2002 in sports - Definition and Overview

See also: 2001 in sports, other events of 2002, 2003 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • Ward Burton wins the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Tony Stewart
• Indy Racing League - Sam Hornish Jr. wins the season championship.
• Indianapolis 500 - Hélio Castroneves
• |CART Racing - Cristiano da Matta wins the season championship.
• Formula One Championship - Michael Schumacher of Germany
• 24 hours of Le Mans won by the team of Frank Biela, Tom Kristensen, and Emanuele Pirro driving an Audi R8.
• V8 Supercar
  • Bathurst 1000 won by Mark Skaife and Jim Richards.
  • Championship won by Mark Skaife, from Greg Murphy and Marcos Ambrose.
• Rally racing:
  • the team of Tommi Mäkinen / Kaj Lindstrom wins the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Subaru Impreza WRC
  • Marcus Grönholm of Finland wins the World Rally Championship.
• Drag racing - Larry Dixon Jr. wins the NHRA "Top Fuel" championship.

Baseball

• World Series: Anaheim Angels win 4 games to 3 over the San Francisco Giants

• Books published:
  • Bill James, Win Shares: Presenting the sabermetrician's new system for evaluating player performance.

Basketball

• January 20 - Michael Jordan, now of the Washington Wizards, plays his first game in Chicago since rejoining the NBA. The Wizards beat the Chicago Bulls, 77-69.

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • Maryland Terrapins win 64-52 over the Indiana Hoosiers

• NBA Finals:
  • Los Angeles Lakers win 4 games to 0 over the New Jersey Nets

• WNBA Finals
  • Los Angeles Sparks win 2 games to 0 over the New York Liberty

Boxing

• June 21- Lennox Lewis retains boxing's WBC world Heavyweight crown with an eight round knockout over Mike Tyson

Cricket

• New Zealand are forced to abandon their tour of Pakistan after a bomb explodes outside their hotel in Karachi
• Domestic competitions
  • County Championship (England and Wales) - Surrey

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Paolo Savoldelli of Italy
• Tour de France - Lance Armstrong of the United States
• World Cycling Championship: Mario Cipollini, of Italy

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Alexei Yagudin, Russia
  • Women's champion: Irina Slutskaya, Russia
  • Pairs champions: Xue Shen & Hongbo Zhao, China

Football (American)

• Super Bowl XXXVI: New England Patriots win 20-17 over the St. Louis Rams

• Arena Bowl XVI: San Jose SaberCats win 52-14 over the Arizona Rattlers

Football (Australian Rules)

• Australian Football League
  • The Brisbane Lions win the 106th AFL premiership (Brisbane Lions 10.15 (75) d Collingwood 9.12 (66))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Simon Black (Brisbane Lions)
  • See also Australian Football League season 2002

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Montreal Alouettes win 25-16 over the Edmonton Eskimos
• Vanier Cup: Saint Mary's Huskies win 39-23 over the Saskatchewan Huskies

Football (Soccer)

• The Football World Cup 2002 is held from May 31 to June 30 in South Korea and Japan. Brazil wins its fifth title, defeating Germany 2 - 0 in the final. Surprisingly, Turkey and host nation South Korea take 3rd and 4th. This is the first time a World Cup is held in Asia and by two countries simultaneously.

• Champions' League: Real Madrid beats Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 in the final. This was Real Madrid's 9th European Cup.

• UEFA Cup: Feyenoord wins 3-2 in the final against Borussia Dortmund, winning the cup for the second time.

• European Super Cup: Real Madrid wins 3-1 over Feyenoord, winning the cup for the first time.

• Intercontinental Cup: Real Madrid beats Olimpia Asunción 2-0, winning the cup for the third time.

• England - FA Cup: Arsenal wins 2-0 over Chelsea

• Asian Champions Cup - Suwon Samsung Bluewings retain the Asian Champions Cup, defeating fellow Korean club Anyang LG Cheetahs 4-2 on penalties. They also retained the Asian Super Cup.

• May - Arsenal wins The Double

• August 31 - Real Madrid signs Inter Milan's world cup winner Ronaldo with a transfer fee of 45 million euros.

Golf

Men's Golf

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

• Tiger Woods is the PGA TOUR's leading money winner for the year with earnings of $6,912,625 in 18 events.
• Hale Irwin is the leading money winner on the PGA Champions Tour with earnings of $$3,028,304 in 27 events.
• At the Belfry golf course in Sutton Coldfield, England, the European team defeats the United States team 15.5-12.5 to win the Ryder Cup of world golf.

