1968 in sports

See also: 1967 in sports, other events of 1968, 1969 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Table of contents showTocToggle("show","hide") 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:
  • Cale Yarborough[?] won the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - David Pearson[?]
• Indianapolis 500 - Bobby Unser[?]
• USAC Racing - Bobby Unser[?] won the season championship
• Formula One Champion: Graham Hill of Great Britain
• 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Pedro Rodriguez[?] / Lucien Bianchi[?] won driving a Ford GT-40
• Rally racing - Vic Elford[?] / David Stone[?] won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Porsche 911T
• Drag racing - Don Garlits won the NHRA, "Top Fuel" Championship

Baseball

• Denny McLain of the Detroit Tigers becomes the first pitcher in Major League Baseball to win 30 or more games since Jim Bagby[?] of the Cleveland Indians in 1920. Since McLain, no pitcher has accomplished that feat.

• World Series: Detroit Tigers won 4 games to 3 over the St. Louis Cardinals. The Series MVP was Mickey Lolich[?], Detroit

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • UCLA wins 78-55 over North Carolina

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

Boxing

• May 24 - Bob Foster knocked out Dick Tiger[?] in the fourth round to win the World Light Heavyweight Championship.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Eddy Merckx of Belgium
• Tour de France - Jan Janssen[?] of the Netherlands
• World Cycling Championship: Vittorio Adorni[?] of Italy

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Emmerich Dänzer[?], Austria
  • Women's champion: Peggy Fleming[?], United States
  • Pairs champions: Ludmila Belousowa[?] & Oleg Protopopow[?], Soviet Union

Football (Soccer)

• England - FA Cup: Tottenham Hotspur won 2-1 over Chelsea

Football (American)

• Super Bowl II: Green Bay Packers won 33-14 over the Oakland Raiders

Canadian Football League

• Grey Cup: Ottawa Rough Riders won 24-21 over the Calgary Stampeders
• Vanier Cup: Queen's Golden Gaels[?] won 42-14 over the Waterloo Lutheran Golden Hawks[?]

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Bob Goalby[?]
  2. June - US Open - Lee Trevino[?]
  3. July - British Open - Gary Player[?]
  4. August - PGA Championship - Julius Boros[?]

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Billy Casper[?] - $205,169

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Susie Berning[?]
• LPGA Championship: Sandra Post[?]
• Kathy Whitworth[?]: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $48,379

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Royal Parma[?]
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Merger[?]
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Vaguely Noble[?]
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Ribero[?]

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Sir Ivor[?]
  2. Epsom Derby - Sir Ivor[?]
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Ribero[?]

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Forward Pass[?]
  2. Preakness Stakes - Forward Pass[?]
  3. Belmont Stakes - Stage Door Johnny[?]

Harness Racing

• Rum Customer[?] won the United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Rum Customer[?]
  2. Little Brown Jug - Rum Customer[?]
  3. Messenger Stakes - Rum Customer[?]

• Nevele Pride[?] won the United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Nevele Pride[?]
  2. Yonkers Trot - Nevele Pride[?]
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Nevele Pride[?]

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: First Lee[?]
  • Trotters: Stylish Major[?]

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Stan Mikita[?], Chicago Black Hawks[?]

• Hart Memorial Trophy: for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Stan Mikita[?], Chicago Black Hawks[?]

• Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 0 over the St. Louis Blues

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

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Jean-Claude Killy, France
  • The women's overall season champion: Nancy Greene[?], Canada

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis mens results:
  1. Australian Open - Bill Bowrey[?]
  2. French Open - Ken Rosewall[?]
  3. Wimbledon championships - Rod Laver
  4. US Open - Arthur Ashe[?]

• Grand Slam in tennis womens results:
  1. Australian Open - Billie Jean King
  2. French Open - Nancy Richey[?]
  3. Wimbledon championships - Billie Jean King
  4. US Open - Virginia Wade

• Davis Cup of world tennis: United States defeated Australia 4-1

General sporting events

• John Pulman[?] retained the World Professional Snooker Championship
• February 6 - 1968 Winter Olympic Games open in Grenoble, France
• February 11 - Peggy Fleming[?] wins Olympics figure skating gold medal, Grenoble, France[?].
• February 11 - Madison Square Garden III closes, Madison Square Garden IV opens in New York.
• February 17 - In Springfield, Massachusetts the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opens.
• Summer Olympic Games Mexico City, Mexico

Births

• January 1 - Davor Suker[?], Croatian soccer star
• January 24 - Mary Lou Retton, gymnast
• February 27 - Matt Stairs, Major League Baseball player
• May 9 - Marie-José Perec, French athlete
• November 12 - Sammy Sosa, Major League Baseball player

Deaths

• April 7 - Jimmy Clark, Formula One racing driver