Gourt Home::Gourt :: 1972 in sports
See also: 1971 in sports, other events of 1972, 1973 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.
Auto Racing
- Stock car racing:
- Indianapolis 500 - Mark Donohue
- USAC Racing - Joe Leonard won the season championship
- Formula One Championship - Emerson Fittipaldi of Brazil
- 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Henri Pescarolo / Graham Hill won, driving a Matra MS670
- Rally racing - Sandro Munari / Mario Manucci won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Lancia Fulvia 1.6HF
- Drag racing - Don Moody won "Top Fuel" at the NHRA Supernationals
Baseball
- 1972 in baseball
- January 19: The BBWAA elects Sandy Koufax (344 votes), Yogi Berra (339), and Early Wynn (301) to the Hall of Fame. Koufax makes it in his first try and, at 36, is the youngest honoree in history. He won three Cy Young awards in a four-year span when the honor was only given to one pitcher for both leagues. Berra played in 14 World Series (ten world champions), he had more hits in Series play than any other player, and he was a three-time MVP for the Yankees. Wynn won 300 career games, and won 20 games five times. *September 30: Roberto Clemente got his 3,000th hit against the New York Mets.
- Sparky Lyle saves 35 games for the New York Yankees, breaking Ron Perranoski's 1970 records for AL pitchers and lefthanders. Lyle also becomes the first left-hander to save 100 career games in the American League.
- World Series: Oakland Athletics win their 6th World Championship by defeating the Cincinnati Reds, 4 games to 3.
- December 31 - The Pittsburgh Pirates' legendary right fielder Roberto Clemente dies in a plane crash near Puerto Rico on his way to bring relief supplies to Nicaraguan earthquake victims.
Basketball
- NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship:
- UCLA wins 81-76 over Florida St.
- NBA Finals:
- Los Angeles Lakers won 4 games to 1 over the New York Knicks
Boxing
- June 26 - Roberto Duran stopped Ken Buchanan in the thirteenth round to win the WBA Lightweight Championship.
Cycling
- Giro d'Italia won by Eddy Merckx of Belgium
- Tour de France - Eddy Merckx of Belgium
- World Cycling Championship: Marino Basso of Italy
Field Hockey
- Olympic Games (Men's Competition) in Munich, West Germany
- Gold Medal: West Germany
- Silver Medal: Pakistan
- Bronze Medal: India
Figure skating
- World Figure Skating Championships:
- Men's champion: Ondrej Nepela, Czechoslovakia
- Women's champion: Beatrix Schuba, Austria
- Pairs champions: Irina Rodnina & Alexei Ulyanov, Soviet Union
Football (American)
- January 16-Super Bowl VI: Dallas Cowboys won 24-3 over the Miami Dolphins
- 1971 NCAA Division I-A national football championship: The Nebraska Cornhuskers win 38-6 over the University of Alabama Crimson Tide to claim back-to-back National Championship titles on January 1st, 1972.
Football (Australian Rules)
- Victorian Football League
- Carlton wins the 76th VFL Premiership (Carlton 28.9 (177) d Richmond 22.18 (150))
- Brownlow Medal awarded to Len Thompson (Collingwood)
Football (Canadian)
- Grey Cup: Hamilton Tiger-Cats won 13-10 over the Saskatchewan Roughriders
- Vanier Cup: Alberta Golden Bears won 20-7 over the Waterloo Golden Hawks
Football (Soccer)
- England - FA Cup: Leeds United won 1-0 over Arsenal
- West Germany beat the Soviet Union 3-0 to win European Championship.
Golf
Men's Golf
- The European PGA tour begins its first season of competition.
- Grand Slam of golf results:
- April - The Masters - Jack Nicklaus
- June - US Open - Jack Nicklaus
- July - British Open - Lee Trevino
- August - PGA Championship - Gary Player
- PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Jack Nicklaus - $320,542
- US Women's Open - Susie Berning
- LPGA Championship - Kathy Ahern
- Kathy Whitworth: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $65,063
Thoroughbred Horse Racing
- Australia - Melbourne Cup - Piping Lane
- Canada - Queen's Plate - Victoria Song
- France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - San San
- Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Steel Pulse
Harness Racing
- September 21 - Strike Out became the first Canadian owned harness racing horse to ever win the Little Brown Jug.
