2003 in sports

See also: 2002 in sports, other events of 2003, 2004 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Table of contents

1 Auto Racing 2 Baseball 3 Basketball 4 Boxing 5 Cricket 6 Curling 7 Cycling 8 Figure skating 9 Football (Soccer) 10 Football (American) 11 Canadian Football 12 Golf 13 Thoroughbred Horse Racing 14 Harness Racing 15 Ice Hockey 16 Lacrosse 17 Rugby Union 18 Skiing 19 Tennis 20 General sporting events 21 Births 22 Deaths

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • Michael Waltrip won rain-shortened Daytona 500
  • Winston Cup Championship - Matt Kenseth
    • Nextel signs deal to replace R.J. Reynolds as title sponsor of series
• Indianapolis 500 - Gil de Ferran
• Indy Racing League - Scott Dixon of New Zealand
• CART Racing Series - Paul Tracy of Canada
• Formula One Championship - Michael Schumacher of Germany (His 6th championship, breaking tie with Juan Manuel Fangio)
• 24 hours of Le Mans - won by the team of Tom Kristensen / Rinaldo Capello / Guy Smith driving a Bentley Speed 8 GT
• V8 Supercars -- Bathurst 1000, Australia - Greg Murphy of New Zealand and Rick Kelly of Australia. Murphy set the fastest ever lap of any type of car on the mountain, including open wheelers.
• Rally racing:
  • the team of Sébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Citroën Total.
  • Petter Solberg of Norway won the World Rally Championship.
• Drag racing -

Baseball

• April 4 - Sammy Sosa hit his 500th career home run off Cincinnati Reds pitcher Scott Sullivan in the seventh inning at Great American Ball Park, becoming only the 18th player in Major League Baseball history to hit 500 or more home runs, as well as the first Hispanic to do so.

• May 5 - Matt Stairs home run off Houston Astros pitcher Wade Miller was estimated at 461 feet, making it the longest home run in the history of Minute Maid Park.

• May 11 - Rafael Palmeiro hit his 500th career home run off Cleveland Indians pitcher David Elder becoming only the 19th player in Major League Baseball history to hit 500 or more home runs.

• June 13 - New York Yankee Roger Clemens became the 21st pitcher in history to win 300 games and only the 3rd pitcher to record 4,000 career strikeouts as he defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 5-2.

• 2003 World Series: The Florida Marlins won 4 games to 2 over the New York Yankees.

• Books published:
  • Michael Lewis, Moneyball: An examination of the present-day Oakland Athletics as run by their general manager Billy Beane, and how the application of sabermetric principles has allowed the A's to be competitive despite having one of the lowest payrolls in baseball.

Basketball

• April 7 - NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • Syracuse Orangemen win 81-78 over the Kansas Jayhawks

• NBA Finals: San Antonio Spurs won 4 games to 2 over the New Jersey Nets

• WNBA Finals: Detroit Shock won 2 games to 1 over the Los Angeles Sparks, winning the franchise's first title, and marking the first time an Eastern conference team is WNBA world champions.

• December 13 - The largest crowd in the sport's history, 78,129, packed Ford Field in Detroit to watch Michigan State and Kentucky. Kentucky won 79-74.

Boxing

• September 13: Shane Mosley conquers the WBA and WBC world Jr. Middleweight titles with a 12 round unanimous decision over Oscar De La Hoya in rematch of their 2000 bout

Cricket

• Bank Alfalah Cup - New Zealand defeat Pakistan in the final by 4 wickets
• Cricket World Cup - Australia defeat India in the final by 125 runs to win the ICC 2003 cricket World Cup
• Natwest Series - England defeat South Africa in the final by 7 wickets
• TVS Cup - The cup is shared when the final between India and South Africa is rained out

Curling

• Ford World Curling Championship
  • Women's
    • USA (Debbie McCormick) 5-3 Canada (Colleen Jones)
  • Men's
    • Canada (Randy Ferbey) 10-6 Switzerland (Ralph Stockli)

• Continental Cup of Curling
  • Europe 208-174 North America

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Gilberto Simoni of Italy
• Tour de France - Lance Armstrong
• World Cycling Championship: Igor Astarloa of Spain

Figure skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Evgeni Plushenko, Russia
  • Women's champion: Michelle Kwan, United States
  • Pairs champions: Xue Shen & Hongbo Zhao, China

Football (Soccer)

• England - FA Cup: Arsenal won 1-0 over Southampton

• UEFA Cup: FC Porto won 3-2 over Glasgow Celtic

• Champions League: AC Milan won 3-2 in penalties over Juventus after a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford.

• English Premier League - Manchester United wins the English Premier League by 5 points over Arsenal.

• June 17 - Manchester United sells English soccer star David Beckham to Real Madrid for 35 million euros.

• November 28 - In an Asian Cup qualifier between Iran and Lebanon, Ali Daei scores his 85th goal for the Iranian national team, breaking the record of Hungarian legend Ferenc Puskas.

Football (American)

• January 3 - Fiesta Bowl (Bowl Championship Series):
  • Ohio State Buckeyes won 31-24 over the Miami Hurricanes (double overtime)

• January 27 - Super Bowl XXXVII:
  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers won 48-21 over the Oakland Raiders

Canadian Football

• February 27 - Darren Flutie retires

• November 16 - Grey Cup (Canadian Football League Championship game)
  • Edmonton Eskimos 34-22 Montreal Alouettes

• November 22 - Vanier Cup: (Canadian University Championship game)
  • Laval University 14-7 St. Mary's University

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  • April 10-13 - The Masters - Mike Weir. Weir becomes the first Canadian and the first left-handed golfer to win The Masters. He defeats Len Mattiace on the first playoff hole.
  • June 12-15 - US Open - Jim Furyk - Held at Olympia Fields, Furyk wins his first major by 3 shots.
  • July 17-20- British Open - Ben Curtis, a virtual unknown, shocks the world, posting a -1, a single shot ahead of Thomas Björn and Vijay Singh at the very difficult Royal St. George's.
  • August 14-17 - PGA Championship - Shaun Micheel, another virtual unknown, wins by 2 shots at the tough Oak Hill Country Club.

