1976

Auto Racing

 * Stock car racing:
 * February 15David Pearson won the Daytona 500
 * NASCAR Championship - Cale Yarborough
 * Indianapolis 500 - Johnny Rutherford
 * USAC Racing - Gordon Johncock won the season championship
 * Formula One Championship:
 * James Hunt of Britain
 * Niki Lauda's famous accident occurred during the German Grand Prix at Nurburgring.
 * 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Jacky Ickx / Gijs van Lennep won, driving a Porsche 936
 * Rally racing - the team of Sandro Munari / Mario Manucci won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Lancia Stratos HF
 * Drag racing: Shirley Muldowney won "Top Fuel" at the NHRA World Finals

Baseball

 * April 25 - Chicago Cubs outfielder Rick Monday rescues an American flag just as two protestors are about to burn it in the outfield during a game at Dodger Stadium.
 * Sparky Lyle breaks Hoyt Wilhelm's American League record of 154 career saves.
 * 1976 World Series: The Cincinnati Reds (aka the "Big Red Machine") sweep the New York Yankees, 4 games to 0, to win their second straight championship.

See also 1976 in baseball

Basketball

 * 1976 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament:
 * Indiana wins 86-68 over Michigan


 * NBA Finals:
 * Boston Celtics win 4 games to 2 over the Phoenix Suns

Boxing

 * October 8 in São Paulo, Brazil, former world featherweight champion Eder Jofre fought his last fight, outpointing Mexico's Octavio (Famoso) Gomez in ten rounds.

Cycling

 * Giro d'Italia won by Felice Gimondi of Italy
 * Tour de France - Lucien Van Impe of Belgium
 * World Cycling Championship: Freddy Maertens of Belgium

Dogsled racing

 * Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
 * Gerald Riley won with lead dogs: Puppy & Sugar

Field Hockey

 * Olympic Games (Men's Competition) in Montréal, Canada
 * Gold Medal: New Zealand
 * Silver Medal: Australia
 * Bronze Medal: Pakistan


 * Women's World Cup in Berlin, West Germany
 * Gold Medal: West Germany
 * Silver Medal: Argentina
 * Bronze Medal: The Netherlands


 * March 13 - In an international women's field hockey match at Wembley Stadium,England. England beat Scotland 3-0.

Figure Skating

 * World Figure Skating Championships:
 * Men's champion: John Curry, Britain
 * Women's champion: Dorothy Hamill, United States
 * Pairs champions: Irina Rodnina & Alexander Saizew, Soviet Union

Football (American)

 * Super Bowl X:January 18 Pittsburgh Steelers won 21-17 over the Dallas Cowboys
 * Pittsburgh Panthers are voted NCAA Football National Champions.

Football (Australian Rules)

 * Victorian Football League
 * Hawthorn wins the 80th VFL Premiership (Hawthorn 13.22 (100) d North Melbourne 10.10 (70))
 * Brownlow Medal awarded to Graham Moss (Essendon)

Football (Canadian)

 * Grey Cup: Ottawa Rough Riders won 23-20 over the Saskatchewan Roughriders
 * Vanier Cup: Western Ontario Mustangs won 29-13 over the Acadia Axmen

Football (Soccer)

 * England - FA Cup: Southampton won 1-0 over Manchester United
 * Italy - Torino win Serie A for the first time since the Superga air disaster wiped out the team 27 years before.
 * 1976 European Championship - Czechoslovakia beat West Germany 5-3 on penalties to win, after the game had ended 2-2 after extra time.

Golf
Men's Golf
 * Grand Slam of golf results:
 * May - The Masters - Ray Floyd
 * June - US Open - Jerry Pate
 * July - British Open - Johnny Miller
 * August - PGA Championship - Dave Stockton


 * PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Jack Nicklaus - $266,439

Women's Golf
 * US Women's Open - JoAnne Carner
 * LPGA Championship - Betty Burfeindt
 * Judy Rankin is the leading money winner on the LPGA tour. With total earnings of $150,734, she is the first to ever earn more than $100,000 in a season.

