2000 in sports

2000 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

Contents 1 Alpine skiing 2 American football 3 Association football 4 Athletics 5 Australian rules football 6 Baseball 7 Basketball 8 Boxing 9 Canadian football 10 Cricket 11 Cycle racing 12 Dogsled racing 13 Field hockey 14 Figure skating 15 Gaelic Athletic Association 16 Golf 17 Handball 18 Harness racing 19 Horse racing 20 Ice hockey 21 Lacrosse 22 Mixed martial arts 23 Motor racing 24 Radiosport 25 Rugby league 26 Rugby union 27 Snooker 28 Swimming 29 Tennis 30 Volleyball 31 Water polo 32 Yacht racing 33 Multi-sport events 34 Awards 35 References 36 Films

Alpine skiing
Alpine Skiing World Cup Men's overall season champion: Hermann Maier, Austria Women's overall season champion: Renate Götschl, Austria

American football
Super Bowl XXXIV – St. Louis Rams win 23–16 over the Tennessee Titans Marshall Faulk wins the regular season MVP award. BCS National Championship Game (1999 season) – The Florida State Seminoles won 49–29 over the Virginia Tech Hokies

Association football
Euro 2000 – France won 2-1 in extra time over Italy, with a golden goal by Trézéguet. This was France's second European Championship title. Champions' League – Real Madrid won 3-0 in the final against Valencia. This was Real Madrid's 8th European Cup title. UEFA Cup – Galatasaray won 4-1 on penalties, in the final against Arsenal, after a 0-0 draw at the end of the match. This was the first European title won by a Turkish team. European Super Cup – Galatasaray beat Real Madrid 2-1 after extra time, with a golden goal by Jardel. Intercontinental Cup – Boca Juniors beat Real Madrid 2-1, winning the cup for the second time.

Athletics
September – Athletics at the 2000 Summer Olympics held at Sydney, Australia

Australian rules football
Australian Football League March 9 – Docklands Stadium opens with Essendon 24.12 (156) beating Port Adelaide 8.14 (62) July 15 – Essendon becomes the first club to win its first nineteen games when it beats Hawthorn 25.15 (165) to 13.4 (82). This beats Collingwood's perfect home-and-away season of eighteen games from 1929. August 5 – Essendon become the first AFL team to win 21 of 22 games in a VFL/AFL home-and-away season, losing only to the Western Bulldogs in its second last game Essendon wins the 104th AFL premiership defeating Melbourne 19.21 (135) to 11.9 (75). Brownlow Medal awarded to Shane Woewodin (Melbourne)

Baseball
Main article: 2000 in baseball

See also: 2000 Major League Baseball season Major League Baseball dissolves the National and American Leagues as separate legal entities, although retaining them as competitive entities. From this point forward, the leagues’ functions are consolidated in the office of the Commissioner of Baseball. World Series – New York Yankees win 4 games to 1 over the New York Mets. The Series MVP is Derek Jeter of the Yankees Japan Series – The Yomiuri Giants defeat the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks 4 games to 2. The Giants' Hideki Matsui is named Series MVP.

Basketball
NBA Finals – Los Angeles Lakers win their first NBA title in twelve years, defeating the Indiana Pacers 4 games to 2.

NCAA Men's Basketball Championship – Michigan State wins 89–76 over Florida

WNBA Finals – Houston Comets win 2 games to 0 over the New York Liberty to complete their four–peat.\

Euroleague Final: Panathinaikos defeats Maccabi Tel Aviv 73–67 for the title.

National Basketball League (Australia) Finals: Perth Wildcats defeated the Victoria Titans 2–0 in the best–of–three final series.

European basketball enters a new era with the creation of the Euroleague Basketball (company). This leads to a rift with FIBA Europe and the creation of two separate continent-wide competitions for the 2000–01 season—the SuproLeague, operated by FIBA Europe, and Euroleague Basketball's Euroleague.

