1972 in sports
Encyclopedia
1972 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

Alpine skiing
Alpine skiing
Alpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four...

  • Alpine Skiing World Cup
    Alpine skiing World Cup
    The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the top international circuit of alpine skiing competitions, launched in 1966 by a group of ski racing friends and experts which included French journalist Serge Lang and the alpine ski team directors from France and the USA...

    • Men's overall season champion: Gustav Thöni
      Gustav Thöni
      Gustav Thöni is a former champion alpine ski racer from northern Italy.-Career:...

      , Italy
    • Women's overall season champion: Annemarie Pröll, Austria

American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

  • December 23 - In the first Pittsburgh Steelers
    Pittsburgh Steelers
    The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...

     playoff game in 25 years (and the franchises first playoff win), rookie Franco Harris
    Franco Harris
    Franco Harris is a former American football player. He played his NFL career with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks.In the 1972 NFL Draft he was chosen by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round, the 13th selection overall...

     salvages and converts into a touchdown a final seconds Terry Bradshaw
    Terry Bradshaw
    Terry Paxton Bradshaw is a former American football quarterback with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League . He played 14 seasons. He is a football analyst and co-host of Fox NFL Sunday...

     incomplete pass in what has been called the greatest play in NFL history--The Immaculate Reception--to beat the Oakland Raiders
    Oakland Raiders
    The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

     13-7.
  • Super Bowl VI
    Super Bowl VI
    Super Bowl VI was an American football game played on January 16, 1972, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1971 regular season...

     – Dallas Cowboys
    Dallas Cowboys
    The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...

     won 24–3 over the Miami Dolphins
    Miami Dolphins
    The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

  • 1971 NCAA Division I-A national football championship – Nebraska Cornhuskers
    Nebraska Cornhuskers
    The Nebraska Cornhuskers is the name given to several sports teams of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference...

     win 38–6 over the University of Alabama
    University of Alabama
    The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....

     Crimson Tide to claim back-to-back National Championship titles on 1 January 1972.
  • Oklahoma Sooners beat Auburn Tigers 40–22 in Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day.
  • Stanford beats Michigan 13–12 in Rose Bowl
    1972 Rose Bowl
    The 1972 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 1972. It was the 58th Rose Bowl Game. The Stanford Indians defeated the Michigan Wolverines, 13–12...

    .
  • Penn St. Nittany Lions beats Texas Longhorns 30–6 in Cotton Bowl.
  • Georgia Tech beats Iowa St. 31–30 in Liberty Bowl.
  • Arizona St. beats Missouri 49–35 in Fiesta Bowl.
  • University of Tampa beats Kent St. 21–18 in Tangerine Bowl.
  • North Carolina St. beats West Virginia 49–13 in Peach Bowl.
  • North Carolina beats Texas Tech 32–28 in Sun Bowl.
  • Tennessee beats LSU 24–17 in Bluebonnet Bowl.
  • Auburn beats Colorado 24–3 in Gator Bowl.
  • Oklahoma beats Penn St. 14–0 in Sugar Bowl played on New Year's Eve.

Association football

  • Brazil
    Brazil
    Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

     – Palmeiras wins the Campeonato Brasileiro
    Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
    The Campeonato Brasileiro de Clubes da Série A , popularly known as the Brasileirão , is a professional football league at the top of the Brazilian football league system held annually since 1959. Contested by twenty clubs, it operates a system of promotion and relegation with the Série B...

  • England – FA Cup
    FA Cup
    The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

     – Leeds United
    Leeds United A.F.C.
    Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...

     won 1–0 over Arsenal
    Arsenal F.C.
    Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

  • Europe – Cup Winners' Cup
    UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
    The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...

     – Rangers FC
    Rangers F.C.
    Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...

     won 3–2 over Dinamo Moscow
  • West Germany
    Germany national football team
    The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....

     beat the Soviet Union
    USSR national football team
    The Soviet Union National Football Team was the national football team of the Soviet Union. It ceased to exist after the break up of the Union...

     3–0 to win the European Championship.

Athletics
Athletics (track and field)
Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...

  • September – Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics
    Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics
    At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, 38 events in athletics were contested, 24 for men and 14 for women. There were a total number of 1324 participating athletes from 104 countries.-Men's events:-Women's events:-Medal table:-References:*...

     held in Munich

Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

  • Victorian Football League
    Australian Football League
    The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

    • Carlton
      Carlton Football Club
      The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...

       wins the 76th VFL Premiership (Carlton 28.9 (177) d Richmond
      Richmond Football Club
      The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...

       22.18 (150))
    • Brownlow Medal
      Brownlow Medal
      The Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...

       awarded to Len Thompson
      Len Thompson
      Len Thompson was an Australian rules footballer, who played for most of his career at Collingwood.-Collingwood:...

       (Collingwood
      Collingwood Football Club
      The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...

      )

Baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

  • 19 January – The BBWAA elects Sandy Koufax
    Sandy Koufax
    Sanford "Sandy" Koufax is a former left-handed baseball pitcher who played his entire 12-year Major League Baseball career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers...

