Sporting Highlights for 2001
Here are the sporting highlights of the world of sport in 2001.
How many times has a wildcard entrant won a grand slam? Just once. In 2001, Goran Ivanišević, the big serving Croat was well past his prime. He was ranked 125 and was given a wildcard entry into Wimbledon. Goran had a dream run in the tournament that saw him win the only grand slam of his career.
Barry Bonds set the highest number of home runs scored in a single season record at 73, surpassing the previous records of 66 by Sammy Sosa and 70 by Mark McGwire set in 1998. All three were later alleged to have been on PED's, and their records, though not officially discredited, are not seen as major accomplishments.
Michael Schumacher won his 4th driver's championship in F1. Though the nine wins he had was four short of his best of 13 wins, the winning margin of 58 points to this date remains as the highest point differential ever.
In the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong won his third consecutive event, though in 2012 he was stripped of all his wins after doping allegations were proven correct.
In golf, Tiger Woods win in the Masters meant he became the only golfer in history to hold all four major championships simultaneously (he won the other three majors in 2000).
In a tragic incident that claimed the highest number of lives associated with a sporting event ever, 129 fans died as a result of a stampede in Ghana. A controversial call resulting in fan unrest, followed by the firing of tear gas, was the cause of the tragedy.
In another disaster, 43 people were crushed to death in a stampede of spectators pouring into the already overcrowded Ellis Park Stadium in the city of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa, for the local Soweto derby association football match between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates. These were the same two teams of the Oppenheimer Stadium disaster in 1991. An Orlando Pirates equalizer sparked a further surge by the fans trying to gain entry as they scrambled to see what had happened.
Legendary Australian Test cricketer Sir Donald Bradman died this year, aged 92. He retains the highest Test match batting average of 99.94.
The 2001 Laureus World Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year Awards went to golfer Tiger Woods and Australian sprinter Cathy Freeman.
See the Top Earners for 2001.
Below is a timeline of some significant results in the world of sport for the year 2001.
| Date | Results |
|---|---|
| Jan | Tennis Australia Open won by Andre Agassi and Jennifer Capriati |
| Jan | Super Bowl held in Tampa won by Baltimore |
| April | Golf Masters won by Tiger Woods (his 2nd win) |
| May | Tennis French Open won by Gustavo Kuerten and Jennifer Capriati |
| June | Golf US Open won by Retief Goosen |
| July | the Cycling Tour de France was won by Lance Armstrong (though he was later stripped of this win) |
| July | Tennis Wimbledon won by Goran Ivanisevic and Venus Williams |
| July | Golf The Open Championship won by David Duval |
| Aug | Golf US PGA won by David Toms |
| Sep | Tennis US Open won by Lleyton Hewitt and Venus Williams |
| Oct | The Baseball World Series won by Arizona Diamondbacks |
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 2001
- 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.
Old Comments
- Diamond backs cheated, can't tell you why though have evidence after watching tape of game and worked for organization (from james mcdowen, May 2012)
Current Events