Sporting Highlights for 2014
The year 2014 was another exciting year in sport, including the major events of Winter Olympics and FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
The Winter Olympics continued it's appeal to a younger audience with exciting new sports events. After plenty of controversy about Russian anti-gay laws, the host nation redeemed themselves up on the sporting arena, finishing on top of the medal tally with the most medals and the most golds.
At the FIFA World Cup, hosts Brazil were beaten in the semifinal in a shocking 7-1 defeat. Germany went on to beat Argentina 1-1 in the final. In other major events, the first-ever Invictus Games was hosted in London with over 400 competitors from 13 nations.
Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic in the men's singles final to win a record ninth French Open title.
A stampede occurred in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, at the Stade Tata Raphaël, resulting in the death of 15 people and at least 24 other people injured. During the match between football clubs TP Mazembe and Vita Club, missiles were thrown on to the pitch and the referee chose to delay play. Police launched tear gas into the stands causing a stampede.
The highest paid sportsman in 2014 according to Forbes Magazine and Sports Illustrated was boxer Floyd Mayweather with $US105 million dollars in earnings. The 2014 Laureus World Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year Awards went to motorsports Sebastian Vettel and US swimmer Missy Franklin.
What was your highlight? Take the poll of the Greatest 2014 Sporting Highlight.
Below is a timeline of some significant results in the world of sport for the year 2014.
| Date(s) | Sport | Event | Location | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 13-26 | Tennis | Australia Open | Melbourne | The singles winners were Li Na of China and Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland |
| Feb 2 | Gridiron/Football | Super Bowl | East Rutherford, New Jersey | Seattle Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos 43 to 8. |
| Feb 1-Mar 15 | Rugby Union | Six Nations | Ireland won their 12th title | |
| Feb 7-23 | Multi-sports | Winter Olympics | Sochi, Russia | Host nation Russia finished on top of the medal tally with the most medals and the most golds. |
| Feb 26-Mar 2 | Cycling | World Track Championships | Velódromo Alcides Nieto Patiño, Cali, Colombia | 31 nations in 19 events participated. The leading medal winning nation was Germany. |
| Mar 7-16 | Multi-sports | Winter Paralympics | Sochi, Russia | Host nation Russia finished on top of the medal tally with 30 gold medals out of the 72 on offer. |
| Mar 16-Apr 6 | Cricket | ICC World Twenty20 | Bangladesh | Sri Lanka beat India by 6 wickets in the final. |
| Apr 5 | Horse Racing | Grand National | Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool | long shot (40-1) French Chestnut Gelding Al Co survived a late scare to win |
| Apr 10-13 | Golf | Masters | Augusta, USA | US player Bubba Watson won his second title in three years. |
| Apr 19-May 5 | Snooker | World Championship | the Crucible in Sheffield | Mark Selby won his first world title by defeating defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan 18–14 |
| May 3 | Horse Racing | Kentucky Derby | Louisville, Kentucky, US | won by California Chrome |
| May 17 | Soccer | FA Cup final | Wembley Stadium, London | The match was won by Arsenal, a joint-record 11th Cup, beating Hull City 4-3 after extra time. |
| May 24 | Soccer | UEFA Champions League final | In the first final between teams from the same city, Real Madrid beat Atlético Madrid 4–1 after extra time | |
| May 26-Jun 8 | Tennis | French Open | Paris, France | Nadal defeated Djokovic in the men's singles final to win his ninth French Open title, with Maria Sharapova having her second win in the women's. |
| May 31-15 | Field Hockey | World Cup (men and women) | The Hague, Netherlands | The Netherlands won the women's tournament for a record 7th time, defeating Australia 2–0 in the final. In the men's tournament, defending champions Australia won for the third time after defeating the Netherlands 6–1. |
| Jun 12-15 | Golf | US Open | Pinehurst, North Carolina | Won by German Martin Kaymer by 8 strokes to claim his second major. |