     (344 votes), Yogi Berra
    Yogi Berra
    Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra is a former American Major League Baseball catcher, outfielder, and manager. He played almost his entire 19-year baseball career for the New York Yankees...

     (339), and Early Wynn
    Early Wynn
    Early Wynn Jr. , nicknamed "Gus", was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. During a 25-year baseball career, he pitched for the Washington Senators, Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox...

     (301) to the Hall of Fame
    Baseball
    Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

    .
  • Sparky Lyle
    Sparky Lyle
    Albert Walter "Sparky" Lyle is an American former left-handed relief pitcher who spent sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball . He was a closer from 1969 to 1977, first for the Boston Red Sox and then the New York Yankees. A three-time All-Star, he won the American League Cy Young Award in 1977...

     saves 35 games for the New York Yankees
    New York Yankees
    The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

    , breaking Ron Perranoski
    Ron Perranoski
    Ronald Peter Perranoski is a former left-handed Major League Baseball relief pitcher, having played from through ....

    's 1970 records for AL pitchers and left-handers. Lyle also becomes the first left-hander to save 100 career games in the American League.
  • World Series
    World Series
    The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...

     – Oakland Athletics
    Oakland Athletics
    The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....

     win their first World Championship since the team was based in Philadelphia in 1930, and sixth in franchise history, by defeating the Cincinnati Reds
    Cincinnati Reds
    The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....

    , 4 games to 3.
  • 31 December – The Pittsburgh Pirates
    Pittsburgh Pirates
    The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...

    ' legendary right fielder Roberto Clemente
    Roberto Clemente
    Roberto Clemente Walker was a Puerto Rican Major League Baseball right fielder. He was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, the youngest of seven children. Clemente played his entire 18-year baseball career with the Pittsburgh Pirates . He was awarded the National League's Most Valuable Player Award in...

     dies in a plane crash near Puerto Rico
    Puerto Rico
    Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

     on his way to bring relief supplies to Nicaraguan earthquake
    1972 Nicaragua earthquake
    The 1972 Nicaragua earthquake was an earthquake that occurred at 12:29 a.m. local time on Saturday, December 23, 1972 near Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. It had a magnitude of 6.2 and occurred at a depth of about 5 kilometers beneath the centre of the city. Within an hour after the main...

     victims.

Basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

  • NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
    NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
    The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...

     –
    • UCLA wins 81–76 over Florida St.
  • NBA Finals
    National Basketball Association
    The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

     –
    • Los Angeles Lakers
      Los Angeles Lakers
      The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...

       won 4 games to 1 over the New York Knicks
      New York Knicks
      The New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...

  • 1972 ABA Finals –
    • Indiana Pacers
      Indiana Pacers
      The Indiana Pacers are a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association...

       defeat New York Nets 4 games to 2

Boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

  • 26 June – Roberto Durán
    Roberto Durán
    Roberto Durán Samaniego is a retired professional boxer from Panama, widely regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time. A versatile brawler in the ring, he was nicknamed "Manos de Piedra" during his career....

     stopped Ken Buchanan
    Ken Buchanan
    Ken Buchanan is a former boxing undisputed world lightweight champion. Many consider Buchanan to be the best boxer ever to come out of Scotland.- Early career :...

     in the thirteenth round to win the WBA Lightweight Championship.

Canadian football
Canadian football
Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...

  • Grey Cup
    Grey Cup
    The Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...

     – Hamilton Tiger-Cats
    Hamilton Tiger-Cats
    The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a Canadian Football League team based in Hamilton, Ontario, founded in 1950 with the merger of the Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats. The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Ivor Wynne Stadium...

     won 13–10 over the Saskatchewan Roughriders
    Saskatchewan Roughriders
    The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a Canadian Football League team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. They were founded in 1910. They play their home games at 2940 10th Avenue in Regina, which has been the team's home base for its entire history, even prior to the construction of Mosaic Stadium at Taylor...

  • Vanier Cup
    Vanier Cup
    The Vanier Cup is the name of the championship of Canadian Interuniversity Sport football and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is currently played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl...

     – Alberta Golden Bears
    Alberta Golden Bears
    The Alberta Golden Bears are the men's athletic teams that represent the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The women's teams are known as the Alberta Pandas.-History:...

     won 20–7 over the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks
    Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks
    The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks is the name used by the varsity sports teams of Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The university's varsity teams compete in the Ontario University Athletics conference of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport and, where applicable, in the west...


Cycling
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...

  • Giro d'Italia
    Giro d'Italia
    The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...

     won by Eddy Merckx
    Eddy Merckx
    Edouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx , better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional cyclist. The French magazine Vélo called him "the most accomplished rider that cycling has ever known." The American publication, VeloNews, called him the greatest and most successful cyclist of all...

     of Belgium
  • Tour de France
    Tour de France
    The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...

     – Eddy Merckx
    Eddy Merckx
    Edouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx , better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional cyclist. The French magazine Vélo called him "the most accomplished rider that cycling has ever known." The American publication, VeloNews, called him the greatest and most successful cyclist of all...

     of Belgium
  • World Cycling Championship
    World Cycling Championship
    The UCI Road World Championships, often referred to as the World Cycling Championships, is the annual world championship for bicycle road racing organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale . The UCI Road World Championships include championships for elite men's road race and individual time trial...

