1970 in sports
| Years in sports: | 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 |
| Centuries: | 19th century · 20th century · 21st century |
| Decades: | 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s |
| Years: | 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 |
- World Artistic Gymnastics Championships:
- Men's all-around champion: Eizo Kenmotsu, Japan
- Women's all-around champion: Ludmilla Tourischeva, USSR
- Men's team competition champion: Japan
- Women's team competition champion: USSR
- July 23 —
Commonwealth Games Marathon, Edinburgh, Scotland
- Men's Winner: Ron Hill (ENG) 2:09:29
- December 6 —
Fukuoka Marathon, Japan
- Men's Winner: Akio Usami (JPN) 2:10:38
- December 15 —
Asian Games Marathon, Bangkok, Thailand
- Men's Winner: Kenji Kimihara (JPN) 2:21:03
- Stock car racing:
- Indianapolis 500 - Al Unser, Sr.
- USAC Racing - Al Unser, Sr. won the season championship
- Formula One Championship - Jochen Rindt of Austria )becomes Formula One's only posthumous world champion
- 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Hans Herrmann / Richard Attwood won, driving a Porsche 917
- Rally racing - the team of Bjorn Waldegard / Lars Helmer won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Porsche 911S.
- Drag racing - the NHRA launches the "Supernationals". Rick Ramsey wins "Top Fuel"
- January 16: Gold Glove outfielder Curt Flood files a civil lawsuit challenging baseball's reserve clause, a suit that will have historic implications. Flood refused to report to the Phillies after he was traded by the Cardinals, contending the baseball rule violates federal antitrust laws.
- January 17: The Sporting News names Willie Mays as Player of the Decade for the 1960s.
- January 20: Lou Boudreau is elected to the Hall of Fame, receiving 232 of a possible 300 votes from the BBWAA.
- April 7: The Milwaukee Brewers play their first ever game as the Brewers at Milwaukee County Stadium, after the team had relocated from Seattle.
- June 12: Dock Ellis of the Pittsburgh Pirates throws a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres. It is later revealed that he did so while under the influence of LSD.
- Robert W. Peterson's book Only the Ball was White is published. The book brings pressure on Major League Baseball to recognize the African-American players from Negro league baseball by honoring its stars in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
- World Series: The American League's Baltimore Orioles win their second World Title by defeating the National League's Cincinnati Reds, 4 games to 1.
- NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship:
- UCLA wins 80-69 over Jacksonville
- NBA Finals:
- New York Knicks won 4 games to 3 over the Los Angeles Lakers
- FIBA World Championship:
- Yugoslavia World Champion
- February 15 - Carlos Cruz, Featherweight Boxing Champion died in a plane crash
- February 16 - Joe Frazier starts a heavyweight world boxing champion winning streak with the knock out of Jimmy Ellis in five rounds.
- International Cricket Council votes to suspend South Africa from international cricket indefinitely because of its government's apartheid policy.
- Giro d'Italia won by Eddy Merckx of Belgium
- Tour de France - Eddy Merckx of Belgium
- World Cycling Championship: Jean-Pierre Monseré of Belgium
- Men's European Nations Cup in Bruxelles, Belgium
- Gold Medal: West Germany
- Silver Medal: The Netherlands
- Bronze Medal: Spain
- World Figure Skating Championships:
- Men's champion: Tim Wood, United States
- Ladies' champion: Gabrielle Seyfert, Germany
- Pair skating champions: Irina Rodnina & Alexei Ulanov, Soviet Union
- Ice dancing champions: Lyudmila Pakhomova & Alexandr Gorshkov, Soviet Union
- Super Bowl IV: Kansas City Chiefs won 23-7 over the Minnesota Vikings
- Nebraska Cornhuskers win the college football national championship.
- November 14: A plane carrying most of the Marshall University team crashes just short of landing near Huntington, West Virginia, killing all 75 aboard, including 37 players.
