Sporting Highlights for 1976
Here are some of the sporting highlights in the world of sport for 1976. The major events of this year in sport were the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.
The most notable event of the Winter Olympics was the fourth straight gold medal win by ex-Soviet Union's men's hockey team. This dominance was the reason the US win against the ex-Soviet in the next Olympics was of such prominence.
In the Summer Olympics, 25 African teams boycotted the games because New Zealand, which played in apartheid South Africa, was allowed to participate. The most memorable event of the games was provided by a 14 year old Nadia Comăneci. She scored a perfect 10 once believed as unattainable. These Games were also the first to introduce testing for anabolic steroids and other prohibited substances.
In men's tennis, Bjorn Borg won his third grand slam title and his first at Wimbledon defeating Ilie Năstase in straight sets. Borg went on to win at Wimbledon in the next four years, to finish his career with five Wimbledon and 11 grand slams. Jimmy Connors won the US Open for the second time. Chris Evert, who had won two grand slam titles in each of the last two years kept her pace to win two more on this year.
Muhammad Ali, the all-time great boxer, won four heavyweight title fights in the year which also included the technical knockout of Richard Dunn in Munich.
See some videos from the world of sport in 1976.
Below is a timeline of some significant results in the world of sport for the year 1976.
| Date | Results |
|---|---|
| Jan | Tennis Australia Open won by Mark Edmondson and Evonne Cawley |
| Jan | Super Bowl held in Miami won by Pittsburgh |
| Feb 4-15 | Winter Olympic Games were held in Innsbruck, Austria |
| April | Golf Masters won by Raymond Floyd |
| May | Tennis French Open won by Adriano Panatta and Sue Barker |
| June | Golf US Open won by Jerry Pate |
| July | the Cycling Tour de France won by Lucien Van Impe |
| July | Tennis Wimbledon won by Bjorn Borg and Chris Evert |
| July | Golf The Open Championship won by Johnny Miller |
| July 17 - Aug 1 | Summer Olympic Games were held in Montreal, Canada |
| Aug | Golf US PGA won by Dave Stockton (his 2nd title) |
| Sep | Tennis US Open won by Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert |
| Oct | The Baseball World Series won by Cincinnati Reds |
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 1976
- 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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