2006 in sports

[edit] Athletics (track and field)

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

[edit] Track

• May 12 — Justin Gatlin equals Asafa Powell's 100 m world record time of 9.77 seconds in Doha, Qatar. Gatlin was initially given a time of 9.76 s, which would have been a new record, but few days later the time was corrected to 9.77
• June 11 — Asafa Powell equals the 100 m world record once again, as he ran the distance in 9.77 seconds at Gateshead, England.
• August 18 — Asafa Powell runs the 100 m in a record-equalling 9.77 seconds for a third time, this time in Zürich, Switzerland.

[edit] Marathon

[edit] International Races

• March 19 — Commonwealth Games Marathon, Melbourne, Australia
  • Men's Winner: Samson Ramadhani (TAN) 2:11:29
  • Women's Winner: Kerryn McCann (AUS) 2:30:54

• April 9 — Rotterdam Marathon, Netherlands
  • Men's Winner: Sammy Korir (KEN) 2:06:38
  • Women's Winner: Mindaye Gishu (ETH) 2:28:30

• April 17 — Boston Marathon, United States
  • Men's Winner: Robert Cheruiyot (KEN) 2:07:14
  • Women's Winner: Rita Jeptoo (KEN) 2:23:38

• April 23 — Enschede Marathon, Netherlands
  • Men's Winner: Sammy Rotich (KEN) 2:12:05
  • Women's Winner: Petra van Tongeren (NED) 3:19:13

• April 23 — London Marathon, United Kingdom
  • Men's Winner: Felix Limo (KEN) 2:06:39
  • Women's Winner: Deena Kastor (USA) 2:19:36

• August 12 — European Championships Marathon, Gothenburg, Sweden
  • Women's Winner: Ulrike Maisch (GER) 2:30:01

• August 13 — European Championships Marathon, Gothenburg, Sweden
  • Men's Winner: Stefano Baldini (ITA) 2:11:32

• September 24 — Berlin Marathon, Germany
  • Men's Winner: Haile Gebreselassie (ETH) 2:05:56
  • Women's Winner: Gete Wami (ETH) 2:21:34

• October 8 — Eindhoven Marathon, Netherlands
  • Men's Winner: Philip Singoei (KEN) 2:08:18
  • Women's Winner: Agnes Hijman (NED) 2:54:36

• October 15 — Amsterdam Marathon, Netherlands
  • Men's Winner: Solomon Bushendich (KEN) 2:08:52
  • Women's Winner: Rose Cheruiyot (KEN) 2:28:26

• November 5 — New York City Marathon, United States
  • Men's Winner: Marilson dos Santos (BRA) 2:09:58
  • Women's Winner: Jelena Prokopcuka (LAT) 2:25:05

• December 3 — Fukuoka Marathon, Japan
  • Men's Winner: Haile Gebreselassie (ETH) 2:06:52

[edit] National Champions

• April 9 — Debrecen, Hungary
  • Men's Winner: Gergely Rezessy — 2:24:30
  • Women's Winner: Petra Teveli — 2:43:06

• April 9 — Rotterdam, Netherlands
  • Men's Winner: Kamiel Maase — 2:10:44
  • Women's Winner: Kristyna Loonen — 2:43:13

• April 23 — London, England
  • Men's Winner: Peter Riley — 2:14:31
  • Women's Winner: Mara Yamauchi — 2:25:13

• May 28 — Ottawa, Canada
  • Men's Winner: Charles Bedley — 2:27:58
  • Women's Winner: Lyudmila Korchagina — 2:29:42

• July 2 — Brisbane, Australia
  • Men's Winner: Lee Troop — 2:14:13
  • Women's Winner: Jennifer Gillard — 2:41:06

• September 23 — Joutseno, Finland
  • Men's Winner: Yrjö Pesonen — 2:23:19
  • Women's Winner: Hanna Jantunen — 2:45:07

[edit] 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
  • March 26: Paul Dana is killed and Ed Carpenter is injured in an accident during the final practice before the Toyota Indy 300. Dana's teammates, Buddy Rice and Danica Patrick, withdraw from the race following the crash.
  • Indianapolis 500 — Won by Sam Hornish, Jr..
  • Champion: Sam Hornish, Jr.
• V8 Supercar - Main Article: 2006 V8 Supercar Season
  • Rick Kelly narrowly won the championship in controversial circumstances from Craig Lowndes.
  • Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup won the Bathurst 1000, while Jason Bright and Mark Winterbottom won the Sandown 500.
  • Ford won the manufacturer title with seven round victories to Holden's six. The Toll HSV Dealer Team won the team's title with its drivers placed 1st and 4th.
  • The season was marred by the deaths of racing legend Peter Brock in a road rally in Western Australia, and Development Series driver Mark Porter in an accident in a Bathurst 1000 support event.
• Nascar — Main articles: 2006 in NASCAR, 2006 in NASCAR Busch Series, 2006 in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
  • Daytona 500 — Won by Jimmie Johnson in the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet.
  • UAW Ford 500 — Won by Brian Vickers in the #25 Ditech Chevrolet
  • Allstate 400 at the Brickyard — Won by Jimmie Johnson in the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet.
  • Champion: Jimmie Johnson

• Renault Mégane Eurocup - champion Jaap van Lagen of The Netherlands.