Ice Hockey
- World Hockey Association (WHA) formed to compete with the NHL. This new league signed several of the top NHL stars including Bobby Hull and Derek Sanderson.
- Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Phil Esposito, Boston Bruins
- Hart Memorial Trophy: for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins
- Stanley Cup - Boston Bruins win 4 games to 2 over the New York Rangers
- September 28 - Paul Henderson scored the "goal of the century" to give Canada the win in the Summit Series, the first ever Canada versus the Soviet Union hockey showdown.
- World Hockey Championship
- Men's champion: Czechoslovakia defeated the Soviet Union
Lacrosse
- The Long Branch P.C.O.'s win the first Founders Cup.
- The New Westminster Salmonbellies win the Mann Cup.
- The Peterborough PCO's win the Minto Cup.
Skiing
- Alpine Skiing
- The men's overall season champion: Gustav Thöni, Italy
- The women's overall season champion: Annemarie Pröll, Austria
Snooker
- World Snooker Championship: Alex Higgins beats John Spencer 37-32
Tennis
- Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
- Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
- Australian Open - Virginia Wade
- French Open - Billie Jean King
- Wimbledon championships - Billie Jean King
- US Open - Billie Jean King (first player in Open Era to repeat as singles champion)
- Davis Cup: United States wins 3-2 over Romania in world tennis.
General sporting events
- 1972 Summer Olympics takes place in Munich, Germany
- USSR wins the most medals (99), and the most gold medals (50)
- 1972 Winter Olympics takes place in Sapporo, Japan
- USSR wins the most medals (16), and the most gold medals (8)
- Seventh Winter Universiade held in Lake Placid, United States
Births
January
- January 1 — Yermakhan Ibraimov, Kazakhstani boxer
- January 2 — Davide Scala, Italian tennis player
- January 3 — Steph Cook, modern pentathlon athlete
- January 3 — Song Seung-Tae, South Korean field hockey striker
- January 11 — Julia Price, Australian cricketer
- January 11 — Wenyi Yang, Chinese freestyle and backstroke swimmer
- January 23 — Marcel Wouda, Dutch swimmer and swimming coach
- January 24 — Ulla Werbrouck, Belgian judoka
- January 26 — Denise Klecker, German field hockey player
February
- February 3 — Mart Poom, Estonian football (soccer) goalkeeper
- February 7 — Mariano Chao, Argentine field hockey goalkeeper
- February 9 — Norbert Rózsa, Hungarian breaststroker
- February 11 — Dennis Iliohan, Dutch football player
- February 15 — Jaromir Jagr, Czech ice hockey star
- February 16 — Dirk Dier, German tennis player
- February 17 — Philippe Candeloro, figure skater
- February 19 — Lucy Pearson, English cricketer
- February 22 — Michael Chang, US tennis player
- February 22 — Claudia Pechstein, German speed skater
- February 24 — Larry Amar, American field hockey midfielder
- February 24 — Richard Chelimo, Kenyan athlete, former world record holder, 10,000m (d. 2001)
- February 28 — Tarick Salmaci, American boxer from Lebanese origin
March
- March 3 — Petr Luxa, Czech tennis player
- March 4 — Pae Gil-Su, North Korean gymnast
- March 5 — Mikael Tillstrøm, Swedish tennis player
- March 5 — Hernan Gumy, Argentinian tennis player
- March 6 — Yoav Bruck, Israeli freestyle swimmer
- March 6 — Shaquille O'Neal, American basketball player
- March 9 — Anna Lawrence, New Zealand field hockey midfielder
- March 9 — Meagan Warthold, Australian weight lifter
- March 9 — Zsolt Varga, Hungarian water polo player
- March 11 — Debra McLeod, Scottish field hockey goalkeeper
- March 14 — Clover Maitland, Australian field hockey goalkeeper
- March 15 — Steve Danielson, American field hockey player
- March 15 — Filip Dewulf, Belgian tennis player
