1997 in sports - Definition and Overview

See also: 1996 in sports, other events of 1997, 1998 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • Jeff Gordon is the youngest driver ever to win the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Jeff Gordon
• Indy Racing League -
• Indianapolis 500 - Arie Luyendyk
• CART Racing - Alex Zanardi won the season championship
• Formula One Championship - Jacques Villeneuve of Canada
• V8 Supercars Australia
  • Championship Series won by Glenn Seton in a Ford Falcon EL.
  • Bathurst 1000 for V8 Supercars won by Russel Ingall and Larry Perkins in a Holden Commodore VS.
  • Bathurst 1000 for Super Touring won by Jim Richards and Rickard Rydell. Rydell setting a shootout lap of 2:14.x, fastest super touring lap ever around the mountain at that time.
• 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Michele Alboreto / Stefan Johansson / Tom Kristensen won, driving a TWR-Porsche
• Rally racing - Tommi Mäkinen won the World Rally Championship
  • the team of Piero Liatti / Fabrizia Pons won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Subaru Impreza WRC97
• Drag racing - Gary Scelzi won the NHRA "Top Fuel" championship.

Baseball

• June 12 - Interleague play begins in baseball, ending a 126-year tradition of separating the major leagues until the World Series.
• World Series: Florida Marlins won 4 games to 3 over the Cleveland Indians. The Series MVP was Liván Hernández, Florida

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • Arizona wins 84-79 over Kentucky

• NBA Finals:
  • Chicago Bulls earn their second repeat of the decade as they beat the Utah Jazz 4 games to 2 (see Steve Kerr).

• WNBA Finals:
  • Houston Comets defeat the New York Liberty in one game playoff series.

Boxing

• January 18 - Las Vegas, Nevada - Oscar De La Hoya maintained his World Boxing Council super lightweight title in with a 12-round unanimous decision over Miguel Angel Gonzalez.
• June 28 - Mike Tyson bites off a piece of the ear of Evander Holyfield in the third round of their WBA Heavyweight title fight, getting disqualified by referee Mills Lane.
• July 9 - Mike Tyson's boxing license is suspended for at least a year and he is fined $3 million for biting Evander Holyfield's ear in a televised match.

Cricket

• The Ashes - Australia win the six test series 3-2
• ICC Trophy - Bangladesh
• Women's Cricket World Cup - Australia beat New Zealand by five wickets
• County Cricket Championship (England and Wales) - Glamorgan

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Ivan Gotti of Italy
• Tour de France - Jan Ullrich of Germany
• World Cycling Championship: Laurent Brochard of France

Field Hockey

• October 17 - 19 - Champions Trophy held at Adelaide, Australia won by Germany. Hosts Australia finish second.

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Elvis Stojko, Canada
  • Women's champion: Tara Lipinski, United States
  • Pairs champions: Mandy Wötzel & Ingo Steuer, Germany

Football (American)

• Super Bowl XXXI: Green Bay Packers won 35-21 over the New England Patriots

Football (Australian Rules)

• Australian Football League
  • Port Adelaide join the league
  • The Adelaide Crows win the 101st AFL premiership (Adelaide Crows 19.11 (125) d St Kilda 13.16 (94))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Robert Harvey (St Kilda)

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Toronto Argonauts won 47-23 over the Saskatchewan Roughriders
• Vanier Cup: UBC Thunderbirds win 39-23 over the Ottawa Gee Gees

Football (Soccer)

• England - FA Cup: Chelsea won 2-0 over Middlesbrough

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Tiger Woods
  2. June - US Open - Ernie Els
  3. July - British Open - Justin Leonard
  4. August - PGA Championship - Davis Love III

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Tiger Woods - $2,066,833
• PGA Champions Tour leading money winner: Hale Irwin - $2,343,364
• Ryder Cup: Europe won 14 1/2-13 1/2 over the United States in world team golf.

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Alison Nicholas
• LPGA Championship - Chris Johnson
• Annika Sörenstam: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $1,236,789.

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Might And Power
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Awesome Again
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Peintre Célèbre
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Desert King

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Entrepreneur
  2. Epsom Derby - Benny the Dip
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Silver Patriarch

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Silver Charm
  2. Preakness Stakes - Silver Charm
  3. Belmont Stakes - Touch Gold

• Breeders' Cup:
  1. Breeders' Cup Classic - Skip Away
  2. Breeders' Cup Distaff - Ajina
  3. Breeders' Cup Juvenile - Favorite Trick
  4. Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies - Countess Diana
  5. Breeders' Cup Mile - Spinning World
  6. Breeders' Cup Sprint - Elmhurst
  7. Breeders' Cup Turf - Chief Bearhart

Harness Racing

• North America Cup - Gothic Dream

• Western Dreamer won the United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Western Dreamer
  2. Little Brown Jug - Western Dreamer
  3. Messenger Stakes - Western Dreamer

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Malabar Man
  2. Yonkers Trot - Lord Stormont
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Take Chances

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Our Sir Vancelot
  • Trotters: Pride Of Petite

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Dominik Hasek of the Buffalo Sabres

• Stanley Cup - Detroit Red Wings win 4 games to 0 over the Philadelphia Flyers

• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Canada defeated Sweden
  • Junior Men's champion: Finland defeated Russia
  • Women's champion: Canada defeated the United States

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Luc Alphand, France
  • The women's overall season champion: Pernilla Wiberg, Sweden

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: Ken Doherty beats Stephen Hendry 18-12
• World rankings: Stephen Hendry remains world number one for 1997/98

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Pete Sampras
  2. French Open - Gustavo Kuerten
  3. Wimbledon championships - Pete Sampras
  4. US Open - Patrick Rafter

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Martina Hingis
  2. French Open - Iva Majoli
  3. Wimbledon championships - Martina Hingis
  4. US Open - Martina Hingis

• Davis Cup: Sweden won 5-0 over the United States in world tennis.

General sporting events

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
  • Martin Buser won with lead dogs: Blondie & Fearless

Births

Deaths

• Exceller - great thoroughbred racehorse
• March 21 - John Nemechek 27, NASCAR race driver
• September 9 - Richie Ashburn, Major League Baseball player
• November 14 - Eddie Arcaro, only jockey to win two Triple Crowns