[edit] Baseball

Main article: 2006 in 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).

[edit] Basketball

Main article: 2006 in basketball

[edit] College basketball

[edit] 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

[edit] Women's

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

[edit] Professional competitions

[edit] Americas

• National Basketball Association (United States and Canada)
  • January 22: Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant scores 81 points in a win over the Toronto Raptors, becoming only the second player in league history to score at least 80 points in one game. It was the second highest individual point total in NBA history (Second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point performance).
  • June 20: Miami Heat defeat the Dallas Mavericks in 6 games in the NBA Finals series. Finals MVP Dwyane Wade rallied four consecutive 35-point games to come back from a two games to none deficit and win four straight.

[edit] 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
  • February 19: Red Bull Barako defeats the Purefoods Chunkee Giants, 4 games to 2 in the Fiesta Conference Finals.
  • July 21: The Purefoods Chunkee Giants defeats Red Bull Barako, 4 games to 2 in the Philippine Cup Finals.

[edit] 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)
  • February 19: TAU Cerámica lift the Copa del Rey with an 85-80 win over Pamesa Valencia.
  • June 21: Unicaja Málaga complete a 3-0 sweep of TAU Cerámica in the ACB finals.

• 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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
  • Light Flyweight (– 48 kg): David Ayrapetyan (Russia)
  • Flyweight (– 51 kg): Georgi Balakshin (Russia)
  • Bantamweight (– 54 kg): Detelin Dalakliev (Bulgaria)
  • Featherweight (– 57 kg): Albert Selimov (Russia)
  • Lightweight (– 60 kg): Hrachik Javakhyan (Armenia)
  • Light Welterweight (– 64 kg): Boris Georgiev (Bulgaria)
  • Welterweight (– 69 kg): Andrey Balanov (Russia)
  • Middleweight (– 75 kg): Matvey Korobov (Russia)
  • Light Heavyweight (– 81 kg): Artur Beterbiyev (Russia)
  • Heavyweight (– 91 kg): Denis Poyatsika (Ukraine)
  • Super Heavyweight (+ 91 kg): Islam Timurziev (Russia)

• 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

[edit] Cricket

Main article: 2006 in cricket

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

[edit] Curling

Main article: 2005-06 curling season

• Olympic champions:
  • Men's: Canada (Brad Gushue, Mark Nichols, Russ Howard, Jamie Korab, Mike Adam)
  • Women's: Sweden (Anette Norberg, Eva Lund, Cathrine Lindahl, Anna Svärd, Ulrika Bergman)

• World champions:
  • Men's: Scotland (David Murdoch, Ewan MacDonald, Warwick Smith, Euan Byers, Peter Smith)
  • Women's: Sweden (Anette Norberg, Eva Lund, Cathrine Lindahl, Anna Svärd, Ulrika Bergman)

[edit] Cycling

[edit] 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 is expected to be stripped of the title after failing a drugs test.

[edit] UCI Mountain Bike World Cup

See Mountain Bike World Cup 2006 for mountain bike racing events

[edit] Cyclo-cross

• UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Zeddam, Netherlands (January 28–29)
  • Men's Competition
  1. Gold – Erwin Vervecken
  2. Silver – Bart Wellens
  3. Bronze – Francis Mourey
  • Women's Competition
  1. Gold – Marianne Vos
  2. Silver – Hanka Kupfernagel
  3. Bronze – Daphny van den Brand

[edit] Figure skating

[edit] 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

[edit] Football (American)

[edit] BCS Bowl Games

Main article: NCAA football bowl games, 2006-07

[edit] NFL Playoffs

Main article: NFL playoffs, 2005-06

• 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Football (soccer)

For an extensive coverage see 2006 in football (soccer)

[edit] Events

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

[edit] International tournaments

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

[edit] 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

[edit] Gaelic Athletic Association

• Gaelic football
  • All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, Kerry 4-15 Mayo 3-05
  • All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship, Mayo
  • All-Ireland Minor Football Championship, Roscommon
  • All-Ireland Junior Football Championship, Kerry
  • National Football League, Kerry 2-11 Galway 0-11
  • Tommy Murphy Cup, Louth 3-14 Leitrim 1-11
  • All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship, Salthill-Knocknacarra
  • Dublin Senior Football Championship, UCD 0-10 St Vincents 0-09
  • Dublin Intermediate Football Championship, St Peregrines 1-11 St Margarets 0-9.
  • Dublin Minor Football Championship, Cuala 2-11 St Vincents
  • Dublin AFL Division 1, Thomas Davis 0-10 Round Towers (C) 0-07
• Hurling
  • All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, Kilkenny 1-16 Cork 1-13
  • Dublin Senior Hurling Championship, Craobh Chiaráin 2-10 Ballyboden St Endas 2-08
  • Dublin Senior B Hurling Championship, St Marks 1-12 Crumlin 0-09
  • Dublin Intermediate Hurling Championship, St Marks 2-10 Crumlin 2-07