     – Marino Basso
    Marino Basso
    Marino Basso is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist, who won the World Cycling Championship in 1972.Basso was born at Rettorgole di Caldogno, in the Veneto...

     of Australian

Field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...

  • Olympic Games (Men's Competition) in Munich
    Munich
    Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

    , West Germany
    • Gold Medal: West Germany
    • Silver Medal: Pakistan
    • Bronze Medal:

Figure skating
Figure skating
Figure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...

  • World Figure Skating Championships
    World Figure Skating Championships
    The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion...

     –
    • Men's champion: Ondrej Nepela
      Ondrej Nepela
      Ondrej Nepela was an Olympic gold medalist and three-time World champion Slovak figure skater who competed for Czechoslovakia in the late 1960s and early 1970s.-Career:...

      , Czechoslovakia
      Czechoslovakia
      Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

    • Ladies' champion: Beatrix Schuba
      Beatrix Schuba
      Trixi Schuba is an Austrian figure skater and is a six-time Austrian champion , a two-time European champion , a two-time World champion , and Olympic champion of 1972, all in ladies' singles.She is considered to be one of the best compulsory figure skaters ever.-Biography:Born in Vienna,...

      , Austria
    • Pair skating champions: Irina Rodnina
      Irina Rodnina
      Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina is one of the most successful figure skaters ever and the only pair skater to win 10 successive World Championships and three successive Olympic gold medals . She initially competed with Alexei Ulanov and later teamed up with Alexander Zaitsev...

       & Alexei Ulyanov, Soviet Union
    • Ice dancing champions: Lyudmila Pakhomova
      Lyudmila Pakhomova
      Lyudmila Alekseyevna Pakhomova was an ice dancer who competed for the Soviet Union. With partner Alexandr Gorshkov, she was the 1976 Olympic champion.-Biography:...

       & Alexandr Gorshkov, Soviet Union

Golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

Men's professional
  • Masters Tournament – Jack Nicklaus
    Jack Nicklaus
    Jack William Nicklaus , nicknamed "The Golden Bear", is an American professional golfer. He won 18 career major championships on the PGA Tour over a span of 25 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional golfers of all time. In addition to his 18 Majors, he was runner-up a...

  • U.S. Open
    U.S. Open (golf)
    The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...

     – Jack Nicklaus
    Jack Nicklaus
    Jack William Nicklaus , nicknamed "The Golden Bear", is an American professional golfer. He won 18 career major championships on the PGA Tour over a span of 25 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional golfers of all time. In addition to his 18 Majors, he was runner-up a...

  • British Open
    The Open Championship
    The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...

     – Lee Trevino
    Lee Trevino
    Lee Buck Trevino is an American professional golfer. He is an icon for Mexican Americans, and is often referred to as "The Merry Mex" and "Supermex". He won six major championships over the course of his career.-Early life:...

  • PGA Championship
    PGA Championship
    The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship...

     – Gary Player
    Gary Player
    Gary Player DMS; OIG is a South African professional golfer. With his nine major championship victories, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of golf. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. Player has won 165 tournaments on six continents over six...

  • PGA Tour
    PGA Tour
    The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...

     money leader – Jack Nicklaus
    Jack Nicklaus
    Jack William Nicklaus , nicknamed "The Golden Bear", is an American professional golfer. He won 18 career major championships on the PGA Tour over a span of 25 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional golfers of all time. In addition to his 18 Majors, he was runner-up a...

     – $320,542
  • The European Tour
    PGA European Tour
    The PGA European Tour is an organization which operates the three leading men's professional golf tours in Europe: the elite European Tour, the European Seniors Tour and the developmental Challenge Tour. Its headquarters are at Wentworth Club in Virginia Water, Surrey, England...

     begins its first season of competition.

Men's amateur
  • British Amateur
    The Amateur Championship
    The Amateur Championship is a golf tournament which is held annually in the United Kingdom. It is one of the two leading individual tournaments for amateur golfers, alongside the U.S. Amateur...

     – Trevor Homer
  • U.S. Amateur – Vinny Giles
    Vinny Giles
    Marvin M. "Vinny" Giles III is an American amateur golfer. He his best known for winning both the U.S. Amateur and the British Amateur....


Women's professional
  • LPGA Championship
    LPGA Championship
    The LPGA Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Wegmans LPGA Championship, is the second-longest running tournament in the history of the Ladies Professional Golf Association surpassed only by the U.S. Women's Open. It is one of four majors on the LPGA tour...

     – Kathy Ahern
    Kathy Ahern
    Kathy Ahern was an American professional golfer.Ahern was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She joined the LPGA Tour direct from high school in 1967 and won three tournaments on it, including one major championship, the 1972 LPGA Championship. Her other wins came at the 1970 Southgate Ladies Open...