| Jun 12-Jul 13 | Soccer/Football | FIFA World Cup | Brazil | Germany won their 4th title, beating Argentina 1-0 in the final |
| Jun 4-13 | Ice Hockey | Stanley Cup finals | LA and New York | The Los Angeles Kings defeated the New York Rangers 4-1 to win their second championship. |
| Jun 5-15 | Basketball | NBA Finals | USA | San Antonio Spurs defeated the Miami Heat 4 games to 1 to claim the Spurs' fifth NBA championship. |
| Jun 23-July 6 | Tennis | Wimbledon | London, England | The men and women's singles titles were won by Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Petra Kvitova of Czechia respectively, both of them getting their second title. |
| Jul 5- 27 | Cycling | Tour de France | France 2014 | Italian cyclist Vincenzo Nibali won the race by more than seven minutes, the biggest winning margin since 1997. |
| Jul 17-20 | Golf | The Open Championship | Royal Liverpool Golf Club | Rory McIlroy from Northern Ireland led from start to finish to win his first Open Championship by two strokes. |
| Jul 23-Aug 3 | Multi-sports | Commonwealth Games | Glasgow, Scotland | England supplanted Australia to finish top of the medal table for the first time since the 1986 Games, also held in Scotland. |
| Aug 4-10 | Golf | US PGA | Valhalla GC, Kentucky | Rory McIlroy won by one stroke for his 2nd PGA win, and his 4th career major. |
| Aug 4-17 | Rugby | Womens World Cup | France | England won the final 21-9 against Canada |
| Aug 9-16 | Multisports | Gay Games | Cleveland and Akron, USA | |
| Aug 16-28 | Multisports | Summer Youth Olympics | Nanjing, China | This second Youth Olympics included an estimated 3600 athletes from 201 nations |
| Aug 23-Sep 7 | Equestrian | FEI World Equestrian Games | Normandy, France | |
| Aug 25-Sep 8 | Tennis | US Open | New York | Serena Williams did not lose a set in the entire tournament, winning her third straight title and 6th title overall. In the men's it was a battle between first-time finalists Marin Čilić defeated Kei Nishikori, with Čilić becoming the first Croat since his coach, Goran Ivanišević, to win a Grand Slam title. |
| Sep 16-21 | Canoe/Kayak | Slalom World Championships | Deep Creek Lake, MD | |
| Sep 19-Oct 4 | Multi-sports | Asian Games | Incheon, South Korea | 439 events in 36 sports and disciplines. The final medal tally was led by China, followed by South Korea and Japan. |
| Sept 21-28 | Cycling | UCI Road World Championships | Ponferrada, Spain | 69 Nations participated in 12 events. Germany won the most gold medals (3), while Australia had the most medals overall (8) |
| Sep 26-28 | Golf | Ryder Cup | Gleneagles Hotel (Auchterarder, Perth & Kinross, Scotland) | Won by Europe for the third successive time |
| Sep 27 | AFL | Grand Final | Melbourne, Australia | The Hawthorn Hawks defeated the Sydney Swans by 63 points |
| Oct 3-13 | Gymnastics | world championships (artistic) | Nanning, China | United States dominated the competition winning 10 medals. The host country China won 7 medals, Japan and Russia with 6 medals. |
| Oct 21-29 | Baseball | World Series | Kansas City and San Francisco | San Francisco Giants won the series 4-3 over the Kansas City Royals. It was their 3rd win in 5 years, and the Giants' 8th World Series championship in franchise history. |
| Nov 4 | Horse Racing | Melbourne Cup | Victoria, Australia | The Melbourne Cup was won by Protectionist, the first German horse to win the Melbourne Cup |
| Nov 29-Dec 7 | Field Hockey | FIH Champions Trophy - women | Argentina | Germany won the tournament for the 10th time defeating Pakistan 2–0 in the final. |
| Dec 3-7 | Swimming | FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) | Doha, Qatar | Brazil won the most golds with 7 |
| Dec 13–21 | Field Hockey | FIH Champions Trophy - men | India | Argentina won for the 6th time, defeating Australia 3–1 on a penalty shoot-out after the game finished with a 1–1 draw |
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 2014
- Vote for your Greatest 2014 Sporting Highlight
- Timeline (all years) in the world of sport
- Major Events Sport Calendar for 2014
- Highlights of Australian sport in 2014
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
Current Events