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

 * Australia - Melbourne Cup - Van der Hum
 * Canada - Queen's Plate - Norcliffe
 * France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Ivanjica
 * Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Malacate


 * English Triple Crown Races:
 * Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Wollow
 * Epsom Derby - Empery
 * St. Leger Stakes - Crow


 * United States Triple Crown Races:
 * Kentucky Derby - Bold Forbes
 * Preakness Stakes - Elocutionist
 * Belmont Stakes - Bold Forbes

Harness Racing

 * United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
 * Cane Pace - Keystone Ore
 * Little Brown Jug - Keystone Ore
 * Messenger Stakes - Windshield Wiper


 * United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
 * Hambletonian - Steve Lobell
 * Yonkers Trot - Steve Lobell
 * Kentucky Futurity - Quick Pay


 * Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
 * Pacers: Carclew
 * Trotters: Bay Johnny

Ice Hockey

 * Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Guy Lafleur, Montreal Canadiens


 * Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Bobby Clarke - Philadelphia Flyers


 * Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 0 over the Philadelphia Flyers


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

Skiing

 * Alpine Skiing
 * The men's overall season champion: Ingemar Stenmark, Sweden
 * The women's overall season champion: Rosi Mittermaier, W. Germany

Snooker

 * World Snooker Championship: Ray Reardon beats Alex Higgins 27-16
 * World rankings are introduced. Ray Reardon becomes the first world number one, for 1976/77.

Tennis

 * Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
 * Australian Open - Mark Edmondson
 * French Open - Adriano Panatta
 * Wimbledon championships - Björn Borg
 * US Open - Jimmy Connors


 * Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
 * Australian Open - Evonne Goolagong Cawley
 * French Open - Sue Barker
 * Wimbledon championships - Chris Evert
 * US Open - Chris Evert


 * Davis Cup: Italy wins 4-1 over Chile in world tennis.

General sporting events

 * 1976 Summer Olympics takes place in Montreal, Canada
 * USSR wins the most medals (125), and the most gold medals (49).


 * 1976 Winter Olympics takes place in Innsbruck, Austria
 * USSR wins the most medals (27), and the most gold medals (13).


 * Fifth Pan Arab Games held in Damascus, Syria

January

 * January 1 &mdash; Melanie Clewlow, British field hockey player
 * January 2 &mdash; Danilo Di Luca, Italian cyclist
 * January 4 &mdash; Ezequiel Paulón, Argentine field hockey defender
 * January 6 &mdash; Amy Gillett, Australian rower and cyclist (d. 2005)
 * January 6 &mdash; Chun Lee-kyung, South Korean short track speed skater
 * January 7 &mdash; Éric Gagné, Canadian baseball player National League Cy Young Award
 * January 10 &mdash; Remy Bonjasky, Surinam-born K1-fighter from The Netherlands
 * January 11 &mdash; Bindi Kullar, Canadian field hockey player
 * January 16 &mdash; Martina Moravcová, Slovak swimmer
 * January 16 &mdash; Germán Orozco, Argentine field hockey defender
 * January 18 &mdash; Lars Paaske, Danish badminton player
 * January 20 &mdash; Gretha Smit, Dutch speed skater
 * January 22 &mdash; Stefan van Dijk, Dutch cyclist
 * January 29 &mdash; Karsten Kroon, Dutch cyclist

February

 * February 2 &mdash; Steven Dewick, Australian backstroke swimmer
 * February 2 &mdash; James Hickman, English swimmer
 * February 3 &mdash; Cătălin Hâldan, Romanian football (soccer) player (d. 2000)
 * February 5 &mdash; Sione Jongstra, Dutch triathlete
 * February 13 &mdash; Chantal de Bruijn, Dutch field hockey player
 * February 15 &mdash; Oscar Freire, Spanish cyclist
 * February 18 &mdash; Chanda Rubin, American tennis player
 * February 26 &mdash; Anna Bennett, English field hockey player
 * February 26 &mdash; Attila Vari, Hungarian water polo player
 * February 27 &mdash; Ludovic Capelle, Belgian cyclist

March

 * March 4 &mdash; Vic Wunderle, American archer
 * March 5 &mdash; Wayne Denne, South African field hockey player
 * March 5 &mdash; Sarunas Jasikevicius, Lithuanian basketball player
 * March 5 &mdash; Sergey Mihaylov, Uzbek boxer
 * March 6 &mdash; Antoine Dénériaz, French alpine skier
 * March 24 &mdash; Peyton Manning, NFL player, league co-MVP in 2003
 * March 10 &mdash; Lieja Tunks, Dutch athlete
 * March 14 &mdash; Sarah Ulmer, New Zealand cyclist
 * March 17 &mdash; Alvaro Recoba, Uruguay football (soccer) player
 * March 19 &mdash; Mukhtarkhan Dildabekov, Kazakh boxer
 * March 19 &mdash; Alessandro Nesta, Italian football (soccer) player
 * March 20 &mdash; Julia Zwehl, German field hockey goalkeeper
 * March 21 &mdash; Han Hyung-Bae, South Korean field hockey player
 * March 22 &mdash; Teun de Nooijer, Dutch field hockey player
 * March 25 &mdash; Wladimir Klitschko, Ukrainian heavyweight boxer
 * March 29 &mdash; Igor Astarloa, Spanish cyclist
 * March 29 &mdash; Jennifer Capriati, American tennis player