Boxing
May 13 to May 21 – 2000 European Amateur Boxing Championships held in Tampere, Finland July 29 – Kostya Tszyu defeats Julio César Chávez by a knockout in six to retain the WBC's world Jr. Welterweight title. August 12 – Evander Holyfield defeats John Ruiz by decision in 12 rounds to regain the WBA's world Heavyweight title, becoming the first boxer to win the world Heavyweight title four times. The Ring named Félix Trinidad the "Fighter of the Year 2000". Eric Morales won a 12 round points victory over Marco Antonio Barrera, for the unified WBC and WBO 122 Pound Titles, in The Ring's "Fight of The Year 2000".

Canadian football
Grey Cup – B.C. Lions win 28–26 over the Montreal Alouettes Vanier Cup – Ottawa Gee-Gees win 42–39 over the Regina Rams

Cricket
June 26 – Bangladesh becomes the tenth Test cricket playing nation.

Cycle racing
Road bicycle racing Giro d'Italia – Stefano Garzelli Tour de France – Lance Armstrong (Rescinded) World Road Cycling Championship – Romans Vainšteins

Cyclo-cross 2000 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships Men's Competition won by Richard Groenendaal Women's Competition won by Hanka Kupfernagel

Dogsled racing
Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion Doug Swingley wins with lead dogs: Stormy & Cola

Field hockey
Olympic Games Men's Competition: Netherlands Olympic Games Men's Competition: Australia

Figure skating
World Figure Skating Championships – Men's champion: Alexei Yagudin, Russia Ladies' champion: Michelle Kwan, United States Pairs' champions: Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov, Russia Ice dance champions: Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat, France

First World Synchronized Skating Championships held in Minneapolis

Gaelic Athletic Association
Camogie All–Ireland Camogie Champion: Tipperary National Camogie League: Cork

Gaelic football All-Ireland Senior Football Championship – Kerry 0–17 beats Galway 1–10 National Football League – Derry 1–8 beats Meath 0–9 Sligo Senior Football Championship – Bunninadden were crowned County Champions by defeating Coolera/Strandhill Dublin Senior Football Championship – Na Fianna were crowned County Champions by defeating Kilmacud Crokes

Ladies' Gaelic football All-Ireland Senior Football Champion: Mayo National Football League: Mayo

Hurling All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship – Kilkenny 5–15 died Offaly 1–14 National Hurling League –

Golf
Men's professional Masters Tournament – Vijay Singh U.S. Open – Tiger Woods wins by 15 shots, a record for all majors, with a U.S. Open to–par record score of –12. British Open – Tiger Woods becomes the fifth golfer in history to achieve the modern "career grand slam", and sets the to–par record for all majors (–19). PGA Championship – Tiger Woods becomes the first golfer since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win three majors in a calendar year. He ties the to–par record for the PGA (–18) with Bob May, and wins in a playoff. PGA Tour money leader – Tiger Woods – $9,188,321 PGA Tour Player of the Year – Tiger Woods PGA Tour Rookie of the Year – Michael Clark II Tiger Woods set or tied a total of 27 PGA Tour records during the year Senior PGA Tour money leader – Larry Nelson – $2,708,005

Men's amateur British Amateur – Mikko Ilonen U.S. Amateur – Jeff Quinney European Amateur – Carl Pettersson

Women's professional Nabisco Championship – Karrie Webb LPGA Championship – Juli Inkster U.S. Women's Open – Karrie Webb Classique du Maurier – Meg Mallon LPGA Tour money leader – Karrie Webb – $1,876,853 The European team defeated the United States team 14 ½ – 11 ½ to regain the Solheim Cup.

