1977 in sports

Auto racing

Stock car racing:
- NASCAR Championship - Cale Yarborough
- Cale Yarborough won the Daytona 500
USAC Racing - Tom Sneva wins the season championship
- Indianapolis 500 - won by A.J. Foyt. Janet Guthrie became first female qualifier
Formula One Champion - Niki Lauda of Austria
24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Jean-Pierre Laussaud / Didier Pironi won, driving a Renault-Alpine 442
Rally racing - the team of Sandro Munari / Silvio Maiga won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Lancia Stratos HF
Drag racing:
- Shirley Muldowney won the NHRA Top Fuel championship.
- Dennis Baca won Top Fuel at the NHRA World Finals

Baseball

January 19: Ernie Banks is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He won back-to-back MVP awards, but is best remembered for his famous line, "Let's play two".
Sparky Lyle breaks Ron Perranoski's major league record for left-handers of 179 career saves.
The Major League Baseball expansion Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays make their debuts (both are American League teams).
World Series: The New York Yankees defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers. This is the Series in which Reggie Jackson becomes known as "Mr. October."

Basketball

NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship:
- Marquette wins 67-59 over North Carolina

NBA Finals:
- Portland Trail Blazers won 4 games to 2 over the Philadelphia 76ers

Boxing

After 13 years and 82 contests, including 14 title defences, World Middleweight Champion Carlos Monzon retired undefeated.

Cricket

12 March-17 March, Melbourne - Centenary Test played between Australia and England to commemorate 100th anniversary of first Test match. Australia won by 45 runs, exactly the same margin as the first Test match.
World Series Cricket begins playing games in competition to official International Cricket Council sanctioned matches.

Cycling

Giro d'Italia won by Michel Pollentier of Belgium
Tour de France - Bernard Thévenet of France
World Cycling Championship: Francesco Moser of Italy

Dogsled Racing

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
- Rick Swenson won with lead dogs: Andy & O.B. (Old Buddy)

Field Hockey

Men's World Cup Qualifier Tournament in Rome, Italy
- Gold Medal: Poland
- Silver Medal: Ireland
- Bronze Medal: Soviet Union

March 5 - In an international women's field hockey match at Wembley Stadium,England. New Zealand beat England 1-0.

Figure skating

World Figure Skating Championships:
- Men's champion: Vladimir Kovalev, Soviet Union
- Women's champion: Linda Fratianne, United States
- Pairs champions: Irina Rodnina & Alexander Zaitsev, Soviet Union

Football (American)

Super Bowl XI: Oakland Raiders won 32-14 over the Minnesota Vikings

Football (Australian Rules)

Victorian Football League
- North Melbourne wins the 81st VFL Premiership (North Melbourne 9.22 (76) drew Collingwood Football Club 10.16 (76), replay North Melbourne 21.25 (151) d Collingwood 19.10 (124))
- Brownlow Medal awarded to Graeme Teasdale (South Melbourne)

Football (Canadian Football League)

Grey Cup: Montreal Alouettes won 41-6 over the Edmonton Eskimos
Vanier Cup: Western Ontario Mustangs win 48-15 over the Acadia Axmen

Football (rugby league)

NSWRL: St. George and Parramatta draw 9-9 in the Grand Final, St. George take the title by winning the replay 22-0.

Football (Soccer)

England - FA Cup: Manchester United won 2-1 over Liverpool
October 1 - Pelé played the final game of his storied career at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. He played the first half for his current club, the New York Cosmos, and the second half for his old Brazilian club Santos.

Golf

Men's Golf

Grand Slam of golf results:
1. May - The Masters - Tom Watson
2. June - US Open - Hubert Green
3. July - British Open - Tom Watson
4. August - PGA Championship - Lanny Wadkins

PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Tom Watson - $310,653

Ryder Cup: United States won 12½ -7½ over Britain & Ireland in world team golf. This was the last Ryder Cup to feature a side exclusively from the British Isles; the U.S. opponents in the next Ryder Cup, held in 1979 at White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, would be drawn from all of Europe. The U.S.-Europe format has continued ever since.

Women's Golf

US Women's Open - Hollis Stacy
LPGA Championship - Chako Higuchi
Judy Rankin:leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $122,890.

Radiosport

Eighth Amateur Radio Direction Finding European Championship held in Skopje, Yugoslavia.
First IARU Radiosport Championship held in July.

Skiing

Alpine Skiing
- The men's overall season champion: Ingemar Stenmark, Sweden
- The women's overall season champion: Lise-Marie Morerod, Switzerland

Snooker

World Snooker Championship: John Spencer beats Cliff Thorburn 25-12
World rankings: Ray Reardon remains world number one for 1977/78.