- Victorian Football League
- Carlton wins the 74th VFL Premiership (Carlton 17.9 (111) d Collingwood 14.17 (101))
- Brownlow Medal awarded to Peter Bedford (South Melbourne)
- Grey Cup: Montreal Alouettes win 23-10 over the Calgary Stampeders
- Vanier Cup: Manitoba Bisons win 38-11 over the Ottawa Gee Gees
- For an extensive coverage see 1970 in football (soccer)
- World Cup held in Mexico: Brazil won final 4-1 over Italy
- European Cup: Feyenoord becomes the first Dutch team to win the trophy, beating Celtic 2-1.
- Grand Slam of golf results:
- May - The Masters - Billy Casper
- June - US Open - Tony Jacklin
- July - British Open - Jack Nicklaus
- August - PGA Championship - Dave Stockton
- PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Lee Trevino - $157,037
- US Open - Donna Caponi
- LPGA Championship - Shirley Englehorn
- Kathy Whitworth: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $30,235
- Australia - Melbourne Cup - Baghdad Note
- Canada - Queen's Plate - Almoner
- France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Sassafrás
- Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Nijinsky II
- Nijinsky II wins the English Triple Crown Races:
- Fresh Yankee was named "Horse of the Year" by the U.S. Trotting Association and the U.S. Harness Writers Association.
- Art Ross Memorial Trophy - Bobby Orr becomes the first defenseman in the history of the National Hockey League to lead the league in scoring.
- Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins
- Stanley Cup: Boston Bruins win the Cup for the first time in 29 years, defeating the St. Louis Blues 4 games to 0. Defenseman, Bobby Orr is awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the series MVP (most valuable player).
- World Hockey Championship
- Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Sweden
- NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship: Cornell University Big Red defeat Clarkson University Golden Knights 6-4 in Lake Placid, NY; only NCAA hockey team to complete season undefeated and untied (31-0)
- STX is founded by Richard B.C. Tucker Sr.
- The New Westminster Salmonbellies win the Mann Cup.
- The Whitby Transporters win the Castrol Cup.
- The Lakeshore Maple Leafs win the Minto Cup.
- Alpine Skiing
- The men's overall season champion: Karl Schranz, Austria
- The women's overall season champion: Michèle Jacot, France
- World Snooker Championship: Ray Reardon beats John Pulman 37-33
- First ISU Sprint Speed Skating Championships for Men and Ladies held in West Allis, U.S.A.
Records
- August 22 — US swimmer Mark Spitz breaks his own, nearly three-year old world record in the men's 200m butterfly (long course) with a time of 2:05.4. At the same meet and on the same day in Los Angeles, California he loses it to compatriot Gary Hall Sr., who swims 2:05.0.
- Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
- Davis Cup: United States wins 5-0 over Germany F.R. in world tennis.
