Everything Totally Explained


Ask & we'll explain, totally!
2006 in sports
Totally Explained

  NEW! All the latest news in the worlds of computer gaming, entertainment, the environment,  
finance, health, politics, science, stocks & shares, technology and much, much, more.  

View this entry using RSS

Everything about 2006 In Sports totally explained

Athletics (track and field)

» :For an extensive coverage see 2006 in athletics (track and field)

Track

Marathon

International Races

  • March 19 — Commonwealth Games Marathon, Melbourne, Australia
  • April 9 — Rotterdam Marathon, Netherlands
  • April 17 — Boston Marathon, United States
  • April 23 — Enschede Marathon, Netherlands
  • April 23 — London Marathon, United Kingdom
  • August 12 — European Championships Marathon, Gothenburg, Sweden
  • August 13 — European Championships Marathon, Gothenburg, Sweden
  • September 24 — Berlin Marathon, Germany
  • October 8 — Eindhoven Marathon, Netherlands
  • October 15 — Amsterdam Marathon, Netherlands
  • November 5 — New York City Marathon, United States
  • December 3 — Fukuoka Marathon, Japan

    National Champions

  • April 9 — Debrecen, Hungary
  • April 9 — Rotterdam, Netherlands
  • April 23 — London, England
  • May 28 — Ottawa, Canada
  • July 2 — Brisbane, Australia
  • September 23 — Joutseno, Finland

    Auto Racing

    FIA World Championship

  • Formula One - Main article: 2006 Formula One season. Champion: Fernando Alonso
  • World Rally Championship - Main article: 2006 World Rally Championship season. Champion: Sébastien Loeb
  • World Touring Car Championship - Main article: 2006 World Touring Car Championship season. Champion: Andy Priaulx

    Others

  • Recaro Formula 3 Cup - champion Ho-Pin Tung
  • Indy Racing League — Main article: 2006 in IRL
  • V8 Supercar - Main Article: 2006 V8 Supercar Season
  • Nascar — Main articles: 2006 in NASCAR, 2006 in NASCAR Busch Series, 2006 in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
  • Renault Mégane Eurocup - champion Jaap van Lagen of The Netherlands.

    Baseball

  • March 20: Japan wins the first World Baseball Classic, defeating Cuba 10-6 in the championship game.
  • May 28 - Barry Bonds hits his 715th career home run in a 6-3 home loss to the Colorado Rockies, passing Babe Ruth for second place on the career list and setting a new record for left-handed hitters.
  • July 11 - The American League wins the MLB All-Star Game by a score of 3-2 on Michael Young's game-winning 2-run triple in the 9th inning.
  • October 14 - The Detroit Tigers sweep the Oakland Athletics in the American League Championship Series and advance to their first World Series since 1984.
  • October 27 - The St. Louis Cardinals win the 2006 World Series 4-1 in Game 5. The St. Louis Cardinals (10 wins) advance to 2nd place for most World Series wins after the New York Yankees(26).

    Basketball

    College basketball

    Men's

  • March 30: The University of South Carolina wins its second straight NIT title, defeating the University of Michigan 76-64.
  • April 3: The University of Florida wins its first ever NCAA title, defeating UCLA 73-57. George Mason, an 11 seed, makes it to the final four

    Women's

  • April 4: The University of Maryland wins its first ever NCAA women's title, defeating Duke 78-75 in overtime.