Tennis

Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
1. Australian Open - January: Roscoe Tanner - December: Vitas Gerulaitis
2. French Open - Guillermo Vilas
3. Wimbledon championships - Björn Borg
4. US Open - Guillermo Vilas

Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
1. Australian Open: January: Evonne Goolagong - December: Kerry Reid
2. French Open - Mima Jausovec
3. Wimbledon championships - Virginia Wade
4. US Open - Chris Evert

Davis Cup: Australia won 3-1 over Italy in world tennis.

General sporting events

Ninth Summer Universiade held in Sofia, Bulgaria

Births

January

January 2 — Stefan Koubek, Austrian tennis player
January 6 — Stacey Gartrell, Australian long-distance freestyle swimmer
January 10 — Anni Friesinger, German speed skater
January 12 — Eithan Urbach, Israeli backstroke swimmer
January 15 — Marja Vis, Dutch speed skater
January 16 — Ariel Zeevi, Israeli judoka
January 19 — Lauren Etame Mayer, Cameroonian football (soccer) player
January 24 — Minke Booij, Dutch field hockey player
January 25 — Hatem Trabelsi, Tunesian football (soccer) player
January 26 — Dean Butler, Australian field hockey player
January 26 — Justin Gimelstob, American tennis player
January 28 — Takumo Sato, Japanese Formula I-driver

February

February 5 — Ben Ainslie, British sailor
February 11 — Jessica Carlson, American archer
February 11 — Stephanie Richardson, Canadian swimmer
February 13 — Randy Moss, American NFL player
February 16 — Anne-Marie Irving, New Zealand field hockey goalkeeper
February 20 — Bartosz Kizierowski, Polish freestyle swimmer
February 25 — Joanne Banning, Australian field hockey international
February 25 — Désiré Mbonabucya, Rwandan football (soccer) striker

March

March 1 — Rens Blom, Dutch athlete
March 2 — Stephen Parry, British middle-distance swimmer
March 7 — Ronan O'Gara, Irish rugby union player
March 7 — Mitja Zastrow, German-born swimmer from Holland
March 8 — Fernando Vicente, Spanish tennis player
March 14 — Helen Mary, Indian field hockey goalkeeper
March 15 — Imke Bartels, Dutch equestrian
March 16 — Ralf van der Rijst, Dutch speed skater
March 16 — Thomas Rupprath, German swimmer
March 21 — Ilse Heylen, Belgian judoka
March 21 — Mark Pearn, English field hockey striker
March 22 — Bevan George, Australian field hockey player
March 23 — Maxim Marinin, Russian figure skater
March 28 — Fredrik Jonsson, Swedish tennis player
March 31 — Domenico Fioravanti, Italian swimmer

April

April 5 — Jonathan Erlich, Israeli tennis player
April 13 — Michelle Vizzuso, American field hockey player
April 17 — Chad Hedrick, American inline speed skater
April 18 — Sue Tingley, Canadian field hockey midfielder
April 21 — Darius Grigalionis, Lithuanian backstroke swimmer
April 21 — Rick Hofstra, Dutch darts player
April 21 — Mette Schjoldager, Danish female badminton player
April 22 — Anthony Lurling, Dutch football (soccer) player
April 22 — Mark van Bommel, Dutch football (soccer) player
April 22 — Robert Hunter, South African cyclist
April 23 — Bram Schmitz, Dutch cyclist
April 24 — Carlos Beltrán, Puerto Rican baseball player
April 25 — Sylviane Berthod, Swiss alpine skier
April 26 — Janneke Schopman, Dutch field hockey player
April 29 — Margriet Matthijsse, Dutch sailor

May

May 1 — Vera Lischka, Austrian breaststroke swimmer
May 6 — Shannon Shakespeare, Canadian freestyle swimmer
May 6 — Trent Steed, Australian medley swimmer
May 11 — Janne Ahonen, Finnish ski jumper
May 17 — Maarten Froger, Dutch field hockey striker
May 17 — Zsolt Gáspár, Hungarian butterfly swimmer
May 23 — Denise Marston-Smith, British field hockey international
May 23 — Ilia Kulik, Russian figure skating champion
May 24 — Tom Bertram, English field hockey defender
May 30 — Fabrice Akwa, Angolan soccer striker