April

 * April 1 &mdash; Clarence Seedorf, Dutch football (soccer) player
 * April 3 &mdash; Nicolas Escudé, French tennis player
 * April 5 &mdash; Kim Collins, Saint Kitts and Nevis athlete
 * April 5 &mdash; David Staniforth, South African field hockey goalkeeper
 * April 8 &mdash; Tieme Klompe, Dutch football (soccer) player
 * April 10 &mdash; John van Lottum, Dutch tennis player
 * April 13 &mdash; Nami Miyazaki, Japanese field hockey goalkeeper
 * April 14 &mdash; Baeden Choppy, Australian field hockey striker
 * April 18 &mdash; Andrew Ilie, Romanian-born tennis player from Australia
 * April 20 &mdash; Big Ben, world champion show-jumping horse
 * April 24 &mdash; Steve Finnan, Irish football (soccer) player
 * April 25 &mdash; Tim Duncan, basketball player, two-time NBA MVP
 * April 25  &mdash; Rainer Schuettler, German tennis player
 * April 26 &mdash; Wijan Ponlid, Thai boxer
 * April 23 &mdash; Dirk van 't Klooster, Dutch baseball player
 * April 27 &mdash; Olaf Tufte, Norwegian rower
 * April 27 &mdash; Walter Pandiani, Uruguay football (soccer) player

May

 * May 1 &mdash; Patricia Stokkers, Dutch swimmer
 * May 3 &mdash; Juan Pablo Hourquebie, Argentine field hockey defender
 * May 6 &mdash; Adam Commens, Australian field hockey midfielder
 * May 6 &mdash; Ivan de la Peña, Spanish football (soccer) player
 * May 8 &mdash; Kim Christiansen, Norwegian snowboarder
 * May 9 &mdash; Mitesh Patel, New Zealand field hockey player
 * May 13 &mdash; Hamid Ait Bighrade, Moroccan boxer
 * May 15 &mdash; Tyler Walker, baseball player
 * May 17 &mdash; Daniel Komen, Kenyan runner
 * May 21 &mdash; Graham Dunlop, Scottish field hockey player
 * May 25 &mdash; Stefan Holm, Swedish athlete
 * May 27 &mdash; Bianca Netzler, Australian field hockey player
 * May 31 &mdash; Mashona Washington, American tennis player

June

 * June 1 &mdash; Niniwa Roberts, New Zealand field hockey striker
 * June 3 &mdash; Jens Kruppa, German swimmer
 * June 4 &mdash; Nenad Zimonjić, Serbian tennis player
 * June 6 &mdash; Hamza Yerlikaya, Turkish Greco-Roman style wrestler
 * June 8 &mdash; Lindsay Davenport, American tennis player
 * June 8 &mdash; Jennifer Rodriguez, Cuban-American speed skater
 * June 9 &mdash; Laurence Godfrey (archer), British archer
 * June 17 &mdash; Carolina Pascual, Spanish rhythmic gymnast
 * June 21 &mdash; Sander van der Weide, Dutch field hockey player
 * June 23 &mdash; Paola Suarez, Argentine tennis player
 * June 23 &mdash; Patrick Vieira, French football (soccer) player
 * June 25 &mdash; Neil Walker, American swimmer
 * June 28 &mdash; Shinobu Asagoe, Japanese tennis player

July

 * July 1 &mdash; Patrick Kluivert, Dutch football (soccer) player
 * July 1 &mdash; Ruud van Nistelrooy, Dutch football (soccer) player
 * July 4 &mdash; Marcelo Romero, Uruguay football (soccer) player
 * July 5 &mdash; Nuno Gomes, Portuguese football (soccer) player
 * July 5 &mdash; Brent Livermore, Australian field hockey midfielder
 * July 6 &mdash; Nikki Hudson, Australian field hockey striker
 * July 9 &mdash; Jochem Uytdehaage, Dutch speed skater
 * July 16 &mdash; Anna Smashnova, Belarusian-born tennis player from Israel
 * July 22 &mdash; Moira Senior, New Zealand field hockey striker
 * July 23 &mdash; Judit Polgár, Hungarian chess player
 * July 31 &mdash; Louise Jöhncke, Swedish swimmer
 * July 31 &mdash; Paulo Wanchope, Costarican football (soccer) player

