1966 in sports

yearbox
in?=in sports
cp=19th century
c=20th century
cf=21st century
yp1=1963
yp2=1964
yp3=1965
year=1966
ya1=1967
ya2=1968
ya3=1969
dp3=1930s
dp2=1940s
dp1=1950s
d=1960s
da=0
dn1=1970s
dn2=1980s
dn3=1990s|

Artistic Gymnastics

*World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
**Men's all-around champion: Mikhail Voronin, USSR
**Women's all-around champion: Věra Čáslavská, Czechoslovakia
**Men's team competition champion: Japan
**Women's team competition champion: Czechoslovakia

Athletics

Track

*July 17 – American runner Jim Ryun sets a new world record for the mile at 3:51.3

Marathon

* August 11 — flagicon|JAM Commonwealth Games Marathon, Kingston, Jamaica
**Men's Winner: Jim Alder (SCO) 2:22:07
* September 4 — flagicon|HUN European Championships Marathon, Budapest, Hungary
**Men's Winner: Jim Hogan (IRL) 2:20:05

* November 27 — flagicon|JPN Fukuoka Marathon, Japan
**Men's Winner: Mike Ryan (NZL) 2:14:05

* December 15 — flagicon|THA Asian Games Marathon, Bangkok, Thailand
**Men's Winner: Kenji Kimihara (JPN) 2:33:23

=Auto Racing=

*Stock car racing:
**Richard Petty won the Daytona 500
**NASCAR Championship - David Pearson
*Indianapolis 500 - Graham Hill
*USAC Racing - Mario Andretti won the season championship
*Formula One Championship - Jack Brabham of Australia
*24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Bruce McLaren / Chris Amon won driving a Ford GT-40 Mk.II
*Rally racing - the team of Pauli Toivonen / Ensio Mikander won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Citroën DS. However, the result was highly controversial, with the top finishers (including the BMC Mini Cooper S and Ford Cortina) disqualified on the dubious basis of their quartz-iodide single filament bulbs, allowing Citröen, who had made the necessary changes to their lighting systems just before the end of the event, to step up and take the winning slot.
*Drag racing - Pete Robinson won the NHRA "Top Fuel" World Championship.

Baseball

* January 20: The BBWAA elects Ted Williams to the Hall of Fame. Williams, the last batter to hit .400, receives 282 of a possible 302 votes.

* Roberto Clemente is the National League MVP.

* Frank Robinson is the American League MVP.

*Ted Williams is inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame.

*World Series: Baltimore Orioles win 4 games to 0 over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Series MVP: Frank Robinson, Baltimore

Basketball

*NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship:
**Texas Western wins 72-65 over Kentucky

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

Boxing

*April 25 at New York City, World Welterweight Champion Emile Griffith won a 15 round unanimous decision over Dick Tiger to also become the World Middleweight Champion.

Cycling

*Giro d'Italia won by Gianni Motta of Italy
*Tour de France - Lucien Aimar of France
*Vuelta a España - Francisco Gabica of Spain
*World Cycling Championship: Rudi Altig of Germany

Figure skating

*World Figure Skating Championships:
**Men's champion: Emmerich Dänzer, Austria
**Ladies' champion: Peggy Fleming, United States
**Pair skating champions: Ludmila Belousova & Oleg Protopopov, Soviet Union
**Ice dancing champions: Diane Towler & Bernard Ford, Great Britain

=Football (American)=

*1966 season championships were played in late 1966 and early 1967
*AFL Championship: Kansas City Chiefs won 31-7 over the Buffalo Bills
*NFL Championship: Green Bay Packers won 34-27 over the Dallas Cowboys
*Super Bowl I: Green Bay Packers won 35-10 over the Kansas City Chiefs

Football (Australian rules football)

* Victorian Football League
** St Kilda wins the 70th VFL Premiership (St Kilda 10.14 (74) d Collingwood 10.13 (73))
** Brownlow Medal awarded to Ian Stewart (St Kidan dan hill was born

=Football (Canadian)=

* Grey Cup: Saskatchewan Roughriders win 29-14 over the Ottawa Rough Riders
* Vanier Cup: St. Francis Xavier X-Men win 40-14 over the Waterloo Lutheran Golden Hawks

Football (Soccer)