June

June 1 — Paul Woolford, New Zealand field hockey goalkeeper
June 3 — Jan-Michael Gambill, American tennis player
June 9 — Sohail Abbas, Pakistani field hockey defender
June 9 — Peja Stojakovic, Serbian NBA player
June 9 — Wioletta Janowska, Polish athlete
June 12 — Idrissa Sanou, Burkinabé athlete
June 12 — Andrea Schwartz, Canadian butterfly and freestyle swimmer
June 14 — Francesco Coco, Italian football (soccer) player
June 16 — Addy Engels, Dutch cyclist
June 16 — Martine Janssen, Dutch breaststroke swimmer
June 18 — Razvan Sabau, Romanian tennis player
June 22 — Frédéric Weis, French basketball player
June 24 — Nina Zhivanevskaya, Russian-born swimmer
June 27 — Raúl, Spanish football (soccer) player
June 29 — Alan Villafuerte, Dutch gymnast
June 30 — Fernando Zylberberg, Argentine field hockey midfielder

July

July 3 — Natascha Keller, German field hockey player
July 6 — Li Jinyu, Chinese football (soccer) player
July 19 — Zuzanna Szwed, Polish figure skater
July 21 — Llewellyn Herbert, South African athlete
July 22 — Denzil Dolley, South African field hockey player
July 23 — Gail Emms, British badminton player
July 24 — Arnold Bruggink, Dutch football (soccer) player
July 24 — Vratislav Greško, Slovak football (soccer) player
July 28 — Manu Ginobili, Argentine basketball player
July 30 — Jerson Ravelo, Dominican boxer

August

August 8 — Kelly Rezansoff, Canadian field hockey player
August 17 — Thierry Henry, French football (soccer) player
August 12 — Iva Majoli, Croatian tennis player
August 12 — Jesper Gronkjaer, Danish football (soccer) player
August 19 — Iban Mayo, Spanish cyclist
August 26 — Therese Alshammar, Swedish swimmer
August 27 — Deco, Portuguese football (soccer) player
August 30 — Félix Sánchez, Dominican athlete

September

September 1 — David Albelda, Spanish football (soccer) player
September 17 — Juan Antonio Flecha, Argentine-born cyclist
September 17 — Lieve van Kessel, Dutch field hockey player
September 17 — Simone Perrotta, Italian football (soccer) midfielder
September 19 — Emil Sutovsky, Israeli chess grandmaster
September 23 — Magomed Aripgadjiev, Belarussian boxer
September 25 — Smiljana Marinović, Croatian breaststroke swimmer
September 26 — Michael McCann, Australian field hockey player
September 28 — Mark Boswell, Jamaica-born Canadian high jumper
September 28 — Se Ri Pak, South Korean golf player

October

October 1 — Alejandro Hernandez, Mexican tennis player
October 2 — Didier Défago, Swiss alpine skier
October 6 — Anthony Cosmo, Canadian lacrosse player
October 7 — Melanie Twitt, Australian field hockey player
October 15 — Troy Elder, Australian field hockey player
October 15 — Bernardino Herrera, Spanish field hockey goalkeeper
October 25 — Mitică Pricop, Romanian canoer
October 25 — Birgit Prinz, German football (soccer) player
October 31 — Sylviane Felix, French track and field sprint athlete

November

November 7 — Andres Oper, Estonian football (soccer) striker
November 12 — Benni McCarthy, South African football (soccer) striker
November 12 — Davide Rummolo, Italian swimmer
November 16 — Oksana Baiul, Ukrainian figure skater
November 17 — Jon MacKinnon, Canadian field hockey goalkeeper
November 17 — Ryk Neethling, South African swimmer
November 17 — Laura Wilkinson, American freediver
November 19 — Kerri Strug, American gymnast
November 25 — Guillermo Cañas, Argentine tennis player
November 25 — Regan Harrison, Australian breaststroke swimmer
November 26 — Ivan Basso, Italian cyclist
November 26 — Zhang Jun, Chinese badminton player
November 27 — Laura Newton, English cricketer
November 29 — Younis Khan, Pakistani cricketer

December

December 3 — Adam Małysz, Polish ski jumper
December 6 — Andrew Flintoff, English cricketer
December 6 — Peta Gallagher, Australian field hockey player
December 7 — Fernando Vargas, American boxer
December 17 — Arnaud Clement, French tennis player
December 24 — Glen Salmon, South African football player
December 30 — Laila Ali, American boxer, daughter of Muhammad Ali

Deaths

January 18 — Luciano Re Cecconi (38), Italian football (soccer) player (b. 1948)
March 19 — José Carlos Pace (32), Brazilian champion race car driver (b. 1944)
July 17 — Billy Gonsalves (68), American football (soccer player) (b. 1908)

1977 | 1977 in sports

1977 en sport | 1977年のスポーツ | Sportåret 1977

Gourt Home::Gourt :: 1977 in sports

Football (American)

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