Sporting Highlights for 1991
Here are the sporting highlights of the world of sport in 1991. Major events for this year include the Rugby World Cup, won by Australia. The inaugural Women's World Cup was also held in 1991 in China, and was won by the United States team.
The year in women's tennis belonged to the young budding star Monica Seles. After winning the French Open the previous year to become the youngest player ever to win Rolland Garros, Seles won three grand slams in 1991 to finish the year as world's no.1 and ending Steffi Graf's span of 186 weeks as #1. Stefan Edberg won his first US Open title, one of his six grand slam wins. He would go on to win the US Open the following year also.
Soccer great Diego Maradona, who is still regarded by many as the greatest player ever, tested positive and was later suspended for cocaine use. He didn't stay in the game much longer and retired in August.
New Zealand players Martin Crowe and Andrew Jones put on a world record performance, a 467 runs partnership for the third wicket in the 1st test against Sri Lanka. The record stood for over six years but has since been surpassed twice.
The long-jump world record of Bob Beamon from the 1968 Olympics, one of the longest standing records in track and field, was broken by US athlete Mike Powell, who soared 8.95m (29 feet 4 1/2 inches) in Tokyo.
It was supposed to be a year to look forward to for South Africa, which was then recently lifted off its ban from competing in international sporting events. But instead, it began in a tragedy. On Jan 13th riots broke out during an exhibition soccer match in Johannesburg which claimed the lives of 40 fans.
See the Top Earners for 1991.
Below is a timeline of some significant results in the world of sport for the year 1991.
| Date | Results |
|---|---|
| Jan | Tennis Australia Open won by Boris Becker and Monica Seles |
| Jan | Super Bowl held in Tampa won by NY Giants |
| April | Golf Masters won by Ian Woosnam |
| May | Tennis French Open won by Jim Courier and Monica Seles |
| June | Golf US Open won by Payne Stewart |
| July | the Cycling Tour de France was won by Miguel Induráin |
| July | Tennis Wimbledon won by Michael Stich and Steffi Graf |
| July | The women's world cup, held in China, was won by The US over Norway. |
| July | Golf The Open Championship won by Ian Baker-Finch |
| Aug | Golf US PGA won by John Daly |
| Sep | Tennis US Open won by Stefan Edberg and Monica Seles |
| Oct 3 - Nov 2 | Rugby World Cup won by Australia. |
| Oct | The Baseball World Series won by Minnesota Twins |
Please note that the dates for past events are not always known, and are sometimes just placed in the month that the current event is held. If no exact date is listed, then it is just an estimated month that it was held.
If you have a correction or know of events that should be included here, please let me know.
Related Pages
- Ballon D'or Winners for 1991
- Timeline (all years) in the world of sport
- For future sporting events, see the Calendar of Major Sporting Events
- More about the World of Sport
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
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