    Professional competitions

    Americas

  • National Basketball Association (United States and Canada)

    Asia-Pacific

  • Chinese Basketball Association - Guangdong Southern Tigers defeat Bayi Rockets (4-1) in finals.
  • National Basketball League (Australia) - Melbourne Tigers defeat the Sydney Kings 3-0 in best-of-five final series
  • Philippine Basketball Association

    Europe

  • Euroleague - April 30: Russian power CSKA Moscow dethrones the two-time defending Euroleague champions Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel) 73-69 at Sazka Arena in Prague. This is CSKA's fifth title in the competition, but first since 1971. Third place goes to TAU Cerámica, which defeated FC Barcelona 87-82 in an all-Spanish affair.
  • Adriatic League (former Yugoslavia) - April 23: FMP (Serbia) defeat Partizan (Serbia) 73-72 in the final.
  • Croatian League - June 9: Cibona defeat Zadar 2-1 in the best-of-three finals.
  • LNB - Pro A (France) - June 18: Le Mans defeat Nancy 93-88 in the Pro A Final.
  • HEBA (Greece) - June 7: Panathinaikos complete a 3-0 sweep of Olympiakos in the HEBA finals.
  • Super League (Israel) - June 8: Maccabi Tel Aviv defeat Hapoel Jerusalem 96-66 in the Super League Final.
  • Lega Basket A (Italy) - June 20: Benetton Treviso defeat Climamio Bologna 3-1 in the best-of-five Lega A finals.
  • LKL (Lithuania) - May 27: Lietuvos Rytas complete a 4-0 sweep of Žalgiris in the LKL finals.
  • PLK (Poland) - May 19: Prokom Trefl Sopot complete a 4-1 win over Anwil Włocławek in the PLK finals.
  • Super League (Russia) - May 27: CSKA Moscow complete a 3-0 sweep of Khimki in the Super League finals.
  • Superleague (Serbia and Montenegro) - June 18: Partizan (Serbia) complete a 3-0 sweep of Red Star Belgrade (Serbia) in the Superleague finals. Due to disturbances between Red Star supporters and police in Game 2, the last game is held at an empty Pionir Hall, and any other games would also have been played behind closed doors.
  • ACB (Spain)
  • TBL (Turkey) - June 7: In what would turn out to be their last game as an independent club, Ülker complete a 4-0 finals sweep of crosstown rival Efes Pilsen.

    FIBA tournaments

  • 2006 FIBA World Championship - September 3: Spain win the gold medal 70-47 over Greece.
  • 2006 FIBA World Championship for Women - September 23: Australia win the gold medal 91-74 over Russia.

    Boxing

  • January 7 – Carlos Manuel Baldomir upsets Zab Judah by unanimous decision and is crowned world welterweight champion by the WBC.
  • March 3 – Welshman Joe Calzaghe defeats American Jeff Lacy by landslide unanimous decision for the WBO-IBF super middleweight title unification. Calzaghe's stellar performance propelled him to #9 in Ring Magazine's pound for pound list.
  • March 25 – Edwin Valero's record streak of 18 consecutive first-round knockouts ends when Genaro Trazancos survives until the second round.
  • April 1 – Sergei Liakhovich wins the WBO world heavyweight title from Lamon Brewster by unanimous decision.
  • April 8 – Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeats Zab Judah by unanimous decision to win the IBF welterweight title. A mini-riot ensued as Roger Mayweather, Floyd's uncle and trainer, runs into the ring retaliating to a low blow and rabbit punch by Judah. The fight resumed and Mayweather won by decision.
  • April 22 – Wladimir Klitschko wins the IBF world heavyweight title from Chris Byrd by TKO in round 7.
  • April 29 – Acelino Freitas defeats Zahir Raheem for the vacant WBO lightweight title by split decision.
  • May 6 – Oscar de la Hoya returns from a 20-month break and defeats Ricardo Mayorga for the WBC super welterweight title.
  • May 20 – Marco Antonio Barrera defeats Rocky Juarez by split decision. Juarez was very competitive throughout the fight breaking Barrera's nose in the early rounds. The fight was originally announced as a draw until it was later revealed that there were two scorecard tabilation errors.
  • June 10 – Bernard Hopkins defeats Antonio Tarver by unanimous to take the light heavyweight world championship.
  • June 17 – Winky Wright and Jermain Taylor fight ends in a draw for the undisputed middleweight championship of the world in Memphis, Tennessee
  • July 13 to 23 – 36th European Amateur Boxing Championships held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria
  • August 12 – Oleg Maskaev knocks out Hasim Rahman in the 12th round to win the WBC Heavyweight title.
  • November 4 Floyd Mayweather Jr. becomes the WBC and linear Welterweight champion after he defeats Carlos Baldomir by unanimous decision.
  • November 11 Wladimir Klitschko defends his IBF heavyweight title by defeating American contender Calvin Brock winning by a stunning knockout in the seventh round.
  • November 18 Manny Pacquiao wins by technical knockout in his third and rubber match against Erik Morales
  • December 9 Jermain Taylor defends his middleweight title as he defeats Kassim Ouma