  • U.S. Women's Open
    United States Women's Open Championship (golf)
    The United States Women's Open Golf Championship, one of thirteen national championships conducted by the United States Golf Association , is one of the LPGA's major championships along with the LPGA Championship, the Women's British Open, and the Kraft Nabisco Championship...

     – Susie Berning
    Susie Berning
    Susie Maxwell Berning is an American professional golfer.She was born Susie Maxwell in Pasadena, California. She was the first woman to receive a golf scholarship from Oklahoma City University, where she competed on the men's team and she was a member of the Alpha Phi sorority.She was 1964 Rookie...

  • Titleholders Championship
    Titleholders Championship
    The Titleholders Championship was a women's golf tournament played from in 1937 to 1966 and again in 1972. It was later designated a major championship by the LPGA Tour.It should not be confused with two other LPGA events with similar names:...

     – Sandra Palmer
    Sandra Palmer
    Sandra Palmer is an American professional golfer.Palmer was born in Fort Worth, Texas. She attended North Texas State University where she was a cheerleader and Homecoming Queen....

  • LPGA Tour
    LPGA
    The LPGA, in full the Ladies Professional Golf Association, is an American organization for female professional golfers. The organization, whose headquarters is in Daytona Beach, Florida, is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from...

     money leader – Kathy Whitworth
    Kathy Whitworth
    Kathy Whitworth is an American professional golfer. Throughout her playing career she won 88 LPGA Tour tournaments, more than anyone else has won on either the LPGA Tour or the PGA Tour. In 1981 she became the first woman to reach career earnings of $1 million on the LPGA Tour...

     – $65,063

Harness racing
Harness racing
Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait . They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, although racing under saddle is also conducted in Europe.-Breeds:...

  • 21 September – Strike Out
    Strike Out
    Strike Out, , North American Harness racing championStrike Out was born in 1969 at Castleton Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, and is by Bret Hanover out of the mare Golden Miss....

     became the first Canadian owned harness racing
    Harness racing
    Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait . They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, although racing under saddle is also conducted in Europe.-Breeds:...

     horse to ever win the Little Brown Jug
    Little Brown Jug (horse racing)
    The Little Brown Jug is a harness race for three-year-old pacing standardbreds hosted by the Delaware County Agricultural Society since 1946 at the County Fairgrounds in Delaware, Ohio. The race takes place every year on the third Thursday after Labor Day. Along with the Hambletonian, a race for...

    .
  • United States Pacing Triple Crown races
    Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers
    The Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers consists of the following horse races:#Cane Pace, held at Freehold Raceway in Freehold, New Jersey#Little Brown Jug, held at the Delaware County Fair in Delaware, Ohio...

     –
    1. Cane Pace
      Cane Pace
      The Cane Pace is a harness horse race run annually since 1955. In 1956 the race joined with the Little Brown Jug and the Messenger Stakes to become the first leg in the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers....

       – Hilarious Way
    2. Little Brown Jug
      Little Brown Jug (horse racing)
      The Little Brown Jug is a harness race for three-year-old pacing standardbreds hosted by the Delaware County Agricultural Society since 1946 at the County Fairgrounds in Delaware, Ohio. The race takes place every year on the third Thursday after Labor Day. Along with the Hambletonian, a race for...

       – Strike Out
      Strike Out
      Strike Out, , North American Harness racing championStrike Out was born in 1969 at Castleton Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, and is by Bret Hanover out of the mare Golden Miss....

    3. Messenger Stakes
      Messenger Stakes
      The Messenger Stakes is an American harness racing event for 3-year-old pacing horses. It was organized in 1956 at Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury, New York to join with the Cane Pace and the Little Brown Jug to create the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers...

       – Silent Majority
  • Super Bowl wins the United States Trotting Triple Crown races
    Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Trotters
    The Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Trotters consists of the following horse races:*Hambletonian, held at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, New Jersey*Yonkers Trot, held at Yonkers Raceway in Yonkers, New York...

     –
    1. Hambletonian – Super Bowl
    2. Yonkers Trot
      Yonkers Trot
      The Yonkers Trot is a harness race for three-year old trotting standardbreds held at Yonkers Raceway in New York. In 2008, it was the first leg of the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Trotters. In 2009, the order of the events has been changed and Yonkers Trot will be the second leg of the Triple...

       – Super Bowl
    3. Kentucky Futurity
      Kentucky Futurity
      The Kentucky Futurity is a stakes race for three-year-old trotters, held annually at The Red Mile in Lexington, Kentucky since 1893. It is part of the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Trotters....

       – Super Bowl
  • Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
    • Pacers: Welcome Advice

Horse racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

Steeplechases
  • Cheltenham Gold Cup
    Cheltenham Gold Cup
    The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt chase in the United Kingdom which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 3 miles and 2½ furlongs , and during its running there are twenty-two fences to be jumped...

     – Glencaraig Lady
  • Grand National
    Grand National
    The Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...