- Men's World Championship in Sofia, Bulgaria
- Gold Medal: East Germany
- Silver Medal: Bulgaria
- Bronze Medal: Japan
- The New York Yacht Club retains the America's Cup as Intrepid defeats Australian challenger Gretel II, of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, 4 races to 1 (Gretel II won the second race but was disqualified)
- Sixth Asian Games held in Bangkok, Thailand
- Sixth Summer Universiade held in Turin, Italy
- Sixth Winter Universiade held in Rovaniemi, Finland
Awards
- Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year: George Blanda, National Football League
- Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year: Chi Cheng, Track and field
Births
January
- January 2 — Andreas Wecker, German gymnast
- January 5 — Chris Wilkinson, British tennis player
- January 5 — Yury Kovtun, Russian football (soccer) defender
- January 9 — Jan Quast, German boxer
- January 10 — Marek Bajor, Polish football (soccer) player
- January 12 — Brett Leaver, New Zealand field hockey player
- January 13 — Daphne Touw, Dutch field hockey goalkeeper
- January 15 — Dan Landry, American volleyball player
- January 19 — Zeeshan Ali, Indian tennis player
- January 19 — Tim Foster, British rower and coach
- January 19 — Donald Haddow, Canadian freestyle swimmer
- January 25 — Brigita Bukovec, Slovenian hurdler
- January 25 — Rafael Lozano, Spanish boxer
- January 25 — Cheikh Touré, Senegalese-born French athlete
- January 29 — Jörg Hoffmann, German freestyle swimmer
- January 29 — Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Indian sport shooter
February
- February 6 — Jeff Rouse, American swimmer
- February 11 — Alistair Brown, English cricket player
- February 11 — Jason Allyn Scott, US rower
- February 11 — Bernardo Segura, Mexican race walker
- February 12 — Lee Bodimeade, Australian field hockey player and coach
- February 12 — Mojca Cater, Canadian butterfly swimmer
- February 14 — Guillaume Raoux, French tennis player
- February 14 — Agapito Sanchez, Dominican Republic boxer (d. 2005)
- February 15 — Mark Warnecke, German breaststroke swimmer
- February 22 — Manuela Stellmach, East German freestyle swimmer
- February 23 — Turbo Tumo, Ethiopian long-distance runner
- February 23 — Marc Wauters, Belgian cyclist
- February 24 — Cameron Grant, Canadian breaststroke swimmer
- February 26 — Ben Maruquin, American field hockey sweeper
- February 28 — Jacqueline Goormachtigh, Dutch discus thrower
March
- March 1 — Jaime Amat, Spanish field hockey player
- March 3 — Simon Biwott, Kenyan long-distance runner
- March 5 — Li Gwang-Sik, North Korean boxer
- March 6 — Stefano Battistelli, Italian backstroke and medley swimmer
- March 8 — Caren Jungjohann, German field hockey player
- March 13 — Lula Barbosa, Brazilian beach volleyball player
- March 14 — Julie McDonald, Australian swimmer
- March 15 — Diego Nargiso, Italian tennis player
- March 15 — Derek Parra, Mexican-American speed skater
- March 16 — Kelli James, US field hockey striker
- March 16 — Rafael Pascual, Spanish volleyball player
- March 18 — Ian Bird, Canadian field hockey player
- March 20 — Wietske de Ruiter, Dutch field hockey striker
- March 24 — Judith Draxler, Austrian freestyle swimmer
- March 25 — Magnus Larsson, Swedish tennis player
- March 28 — José Loiola, Brazilian beach volleyball player
- March 30 — Secretariat, two-time Horse of the Year, 1973 Triple Crown winner (d. 1989)
- March 31 — Stuart Carruthers, Australian field hockey player
April
- April 1 — Alan Gregov, Croatian basketball player
- April 4 — Laszlo Markovits, Hungarian tennis player
- April 4 — Jason Stoltenberg, Australian tennis player and coach
- April 4 — Simone Thomaschinski, German field hockey defender
- April 5 — Boris Alterman, Israeli chess player
- April 5 — Willemijn Duyster, Dutch field hockey defender
