ArmchairGM Wiki
Register
Advertisement

Recap of the year 1968 in sports.

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[]

  • January 28: Goose Goslin and Kiki Cuyler are admitted to the Hall of Fame by unanimous vote of the Special Veterans Committee. Goslin was a career .316 hitter who played in four World Series. Cuyler was a .321 career hitter with four stolen base crowns.

Basketball[]

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

Field Hockey[]

  • Olympic Games (Men's Competition) in Mexico City, Mexico
    • Gold Medal: Pakistan
    • Silver Medal: Australia
    • Bronze Medal: India
  • March 9 - In an international women's field hockey match at Wembley Stadium, England. England beat the Netherlands 1-0.

Figure Skating[]

  • World Figure Skating Championships:
    • Men's champion: Emmerich Dänzer, Austria
    • Women's champion: Peggy Fleming, United States
    • Pairs champions: Ludmila Belousova & Oleg Protopopov, Soviet Union

Football (American)[]

  • November 17: The Oakland Raiders score two consecutive touchdowns in the last minute of the fourth quarter to beat the New York Jets 43-32, in the infamous "Heidi Game".

Football (Australian Rules)[]

  • Victorian Football League
    • Carlton wins the 72nd VFL Premiership (Carlton 7.14 (56) d Essendon 8.5 (53))
    • Brownlow Medal awarded to Bob Skilton (South Melbourne)

Football (Canadian)[]

  • 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

Football (Soccer)[]

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

  • Canadian rookie Sandra Post became the youngest golfer, male or female, to ever win a PGA TOUR major tournament by capturing the LPGA Championship.
  • 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 Blackhawks
  • 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

Snooker[]

Tennis[]

  • The Open Era in tennis begins, as all the Grand Slam events open to professionals for the first time.
  • Grand Slam in tennis men's 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 women's 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[]

  • 1968 Summer Olympics takes place in Mexico City, Mexico
    • United States wins the most medals (107), and the most gold medals (45)
  • 1968 Winter Olympics takes place in Grenoble, France
    • Norway wins the most medals (14), and the most gold medals (6)
  • Fifth Winter Universiade held in Innsbruck, Austria

Trivia[]

  • Ultimate invented in Maplewood, New Jersey, initially as a joke
  • 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.
  • National Christian College Athletic Association formed

Births[]

January–March[]

  • January 1Davor Suker, Croatian football (soccer) player
  • January 2Anky van Grunsven, Dutch dressage champion
  • January 3Kent Carlsson, Swedish tennis player
  • January 14Michael Meldrum, Canadian medley swimmer
  • January 17Stella de Heij, Dutch field hockey goalkeeper
  • January 24Mary Lou Retton, American gymnast
  • January 25Pauline Buck, tenpin bowling player
  • January 26George Cosac, Romanian tennis player
  • February 2Espen Bredesen, Norwegian ski jumper
  • February 3Mark Koevermans, Dutch tennis player
  • February 3 — Mary Onyali-Omagbemi, Nigerian sprinter
  • February 5Regina Rajchrtova, Czech tennis player
  • February 20Ted Hankey, English darts player
  • February 27Matt Stairs, Major League Baseball player
  • March 1Kunjarani Devi, Indian weightlifter
  • March 3Vichairachanon Khadpo, Thai boxer
  • March 5Marq Mellor, American field hockey forward
  • March 11Sapphire Cooper, New Zealand field hockey player
  • March 11 — Salvador Gómez, Spanish water polo player
  • March 21Blagovest Stoyanov, Bulgarian canoer

April–June[]

  • April 2Alfredo Duvergel, Cuban boxer
  • April 4Bert Brinkman, Dutch water polo player
  • April 4 — Jesús Miguel Rollán, Spanish water polo player
  • April 7Duncan Armstrong, Australian freestyle swimmer
  • April 20Arkadiusz Skrzypaszek, Polish pentathlete
  • April 21Richard Igbineghu, Nigerian boxer
  • April 23Wouter van Pelt, Dutch field hockey player
  • April 26Ahmed Elmaghraby, Egypt-born field hockey forward from the United States
  • April 27Mandy Nicholson, English field hockey player
  • May 5Jane Kerr, Canadian butterfly and freestyle swimmer
  • May 9Masahiko Harada, Japanese ski jumper
  • May 9 — Marie-José Perec, French athlete
  • May 12Tony Hawk, skateboarding legend
  • May 20Artur Wojdat, Polish swimmer
  • May 27Jeff Bagwell, Major League Baseball player
  • May 27 — Frank Thomas, Major League Baseball player
  • June 5Hans Nieuwenburg, Dutch water polo defender
  • June 8Torsten Gutsche, German flatwater canoer
  • June 24Boris Gelfand, Israeli chess grandmaster

July–December[]

  • July 8Christian Saceanu, Romanian-born tennis player from Germany
  • July 9Elin Kristiansen, Norwegian biathlete
  • July 16Barry Sanders, Pro Football Hall of Famer
  • July 17Davis Kamoga, Ugandan athlete
  • July 22Harry Taylor, Canadian freestyle swimmer
  • July 23Tammy van Wisse, Australian marathon swimmer
  • July 27Samuel Matete, Zambian athlete
  • July 27 — Adewale Olukoju, Nigerian discus thrower
  • July 28Eoin Collins, Irish tennis player
  • July 30Robert Korzeniowski, Polish racewalker
  • August 7Leslie Lyness, American field hockey midfielder
  • August 9Jay Stacy, Australian field hockey player
  • August 15Sergio López, Spanish swimmer
  • August 20Nuria Olivé, Spanish field hockey player
  • August 22Henrik Holm, Swedish tennis player
  • September 7Marcel Desailly, French football (soccer) player
  • September 13Phajol Moolsan, Thai boxer
  • October 2Sandy Goss, Canadian swimmer
  • October 2 — Jana Novotná, Czech tennis player
  • October 10Bart Brentjens, Dutch mountainbiker
  • October 24Francisco Clavet, Spanish tennis player
  • October 27Antoinette Lucas, US field hockey midfielder
  • October 29Johann Olav Koss, Norwegian speed skater
  • November 1Gisele Miro, Brazilian tennis player
  • November 1 — Andrea Nugent, Canadian butterfly and freestyle swimmer
  • November 12Sammy Sosa, Major League Baseball player
  • December 1Anders Holmertz, Swedish swimmer
  • December 2Darren Ward, US-born swimmer from Canada
  • December 4Mike Barrowman, American swimmer
  • December 23Olga Shishigina, Kazakhstani athlete
  • December 24Xavier Daufresne, Belgian tennis player

Deaths[]

  • January 15Bill Masterton, Canadian ice hockey player, from head injury sustained in on-ice incident.
  • April 7Jimmy Clark, Formula One racing driver
  • April 25John Tewksbury (92), American track and field athlete (b. 1876)
  • June 17José Nasazzi, Uruguayan football (soccer) player (b. 1901)
  • August 14Marcel Thil, French world champion boxer
  • October 5Harry Freeman, British field hockey player
  • December 15Jess Willard, American heavyweight boxing champion
Advertisement