    Cricket

    See also International cricket in 2005-06, 2005-06 Australian cricket season and 2005-06 West Indian cricket season

    Curling

    »

  • Olympic champions:
  • World champions:

    Cycling

    UCI ProTour

    See 2006 UCI ProTour for road bicycle racing events » The 2006 Tour de France was won by Floyd Landis of the USA, but he's expected to be stripped of the title after failing a drugs test.

    UCI Mountain Bike World Cup

    See Mountain Bike World Cup 2006 for mountain bike racing events

    Cyclo-cross

  • UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Zeddam, Netherlands (January 28–29)

    Figure skating

    World Figure Skating Championships

    Held in Calgary, Canada
  • Men's singles
    1. Stéphane Lambiel
    2. Brian Joubert
    3. Evan Lysacek
  • Ladies' singles
    1. Kimmie Meissner
    2. Fumie Suguri
    3. Sasha Cohen
  • Pair skating
    1. Pang Qing / Tong Jian
    2. Zhang Dan / Zhang Hao
    3. Maria Petrova / Alexei Tikhonov
  • Ice dancing
    1. Albena Denkova / Maxim Staviski
    2. Marie-France Dubreuil / Patrice Lauzon
    3. Tanith Belbin / Benjamin Agosto

    Football (American)

    BCS Bowl Games

    Day Score Winner Loser Event
    January 2 34 - 20 Ohio State Notre Dame Fiesta Bowl
    West Virginia Georgia Sugar Bowl
    January 3 26 - 23 (3 OT) Penn State Florida State Orange Bowl
    January 4 41 - 38 Texas Longhorns USC Trojans Rose Bowl (National Championship Game)

    NFL Playoffs

  • February 5: The Pittsburgh Steelers win Super Bowl XL at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, defeating the Seattle Seahawks 21-10.
  • MVP of Super Bowl XL was Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward.

    Pro Football Hall of Fame

  • Reggie White, Troy Aikman, John Madden, Warren Moon, Harry Carson, and Rayfield Wright are elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

    Football (soccer)

    » :For an extensive coverage see 2006 in football (soccer)

    Events

  • January 1 - Australia officially leaves the Oceania Football Confederation and joins the Asian Football Confederation.

    International tournaments

  • 2006 African Cup of Nations - Egypt
  • 2006 FIFA World Cup - Italy
  • UEFA Champions League 2005-06 - FC Barcelona

    Major national championships

  • Argentina Primera División - Boca Juniors (Clausura)
  • Brazil Campeonato Brasileiro - São Paulo FC
  • England Premiership - Chelsea
  • France Ligue 1 - Lyon
  • Germany Bundesliga - Bayern Munich
  • Italy Serie A - Inter Milan awarded title after initial winners Juventus were stripped of the title due to involvement in the 2006 Serie A match fixing scandal.
  • Spain La Liga - FC Barcelona
  • Portugal Liga - FC Porto