- March 16 — Andrew Foster, British tennis player
- March 16 — Sandor Noszaly, Hungarian tennis player
- March 17 — Mia Hamm, American soccer player
- March 18 — Carolyn Reid, British field hockey goalkeeper
- March 20 — Daniela Hunger, German medley and freestyle swimmer
- March 22 — Elvis Stojko, figure skating champion
- March 23 — Jonas Björkman, Swedish tennis player
- March 25 — Nina Bonner, Australian field hockey goalkeeper
- March 29 — Piet-Hein Geeris, Dutch field hockey player
- March 29 — Paul Kent, New Zealand breaststroke swimmer
- March 30 — Sander van Heeswijk, Dutch field hockey player
April
- April 3 — Sandrine Testud, French tennis player
- April 8 — Katrina Powell, Australian field hockey player
- April 10 — Srdjan Muskatirovic, Serbian tennis player
- April 11 — Brandon Coupe, US tennis player
- April 11 — Annemette Jensen, Danish athlete
- April 14 — Yamilé Aldama, Cuba-born Sudanese triple jumper
- April 15 — Arturo Gatti, Italian-born boxer from Canada
- April 16 — Eldar Kurtanidze, Georgian wrestler
- April 17 — Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lankan cricketer
- April 17 — Macha van der Vaart, Dutch field hockey midfielder
- April 22 — Tanya White, Australian taekwondoka
- April 27 — Silvia Farina Elia, Italian tennis player
- April 29 — Mariusz Siudek, Polish figure-skater
May
- May 1 — Angela Alupei, Romanian rower
- May 5 — James Cracknell, British rower
- May 5 — Michael Green, German field hockey player
- May 7 — Peter Dubovský, Slovak football (soccer) player (d. 2000)
- May 9 — Daniela Silivaş, Romanian gymnast
- May 11 — Brian MacPhie, US tennis player
- May 11 — Lori Melien, Canadian backstroke swimmer
- May 14 — Mandy Smith, New Zealand field hockey striker
- May 21 — Jalo de Vries, Dutch water polo player
- May 23 — Kevin Ullyett, South African tennis player
- May 27 — Eskild Ebbesen, Danish rower
- May 31 — Frode Estil, Norwegian cross-country skier
June
- June 11 — Julien Prosser, Australian beach volleyball player
- June 17 — Iztok Čop, Slovenian rower
- June 23 — Zinedine Zidane, French football star
- June 24 — Robbie McEwen, Australian professional road bicycle racer
- June 26 — Jai Taurima, Australian long jumper
- June 26 — Mansueto Velasco, Filipino boxer
- June 28 — Mark Merklein, US tennis player
July
- July 1 — Svetlana Zhurova, Russian ice speed skater
- July 2 — Matthew Birir, Kenyan athlete
- July 8 — Saurav Ganguly, Indian cricketer
- July 8 — Viorel Moldovan, Romanian football (soccer) forward
- July 15 — Natalya Sadova, Russian discus thrower
- July 16 — Oleg Ogorodov, Uzbek tennis player
- July 21 — Nikolay Kozlov, Russian water polo player
- July 22 — Michael Johansen, Danish football (soccer) player
- July 26 — Indrek Sei, Estonian freestyle swimmer
- July 28 — Tom Vanhoudt, Belgian tennis player
- July 31 — Armen Bagdasarov, Uzbek judoka
August
- August 1 — Martin Damm, Czech tennis player
- August 3 — Christian Keller, German medley and freestyle swimmer
- August 7 — Xeno Müller, Swiss rower
- August 10 — Yong Zhuang, Chinese freestyle swimmer
- August 11 — Melanie Jones, Australian cricketer
- August 11 — Rob Short, Canadian field hockey player
- August 21 — Ronnie Ekelund, Danish football (soccer) player
- August 24 — Christian Ruud, Norwegian tennis player
- August 27 — Jaap-Derk Buma, Dutch field hockey player
- August 27 — Denise Lewis, British athlete
- August 27 — Wayne McIndoe, New Zealand field hockey player
- August 28 — Nathan Thomas, Australian waterpolo player
- August 30 — Pavel Nedved, Czech football player
September
- September 1 — Louise Dobson, Australian field hockey player
- September 4 — Daniel Nestor, Canadian tennis player
- September 9 — Jakko Jan Leeuwangh, Dutch speed skater
