1969 in sports - Definition and Overview

See also: 1968 in sports, other events of 1969, 1970 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • LeeRoy Yarborough won the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - David Pearson
• Indianapolis 500 - Mario Andretti
• USAC Racing - Mario Andretti won the season championship
• Formula One Championship - Jackie Stewart of Great Britain driving a Matra
• 24 hours of Le Mans:
  • Jacky Ickx / Jackie Oliver won driving a Ford GT-40
• Rally racing - the team of Bjorn Waldegard / Lars Helmer won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Porsche 911S
• Drag racing:
  • Don Prudhomme won the NHRA,s "Top Fuel" championship
  • Steve Carbone won "Top Fuel" at the NHRA World Finals

Baseball

• March 1: Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees announces his retirement.

• April 14: Montreal Expos outfielder Mack Jones hit a three-run home run and two-run triple that highlighted an 8-7 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in the Expos' first home victory as a franchise at Jarry Park. Jones' blast was also the first MLB home run hit outside the United States.

• July 20: San Francisco Giants pitcher Gaylord Perry, six years after quipping, "They'll put a man on the moon before I hit a home run," hits the first and only home run of his career just hours after Neil Armstrong lands on the moon.

• World Series: the New York Mets win 4 games to 1 over the Baltimore Orioles.

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • UCLA wins 92-72 over Purdue

• NBA Finals:
  • Boston Celtics won 4 games to 3 over the Los Angeles Lakers

Boxing

• June 23 - Joe Frazier scored a 7th round TKO over Jerry Quarry.

• October 18 - Jose Napoles retained the World Welterweight Championship in a 15 round decision over Emile Griffith.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Felice Gimondi of Italy
• Tour de France - Eddy Merckx of Belgium
• World Cycling Championship: Harm Ottenbros of Netherlands

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Tim Wood, United States
  • Women's champion: Gabrielle Seyfert, Germany
  • Pairs champions: Irina Rodnina & Alexej Ulanow, Soviet Union

Football (American)

• January 12 - The New York Jets upset the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III by a score of 16-7, after quarterback Joe Namath "guaranteed" a victory. It was the first Super Bowl victory by an American Football League team.

Football (Australian Rules)

• Victorian Football League
  • Richmond wins the 73rd VFL Premiership (Richmond 12.13 (85) d Carlton 8.12 (60))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Kevin Murray (Fitzroy)

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Ottawa Rough Riders won 29-11 over the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
• Vanier Cup: Manitoba Bisons won 24-15 over the McGill Redmen

Football (Soccer)

• September 26: the Bolivian soccer team is killed in a plane crash near La Paz, Bolivia

• England - First Division Champions: Leeds
• England - FA Cup: Manchester City won 1-0 over Leicester City
• Scotland - First Division Champions: Celtic
• Scotland - FA Cup: Celtic won 4-0 over Rangers

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - George Archer
  2. June - US Open - Orville Moody
  3. July - British Open - Tony Jacklin
  4. August - PGA Championship - Ray Floyd

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Frank Beard - $164,707

• Ryder Cup: United States and Britain tied 16 all in world team golf.

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Donna Caponi
• LPGA Championship - Betsy Rawls
• Carol Mann: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $49,152.

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• February 11 - Diana Crump becomes 1st American woman jockey to ride against men.
• February 22 - Barbara Jo Rubin wins a United States thoroughbred horse race making history as the first women to do so.

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Rain Lover
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Jumpin Joseph
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Levmoss
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Prince Regent

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Right Tack
  2. Epsom Derby - Blakeney
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Intermezzo

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Majestic Prince
  2. Preakness Stakes - Majestic Prince
  3. Belmont Stakes - Arts and Letters

Harness Racing

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Kat Byrd
  2. Little Brown Jug - Laverne Hanover
  3. Messenger Stakes - Bye Bye Sam

• Lindy's Pride won the United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Lindy's Pride
  2. Yonkers Trot - Lindy's Pride
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Lindy's Pride

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Richmond Lass

Ice Hockey

• 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: Phil Esposito, Boston Bruins

• Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens won 4 games to 0 over the St. Louis Blues

• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Sweden

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Karl Schranz, Austria
  • The women's overall season champion: Gertrud Gabi, Austria

Snooker

• The World Snooker Championship reverts to a knockout format. John Spencer beats Gary Owen 37-24

Tennis

• Australian Rod Laver, one of only two men to ever win the Grand Slam in tennis wins it for the second time.
• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Rod Laver (Australia)
  2. French Open - Rod Laver
  3. Wimbledon championships - Rod Laver
  4. US Open - Rod Laver

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Margaret Smith Court
  2. French Open - Margaret Smith Court
  3. Wimbledon championships - Ann Haydon Jones
  4. US Open - Margaret Smith Court

• Davis Cup: United States wins 5-0 over Romania in world tennis.

• Australian Rod Laver completes his second Grand Slam and the fourth in the history of tennis.

General sporting events

Births

• January 3 - Michael Schumacher, Formula One driver
• January 16 - Roy Jones Jr., boxer
• February 1 - Gabriel Batistuta, Argentine football player
• February 3 - Retief Goosen, South African golfer
• February 11 - Bryan Eversgerd US baseball player
• February 12 - Hong Myung-Bo, South Korean football player
• March 20 - Karen Smithies, Engish cricketer.
• April 25 - Jo Chamberlain, English cricketer.
• May 2 - Brian Lara, West Indies cricketer
• May 15 - Emmitt Smith, American football player
• June 14 - Steffi Graf, German tennis player
• June 15 - Oliver Kahn, German football goalkeeper
• July 25 - Andrea Wieland, US field hockey goalkeeper
• August 31 - Javagal Srinath, Indian cricketer
• September 10 - Nicola Payne, New Zealand cricketer
• September 13 - Shane Warne, Australian cricketer
• September 20 - Jennifer Turner,New Zealand cricket player
• September 25 - Hansie Cronje, South African cricketer (+2002)
• October 10 - Brett Favre, American football player
• October 17 - Ernie Els, South African golfer

Deaths

• June 21 - Maureen Connolly 34, first woman to win the Grand Slam in tennis
• August 31 - Rocky Marciano 45, former World Heavyweight boxing champion; died in a plane crash
• October 12 - Sonja Henie, Olympic and World Champion figure skater