1997 in sports
1997 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.
Alpine skiing
- Alpine Skiing World Cup
- * Men's overall season champion: Luc Alphand, France
- * Women's overall season champion: Pernilla Wiberg, Sweden
American football
- Super Bowl XXXI – the Green Bay Packers won 35–21 over the New England Patriots
- *Location: Superdome
- *Attendance: 72,301
- *MVP: Desmond Howard, KR
- Sugar Bowl :
- * The Florida Gators won 52–20 over the Florida State Seminoles to win the national championship
- October 18 – Liz Heaston becomes the first woman to both play and score in a college football game
Artistic gymnastics
- World Artistic Gymnastics Championships –
- * Women's all–around champion: Svetlana Khorkina, Russian
- * Women's team competition champion: Romania
- * Women's vault champion: Simona Amânar, Romania
- * Women's uneven bars champion: Svetlana Khorkina, Russian
- * Women's balance beam champion: Gina Gogean, Romania
- * Women's floor exercise champion: Gina Gogean, Romania
- * Men's all-around champion: Ivan Ivankov, Belarus
- * Men's team competition champion: China
- * Men's vault champion: Sergei Fedorchenko, Kazakhstan
- * Men's still rings champion: Yuri Chechi, Italy
- * Men's floor exercise champion: Alexei Nemov, Russian
- * Men's parallel bars champion: Zhang Jinjing, China
- * Men's pommel horse champion: Valery Belenky, Germany
- * Men's horizontal bar champion: Jani Tanskanen, Finland
Association football
- Champions League – Borussia Dortmund beat Juventus FC 3–1
- UEFA Cup – FC Schalke 04 beat F.C. Internazionale Milano
- Copa Libertadores – Cruzeiro Esporte Clube beat Sporting Cristal
Athletics
- August – 1997 World Championships in Athletics held at the Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece.
Australian football
- Australian Football League
- * Port Adelaide join the league
- ** Adelaide Crows win Grand Final for the first time – downing St. Kilda on the last day in September
Baseball
- June 12 – Interleague play begins in baseball, ending a 126-year tradition of separating the major leagues until the World Series.
- World Series – Florida Marlins won 4 games to 3 over the Cleveland Indians. The Series MVP was Liván Hernández, Florida
Basketball
- NCAA Men's Basketball Championship –
- * Arizona Wildcats win 84–79 in overtime over the Kentucky Wildcats. This is Arizona's first NCAA title in men's basketball.
- NBA Finals –
- * Chicago Bulls earn their second repeat of the decade as they beat the Utah Jazz 4 games to 2.
- WNBA Finals :
- * Houston Comets defeat the New York Liberty in one game playoff series.
- National Basketball League Finals:
- * Melbourne Tigers defeated the South East Melbourne Magic 2–1 in the best–of–three final series.
Boxing
- January 18 – Oscar De La Hoya maintained his World Boxing Council super lightweight title in with a 12–round unanimous decision over Miguel Ángel González in Las Vegas, Nevada.
- May 13 – death of Eduard Zakharov, Russian boxer
- June 28 – Mike Tyson bites off a piece of the ear of Evander Holyfield in the third round of their WBA Heavyweight title fight, getting disqualified by referee Mills Lane.
- July 9 – Mike Tyson's boxing license is suspended for at least a year and he is fined $3 million for biting Evander Holyfield's ear in a televised match.
- October 18 to October 26 – World Amateur Boxing Championships held in Budapest, Hungary
Canadian football
- Grey Cup – Toronto Argonauts won 47–23 over the Saskatchewan Roughriders
- Vanier Cup – UBC Thunderbirds win 39–23 over the Ottawa Gee-Gees
Cricket
- The Ashes – Australia win the six test series 3–2
- ICC Trophy – Bangladesh
- Women's Cricket World Cup – Australia beat New Zealand by five wickets
- County Championship won by Glamorgan
Cycling
- Giro d'Italia won by Ivan Gotti of Italy
- Tour de France – Jan Ullrich of Germany
- UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race – Laurent Brochard of France
Dogsled racing
- Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion
- * Martin Buser won with lead dogs: Blondie & ''Fearless''
[Field hockey]
- Men's Champions Trophy: Germany
- Women's Champions Trophy: Australia
[Figure skating]
- World Figure Skating Championships –
- * Men's champion: Elvis Stojko, Canada
- * Ladies' champion: Tara Lipinski, United States
- * Pairs' champions: Mandy Wötzel & Ingo Steuer, Germany
- * Ice dancing champions: Oksana Grishuk / Evgeny Platov, Russia
[Floorball]
- Women's World Floorball Championships
- * Champion: Sweden
- European Cup
- * Men's champion: Fornudden IB
- * Women's champion: Högdalens AIS
Gaelic Athletic Association
- Camogie
- * All-Ireland Camogie Champion: Cork
- * National Camogie League: Cork
- Gaelic football
- * All-Ireland Senior Football Championship – Kerry 0–13 died Mayo 1–7
- * National Football League – Kerry 3–7 died Cork 1–8
- Ladies' Gaelic football
- * All-Ireland Senior Football Champion: Monaghan
- * National Football League: Waterford
- Hurling
- * All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship – Clare 0–20 died Tipperary 2–13
- * National Hurling League – Limerick 1–12 beat Galway 1–9
Golf
- Masters Tournament – Tiger Woods
- U.S. Open – Ernie Els
- British Open – Justin Leonard
- PGA Championship – Davis Love III
- PGA Tour money leader – Tiger Woods – $2,066,833
- PGA Tour Player of the Year – Tiger Woods
- PGA Tour Rookie of the Year – Stewart Cink
- Senior PGA Tour money leader – Hale Irwin – $2,343,364
- Ryder Cup – Europe won 14½–13½ over the United States in team golf.