     – Well To Do

Flat races
  • Australia – Melbourne Cup
    Melbourne Cup
    The Melbourne Cup is Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race. Marketed as "the race that stops a nation", it is a 3,200 metre race for three-year-olds and over. It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races...

     won by Piping Lane
    Piping Lane
    Piping Lane was a brown Australian Thoroughbred racehorse gelding by Lanesborough out of the mare Londonderry Air by Piping Time. Piping Lane came to prominence by winning the 1972 Melbourne Cup over 3,200 metres at odds of 40/1....

  • Canada – Queen's Plate
    Queen's Plate
    The Queen's Plate is Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race. It is run at a distance of 1¼ miles for 3-year-old thoroughbred horses foaled in Canada. The race takes place each summer in June or July at Woodbine Racetrack, Etobicoke , Ontario...

     won by Victoria Song
    Victoria Song
    Song Qian , better known as Victoria Song or mononymously as Victoria was born February 2, 1987, is a Chinese singer, dancer and model, leader of the 5 member South Korean girl group f....

  • France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
    Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
    The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a Group 1 flat horse race in France which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year, usually on the first Sunday in October.Popularly referred to as the...

     won by San San
  • Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes
    Irish Derby Stakes
    The Irish Derby is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 4 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late June or early July.It is Ireland's equivalent of the Epsom Derby,...

     won by Steel Pulse
    Steel Pulse
    Steel Pulse is a roots reggae musical band. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, in Birmingham, England, composed of David Hinds , Basil Gabbidon , and Ronald McQueen .-History:...

  • English Triple Crown Races
    Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
    The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...

    :
    1. 2,000 Guineas Stakes – High Top
    2. Epsom Derby
      Epsom Derby
      The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...

       – Roberto
      Roberto (horse)
      Roberto was an American-bred Thoroughbred Champion racehorse who competed in Ireland and England.-Background:Roberto was bred by Galbreath at his Darby Dan Farm near Lexington, Kentucky. The son of the successful sire Hail To Reason out of the dam Bramalea, Roberto's grandsire was Turn-To, a...

    3. St. Leger Stakes
      St. Leger Stakes
      The St. Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 1 mile, 6 furlongs and 132 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in September.Established in 1776, the St. Leger...

       – Boucher
  • United States Triple Crown Races
    Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
    The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...

    :
    1. Kentucky Derby
      Kentucky Derby
      The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...

       – Riva Ridge
      Riva Ridge
      Riva Ridge was a thoroughbred racehorse, the winner of the 1972 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes. A son of First Landing out of Iberia , he was owned and bred by the Meadow Stable of Christopher Chenery. The horse's name came from Chenery's son-in-law, John Tweedy, who was a soldier in World War...

    2. Preakness Stakes
      Preakness Stakes
      The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...

       – Bee Bee Bee
      Bee Bee Bee
      Bee Bee Bee was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1972 Preakness Stakes. To date Bee Bee Bee is only one of eight Maryland-bred colts to win the Preakness and one of only eleven from the state to win a triple crown race.He was sired by multiple stakes winner Better Bee,...

    3. Belmont Stakes
      Belmont Stakes
      The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...

       – Riva Ridge
      Riva Ridge
      Riva Ridge was a thoroughbred racehorse, the winner of the 1972 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes. A son of First Landing out of Iberia , he was owned and bred by the Meadow Stable of Christopher Chenery. The horse's name came from Chenery's son-in-law, John Tweedy, who was a soldier in World War...


Ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

  • World Hockey Association (WHA)
    World Hockey Association
    The World Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major competition for the National Hockey League since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926...

    's first season. This new league signed several of the top NHL stars including Bobby Hull
    Bobby Hull
    Robert Marvin "Bobby" Hull, OC is a former Canadian ice hockey player. He is regarded as one of the greatest ice hockey players of all time and perhaps the greatest left winger to ever play the game. Hull was famous for his blonde hair, blinding skating speed, and having the hardest shot, earning...

     and Derek Sanderson
    Derek Sanderson
    Derek Michael Sanderson, nicknamed "Turk", , is a former Canadian professional ice hockey centre who is now a bank executive and restaurateur....

    .
  • Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL
    National Hockey League
    The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

    's leading scorer during the regular season: Phil Esposito
    Phil Esposito
    Philip Anthony Esposito, OC is a former Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Chicago Black Hawks, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers. He is an Honoured Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and is considered to be one of the best to have...

    , Boston Bruins
    Boston Bruins
    The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...

  • Hart Memorial Trophy
    Hart Memorial Trophy
    The Hart Memorial Trophy, originally known as the Hart Trophy, the "oldest and most prestigious individual award in hockey", is awarded annually to the "player adjudged most valuable to his team" in the National Hockey League . The Hart Memorial Trophy has been awarded 86 times to 53 different...

     – for the NHL
    National Hockey League
    The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

    's Most Valuable Player: Bobby Orr
    Bobby Orr
    Robert Gordon "Bobby" Orr, OC is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Orr played in the National Hockey League for his entire career, the first ten seasons with the Boston Bruins, joining the Chicago Black Hawks for two more. Orr is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest...

    , Boston Bruins
    Boston Bruins
    The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...

  • Stanley Cup
    Stanley Cup
    The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...