::"For an extensive coverage see 1966 in football (soccer)"
*World Cup: England defeats Germany to win the 1966 World Cup Final.
*England - FA Cup: Everton win 3-2 against Sheffield Wednesday
*FIFA decided to give the right to host the Football World Cup 1974, Football World Cup 1978 and 1982 Football World Cup to West Germany, Argentina and Spain

Golf

Men's professional
*April 8-11 - Masters Tournament - Jack Nicklaus
*June 17-20 - U.S. Open - Billy Casper
*July 6-9 - British Open - Jack Nicklaus becomes the fourth player to win all four major professional championships.
*July 21-24 - PGA Championship - Al Geiberger
*PGA Tour money leader - Billy Casper - $121,945Men's amateur
*British Amateur - Bobby Cole
*U.S. Amateur - Gary CowanWomen's professional
*Women's Western Open - Mickey Wright
*LPGA Championship - Gloria Ehret
*U.S. Women's Open - Sandra Spuzich
*Titleholders Championship - Kathy Whitworth
*LPGA Tour money leader - Kathy Whitworth - $33,517

=Thoroughbred Horse Racing=

*Australia - Melbourne Cup - Galilee
*Canada - Queen's Plate - Titled Hero
*France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Bon Mot
*Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Sodium

*English Triple Crown Races:
*#2,000 Guineas Stakes - Kashmir II
*#Epsom Derby - Charlottown
*#St. Leger Stakes - Sodium

*United States Triple Crown Races:
*#May 7 - Kentucky Derby - Kauai King
*#Preakness Stakes - Kauai King
*#Belmont Stakes - Amberoid(Held at Aqueduct)

=Harness Racing=

*Romeo Hanover wins the United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
*#Cane Pace - Romeo Hanover
*#Little Brown Jug - Romeo Hanover
*#Messenger Stakes - Romeo Hanover

*United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
*#Hambletonian - Kerry Way
*#Yonkers Trot - Polaris
*#Kentucky Futurity - Governor Armbro

*Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
**Pacers: Chamfer Star
**Trotters: Yamamoto

Ice Hockey

*Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Bobby Hull, Chicago Black Hawks

*Hart Memorial Trophy: for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Bobby Hull, Chicago Black Hawks

*Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens won 4-2 over the Detroit Red Wings

*World Hockey Championship
** Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Czechoslovakia

*NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship - Michigan State University Spartans defeat Clarkson University Golden Knights 6-1 in Minneapolis, MN

Orienteering

* First Orienteering World Championships held 1-2 October in Fiskars, Finland.

Skiing

*ISF World Championships:
**Men's combined champion: Jean-Claude Killy, France
**Women's combined champion: Marielle Goitschel, France

Snooker

*World Snooker Championship challenge match: John Pulman beats Fred Davis 5-2 in matches.

Tennis

*Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
*#Australian Open - Roy Emerson
*#French Open - Tony Roche
*#Wimbledon championships - Manuel Santana
*#US Open - Fred Stolle

*Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
*#Australian Open - Margaret Smith
*#French Open - Ann Haydon Jones
*#Wimbledon championships - Billie Jean King
*#US Open - Maria Bueno

*Davis Cup: Australia wins 4-1 over India in world tennis.

Volleyball

* Men's World Championship in Prague, Czechoslovakia
** Gold Medal: Czechoslovakia
** Silver Medal: Romania
** Bronze Medal: Soviet Union

Multi-sport events

*Asian Games held in Bangkok, Thailand

*British Empire and Commonwealth Games held in Kingston, Jamaica

* Central American and Caribbean Games held in San Juan, Puerto Rico

* Fourth Winter Universiade held in Sestriere, Italy

Awards

*Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year: Frank Robinson, Major League Baseball
*Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year: Kathy Whitworth, LPGA golf

Births

January

* January 1 — Nikolay Gulyayev, Soviet speedskater
* January 2 — Aileen Claxon, British field hockey goalkeeper
* January 3 — Andrea Jaeger, American tennis player
* January 5 — Rodrigo Gavela, Spanish long-distance athlete
* January 6 — Lucketz Swartbooi, Namibian long-distance runner
* January 6 — Carlos Weber, Argentine volleyball player
* January 7 — Corrie Sanders, South African boxer
* January 10 — Kennedy McKinney, American boxer
* January 17 — Agnes Hijman, Dutch long-distance runner
* January 23 — Bernadette Bowyer, Canadian field hockey player
* January 23 — Scott Fortune, American volleyball player
* January 24 — Michael Forgeron, Canadian rower
* January 28 — Wendy Brown, American heptathlete
* January 28 — Yoko Tanabe, Japanese judoka
* January 29 — Karen LaFace, American diver
* January 30 — Doug Wood, Canadian pole vaulter