August

 * August 2 &mdash; Reyes Estévez, Spanish athlete
 * August 4 &mdash; Paul Goldstein, American tennis player
 * August 6 &mdash; Luke Milligan, English tennis player
 * August 7 &mdash; Timme Hoyng, Dutch field hockey player
 * August 9 &mdash; Rogier Wassen, Dutch tennis player
 * August 15 &mdash; Boudewijn Zenden, Dutch football (soccer) player
 * August 18 &mdash; Thomas Malchow, US swimmer
 * August 23 &mdash; LaTasha Colander, US track and field sprint athlete
 * August 27 &mdash; Carlos Moya, Spanish tennis player
 * August 27 &mdash; Mark Webber, Australian Formula 1-driver
 * August 29 &mdash; Jon Dahl Tomasson, Danish football (soccer) player

September

 * September 6 &mdash; Francisco Sanchez, Venezolan swimmer
 * September 7 &mdash; Carmel Bakurski, Australian field hockey player
 * September 8 &mdash; Sjeng Schalken, Dutch tennis player
 * September 10 &mdash; Gustavo Kuerten, Brazilian tennis player
 * September 10 &mdash; Reinder Nummerdor, Dutch volleybal player
 * September 12 &mdash; Jolanda Čeplak, Slovenian middle distance athlete
 * September 14 &mdash; Joshua Ilika, Mexican swimmer
 * September 20 &mdash; Michael Ballack, German football (soccer) player
 * September 22 &mdash; Ronaldo, Brazilian football (soccer) player
 * September 23 &mdash; James Nation, New Zealand field hockey player
 * September 25 &mdash; Melissa Collins, Canadian water polo player
 * September 25 &mdash; Denis Sylantiev, Ukrainian swimmer
 * September 27 &mdash; Francesco Totti, Italian football (soccer) player
 * September 29 &mdash; Oscar Sevilla, Spanish cyclist
 * September 29 &mdash; Andriy Shevchenko, Ukrainian football (soccer) player

October

 * October 2 &mdash; Angus Shelford, New Zealand boxer
 * October 8 &mdash; Galo Blanco, Spanish tennis player
 * October 8 &mdash; Renate Groenewold, Dutch speed skater
 * October 10 &mdash; Bob Burnquist, Brazilian skateboarder
 * October 12 &mdash; Julie Towers, Australian field hockey player
 * October 16 &mdash; Marcela Acuna, Argentine female boxer
 * October 14 &mdash; Nataša Kejžar, Slovenian swimmer
 * October 18 &mdash; Kjell Carlström, Finnish cyclist
 * October 19 &mdash; Ranjeev Deol, Canadian field hockey player
 * October 22 &mdash; Alexander Abt, Russian figure skater

November

 * November 4 &mdash; Alexander Popp, British-born tennis player
 * November 7 &mdash; Mark Philippoussis, Australian tennis player
 * November 8 &mdash; Sylvia Karres, Dutch field hockey player
 * November 13 &mdash; Bob de Jong, Dutch speed skater
 * November 13 &mdash; Albina Akhatova, Russian biathlete
 * November 14 &mdash; Jesse Brinkley, American boxer
 * November 14 &mdash; Ramon Delgado, Paraguayan tennis player
 * November 16 &mdash; Martijn Zuijdweg, Dutch swimmer
 * November 18 &mdash; Matt Welsh, Australian swimmer
 * November 28 &mdash; Gordan Kožulj, Croatian swimmer

December

 * December 11 &mdash; Laszlo Bodrogi, Hungarian cyclist
 * December 11 &mdash; Timmy Simons, Belgian football player
 * December 14 &mdash; Petter Hansson, Swedish football player
 * December 14 &mdash; Peter Gade, Danish badminton player
 * December 19 &mdash; Redouane Bouchtouk, Moroccan boxer
 * December 19 &mdash; Theo Lucius, Dutch football player
 * December 22 &mdash; Stephen Mowlam, Australian field hockey goalkeeper
 * December 25 &mdash; Percy Isenia, Dutch baseball player
 * December 30 &mdash; Hadi Al Somayli, Saudi Arabian athlete

Deaths

 * January 5 &mdash; Károly Takács (65), Hungarian pistol shooter (b. 1910)
 * January 18 – Ad Verhoeven, Dutch football (soccer) player
 * February 2 – Harry Elliott, English cricket wicketkeeper (b. 1891)
 * March 6 – Max 'Slapsie Maxie' Rosenbloom, American boxer and actor (b. 1903)
 * March 11 – Larry Gardner, Major League Baseball player (1908-1924)
 * May 30 – Max Carey, Major League Baseball player (1910-1929)
 * June 15 – Jimmy Dykes, Major League Baseball player (1918-1939)
 * September 25 – Red Faber, Major League Baseball, pitcher (1914-1933)
 * May 22 – Oscar Bonavena, Argentinian heavyweight boxer (b. 1942)