     – Boston Bruins
    Boston Bruins
    The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...

     win 4 games to 2 over the New York Rangers
    New York Rangers
    The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...

  • 28 September – Paul Henderson
    Paul Henderson
    Paul Henderson is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. A left winger, Henderson played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs and Atlanta Flames...

     scored the "goal of the century" to give Canada the win in the Summit Series
    Summit Series
    The Summit Series was the first competition between the Soviet and an NHL-inclusive Canadian national ice hockey teams, an eight-game series held in September 1972...

    , the first ever Canada versus the Soviet Union hockey showdown.
  • World Hockey Championship
    • Men's champion: Czechoslovakia
      Czechoslovakia
      Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

       defeated the Soviet Union
  • NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship
    NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship
    The annual NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship tournament determines the top men's ice hockey team in NCAA Division I and Division III. The semi-finals and finals of the Division I Championship are branded as the Frozen Four, a passing nod to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship - known...

     – Boston University
    Boston University
    Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...

     Terriers defeat Cornell University
    Cornell University
    Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

     Big Red 4–0 in Boston, Massachusetts

Lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...

  • The Long Branch P.C.O.'s win the first Founders Cup
    Founders Cup
    The Founders Cup is the championship trophy of Canada's Junior "B" lacrosse leagues. The custodial duties of this trophy fall upon the Canadian Lacrosse Association. The National Champions are determined through a round robin format with a playdown for the final in a host city...

    .
  • The New Westminster Salmonbellies win the Mann Cup
    Mann Cup
    The Mann Cup is the trophy awarded to the senior men's lacrosse champions of Canada. The championship series is played between the Western Lacrosse Association champion and the Major Series Lacrosse champion...

    .
  • The Peterborough PCO's win the Minto Cup
    Minto Cup
    The Minto Cup is awarded annually to the champion junior men's lacrosse team of Canada.It was donated in 1901 by the Governor-General, Lord Minto, and from 1901 until 1909 awarded to the senior men's champion of Canada...

    .

Motor racing

  • Stock car racing
    Stock car racing
    Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing found mainly in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Great Britain, Brazil and Argentina. Traditionally, races are run on oval tracks measuring approximately in length...

     –
    • 20 February – A. J. Foyt
      A. J. Foyt
      Anthony Joseph Foyt, Jr., or as he is universally known as in motorsports circles, A. J. Foyt , is a retired American automobile racing driver. He raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes USAC Champ cars and midget cars. He raced stock cars in NASCAR and USAC. He won...

       wins the Daytona 500
      Daytona 500
      The Daytona 500 is a -long NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is one of four restrictor plate races on the Cup schedule....

       in the #21 Mercury
      Mercury (automobile)
      Mercury was an automobile marque of the Ford Motor Company launched in 1938 by Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford, to market entry-level luxury cars slotted between Ford-branded regular models and Lincoln-branded luxury vehicles, similar to General Motors' Buick brand, and Chrysler's namesake brand...

       for Wood Brothers
      Wood Brothers Racing
      Wood Brothers Racing is an American auto racing team that competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and Camping World Truck Series. The team was formed in 1950 by the sons of Walter and Ada Wood, thus the Wood Brothers...

    • 28 May – E. W. Baker
      Buddy Baker
      Elzie Wylie Baker, Jr. , nicknamed "Leadfoot" or more famously Buddy, is a former American NASCAR racecar driver.-Early life:...

       wins the World 500
      Coca-Cola 600
      The Coca-Cola 600, formerly known as the World 600, is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held each year at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina on Memorial Day weekend...

       in the #6 Dodge
      Dodge
      Dodge is a United States-based brand of automobiles, minivans, and sport utility vehicles, manufactured and marketed by Chrysler Group LLC in more than 60 different countries and territories worldwide....

       for Petty Enterprises
      Petty Enterprises
      Petty Enterprises was a NASCAR racing team based in Randleman, North Carolina, USA. The team was owned by Richard Petty, his son Kyle Petty, and Boston Ventures. At the time of its folding the team operated the #43 and #45 Dodge Chargers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Petty Enterprises ran from...

    • NASCAR Championship – Richard Petty
      Richard Petty
      Richard Lee Petty is a former NASCAR driver who raced in the Strictly Stock/Grand National Era and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series...

       (#43 Plymouth
      Plymouth (automobile)
      Plymouth was a marque of automobile based in the United States, produced by the Chrysler Corporation and its successor DaimlerChrysler.-Origins:...

      , Petty Enterprises
      Petty Enterprises
      Petty Enterprises was a NASCAR racing team based in Randleman, North Carolina, USA. The team was owned by Richard Petty, his son Kyle Petty, and Boston Ventures. At the time of its folding the team operated the #43 and #45 Dodge Chargers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Petty Enterprises ran from...

      )
  • USAC Racing
    Champ Car
    Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...