Women's Golf

• Kraft Nabisco Championship -
• US Women's Open - Juli Inkster
• LPGA Championship - Pak Se Ri
• Women's British Open - Karrie Webb
• Annika Sörenstam: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $2,863,904

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup won by Media Puzzle
• Canada - Queen's Plate won by T J's Lucky Moon
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Marienbard
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - High Chaparral

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes won by Rock of Gibraltar
  2. Epsom Derby won by High Chaparral
  3. St. Leger Stakes won by Bollin Eric

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby won by War Emblem
  2. Preakness Stakes won by War Emblem
  3. Belmont Stakes won by Sarav

• Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships:
  • Breeders' Cup Classic won by Volponi
  • Breeders' Cup Distaff won by Azeri
  • Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf won by Starine
  • Breeders' Cup Juvenile won by Vindication
  • Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies won by Storm Flag Flying
  • Breeders' Cup Mile won by Domedriver
  • Breeders' Cup Sprint won by Orientate
  • Breeders' Cup Turf won by High Chaparral

Harness Racing

• North America Cup - Red River Hanover

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace won by Art Major
  2. Little Brown Jug won by Million Dollar Cam
  3. Messenger Stakes won by Allamerican Ingot

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian won by Chip Chip Hooray
  2. Yonkers Trot won by Bubba Dunn
  3. Kentucky Futurity won by Like A Prayer

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Smooth Satin
  • Trotters: Game Bid

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player:
  • Jose Theodore, Montreal Canadiens

• Stanley Cup: Detroit Red Wings win 4 games to 1 over the Carolina Hurricanes

• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Slovakia defeats Russia
  • Junior Men's champion: Russia defeats Canada
  • Women's champion: no tournament

• Canada defeats the United States 5-2 to win the men's Olympic Gold Medal.

• Canada defeats the United States 3-2 to win the women's Olympic Gold Medal.

Lacrosse

• Baltimore Bayhawks win the Major League Lacrosse championship over Long Island Lizards

Rugby Union

• Six Nations - France (Grand Slam)
• Tri Nations - New Zealand
• Heineken Cup - Leicester Tigers beat Munster 15-9

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Stephan Eberharter, Austria
  • The women's overall season champion: Michaela Dorfmeister, Austria

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: Peter Ebdon beats Stephen Hendry 18-17
• World rankings: Ronnie O'Sullivan becomes world number one for 2002/03

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Thomas Johansson
  2. French Open - Albert Costa
  3. Wimbledon championships - Lleyton Hewitt
  4. US Open - Pete Sampras

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Jennifer Capriati
  2. French Open - Serena Williams
  3. Wimbledon championships - Venus Williams
  4. US Open - Serena Williams

• At the Palais Omnisports Paris Bercy, in Paris, France, Russia defeats France 3-2 to win the Davis Cup of world tennis.

General sporting events

• 2002 Winter Olympics takes place in Salt Lake City, United States
  • Norway wins the most medals (25), and the most gold medals (13).
  • Top performers include Janica Kostelic, Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Simon Ammann. A scandal in figure skating dominates the news.

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
  • Martin Buser wins with lead dog Bronson

Births

Deaths

• January 16 - Bobo Olson, American boxer
• March 23 - Ben Hollioake, English cricket player
• April 16 - Franz Krienbühl, Swiss speed skater
• May 13 - Valeri Lobanovsky, Ukrainian football player and manager
• May 23 - Sam Snead, U.S. golf player
• June 1 - Hansie Cronje, South African cricket player
• June 17 - Willie Davenport, U.S. hurdler
• June 20 - Tinus Osendarp, Dutch sprinter
• June 22 - Pedro Alcazar, Panamanian boxer
• June 22 - Darryl Kile St. Louis pitcher
• July 5 - Ted Williams, great U.S. baseball player (1939-1960)
• August 5 - Darrell Porter, U.S. baseball player (1971-1987)
• August 12 - Enos Slaughter, Major League Baseball player (1938-1959)
• August 23 - Hoyt Wilhelm, Major League Baseball knuckleballer (1952-1972)
• September 11 - Johnny Unitas, U.S. American football player
• September 18 - Bob Hayes, U.S. sprinter and American football player
• October 12 - Audrey Mestre, Free-diving world record holder
• October 20 - Mel Harder, Major League Baseball player
• December 1 - Dave McNally, Major League Baseball pitcher