February

* February 1 — Michelle Akers, American football player
* February 2 — Andrei Chesnokov, Russian tennis player
* February 2 — Sean Wade, New Zealand long-distance runner
* February 6 — Armando Barcellos, Brazilian triathlete
* February 7 — Kristin Otto, East German swimmer
* February 8 — Alex Antonitsch, Austrian tennis player
* February 8 — Hristo Stoichkov, Bulgarian football player
* February 9 — Laurie Pace, Maltese judoka
* February 9 — Ellen van Langen, Dutch athlete
* February 11 — Patrik Kühnen, West German tennis player
* February 11 — Anthony Parker, American football player
* February 12 — Jörg Ahmann, German beach volleyball player
* February 14 — Taco van den Honert, Dutch field hockey player
* February 19 — Paul Haarhuis, Dutch tennis player
* February 20 — Perica Bukić, Croatian water polo player
* February 22 — Patricia Libregts, Dutch water polo player
* February 25 — Samson Kitur, Kenyan middle-distance runner (d. 2003)

March

* March 1 — Susan Auch, Canadian speed skater
* March 2 — Bruno Gutzeit, French butterfly swimmer
* March 2 — Judith Wiesner, Austrian tennis player
* March 15 — Marvyn King, English darts player
* March 15 — Hiroshi Nagashima, Japanese boxer
* March 20 — Chris Gifford, Canadian field hockey striker
* March 21 — Hauke Fuhlbrügge, German middle distance runner
* March 21 — Emiel Mellaard, Dutch long jumper
* March 21 — Brad Pearce, American tennis player
* March 23 — Lorenzo Daniel, American track and field sprinter
* March 23 — Martin Ndongo-Ebanga, Cameroonian boxer
* March 24 — Floyd Heard, American track and field sprinter
* March 26 — Benny Nielsen, Danish butterfly swimmer
* March 29 — Krassimir Balakov, Bulgarian football (soccer) player
* March 29 — Sigrid Kirchmann, Austrian high jumper
* March 29 — Pamela Rai, Canadian freestyle swimmer
* March 30 — Dmitry Volkov, Soviet breaststroke swimmer
* March 31 — Nathalie Gosselin, Canadian judoka
* March 31 — Tommy Werner, Swedish freestyle swimmer

April

* April 2 — Teddy Sheringham, English football (soccer) player
* April 2 — Vadim Yaroshchuk, Soviet swimmer
* April 3 — Tadanori Koshino, Japanese judoka
* April 12 — Adriana Samuel, Brazilian volleyball player
* April 15 — Andrei Olhovskiy, Russian tennis player
* April 16 — Asif Dar, Pakistani-Canadian boxer
* April 18 — Trine Hattestad, Norwegian javelin thrower
* April 24 — Alessandro Costacurta, Italian football (soccer) player
* April 24 — Teresa Rivera, Mexican swimmer
* April 26 — Andrea Temesvari, Hungarian tennis player
* April 28 — Sándor Hódosi, Hungarian canoer

May

* May 4 — Karen Phillips, Australian butterfly swimmer
* May 5 — Eric Sato, American volleyball player
* May 7 — Jes Høgh, Danish football (soccer) player
* May 8 — Claudio Taffarel, Brazilian soccer goalkeeper
* May 9 — Antonio Silio, Argentine long-distance runner
* May 10 — Jonathan Edwards, British triple jumper
* May 10 — Anne Elvebakk, Norwegian biathlete
* May 11 — Michelle MacPherson, Canadian backstroke and butterfly swimmer
* May 12 — Anne Ottenbrite, Canadian breaststroke swimmer
* May 17 — Xavier Escudé, Spanish field hockey player
* May 17 — Henrik Larsen, Danish football (soccer) player
* May 18 — Renata Nielsen, Danish long jumper
* May 24 — Peter Meinert Nielsen, Danish road bicycle racer
* May 31 — Roshan Mahanama, Sri Lankan cricketer

