1986 in sports

• Alpine Skiing World Cup –
  • Men's overall season champion: Marc Girardelli, Luxembourg
  • Women's overall season champion: Maria Walliser, Switzerland

• Super Bowl XX – the Chicago Bears (NFC) won 46–10 over the New England Patriots (AFC)
  • Location: Superdome
  • Attendance: 73,818
  • MVP: Richard Dent, DE (Chicago)
• Linebacker Lawrence Taylor of the New York Giants is named NFL Most Valuable Player Award
• January 1 – Orange Bowl (1985 season):
  • The Oklahoma Sooners won 25-10 over the Penn State Nittany Lions to win the national championship
• Quarterback Vinny Testaverde of the Miami Hurricanes is awarded the Heisman Trophy

• 1986 FIFA World Cup – In the final, Argentina defeated West Germany 3–2 and won their second World Cup title. It was played for the second time in Mexico City, Azteca Stadium.
• UEFA Champions League – Steaua București 0-0 F.C. Barcelona; Steaua București won 2-0 on penalties
• UEFA Cup –Two legs; 1st leg Real Madrid C.F. 5-1 1. FC Köln; 2nd leg 1.FC Köln 2-0 Real Madrid CF. Real Madrid CF won 5-3 on aggregate
• Cup Winners' Cup – Dinamo Kiev 3-0 Atlético Madrid
• Super Cup – Steaua București 1-0 Dinamo Kiev
• Copa Libertadores de América – Two legs; 1st leg América de Cali 1-2 River Plate; 2nd leg River Plate 1-0 América. River Plate won 3-1 on aggregate
• November 6 – Alex Ferguson is appointed manager of Manchester United F.C.
• Milk Cup Final held at Wembley Stadium – Oxford United 3-0 QPR
• Intercontinental Cup – River Plate 1-0 Steaua București

• Victorian Football League
  • Hawthorn wins the 90th VFL Premiership (Hawthorn 16.14 (110) d Carlton 9.14 (68))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Greg Williams (Sydney Swans) and Robert DiPierdomenico (Hawthorn)
  • The national draft is held for the first time.

• Major League Baseball
  • American League defeats the National League 3-2 in the 1986 Major League Baseball All-Star Game played in Houston, Texas. Roger Clemens of the Boston Red Sox is named the game's Most Valuable Player.
  • All-Star Game: American League Manager Dick Howser is diagnosed with brain cancer after mixing up signals during the game.
  • Dave Righetti saves 46 games for the New York Yankees, breaking a record shared by Dan Quisenberry and Bruce Sutter.
  • October 27 – World Series – The New York Mets win 4 games to 3 over the Boston Red Sox. The series is best remembered for Game 6, when the Red Sox were one out away from the Series victory but blew a 2-run lead with the bases empty and 2 outs in the bottom of the 10th inning; the game's final play was a groundball that rolled through the legs of first baseman Bill Buckner.
• Jeff King of the University of Arkansas is the #1 overall pick in the 1986 MLB draft selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates
• Arizona Wildcats defeat Florida State Seminoles 10-2 in College World Series

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship –
  • Louisville Cardinals wins 72-69 over Duke Blue Devils
  • Duke Blue Devils Guard Johnny Dawkins is named Naismith College Player of the Year
• NBA Finals
  • June – Boston Celtics win 4 games to 2 over the Houston Rockets
• Boston Celtics Forward Larry Bird is awarded NBA Most Valuable Player Award
• National Basketball League (Australia) Finals:
  • Adelaide 36ers defeated the Brisbane Bullets 2-1 in the best-of-three final series.
• FIBA World Championship
  • United States World Champion

• March 10 in Las Vegas, Nevada – Marvin Hagler retains the World Middleweight Championship with an 11th-round knockout of John Mugabi.
• May 8 to 18 – Fourth World Amateur Boxing Championships are held in Reno, United States
• November 22 – Mike Tyson knocks out Trevor Berbick in round 2 to become the youngest world heavyweight-boxing champion at 20 years and 4 months old

• Grey Cup – Hamilton Tiger-Cats won 39-15 over the Edmonton Eskimos
• Vanier Cup – UBC Thunderbirds won 25-23 over the Western Ontario Mustangs

• Giro d'Italia won by Roberto Visentini of Italy
• Tour de France – Greg LeMond is the first winner from the United States
• UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race – Moreno Argentin of Italy

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion –
  • Susan Butcher won with lead dogs: Granite & Mattie

• Men's World Cup held in London won by Australia
• Women's World Cup held in Amstelveen won by the Netherlands
• Men's Champions Trophy held in Karachi won by West Germany

• World Figure Skating Championships –
  • Men's champion: Brian Boitano, United States
  • Ladies' champion: Debi Thomas, United States
  • Pair skating champions: Ekaterina Gordeeva / Sergei Grinkov, Soviet Union
  • Ice dancing champions: Natalia Bestemianova / Andrei Bukin, Soviet Union