    Gaelic Athletic Association

  • Gaelic football
  • Hurling

    Gliding

    World Gliding Championships
  • Eskilstuna, Sweden
  • Vinon-sur-Verdon, France

    Golf

    Men's major championships
  • 6-9 April: The Masters — Phil Mickelson wins by two shots to claim his second green jacket and third major victory.
  • 15-18 June: U.S. Open — Geoff Ogilvy wins his first major, defeating Phil Mickelson and two others by one shot after a historic collapse by Mickelson, who had led by two shots going into the final two holes.
  • 20-23 July: The Open Championship (British Open) — Tiger Woods wins by two shots to become the first golfer to defend the Claret Jug since Tom Watson in 1983-84.
  • 17-20 August: PGA Championship — Tiger Woods wins his third Wanamaker Trophy (and first since 2000) by five shots over second place Shaun Micheel. Tour money list / order of merit winners:
  • PGA Tour - Tiger Woods with $9,941,563 from 15 events played. Full money list
  • European Tour - Padraig Harrington with €2,489,337. Current order of merit
  • Japan Golf Tour - Shingo Katayama with 178,402,190 Yen. Current money list
  • Asian Tour - Jeev Milkha Singh with $591,884. Current order of merit
  • PGA Tour of Australasia - Nick O'Hern with AUS$583,820. Current order of merit
  • Sunshine Tour - Charl Schwartzel of South Africa topped the 2005-6 Order of Merit with earnings of 1,207,459.70. South African Rand. full list. Team event
  • 22-24 September: Team Europe wins the Ryder Cup for the third straight time, defeating Team USA 18½–9½. LPGA majors
  • 30 March - 2 April: Kraft Nabisco Championship - Australia's Karrie Webb defeats 18, 36 and 54-hole leader Lorena Ochoa in a playoff to claim her seventh major championship. Ochoa had shot a 62 in the first round, setting a tournament record and equalling the record low score in an LPGA major.
  • 8-11 June: LPGA Championship - Se Ri Pak defeats Karrie Webb in a playoff to claim her third LPGA Championship and fifth major title.
  • 29 June - 2 July: U.S. Women's Open - Annika Sörenstam defeats Pat Hurst by four shots in an 18-hole playoff to claim her third title in this event and 10th major.
  • 3-6 August: Weetabix Women's British Open American Sherri Steinhauer claims her third title in this event, her first since it has been recognized as a major by the LPGA, by a three-stroke margin. Awards
  • PGA Tour Player of the Year: Tiger Woods wins for a record eighth time in ten full seasons on Tour
  • PGA Tour leading money winner: Tiger Woods
  • PGA Tour rookie of the year: Trevor Immelman

    Horse Racing

  • May 6 - Barbaro wins the Kentucky Derby

    Ice hockey

  • 17 February: The Swedish women's ice hockey team defeats the United States in the semifinal round in the 2006 Olympic games. This marks the first time that either the United States or Canada has lost to anyone other than each other.
  • 26 February: Sweden defeats Finland 3-2 to capture the men's gold medal at the 2006 Olympic games.
  • 8 April: The Wisconsin Badgers defeat the Boston College Eagles for the NCAA National Championship.
  • 19 June: Stanley Cup Finals The Carolina Hurricanes defeat the Edmonton Oilers 4 games to 3 to win the Stanley Cup

    Ice skating

    Long track speed skating

  • European Championships, Hamar, Norway:
  • World Sprint Championships, Heerenveen, Netherlands:
  • World Allround Championships, Calgary, Canada:

    Lacrosse

  • Championships
  • September - Lacrosse is first played in France
    • September - At the Decathlon sport convention lacrosse was presented and the foundation of the first lacrosse team in France laid down
    • Mid-October - The first practice for 10–15 year olds takes place in Paris
    • A group of 20–25 year olds run regular weekly practices

    Olympics

    » See: 2006 Winter Olympics

    Rugby league

  • Bradford Bulls win the World Club Challenge.
  • Queensland defeat New South Wales in the 2006 Rugby League State of Origin series.
  • Brisbane Broncos win the 2006 NRL premiership.
  • St Helens RFC win the Super League XI Grand Final.
  • Australia defeat New Zealand defeat New Zealand 16-12 in the 7th minute of extra time to claim the 2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations.
  • Darren Lockyer, wins the 2006 NRL premiership, 2006 State of Origin series and the 2006 Tri-Nations as captain of all three winning sides. He also claimed the Golden Boot for top international player of the year.
  • Fiji and Tonga become the first two teams to qualify for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.