June

* June 1 — Sven Rothenberger, German-born equestrian from the Netherlands
* June 1 — Greg Schiano, American football coach
* June 2 — Petra van Staveren, Dutch breaststroke swimmer
* June 6 — Viktor Zaitsev, Uzbekistani javelin thrower
* June 10 — David Platt, English football player
* June 12 — Ignacio Cobos, Spanish field hockey player
* June 16 — Jan Železný, Czech javelin thrower
* June 18 — Bob Kempainen, American long-distance runner
* June 18 — Sharon Rendle, British judoka
* June 19 — Elijah Lagat, Kenyan long-distance runner
* June 22 — Howard Grant, Jamaican-Canadian boxer
* June 22 — Christine Toonstra, Dutch long-distance runner
* June 23 — Joe Falcon, American middle-distance runner
* June 24 — Debbie Fuller, Canadian diver
* June 25 — Michael Tauson, Danish tennis player
* June 27 — Mercedes Paz, Argentine tennis player
* June 29 — John Part, Canadian darts player
* June 30 — Ron Dekker, Dutch swimmer
* June 30 — Mike Tyson, American boxer

July

* July 1 — Simon Arkell, Australian pole vaulter
* July 1 — Stéphan Caron, French freestyle swimmer
* July 1 — Frank De Bleeckere, Belgian football (soccer) referee
* July 3 — Daniel Plaza, Spanish race walker
* July 4 — Csaba Almási, Hungarian long jumper
* July 5 — Gianfranco Zola, Italian football (soccer) striker
* July 7 — Henk Fräser, Dutch football (soccer) defender
* July 7 — Manuel Pancorbo, Spanish middle-distance runner
* July 8 — Leszek Bebło, Polish long-distance runner
* July 8 — Jean-Philippe Jodard, French beach volleyball player
* July 9 — Marco Antonio González, Spanish water polo player
* July 10 — Andrés Charadia, Argentine hammer thrower
* July 15 — Susan Fraser, Scottish field hockey player
* July 21 — Larisa Neiland, Ukrainian-born tennis player from Latvia
* July 18 — Kathrin Neimke, German track and field athlete
* July 20 — Tracey McFarlane, American breaststroke swimmer
* July 25 — Paul Burke, English boxer
* July 27 — Tamás Deutsch, Hungarian backstroke swimmer
* July 27 — Stanislav Tarasenko, Russian long jumper
* July 30 — Shigueto Yamasaki, Brazilian judoka

August

* August 3 — Simon Shirley, Australian decathlete
* August 6 — Michael Hilgers, German field hockey forward
* August 6 — Martha Tenorio, Ecuadorian long-distance runner
* August 7 — Zlatko Yankov, Bulgarian football (soccer) player
* August 10 — Jerry Nijman, Dutch boxer
* August 14 — Freddy Rincón, Colombian football (soccer) player
* August 16 — Rosey Edeh, Canadian athlete and tv-personality
* August 19 — Sarah Jane Cook, English cricketer
* August 22 — Ismo Falck, Finnish archer
* August 22 — Rob Witschge, Dutch football (soccer) player
* August 23 — Justin Lemberg, Australian middle-long distance freestyle swimmer
* August 23 — Rik Smits, Dutch basketball player
* August 24 — Ramón González, Cuban javelin thrower
* August 24 — Jon Sieben, Australian butterfly swimmer
* August 26 — Jacques Brinkman, Dutch field hockey player
* August 26 — Laura Bruschini, Italian beach volleyball player
* August 27 — Jeroen Duyster, Dutch rowing coxswain
* August 27 — Gianni Vignaduzzi, Canadian track cyclist
* August 30 — Willemien Aardenburg, Dutch field hockey player
* August 31 — Thierry Champion, French tennis player
* August 31 — Luboslav Penev, Bulgarian football (soccer) player

eptember

* September 4 — Gary Neiwand, Australian track cyclist
* September 5 — Ronald Zoodsma, Dutch volleyball player
* September 7 — Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann, German ice speed skater
* September 9 — Georg Hackl, German luger
* September 9 — Alison Sydor, Canadian cross country mountain cyclist
* September 12 — Dulce Piña, Dominican Republic judoka
* September 13 — Megumi Sato, Japanese high jumper
* September 25 — Liz Tchou, US field hockey defender
* September 29 — Laurent Chambertin, French volleyball player

