1987 in sports

See also: 1986 in sports, other events of 1987, 1988 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Table of contents

1 Auto Racing 2 Baseball 3 Basketball 4 Boxing 5 Cycling 6 Figure Skating 7 Football (Soccer) 8 Football (American) 9 '\Canadian Football League' 10 Golf 11 Thoroughbred Horse Racing 12 Harness Racing 13 Ice Hockey 14 Skiing 15 Tennis 16 General sporting events 17 Births 18 Deaths

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • Bill Elliott won the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Dale Earnhardt
• Indianapolis 500 - Al Unser, Sr
• CART Racing - Bobby Rahal won the season championship
• Formula One Championship - Nelson Piquet of Brazil
• 24 hours of Le Mans: won by the team of Derek Bell / Hans-Joachim Stuck / Al Holbert driving a Porsche 962C
• Rally racing - the team of Miki Biasion / Tiziano Siviero won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Lancia Delta HF 4x4
• Drag racing:
  • Dick LaHaie won the NHRA "Top Fuel" championship.
  • Darrell Gwynn won "Top Fuel" at the NHRA Winston Finals

Baseball

• August 3: Minnesota Twins pitcher Joe Niekro is suspended for 10 days for possessing a nail file on the pitcher's mound. Niekro claimed he had been filing his nails in the dugout and put the file in his back pocket when the inning started.
• World Series: Minnesota Twins won 4 games to 3 over the St. Louis Cardinals. The Series MVP was Frank Viola, Minnesota

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • Indiana wins 74-73 over Syracuse

• NBA Finals:
  • Los Angeles Lakers won 4 games to 2 over the Boston Celtics

Boxing

• March 7 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Mike Tyson adds the WBA heavyweight title to his WBC belt when he beats James Smith in a 12 round decision.

• April 6 - Sugar Ray Leonard beats Marvin Hagler for boxing's world Middleweight championship.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Stephen Roche of Ireland
• Tour de France - Stephen Roche of Ireland
• World Cycling Championship: Stephen Roche of Ireland

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Brian Orser, Canada
  • Women's champion: Katarina Witt, Germany
  • Pairs champions: Jekaterina Gordejewa & Sergej Grinkow, Soviet Union

Football (Soccer)

• England - FA Cup: Coventry won 3-2 (aet) over Tottenham Hotspur

Football (American)

• Super Bowl XXI: New York Giants won 39-20 over the Denver Broncos

'\Canadian Football League'

• Grey Cup: Edmonton Eskimos won 38-36 over the Toronto Argonauts
• Vanier Cup: McGill Redmen won 47-11 over the UBC Thunderbirds

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Larry Mize
  2. June - US Open - Scott Simpson
  3. July - British Open - Nick Faldo
  4. August - PGA Championship - Larry Nelson

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Curtis Strange - $925,941
• PGA Champions Tour leading money winner Chi Chi Rodriguez - $509,145
• Ryder Cup: Europe won 15-13 over the United States in world team golf.

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Laura Davies
• LPGA Championship - Jane Geddes
• Ayako Okamoto: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $466,034

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Kensl
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Market Control
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Trempolino
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Sir Harry Lewis

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Don't Forget Me
  2. Epsom Derby - Reference Point
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Reference Point

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Alysheba
  2. Preakness Stakes - Alysheba
  3. Belmont Stakes - Bet Twice

Harness Racing

• The North America Cup - Runnymede Lobell

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Righteous Bucks
  2. Little Brown Jug - Jaguar Spur
  3. Messenger Stakes - Redskin

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Mack Lobell
  2. Yonkers Trot - Mack Lobell
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Napoletano

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Lightning Blue
  • Trotters: Tussle

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers

• Stanley Cup: Edmonton Oilers won 4 games to 3 over the Philadelphia Flyers

• World Hockey Championship:
  • Men's champion: Sweden defeated the Soviet Union
  • Junior Men's champion: Finland defeated Czechoslovakia

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Pirmin Zurbriggen, Switzerland
  • The women's overall season champion: Maria Walliser, Switzerland

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Stefan Edberg
  2. French Open - Ivan Lendl
  3. Wimbledon championships - Pat Cash
  4. US Open - Ivan Lendl

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Hana Mandlikova
  2. French Open - Steffi Graf
  3. Wimbledon championships - Martina Navratilova
  4. US Open - Martina Navratilova

• Davis Cup: Sweden won 5-0 over India in world tennis.

General sporting events

• Rugby Union World Cup
  • First World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand, won by New Zealand

• Embassy World Snooker Championship:
  • Steve Davis won 18-14 over Joe Johnson

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
  • Susan Butcher won with lead dogs: Granite & Mattie

Births

Deaths

• March 11 - Woody Hayes, football coach at Ohio State University
• March 23 - Dean Paul Martin 29, tennis pro killed in plane crash, son of singer Dean Martin
• April 15 - Northern Dancer, thoroughbred race horse
• May 31 - Dequinha, Brazilian soccer star
• May 31 - Jerry Adair, Major League Baseball player, (1958-1970)
• June 17 - Dick Howser, Major League Baseball player (1961-1968) and manager (1980-1986)
• August 16 - Nick Vanos, NBA basketball player, died in a plane crash
• November 17 - Paul Derringer, Major League Baseball pitcher, (1931-1945)
• November 18 - Jacques Anquetil, great French cyclist