- April 6 — Xiaomin Huang, Chinese breaststroke swimmer
- April 7 — Jordi Arnau, Spanish field hockey player
- April 7 — Piet Norval, South African tennis player
- April 9 — Nicole Colaco, Kenya-born field hockey player from Canada
- April 10 — Leonard Doroftei, Romanian boxer
- April 10 — Doug Flach, American tennis player
- April 10 — Diederik Simon, Dutch rower
- April 11 — KC Boutiette, American speed skater
- April 13 — Rintje Ritsma, Dutch speed skater
- April 15 — Miguel Ángel Oca, Spanish water polo player
- April 16 — Mukesh Kumar, Indian field hockey midfielder
- April 18 — Heike Friedrich, East German freestyle swimmer
- April 18 — Ramón Jufresa, Spanish field hockey goalkeeper
- April 19 — Kelly Holmes, English athlete
- April 20 — Adriano Moraes, Brazilian rodeo performer
- April 21 — Vadim Alexeev, Kazakhstan-born swimmer from Israel
- April 29 — Andre Agassi, American tennis player
May
- May 2 — Dan Kutler, US-born butterfly swimmer from Israel
- May 11 — Rubén Michavila, Spanish water polo player
- May 12 — Mike Weir, Canadian golfer
- May 14 — Benson Masya, Kenyan long-distance runner (d. 2003)
- May 16 — Gabriela Sabatini, Argentinian tennis player
- May 16 — Franck Schott, French swimmer
- May 17 — Renzo Furlan, Italian tennis player
- May 21 — Jason Lee, English field hockey player and coach
- May 22 — Marco Rudolph, German boxer
- May 24 — Cristiano Caratti, Italian tennis player
- May 24 — Jeff Zgonina, US American football player
- May 25 — Danni Roche, Australian field hockey player
- May 27 — Michael Blackburn, Australian sailor
- May 31 — Claus Thomsen, Danish football (soccer) player
June
- June 2 — Patricia Noall, Canadian freestyle swimmer
- June 5 — Eran Groumi, Israeli swimmer
- June 10 — Miklos Molnar, Danish football (soccer) player
- June 11 — Arkhom Chenglai, Thai boxer
- June 12 — David Defiagbon, Nigerian boxer
- June 13 — Mikael Ljungberg, Swedish wrestler (d. 2004)
- June 15 — Pepijn Aardewijn, Dutch rower
- June 16 — Jaime Oncins, Brazilian tennis player
- June 20 — Russell Garcia, British field hockey player
- June 20 — Maia Lewis, New Zealand cricketer
- June 25 — Erki Nool, Estonian decathlete
- June 26 — Paul Bitok, Kenyan long-distance runner
- June 26 — Marina Lobatch, Soviet rhythmic gymnast
- June 26 — Pawel Nastula, Polish judoka and heavyweight fighter
- June 26 — Mark Pinger, German freestyle swimmer
- June 27 — John Eales, Australian rugby union footballer
- June 27 — Lars Jonsson, Swedish tennis player
- June 29 — Franziska Hentschel, German field hockey forward
July
- July 1 — Laura Walker, American swimmer
- July 3 — Yona Kosashvili, Georgian-Israeli chess player
- July 5 — Valentí Massana, Spanish race walker
- July 8 — Lisa Powell, Australian field hockey forward
- July 11 — Frederik Fetterlein, Danish tennis player
- July 13 — Sandon Stolle, Australian tennis player
- July 14 — Natalia Mishkutenok, Russian pairs figure skater
- July 24 — Phil Sykes, US field hockey defender
- July 27 — Stephan Veen, Dutch field hockey player
August
- August 1 — Mark Petchey, British tennis player
- August 3 — Elena Carrión, Spanish field hockey goalkeeper
- August 6 — Michael Strange, Canadian boxer
- August 7 — Eric Namesnik, American swimmer (d. 2006)
- August 8 — Johann Mühlegg, German-born Spanish cross-country skier
- August 12 — Roland Brunner, Austrian ice speed skater
- August 13 — Alan Shearer, England and Newcastle soccer player
- August 14 — Sláva Doseděl, Czech tennis player
- August 15 — Chris Byrd, American boxer
- August 17 — István Kovács, Hungarian boxer
- August 21 — Paolo Vidoz, Italian boxer
September
- September 1 — Barbara Paulus, Austrian tennis player
- September 5 — Lee Lai Shan, Hong Kong windsurfer
- September 7 — Keltie Duggan, Canadian breaststroke swimmer
- September 10 — Belinda Clarke, Australian cricketer