• Camogie
  • All-Ireland Camogie Champion: Kilkenny
  • National Camogie League: Cork
• Gaelic football
  • All-Ireland Senior Football Championship – Kerry 2-15 died Tyrone 1-10
  • National Football League – Laois 2-6 died Monaghan 2-5
• Ladies' Gaelic football
  • All-Ireland Senior Football Champion: Kerry
  • National Football League: Wexford
• Hurling
  • All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship – Cork 4-13 died Galway 2-15
  • National Hurling League –

• 17 October – The IOC votes that the 1992 Olympic Summer Games will be held in Barcelona, Spain.[1]

Men's professional

• Masters Tournament – Jack Nicklaus becomes the oldest Masters winner (age 46), and wins his last major golf championship (excluding the Senior PGA Tour).
• U.S. Open – Raymond Floyd
• British Open – Greg Norman
• PGA Championship – Bob Tway
• PGA Tour money leader – Greg Norman – $653,296
• Senior PGA Tour money leader – Bruce Crampton – $454,299

Men's amateur

• British Amateur – David Curry
• U.S. Amateur – Buddy Alexander
• European Amateur – Anders Haglund

Women's professional

• Nabisco Dinah Shore – Pat Bradley
• LPGA Championship – Pat Bradley
• U.S. Women's Open – Jane Geddes
• Classique du Maurier Classic – Pat Bradley
• LPGA Tour money leader – Pat Bradley – $492,021

• North America Cup – Quite A Sensation
• United States Pacing Triple Crown races –
  1. Cane Pace – Barberry Spur
  2. Little Brown Jug – Barberry Spur
  3. Messenger Stakes – Amity Chef
• United States Trotting Triple Crown races –
  1. Hambletonian – Nuclear Kosmos
  2. Yonkers Trot – Gunslinger Spur
  3. Kentucky Futurity – Sugarcane Hanover
• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
  • Pacers: Village Kid

Steeplechases

• Cheltenham Gold Cup – Dawn Run
• Grand National – West Tip

Flat races

• Australia – Melbourne Cup won by At Talaq
• Canada – Queen's Plate won by Golden Choice
• France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Dancing Brave
• Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Shahrastani
• Japan – Japan Cup won by Jupiter Island
• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Dancing Brave
  2. The Derby – Shahrastani
  3. St. Leger Stakes – Moon Madness
• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby – Ferdinand
  2. Preakness Stakes – Snow Chief
  3. Belmont Stakes – Danzig Connection
• Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships:
  1. Breeders' Cup Classic – Skywalker
  2. Breeders' Cup Distaff – Lady's Secret
  3. Breeders' Cup Juvenile – Capote
  4. Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies – Brave Raj
  5. Breeders' Cup Mile – Last Tycoon
  6. Breeders' Cup Sprint – Smile
  7. Breeders' Cup Turf – Manila

• Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
• Stanley Cup – Montreal Canadiens won 4 games to 1 over the Calgary Flames
• World Hockey Championship –
  • Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Sweden
  • Junior Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Canada

• The 5th World Lacrosse Championship is held in Toronto. The United States win, and Canada is the runner-up.
• The first Japanese lacrosse team is formed at Keio University.
• The Major Indoor Lacrosse League (MILL) is formed as the Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League.
• The New Westminster Salmonbellies win the Mann Cup.
• Mississauga wins the Founders Cup.
• The Peterborough Maulers win the Minto Cup.

• Third Amateur Radio Direction Finding World Championship held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.

• 1986 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France
• 1986 National Panasonic Cup
• 1986 New Zealand rugby league season
• 1986 NSWRL season
• 1986 Pacific Cup
• 1986–87 Rugby Football League season / 1985–86 Rugby Football League season
• 1986 State of Origin series
• 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup

• 92nd Five Nations Championship series is shared by France and Scotland

• World Snooker Championship – Joe Johnson beats Steve Davis 18-12
• World rankings – Steve Davis remains world number one for 1986/87

• The fifth FINA World Championships held in Madrid, Spain
• June 26 – Matt Biondi clocks 22.33 to take the world record from fellow American Tom Jager (22.40) in the 50m freestyle (long course)

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open – no tournament held
  2. French Open – Ivan Lendl
  3. Wimbledon championships – Boris Becker
  4. US Open – Ivan Lendl
• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open – no tournament held
  2. French Open – Chris Evert
  3. Wimbledon championships – Martina Navratilova
  4. US Open – Martina Navratilova
• Davis Cup – Australia won 3-2 over Sweden in world tennis.

• Men's World Championship held in Paris won by USA
• Women's World Championship held in Prague won by China

• Men's World Championship held in Madrid won by Yugoslavia
• Women's World Championship held in won by Australia

• Asian Games held in Seoul, South Korea
• Winter Asian Games held in Sapporo, Japan
• Central American and Caribbean Games held in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic
• British Commonwealth Games held in Edinburgh, Scotland
• Summer Goodwill Games held in Moscow, Soviet Union

• Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Larry Bird, NBA Finals NBA basketball
• Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Martina Navratilova, Tennis
• Joe Paterno is named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year