    Rugby union

  • France win the 2006 Six Nations Championship
  • Sale Sharks win the Guinness Premiership
  • London Wasps win the 2005-06 Powergen Cup
  • Biarritz win the Top 14
  • Ulster win the Celtic League
  • New Zealand win gold at the Rugby Sevens event at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
  • Munster win the 2005-06 Heineken Cup
  • The Crusaders win the Super 14 final in foggy conditions.
  • Fiji win the 2005-06 World Sevens Series, becoming the first team other than New Zealand to win the overall crown in the seven-year history of the World Sevens Series.
  • The All Blacks win the 2006 Tri Nations Series
  • The Blue Bulls and the Free State Cheetahs share the Currie Cup in Bloemfontein after the Final went into extra time. Final Score 28 - 28

    Ski jumping

  • Four Hills Tournament: Janne Ahonen and Jakub Janda are joint winners, for the first time in the tournament's 54-year history.
  • Ski-flying World Championships:

    South Asian Games

    see: 2006 South Asian Games

    Swimming

    International Tournaments

  • Eighth World Short Course Championships, held in Shanghai, China (April 5 – 9)
    • Australia wins the most medals (24), and the most gold medals (12)
  • 28th European LC Championships in Budapest, Hungary (July 31 – August 6)
    • Italy and France win the most medals (15), Russia the most gold medals (7)
  • First FINA Youth World Swimming Championships in Rio de Janeiro (August 22 – August 27)
    • Italy wins 17 medals (including 8 golds), United States wins 14 (5 golds)

    Records

  • August 12 — Roland Schoeman breaks the short course world record in the men's 50 m freestyle (short course) in Hamburg, Germany, and becomes the first man to swim the distance under 21 seconds, with a time of 20:98 seconds.
  • August 28 — In Hobart, Tasmania, Australian swimmer Libby Lenton betters Natalie Coughlin's world record in the women's 100 m butterfly (short course) from 56:39 to 55:95.

    Tennis

    Australian Open

  • 16 January to 29 January. See 2006 Australian Open for details.

    French Open

  • 28 May to 11 June. See 2006 French Open for details.

    Wimbledon

  • 26 June to 9 July. See 2006 Wimbledon for details.

    US Open

  • See 2006 US Open for details.

    News

  • Andre Agassi retired after the U.S. Open.

    Volleyball

  • Men's World League – Final Round in Moscow, Russia
    • Gold Medal:
    • Silver Medal:
    • Bronze Medal:
  • Women's World Grand Prix – Final Round in Reggio Calabria, Italy
    • Gold Medal:
    • Silver Medal:
    • Bronze Medal:
  • World Championship in several cities in Japan

    Awards

  • Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year: Tiger Woods, PGA golf
  • Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year: Lorena Ochoa, LPGA golf

    Deaths

    January

  • January 4 — Steve Rogers, 51, Australian rugby league player and CEO of the Cronulla Sharks
  • January 4 — Nel van Vliet, 79, Dutch breaststroke swimmer
  • January 5 — Rod Dedeaux, 91, American college baseball coach
  • January 8 — Elson Becerra, 27, Colombian football (soccer) player
  • January 9 — Jack Snow, 62, American football player
  • January 10— Dave Brown,52,American football player
  • January 11 — Eric Namesnik, 35, American swimmer
  • January 19 — Geoff Rabone 84, New Zealand cricketer
  • January 19 — Tom Nugent, 92, American college football coach and sportscaster; inventor of the I formation
  • January 22 — Alec Coxon, 90, English cricketer

    February