• Other highlights
  • March 2 - Tiger Woods wins the Accenture Match Play Championships, defeating David Toms 2 and 1.
  • April 20 - Davis Love III chips in on the 72nd hole to force a playoff, which he wins, giving him his fifth victory at the MCI Heritage at Harbour Town.
  • May 22 - At the Colonial Open golf tournament, LPGA champion Annika Sörenstam became the first woman in 58 years to compete in a men's professional golf tournament.
  • June 1 - Kenny Perry wins for the second straight week, this time at The Memorial, held at Muirfield Village Golf Club.
  • July 6 - Tiger Woods wins the 100th Western Open at Cog Hill

• Vijay Singh was the PGA TOUR's leading money winner for the year, with earnings of $7,349,907 in 27 events.

• Tom Watson was the leading money winner on the PGA Champions Tour, with earnings of $1,853,108 in 14 events.

• President's Cup - For the first time ever, the Cup is shared between the United States and International teams.

Women's Golf

• Major results
  • Kraft Nabisco Championship - Patricia Meunier-Lebouc
  • US Women's Open - Hilary Lunke wins an 18-hole playoff over Angela Stanford and Kelly Robbins.
  • LPGA Championship - Annika Sörenstam
  • Women's British Open - Annika Sörenstam

• Upcoming events / results
  • The leading money winner on the LPGA tour

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Makybe Diva
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Wando
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Dalakhani
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Alamshar

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Refuse to Bend
  2. Epsom Derby - Kris Kin
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Brian Boru

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Funny Cide
  2. Preakness Stakes - Funny Cide
  3. Belmont Stakes - Empire Maker

Harness Racing

• North America Cup:

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace
  2. Little Brown Jug
  3. Messenger Stakes

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian
  2. Yonkers Trot - Sugar Trader
  3. Kentucky Futurity

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Baltic Eagle
  • Trotters: Take A Moment

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Peter Forsberg, Colorado Avalanche

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Peter Forsberg, Colorado Avalanche

• Stanley Cup: New Jersey Devils won 4 games to 3 over the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. The Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs MVP was won by Jean-Sebastien Giguere of Anaheim.

• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Canada defeated Sweden 3-2
  • Junior Men's champion: Russia won 3-2 over Canada
  • Women's champion: tournament scheduled for Beijing, China cancelled due to the outbreak of SARS.

Lacrosse

• Victoria Shamrocks won the Mann Cup.
• St. Catharines Athletics won the Minto Cup
• In May, Canada won the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships, defeating the Iroquois Nation in the final by a score of 21-4.

Rugby Union

• Antim Cup: Romania 19 defeated Georgia 6
• Bledisloe Cup: New Zealand All Blacks defeated the Australian Wallabies two matches to nil in a two match series
• Calcutta Cup: England defeated Scotland
• Epson Cup (Pacific Ring): Samoa
• Heineken Cup: Toulouse 22 defeated Perpignan 17
• Six Nations Championship: England (Grand slam)
• Rugby World Cup: England 20 defeated Australia 17 after extra time
• Tri Nations: New Zealand
• World Sevens Series: New Zealand

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season championship: Stephan Eberharter, Austria
  • The women's overall season championship: Janica Kostelic, Croatia

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  • Australian Open - Andre Agassi defeated Rainer Schuettler, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1.
  • French Open - Juan Carlos Ferrero defeated Martin Verkerk, 6-1, 6-3, 6-2.
  • Wimbledon championships - Roger Federer defeated Mark Philippoussis, 7-6, 6-2, 7-6.
  • US Open - Andy Roddick defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3.

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  • Australian Open - Serena Williams defeated Venus Williams, 7-6, 3-6, 6-4.
  • French Open - Justine Henin-Hardenne defeated Kim Clijsters, 6-0, 6-4.
  • Wimbledon championships - Serena Williams defeated Venus Williams, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
  • US Open - Justine Henin-Hardenne defeated Kim Clijsters, 7-5, 6-1.

• Davis Cup in world tennis.

• Pete Sampras retires, aged 32 on August 25
• Michael Chang retires, aged 31 on August 26

General sporting events

• Embassy World Snooker Championship:
  • Mark Williams won 18-16 over Ken Doherty

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
  • Robert Sorlie won with lead dog: Tipp

• Show Jumping World Cup Champion - Marcus Ehning of Germany won, riding his Oldenburg mare, Anka.

Births

Deaths

• January 13 - Julio Botelho (Julinho), Brazilian soccer star
• February 17 - Steve Bechler, baseball player, collapsed during spring training
• May 14 - Dave DeBusschere, basketball hall of famer
• June 9 - Spectacular Bid, U.S. race horse, won the 1979 Derby and Preakness
• June 18 - Larry Doby, United States Baseball Hall of Fame player
• June 26 - Marc-Vivien Foe, Cameroon football player
• August 23 - Bobby Bonds, U.S. baseball player and father of Barry Bonds
• October 12 - Bill Shoemaker, jockey
• October 22 - Tony Renna, Indy Racing League driver, killed at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
• November 6 - Rie Mastenbroek, Dutch swimmer
• November 24 - Warren Spahn, hall of fame pitcher