1969
Recap of the year 1969 in sports.
[edit] Auto Racing
- Stock car racing:
- 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
[edit] 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.
- 1969 World Series: the New York Mets win 4 games to 1 over the Baltimore Orioles.
[edit] Basketball
- 1969 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament:
- UCLA wins 92-72 over Purdue
- NBA Finals:
- Boston Celtics won 4 games to 3 over the Los Angeles Lakers
[edit] 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.
[edit] Cycling
- Giro d'Italia won by Felice Gimondi of Italy
- Tour de France - Eddy Merckx of Belgium
- World Cycling Championship: Harm Ottenbros of Netherlands
[edit] 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
[edit] Football (American)
- January 12 - The American Football League New York Jets upset the NFL's heavily favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III by a score of 16-7, after quarterback Joe Namath "guaranteed" a victory.
- Kansas City Chiefs 17-7 Oakland Raiders for 1969 AFL championship.
- Minnesota Vikings 27-7 Cleveland Browns for the 1969 NFL championship.
[edit] 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)
[edit] 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
[edit] Football (Soccer)
- September 26: the Bolivian soccer team is killed in a plane crash near La Paz, Bolivia
- European Cup: A.C. Milan 4 - 1 AFC Ajax
- Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: Newcastle United beat Ujpest 6-2 on aggregate
- England - First Division Champions: Leeds
- England - FA Cup: Manchester City won 1-0 over Leicester City
- Germany - Bundesliga: Bayern Munich
- Italy - Serie A: Fiorentina
- Scotland - First Division Champions: Celtic
- Scotland - FA Cup: Celtic won 4-0 over Rangers
- Spain - La Liga: Real Madrid
[edit] Golf
- Grand Slam of golf results:
- May - The Masters - George Archer
- June - US Open - Orville Moody
- July - British Open - Tony Jacklin
- 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.
- US Women's Open - Donna Caponi
- LPGA Championship - Betsy Rawls
- Carol Mann: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $49,152.
[edit] 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
[edit] Harness Racing
[edit] 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
[edit] Skiing
- Alpine Skiing
- The men's overall season champion: Karl Schranz, Austria
- The women's overall season champion: Gertrud Gabi, Austria
[edit] Snooker
- The World Snooker Championship reverts to a knockout format. John Spencer beats Gary Owen 37-24
[edit] 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:
- Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
- 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.
[edit] General sporting events
[edit] Births
[edit] January-March
- January 1 — Jane Smith, British field hockey international
- January 2 — Stephen Davies, Australian field hockey player
- January 2 — Tommy Morrison, American heavyweight boxing champion
- January 3 — Michael Schumacher, Formula One driver
- January 11 — Andrew Griffiths, Canadian field hockey player
- January 12 — Robert Prosinečki, Croatian football (soccer) player
- January 13 — Stefania Belmondo, Italian cross-country skier
- January 15 — Roberto Balado, Cuban boxer
- January 16 — Roy Jones Jr., US boxer
- January 28 — Giorgio Lamberti, Italian swimmer
- February 1 — Gabriel Batistuta, Argentinian football (soccer) player
- February 3 — Retief Goosen, South African golfer
- February 11 — Bryan Eversgerd, US baseball player
- February 12 — Steve Backley, British athlete
- February 12 — Hong Myung-Bo, South Korean football (soccer) player
- February 16 — Fermín Cacho, Spanish athlete
- February 17 — David Douillet, French judoka
- February 22 — Brian Laudrup, Danish football (soccer) player
- March 10 — Ximena Restrepo, Colombian track and field sprinter
- March 18 — Sheila Taormina, American swimmer and triathlete
- March 20 — Fabien Galthié, French rugby player
- March 20 — Karen Smithies, English cricketer
- March 23 — Juan Escarré, Spanish field hockey player
- March 24 — Stefan Eberharter, Austrian alpine skier
[edit] April-June
- April 1 — Arnaud Boetsch, French tennis player
- April 3 — Danny Sapsford, British tennis player
- April 4 — Jorge Julio Rocha, Colombian boxer
- April 5 — Pontus Kåmark, Swedish football player
- April 7 — Gary Anderson, Canadian medley swimmer
