Sporting Highlights for 2002
Here are the sporting highlights of the world of sport in 2002. See the Top Earners for 2002. There were a few major world sporting events this year, such as the Winter Olympics, FIFA World Cup and the Commonwealth Games.
It was the year of the 19th Winter Olympics, held at Salt Lake City, United States. Norway came out on top winning 13 gold medals, which equaled the ex-Soviet Union's record set during the 1976 Winter Olympics.
One of the most craziest events that transpired was the gold medal win by Australian skater Steven Bradbury. Bradbury was well off pace in the semi-final race when three of other competitors crashed into each other allowing him to finish second and qualify for the finals. For an encore, the four skaters, all ahead of him, crashed out again in the final race making him the unlikeliest and the luckiest gold medal winner ever.
The Games was marred with several doping disqualifications also witnessed a major judging controversy. After the Russian's were awarded the gold, charges of bribery were leveled against a French judge and his scores were thrown out. Unlike never before, the Canadian team was also awarded a gold medal resulting in two gold medal winners for the event.
The Olympics also saw both the Canadian men's and women's ice hockey teams beat the host United States to secure the gold medals.
The famous boxing fight between Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson promoted as "Lewis–Tyson: Is On" happened this year. Lennox won the fight by knockout in the eighth round. The pre-fight press conference brawl which erupted between both fighters and their entourages was a more memorable event that the fight itself, which was named as the "Event of the Year" by "The Ring" magazine.
In the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong won his fourth consecutive race, though in 2012 he was stripped of all his wins after doping allegations were proven correct.
In English football, Arsenal matched Manchester United to achieve their third Double (FA Cup and league title).
The 2002 Laureus World Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year Awards went to motorsport's Michael Schumacher and tennis player Jennifer Capriati.
English cricketer Ben Hollioake died aged 24 in a car accident.
Below is a timeline of some significant results in the world of sport for the year 2002.
| Date | Results |
|---|---|
| Jan | Tennis Australia Open won by Thomas Johansson and Jennifer Capriati. |
| Feb | Super Bowl held in New Orleans won by New England |
| Feb 8-24 | Winter Olympic Games were held in Salt Lake City, USA |
| April | Golf Masters won by Tiger Woods (3rd win) |
| May | Tennis French Open won by Albert Costa and Serena Williams (USA) |
| May 31 - June 30 | FIFA World Cup (Football) tournament was held in Japan & South Korea, won by Brazil. |
| June 13–16 | Golf US Open won by Tiger Woods. |
| July | the Cycling Tour de France was won by Lance Armstrong (though he was later stripped of this win) |
| July | Tennis Wimbledon won by Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) and Serena Williams (USA) |
| July | Golf The Open Championship won by Ernie Els |
| July 25 - Aug 4 | Commonwealth Games held in Manchester, England. |
| Aug | Golf US PGA won by Rich Beem |
| Aug 26 – Sept 8 | Tennis US Open won by Pete Sampras and Serena Williams |
| Oct | The Baseball World Series won by Anaheim Angels |
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 2002
- 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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