- Tiger Woods creates an uproar with his record 12-shot victory at the Masters, and becomes the first Masters winner of African-American descent. He set the record for the lowest to-par score of −18, and the lowest 72-hole score of 272. He also rises to the No. 1 ranking on June 15, in only his 42nd week as a professional – the fastest ascent to the No. 1 ranking.
- British Amateur – Craig Watson
- U.S. Amateur – Matt Kuchar
- European Amateur – Didier de Voogt
- Nabisco Dinah Shore – Betsy King
- LPGA Championship – Christa Johnson
- U.S. Women's Open – Alison Nicholas
- Classique du Maurier – Colleen Walker
- LPGA Tour money leader – Annika Sörenstam – $1,236,789
Handball
- World Men's Handball Championship – won by Russia
- World Women's Handball Championship – won by Denmark
Harness racing
- North America Cup – Gothic Dream
- Western Dreamer won the United States Pacing Triple Crown races –
- # Cane Pace – Western Dreamer
- # Little Brown Jug – Western Dreamer
- # Messenger Stakes – Western Dreamer
- United States Trotting Triple Crown races –
- # Hambletonian – Malabar Man
- # Yonkers Trot – Lord Stormont
- # Kentucky Futurity – Take Chances
- Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
- * Pacers: Our Sir Vancelot
- * Trotters: Pride Of Petite
Horse racing
- The Grand National Saturday meeting was abandoned after two coded bomb threats were received, causing evacuation of the course. The race was eventually run on the following Monday.
Flat races
- Australia – Melbourne Cup won by Might And Power
- Canada – Queen's Plate won by Awesome Again
- Dubai – Dubai World Cup won by Singspiel
- France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Peintre Célèbre
- Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Desert King
- Japan – Japan Cup won by Pilsudski
- English Triple Crown races:
- # 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Entrepreneur
- # The Derby – Benny the Dip
- # St. Leger Stakes – Silver Patriarch
- United States Triple Crown races:
- # Kentucky Derby – Silver Charm
- # Preakness Stakes – Silver Charm
- # Belmont Stakes – Touch Gold
- Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships:
- # Breeders' Cup Classic – Skip Away
- # Breeders' Cup Distaff – Ajina
- # Breeders' Cup Juvenile – Favorite Trick
- # Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies – Countess Diana
- # Breeders' Cup Mile – Spinning World
- # Breeders' Cup Sprint – Elmhurst
- # Breeders' Cup Turf – Chief Bearhart
Ice hockey
- Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins
- Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Dominik Hašek of the Buffalo Sabres
- Stanley Cup – Detroit Red Wings win 4 games to 0 over the Philadelphia Flyers
- World Hockey Championship
- * Men's champion: Canada defeated Sweden
- * Junior Men's champion: Finland defeated Russia
- * Women's champion: Canada defeated the United States
[Lacrosse]
- The Rochester Knighthawks defeat the Buffalo Bandits 15–12 to win the Major Indoor Lacrosse League championship
- * The National Lacrosse League is formed from the Major Indoor Lacrosse League, with the decision to move from league ownership of all teams to individual team ownership.
- Mann Cup for the Canadian box lacrosse championship: Victoria Shamrocks of the Western Lacrosse Association
- European Lacrosse Championships –
- * Men's champion: England defeats the Czech Republic
- * Women's champion: England defeats Wales
Mixed martial arts
[Motorsport]
Radiosport
- Eighth Amateur Radio Direction Finding World Championship held in Sankt Englmar, Germany.
- Second High Speed Telegraphy World Championship held in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Rowing
- McGill University Rowing Club wins the inaugural McGill-Queen's Challenge Boat Race.