[edit] Gliding

World Gliding Championships

• Eskilstuna, Sweden
  • Open Class Winner: Michael Sommer, Germany; Glider: Alexander Schleicher ASW 22 BLE
  • 18-metre Class Winner: Phil Jones, UK; Glider: Schempp-Hirth Ventus-2cxt
  • 15-metre Class Winner: Janusz Centka, Poland; Glider: SZD 56 Diana
  • Standard Class Winner: Leigh Wells, UK; Glider: Rolladen-Schneider LS8

• Vinon-sur-Verdon, France
  • Club Class Winner: Sebastian Kawa, Poland; Glider: SZD-48-3M Brawo
  • World Class Winner: Christophe Ruch, France; Glider: PZL PW-5

[edit] Golf

Main article: 2006 in golf

Men's major championships

• 6-9 April: Masters Tournament — 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: 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 - Pádraig 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.
• Champions Tour - Jay Haas with $2,420,227

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.
• LPGA Tour money leader - Lorena Ochoa - $2,592,872

Men's amateur

• British Amateur - Julien Guerrier
• U.S. Amateur - Richie Ramsay
• European Amateur - Rory McIlroy

Awards

• PGA Tour Player of the Year: Tiger Woods wins for a record eighth time in ten full seasons on Tour
• PGA Tour Rookie of the Year: Trevor Immelman

[edit] Handball

[edit] Men's Competition

• European Championship in Switzerland

• Gold Medal:  France
• Silver Medal:  Spain
• Bronze Medal:  Denmark

[edit] Women's Competition

• European Championship in Sweden

• Gold Medal:  Norway
• Silver Medal:  Russia
• Bronze Medal:  France

[edit] Horse Racing

• May 6 - Barbaro wins the Kentucky Derby

[edit] Ice hockey

Main article: 2006 in 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

[edit] Ice skating

[edit] Long track speed skating

• European Championships, Hamar, Norway:
  • Men allround: Enrico Fabris, Italy 151.523 points (36.75–1:47.57–6:24.33–13:29.69)
  • Ladies allround: Claudia Pechstein, Germany 163.159 points (39.60–1:58.04–4:08.47–7:08.02)
• World Sprint Championships, Heerenveen, Netherlands:
  • Men: Joey Cheek, United States 139.990 points (35.19–1:09.25–35.09–1:10.17)
  • Ladies: Svetlana Zhurova, Russia 153.625 points (38.35–1:17.20–38.28–1:16.79)
• World Allround Championships, Calgary, Canada:
  • Men: Shani Davis, United States 145.742 points (35.17–1:42.68–6:10.49–13:05.94)
  • Ladies: Cindy Klassen, Canada 154.580 points (37.51–1:51.85–3:53.34–6:48.97)

[edit] Lacrosse

• Championships
  • International Lacrosse Federation - World Lacrosse Championship - Canada over the United States, 15–10, in London, Ontario, breaking a 28-year US winning streak, and being the last game of lacrosse legend Gary Gait's spectacular career. It also gave Gait every major lacrosse championship possible.
  • National Lacrosse League - Champion's Cup - Colorado Mammoth over the Buffalo Bandits, 16–9, in the HSBC Arena, Buffalo, New York
  • Canadian Junior A - Minto Cup - Peterborough Lakers (OLA) over the Six Nations Arrows (OLA), 9–5
  • Canadian Senior A - Mann Cup - Peterborough Lakers (MSL) over the Victoria Shamrocks (WLA), 4 games to 1, in the Peterborough Memorial Centre, Peterborough, Ontario
  • Major League Lacrosse - Steinfeld Cup - Philadelphia Barrage over the Denver Outlaws, 23–12, in The Home Depot Center, Carson, California

• 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

[edit] Olympics

See: 2006 Winter Olympics

[edit] Rugby league

Main article: Rugby league in 2006

• 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.

[edit] 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

[edit] 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:
  • Gold: Roar Ljøkelsøy, Norway 788.0 points (Distances in metres: 202.5–207.5–190–207.5)
  • Silver: Andreas Widhölzl, Austria 762.4 points (205–182.5–191–208.5)
  • Bronze: Thomas Morgenstern, Austria 752.2 points (195.5–195.5–182–210)

[edit] South Asian Games

see: 2006 South Asian Games

[edit] Swimming

[edit] 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)

[edit] 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.

[edit] Tennis

Main article: 2006 in tennis

[edit] Australian Open

• 16 January to 29 January. See 2006 Australian Open for details.
  • Men's Singles: Roger Federer of Switzerland d. Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, 5-7, 7-5, 6-0, 6-2.
  • Women's Singles: Amélie Mauresmo of France d. Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium, 6-1, 2-0 ret.

[