October

* October 1 — George Weah, Liberian football (soccer) player
* October 5 — María Carmen Barea, Spanish field hockey defender
* October 5 — Edrick Floreal, Haitian-Canadian long and triple jumper
* October 5 — Peter Fonseca, Canadian long distance runner
* October 6 — Roberto Lopes, Brazilian beach volleyball player
* October 10 — Tony Adams, English football (soccer) defender
* October 10 — Elana Meyer, South African long distance runner
* October 15 — Jorge Campos, Mexican soccer goalkeeper and coach
* October 17 — Peter Milkovich, Canadian field hockey midfielder
* October 18 — Thierry Lamberton, French ice speed skater
* October 18 — Toshihisa Tsuchihashi, Japanese tennis player
* October 19 — Meldrick Taylor, American boxer
* October 21 — Jonas Svensson, Swedish tennis player
* October 22 — Oscar Barrena, Spanish field hockey player
* October 23 — Cornelia Sirch, East German backstroke swimmer
* October 26 — Lernik Papyan, Armenia boxer

November

* November 1 — Ingo Steuer, German figure skater
* November 2 — Dubravko Šimenc, Croatian water polo player
* November 3 — Tracey Fuchs, American field hockey defender
* November 9 — Lisa Faust, Canadian field hockey midfielder
* November 10 — Rob Compas, Dutch cyclist
* November 11 — Franco Neto, Brazilian beach volleyball player
* November 12 — Ade Mafe, English sprinter
* November 14 — Petra Roßner, German cyclist
* November 21 — Christopher Bowie, Canadian freestyle swimmer
* November 21 — Troy Aikman, American football player
* November 22 — Jasmin Krohn, Swedish ice speed skater
* November 25 — Lisa Bayliss, British field hockey player
* November 25 — Hristo Furnigov, Bulgarian boxer
* November 26 — Jay Berger, American tennis player
* November 28 — Karen Horning, Peruvian breaststroke swimmer
* November 30 — David Berkoff, American backstroke swimmer

December

* December 1 — Larry Walker, Canadian baseball player
* December 3 — Ana Richa, Brazilian volleyball player
* December 4 — Fabio de Gaspari, Italian javelin thrower
* December 5 — Deb Whitten, Canadian field hockey player
* December 13 — Mekhak Ghazaryan, Armenian boxer
* December 15 — Andrea Ghiurghi, Italian beach volleyball player
* December 15 — Juan Rios, Puerto Rican tennis player
* December 16 — Irene Eijs, Dutch rower
* December 18 — Edwin Jongejans, Dutch diver
* December 20 — George Cramne, Swedish boxer
* December 22 — Katrin Zimmermann, East German backstroke swimmer
* December 25 — Javier Frana, Argentine tennis player
* December 25 — Sandra Schumacher, German track and road cyclist
* December 29 — Laurent Boudouani, French boxer
* December 31 — Pablo Usoz, Spanish field hockey player and coach

Deaths

*January 4 — Inga Artamonova (29), Russian world speed-skating champion
*February 1 — Nicholas Piantanida, balloonist, died after suffering from a pressurization failure during an attempt at an altitude record
* February 9 — Bruno Ahlberg (54), Finnish boxer (b. 1911)
*March 11 — "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons, Horse Racing Hall of Fame trainer
* May 2 — Torsten Kumfeldt (80), Swedish water polo player (b. 1886)
*May 4 — Bob Elliott (49), American Major League Baseball player (1939-1953)
*June 30 — Giuseppe Farina (59), Italian Formula 1 champion race car driver (b. 1906)
*July 6 — Sad Sam Jones (73), American Major League Baseball pitcher (1914-1935)
*July 24 — Tony Lema (32), U.S. golf champion, died in a Munster, Indiana plane crash
*August 1 — Hank Gowdy, Major League Baseball player and manager and World War I and II veteran
*September 5 — Dezső Lauber (87), Hungarian all-round sportsman (b. 1879
*October 10 — Charlotte Cooper (96), English tennis player (b. 1870)
*December 27 — Frankie Genaro (65), American boxer (b. 1901)