs in a county cricket match in England.
It was the year of the Winter Olympics, and the drama began well before the games. Nancy Kerrigan, the then star figure skater was attacked on the knee by her rival Tonya Harding's bodyguard. Kerrigan however recovered from the injury within weeks and went on to win the silver medal.
In November, George Foreman won the world heavyweight title at the age of 45.
Michael Schumacher won his first drivers’ championship by one point in one of the closest championships ever in the history of F1. The 1994 season though would forever be remembered for the accident and death of racing great Ayrton Senna.
See the Top Earners for 1994.
Below is a timeline of some significant results in the world of sport for the year 1994.
| Date | Results |
|---|---|
| Jan | Tennis Australia Open singles won by Pete Sampras and Steffi Graf |
| Jan | Super Bowl held in Atlanta won by Dallas |
| Feb 12-27 | Winter Olympic Games were held in Lillehammer, Norway |
| April | Golf Masters won by José María Olazábal (1st win) |
| May | Tennis French Open won by Sergi Bruguera and A. Sanchez Vicario |
| June | Golf US Open won by Ernie Els. |
| June 17 - July 17 | FIFA World Cup (Football) tournament was held in US, won by Brazil |
| July | the 1994 Cycling Tour de France was won by Miguel Induráin |
| July | Tennis Wimbledon won by Pete Sampras and Conchita Martinez |
| July | Golf The Open Championship won by Nick Price |
| Aug 18-28 | Commonwealth Games held in Victoria, Canada. |
| Aug | Golf US PGA won by Nick Price (2nd win) |
| Sep | Tennis US Open won by Andre Agassi and A. Sanchez Vicario |
Please note that the dates for past events are not always known, and are sometimes just placed in the month that the current event is held. If no exact date is listed, then it is just an estimated month that it was held.
If you have a correction or know of events that should be included here, please let me know.
Related Pages
- Ballon D'or Winners for 1994
- Timeline (all years) in the world of sport
- For future sporting events, see the Calendar of Major Sporting Events
- More about the World of Sport
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
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