    • 30 May – Mark Donohue
      Mark Donohue
      Mark Neary Donohue, Jr. , nicknamed "Captain Nice", was an American racecar driver known for his ability to set up his own race car as well as driving it to victories. Donohue is probably best known as the driver of the 1500+ bhp “Can-Am Killer” Porsche 917-30 and as the winner of the 1972...

       wins the 56th running
      1972 Indianapolis 500
      The 1972 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 27, 1972.Gary Bettenhausen leads 138 laps until his engine blows on lap 176. Jerry Grant gets the lead but pits for new tires on lap 188 in team mate Bobby Unser’s pit. Bettenhausen’s Penske team mate Mark Donohue...

       of the Indianapolis 500
      Indianapolis 500
      The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...

       in the Sunoco Special McLaren
      McLaren
      McLaren Racing Limited, trading as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, is a British Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor but has also competed and won in the Indianapolis 500 and Canadian-American Challenge Cup...

      -Offenhauser
      Offenhauser
      Offenhauser was an American racing engine manufacturer that operated from 1933 to 1983.The Offenhauser engine, familiarly known as the "Offy", was developed by Fred Offenhauser and his employer Harry Arminius Miller, after maintaining and repairing a 1913 Peugeot Grand Prix car of the type which...

    • Joe Leonard
      Joe Leonard
      Joe Leonard , is a retired American motorcycle racer and racecar driver.Leonard won the first A.M.A. Grand National Championship Series in 1954 and won it again in 1956 and 1957. His record totals 27 wins, including the 1957 and 1958 Daytona 200...

       wins the season drivers' championship
  • Formula 5000
    Formula 5000
    Formula 5000 was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars that no longer fit into any particular formula...

     – Gijs van Lennep
    Gijs van Lennep
    Jonkheer Gijsbert van Lennep is a Dutch esquire and former racing driver who gave a good account for himself in his eight Formula One drives.- Career :...

     of the Netherlands
  • Formula One
    Formula One
    Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

     – Emerson Fittipaldi
    Emerson Fittipaldi
    Emerson Fittipaldi |São Paulo]], Brazil) is a Brazilian automobile racing driver who throughout a long and successful career won the Indianapolis 500 twice and championships in both Formula One and CART.-Early and personal life:...

     (Brazil) wins World Drivers' Champion, driving a Lotus
    Lotus Cars
    Lotus Cars is a British manufacturer of sports and racing cars based at the former site of RAF Hethel, a World War II airfield in Norfolk. The company designs and builds race and production automobiles of light weight and fine handling characteristics...

     72D
    Lotus 72
    The Lotus 72 was a Formula One car designed by Colin Chapman and Maurice Philippe of Lotus for the 1970 Formula One season.- Development :The 72 was yet another innovative design by Chapman featuring inboard brakes, side mounted radiators in sidepods, as opposed to the nose mounted radiators which...

    -Cosworth
    Cosworth
    Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...

    .
  • 24 hours of Le Mans
    24 Hours of Le Mans
    The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...

     – Henri Pescarolo
    Henri Pescarolo
    Henri Pescarolo is a former racing driver from France. He participated in 64 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 22 September 1968. He achieved one podium, and scored a total of 12 championship points...

     / Graham Hill
    Graham Hill
    Norman Graham Hill was a British racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion. He is the only driver to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport — the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Indianapolis 500 and Formula One World Championship.Graham Hill and his son Damon are the only father and son pair both to...

     win, sharing a Matra
    Matra
    Mécanique Aviation Traction or Matra was a French company covering a wide range of activities mainly related to automobile, bicycles, aeronautics and weaponry. In 1994, it became a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group and now operates under that name.Matra was owned by the Floirat family...

     MS670
  • Rally racing – Sandro Munari
    Sandro Munari
    Sandro Munari is a former motor racing and rally driver from Italy.-Career:Born at Cavarzere, Veneto, Sandro Munari began rallying in 1965 and won the Italian Rally Championship in 1967 and 1969, adding the European Rally Championship title in 1973. In 1972 he won the Targa Florio sports car...

     / Mario Manucci win the Monte Carlo Rally
    Monte Carlo Rally
    The Monte Carlo Rally or Rally Monte Carlo is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco which also organises the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix and the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique. The rally takes place along the French Riviera in the Principality of Monaco and...

     driving a Lancia Fulvia 1.6HF
    Lancia Fulvia
    The Lancia Fulvia is an Italian car introduced at the Geneva Motor Show in 1963 by Lancia. It was produced by that company through 1976. Fulvias are notable for their role in automobile racing history, including winning the International Rally Championship in 1972...

  • Drag racing
    Drag racing
    Drag racing is a competition in which specially prepared automobiles or motorcycles compete two at a time to be the first to cross a set finish line, from a standing start, in a straight line, over a measured distance, most commonly a ¼-mile straight track....

     – Don Moody wins Top Fuel
    Top Fuel
    Top Fuel racing is a class of drag racing in which the cars are run on a mix of approximately 90% nitromethane and 10% methanol rather than gasoline or simply methanol. The cars are purpose-built for drag racing, with an exaggerated layout that in some ways resembles open-wheel circuit racing...

    at the Supernats.

Rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

  • 78th Five Nations Championship
    Six Nations Championship
    The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....

     series is undecided after two matches are not played for political reasons

Snooker
Snooker
Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regular table is . It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white , 15 worth one point each, and six balls of different :...