- September 14 — Mayra Huerta, Mexican beach volleyball player
- September 15 — Juan-Carlos Bianchi, Venezuelan tennis player
- September 22 — Marc-Kevin Goellner, Brazil-born German tennis player
- September 24 — Silvia Poll, Costa Rican freestyle swimmer
- September 28 — Isabelle Brasseur, Canadian figure skating world champion
- September 28 — Kimiko Date, Japanese tennis player
- September 29 — Nicolas Pereira, Venezuelan tennis player
October
- October 1 — Gaston Taument, Dutch football (soccer) player
- October 3 — Justine Sowry, Australian field hockey goalkeeper
- October 8 — Heather Jones, Canadian field hockey player
- October 10— Mohammed Mourhit, Morocco-born Belgian long-distance runner
- October 10 — Matthew Pinsent, British rower
- October 17 — Anil Kumble, Indian cricketer
- October 19 — Fabián Roncero, Spanish long-distance runner
- October 22 — Winston Bogarde, Dutch football (soccer) player
- October 26 — Tom Vano, US field hockey goalkeeper
- October 28 — Anthony Bonsante, American boxer
November
- November 4 — Lauri Aus, Estonian cyclist (d. 2003)
- November 6 — Joyce Chepchumba, Kenyan long distance athlete
- November 6 — Remigio Molina, Argentine boxer
- November 7 — Kris Fillat, American field hockey player
- November 7 — Mohammad Shafqat, Pakistani field hockey player
- November 8 — Pablo Moreira, Argentinian field hockey goalkeeper
- November 9 — Nelson Diebel, American swimmer
- November 9 — Guido Görtzen, Dutch volleyball player
- November 9 — Bill Guerin, US NHL hockey player
- November 10 — Sue Reid, Canadian field hockey player
- November 12 — Tonya Harding, US figure skater
- November 15 — Uschi Disl, German biathlete
- November 15 — Jeffrey Adams, Canadian wheelchair athlete
- November 18 — Albert Cristina, Dutch volleyball player
- November 19 — Eleanor Race, American field hockey player
- November 20 — Tracey Robb, Scottish field hockey goalkeeper
- November 24 — Paul Laciga, Swiss beach volleyball player
- November 25 — Elisabeth Maragall, Spanish field hockey player
- November 27 — Thirumal Valavan, Indian field hockey midfielder
- November 30 — Yayuk Basuki, Indonesian tennis player
December
- December 3 — Christian Karembeu, French football player
- December 14 — Vladimir Grbic, Serbian volleyball player
- December 16 — Thompson García, Ecuadorian boxer
- December 17 — Pavel Padrnos, Czech cyclist
- December 18 — Emanuele Idini, Italian freestyle swimmer
- December 19 — Jonathan Cleveland, Canadian breaststroke swimmer
- December 19 — Ian Wilson, British freestyle swimmer
- December 21 — Tomislav Karlo, Croatian backstroke swimmer
- December 26 — Misha Latuhihin, Dutch volleyball player
- December 28 — Brenda Schultz-McCarthy, Dutch tennis player
Deaths
- January 17 — Lindley Murray, American tennis player (b. 1892)
- February 6 — Abe Attell, World Champion and Hall of Fame boxer
- February 15 — Carlos Cruz, Featherweight Champion boxer
- April 6 — Maurice Stokes, American basketball player (b. 1933)
- May 19 — Ray Schalk, Major League Baseball player (1912-1929)
- May 31 — Terry Sawchuk, Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender
- June 2 — Bruce McLaren, race car driver
- June 12 — Percy Rees, British field hockey player (b. 1883)
- June 16 — Brian Piccolo, American football star
- July 4 — Harold Stirling Vanderbilt, 3-time America's Cup winner
- September 3 — Vince Lombardi, National Football League coach, Super Bowl trophy and Rotary Lombardi Award named for him
- September 5 — Jochen Rindt, Austrian Formula One racing driver
- September 19 — Greville Stevens, English cricketer
- November 5 — Charley Root, Major League Baseball pitcher (1923-1941)
- November 27 — Helene Madison, American swimmer (b. 1913)
- December 26 — Lillian Board (22), British athlete (b. 1948)
- December 30 — Sonny Liston, American boxer (b. 1932)