- September 10 — Daniele Musa, Italian tennis player
- September 11 — Matthew Gilmore, Australian-born Belgian cyclist
- September 16 — Vebjørn Rodal, Norwegian middle distance athlete
- September 17 — Simon Towns, New Zealand field hockey player
- September 19 — Amy Frazier, American tennis player
- September 23 — Radomir Vasek, Czech tennis player
- September 25 — Davide Sanguinetti, Italian tennis player
October
- October 7 — Remco van Wijk, Dutch field hockey player and coach
- October 10 — Marianne Limpert, Canadian freestyle and medley swimmer
- October 11 — Martin Lundgaard, Danish badminton player
- October 13 — Feliberto Ascuy, Cuban wrestler
- October 15 — Duncan Dokiwari, Nigerian boxer
- October 19 — Otto Steffers, American field hockey defender
- October 24 — Ruxandra Dragomir, Romanian tennis player
- October 24 — Jonathan Reid, American boxer
- October 25 — Rodolfo Falcon, Cuban backstroke swimmer
- October 27 — Santiago Botero, Colombian cyclist
- October 27 — Brett Clarke, Australian table tennis player
- October 27 — Jason Duff, Australian field hockey defender
- October 27 — Rob Henderson, Irish rugby union footballer
- October 27 — Maria Mutola, Mozambican athlete
- October 27 — John Steel, New Zealand freestyle swimmer
November
- November 1 — Gillian Sewell, Northern Ireland-born field hockey player from Canada
- November 4 — Luís Figo, Portuguese football player
- November 4 — Olivia Magno, Australian cricketer
- November 5 — Alison Sheppard, Scottish freestyle swimmer
- November 7 — Hasim Rahman, American heavyweight boxer
- November 8 — Chris Fydler, Australian swimmer
- November 9 — Sophie Blake, British television sports presenter
- November 14 — Laurence Tieleman, Italian tennis player
- November 15 — Emilio Alvarez, Spanish tennis player
- November 16 — Ageeth Boomgaardt, Dutch field hockey player
- November 21 — Eyal Ran, Israelian tennis player
- November 24 — Ibrahim Dossey, Ghanaian football (soccer) goalkeeper
- November 24 — Marek Lemsalu, Estonian football (soccer) player
- November 24 — Rhona Simpson, Scottish field hockey player
December
- December 2 — Gustavo Borges, Brazilian swimmer
- December 6 — Francisco Cabello, Argentinian tennis player
- December 7 — Jordi Burillo, Spanish tennis player
- December 9 — Fabrice Santoro, French tennis player
- December 9 — Maikro Romero, Cuban boxer
- December 11 — Paul Rosner, South African tennis player
- December 12 — Wilson Kipketer, Kenian-born Danish middle distance runner
- December 16 — Nicole Haislett, American freestyle swimmer
- December 18 — Anzhela Balakhonova, Ukrainian pole vaulter
- December 18 — Marcos Ondruska, South African tennis player
- December 21 — Claudia Poll, Nicaragua-born swimmer from Costa Rica
- December 27 — Hocine Soltani, Algerian boxer
- December 28 — Roberto Palacios, Peruvian football (soccer) midfielder
- December 28 — Patrick Rafter, Australian tennis player
Deaths
- February 28 — Victor Barna, Hungarian-born, 5 time World table tennis champ
- February 28 — Dizzy Trout, Major League Baseball pitcher (1939-1957)
- March 11 — Zack Wheat, Major League Baseball player (1909-1927)
- March 16 — Pie Traynor, Major League Baseball player (1920-1937)
- March 28 — Donie Bush, Major League Baseball player (1908-1923)
- April 2 — Gil Hodges, Major League Baseball player/manager (1943-1963)
- October 9 — Dave Bancroft, Major League Baseball player (1915-1930)
- October 17 — Turk Broda, ice hockey goaltender
- October 24 — Jackie Robinson, (Baseball Hall of Famer) (1947-1956)
- December 31 — Roberto Clemente, (Baseball Hall of Famer) (1955-1972)
- December 20 — Gabby Hartnett, Major League Baseball player (1922-1941)
- December 23 — Eric Green, British field hockey player (b. 1878)
"1972 in sports"