  • World Snooker Championship
    World Snooker Championship
    The World Snooker Championship is the leading professional snooker tournament in terms of both prize money and ranking points. The first championship was held in 1927; since 1977, it has been played at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, England...

     – Alex Higgins
    Alex Higgins
    Alexander Gordon "Alex" Higgins , also known by his nickname of Hurricane Higgins, was a Northern Irish professional snooker player who was twice World Champion and twice runner-up. Higgins earned the nickname The Hurricane because of his speed of play...

     beats John Spencer
    John Spencer (snooker player)
    John Spencer was an English professional snooker player who won the World Professional title at his first attempt, was the first winner at the Crucible Theatre, was the inaugural winner of the Masters and Irish Masters and was the first player to make a 147 break in competition...

     37–32

Swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

  • XX Olympic Games
    Swimming at the 1972 Summer Olympics
    The 1972 Summer Olympics were held in Munich, West Germany, 29 events in swimming were contested. There was a total of 532 participants from 52 countries competing....

    , held in Munich
    Munich
    Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

    , West Germany (28 August – September 4)

Tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

  • Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
    1. Australian Open
      Australian Open
      The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...

       – Ken Rosewall
      Ken Rosewall
      Kenneth Robert Rosewall AM MBE is a former world top-ranking amateur and professional tennis player from Australia. He won 23 Majors including eight Grand Slam singles titles and before the Open Era a record fifteen Pro Slam titles . Rosewall won 9 slams in doubles with a career double grand slam...

    2. French Open – Andrés Gimeno
      Andrés Gimeno
      Andrés Gimeno Tolaguera is a retired Spanish tennis player. He major achievement came in 1972, when he won the French Open....

    3. Wimbledon championships – Stan Smith
      Stan Smith
      Stanley Roger "Stan" Smith is a former American tennis player and two time Grand Slam singles champion who also, with his partner Bob Lutz, formed one of the most successful doubles teams of all time. Together, they won many major titles all over the world...

    4. US Open – Ilie Năstase
      Ilie Nastase
      Ilie Nastase is a Romanian former professional tennis player, one of the world's top players of the 1970s. Năstase was the World No. 1 tennis player between 1973 and 1974 . He is one of the five players in history to win more than 100 ATP professional titles . He was inducted into the...

  • Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
    1. Australian Open
      Australian Open
      The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...

       – Virginia Wade
      Virginia Wade
      Sarah Virginia Wade, OBE is a former English tennis player. She won three Grand Slam singles championships and four Grand Slam doubles championships. She won the women's singles championship at Wimbledon on 1 July 1977, in that tournament's centenary year, the last time any Briton has won a...

    2. French Open – Billie Jean King
      Billie Jean King
      Billie Jean King is a former professional tennis player from the United States. She won 12 Grand Slam singles titles, 16 Grand Slam women's doubles titles, and 11 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. King has been an advocate against sexism in sports and society...

    3. Wimbledon championships – Billie Jean King
      Billie Jean King
      Billie Jean King is a former professional tennis player from the United States. She won 12 Grand Slam singles titles, 16 Grand Slam women's doubles titles, and 11 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. King has been an advocate against sexism in sports and society...

    4. US Open – Billie Jean King
      Billie Jean King
      Billie Jean King is a former professional tennis player from the United States. She won 12 Grand Slam singles titles, 16 Grand Slam women's doubles titles, and 11 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. King has been an advocate against sexism in sports and society...

       (first player in Open Era to repeat as singles champion)
  • Davis Cup
    Davis Cup
    The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...

     – United States wins 3–2 over Romania
    Romania
    Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

      in world tennis.

General sporting events

  • 1972 Summer Olympics
    1972 Summer Olympics
    The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972....

     takes place in Munich
    Munich
    Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

    , Germany
    • USSR
      Soviet Union
      The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

       wins the most medals (99), and the most gold medals (50)
  • 1972 Winter Olympics
    1972 Winter Olympics
    The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated from February 3 to February 13, 1972 in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan...

     takes place in Sapporo, Japan
    • USSR
      Soviet Union
      The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

       wins the most medals (16), and the most gold medals (8)
  • Seventh Winter Universiade
    1972 Winter Universiade
    The 1972 Winter Universiade, the VII Winter Universiade, took place in Lake Placid, New York, United States....

     held in Lake Placid, New York
    Lake Placid, New York
    Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a population of 2,638....

    , United States

Awards

  • Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Mark Spitz
    Mark Spitz
    Mark Andrew Spitz is a retired American swimmer. He won seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, an achievement only surpassed by Michael Phelps who won eight golds at the 2008 Olympics....

    , Swimming
    Swimming (sport)
    Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

  • Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Olga Korbut
    Olga Korbut
    Olga Valentinovna Korbut , also known as the Sparrow from Minsk, is a Belarusian, Soviet-born gymnast who won four gold medals and two silver medals at the Summer Olympics, in which she competed in 1972 and 1976 for the USSR team....

    , Gymnastics
    Gymnastics
    Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...

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