- April 7 — Chris Garner, American tennis player
- April 13 — Stefan Schwarz, Swedish football player
- April 16 — Germán Burgos, Argentinian football goalkeeper
- April 22 — Lindsey Carlisle, South African field hockey defender
- April 24 — David Luckes, English field hockey goalkeeper
- April 25 — Jo Chamberlain, English cricketer
- April 27 — Brett Steven, New Zealand tennis player
- May 2 — Brian Lara, West Indies cricketer
- May 7 — Melanie Valerio, American swimmer
- May 8 — Fabrice Tiozzo, French boxer
- May 10 — Dennis Bergkamp, Dutch football player
- May 15 — Emmitt Smith, American football player
- May 23 — Ashley Carey, Australian field hockey player
- May 30 — Albertino Essers, Dutch darts player
- May 30 — Koen Pijpers, Dutch field hockey player and coach
- June 2 — David Wheaton, American tennis player
- June 7 — Arie van de Bunt, Dutch water polo goalkeeper
- June 8 — Laurel Martin, American field hockey player
- June 14 — Steffi Graf, German tennis player
- June 15 — Oliver Kahn, German football goalkeeper
- June 15 — Cédric Pioline, French tennis player
- June 17 — Paul Tergat, Kenyan athlete
- June 20 — Paulo Bento, Portuguese football (soccer) player
- June 20 — MaliVai Washington, American tennis player
- June 26 — Ingrid Lempereur, Belgian swimmer
[edit] July-September
- July 5 — John LeClair, American ice hockey player
- July 7 — Joe Sakic, Canadian ice hockey player
- July 13 — Shaun Greatbatch, English darts player
- July 16 — Turlough O'Hare, Canadian freestyle swimmer
- July 23 — Stéphane Diagana, French athlete
- July 25 — Artur Partyka, Polish high jumper
- July 25 — Andrea Wieland, US field hockey goalkeeper
- August 7 — Clement N'Goran, Côte d'Ivoire tennis player
- August 14 — Stig Tøfting, Danish football (soccer) player
- August 23 — Hari Kant, Canadian field hockey goalkeeper
- August 26 — Nicole Arendt, American tennis player
- August 27 — Mark Ealham, English cricketer
- August 28 — Joakim Haeggman, Swedish golf player
- August 31 — Javagal Srinath, Indian cricketer
- September 3 — Robert Karlsson, Swedish golf player
- September 10 — Nicola Payne, New Zealand cricketer
- September 13 — Shane Warne, Australian cricketer
- September 20 — Jennifer Turner, New Zealand cricket player
- September 23 — Juan Dinarés, Spanish field hockey player
- September 25 — Hansie Cronje, South African cricketer (d. 2002)
[edit] October-December
- October 2 — Luis Villalta, Peruvian boxer (d. 2004)
- October 10 — Brett Favre, American football player
- October 11 — Jury Chechi, Italian gymnast
- October 13 — Antonio González, Spanish field hockey player
- October 17 — Ernie Els, South African golfer
- October 19 — Erwin Sánchez, Bolivian football (soccer) player
- October 20 — Dariusz Adamczuk, Polish football (soccer) player
- October 20 — Guillermo Perez-Roldan, Argentine tennis player
- October 22 — Owen Casey, Irish tennis player
- October 29 — Dougie Brown, Scottish cricketer
- November 1 — Charles Nkazamyampi, Burundian middle distance runner
- November 4 — Kathrin Boron, German rower and four-times Olympic champion
- November 15 — Helen Kelesi, Canadian tennis player
- November 19 — Igor Pamić, Croatian football (soccer) player
- November 29 — Tomas Brolin, Swedish football (soccer) player
- November 30 — Trina Gulliver, English female darts player
- December 9 — Bixente Lizarazu, French football (soccer) player
- December 12 — Debra Wurzburger, Canadian freestyle swimmer
- December 13 — Sonia Barrio, Spanish field hockey player
- December 13 — Sergei Fedorov, Russian ice hockey player
- December 16 — Sergi Pedrerol, Spanish water polo player
- December 19 — Carlos Retegui, Argentinian field hockey player
- December 22 — Mats Lilienberg, Swedish football (soccer) player
- December 22 — Myriam Bédard, Canadian biathlete
- December 24 — Leavander Johnson, American boxing world champion (d. 2005)
- December 30 — Jens Eriksen, Danish badminton player
[edit] Deaths
- June 1 — Ivar Ballangrud (65), Norwegian speed skater (b. 1904)
- June 21 — Maureen Connolly (34), American tennis player, first woman to win the Grand Slam in tennis (b. 1934)
- August 31 — Rocky Marciano (45), Italian-American World Heavyweight boxing champion (b. 1923)
- September 6 — Arthur Friedenreich, (77), Brazilian football (soccer) player (b. 1892)
- October 12 — Sonja Henie (57), Norwegian figure skater (b. 1912)