Handball
Men's European Championship: Sweden Women's European Championship: Hungary

Harness racing
March 18 – John Campbell became the first driver in harness racing history to reach $100 million in earnings at one track on at the Meadowlands Racetrack. North America Cup – Gallo Blue Chip United States Pacing Triple Crown races – 1.Cane Pace – Powerful Toy 2.Little Brown Jug – Astreos 3.Messenger Stakes – Ain't No Stopn Him

United States Trotting Triple Crown races – 1.Hambletonian – Yankee Paco 2.Yonkers Trot – Goalfish 3.Kentucky Futurity – Credit Winner

Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship – Pacers: Shakamaker Trotters: Lyell Creek

Horse racing
Steeplechases Cheltenham Gold Cup – Looks Like Trouble Grand National – Papillon

Flat races Australia – Melbourne Cup won by Brew Canada – Queen's Plate won by Scatter the Gold Dubai – Dubai World Cup won by Dubai Millennium France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Sinndar Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Sinndar Japan – Japan Cup won by T M Opera O English Triple Crown Races: 1.2,000 Guineas Stakes – Kings Best 2.Epsom Derby – Sinndar 3.St. Leger Stakes – Millenary

United States Triple Crown Races: 1.Kentucky Derby – Fusaichi Pegasus 2.Preakness Stakes – Red Bullet 3.Belmont Stakes – Commendable

Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships: 1.Breeders' Cup Classic – Tiznow 2.Breeders' Cup Distaff – Spain 3.Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf – Perfect Sting 4.Breeders' Cup Juvenile – Macho Uno 5.Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies – Caressing 6.Breeders' Cup Mile – War Chant 7.Breeders' Cup Sprint – Kona Gold 8.Breeders' Cup Turf – Kalanisi

Ice hockey
Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh Penguins Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Chris Pronger, St. Louis Blues

Stanley Cup –New Jersey Devils win 4 games to 2 over the Dallas Stars World Hockey Championship Men's champion: Czech Republic defeated Slovakia Junior Men's champion: Czech Republic defeated Russia Women's champion: Canada defeated the United States

Lacrosse
Toronto Rock defeats Rochester Knighthawks 14-13 to win the National Lacrosse League championship

Mixed martial arts
The following is a list of major noteworthy MMA events during 2000 in chronological order.

Date Event Alternate Name/s Location Attendance PPV Buyrate Notes January 30 Pride Grand Prix 2000 Opening Round N/A Japan Tokyo, Japan 48,316 N/A Opening Round to Pride GP 2000 openweight tournament. The event featured Royce Gracie in his first fight since April 1995. March 10 UFC 24: First Defense N/A United States Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States N/A N/A The event was originally scheduled to have a title fight between Kevin Randleman and Pedro Rizzo. However this postponed due to a concussion Randleman suffered before the fight. This event featured, Dan Severn as a referee for the preliminary bouts. April 14 UFC 25: Ultimate Japan 3 N/A Japan Tokyo, Japan N/A N/A This event was held to determine the new light heavyweight champion following Frank Shamrock's retirement from the UFC. May 1 Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals N/A Japan Tokyo, Japan 38,429 N/A Mark Coleman becomes the Pride 2000 openweight Grand Prix champion. The event featured a highly anticipated match between Royce Gracie against Kazushi Sakuraba. June 4 Pride 9: New Blood N/A Japan Nagoya, Japan N/A N/A Matt Serra was to fight on this card, but his opponent, Johil de Oliveira, was injured by a pyrotechnics explosion at the event. June 9 UFC 26: Ultimate Field Of Dreams N/A United States Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States N/A N/A This event featured the first UFC "bantamweight" bout as defined as 155lbs. August 27 Pride 10 – Return of the Warriors N/A Japan Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan 35,000 N/A N/A September 22 UFC 27: Ultimate Bad Boyz N/A United States New Orleans, United States N/A N/A UFC veteran Frank Shamrock replaced Jeff Blatnick in the announcers booth for this event. October 31 Pride 11 – Battle of the Rising Sun N/A Japan Osaka, Japan 13,500 N/A N/A November 17 UFC 28: High Stakes N/A United States Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States N/A N/A UFC rule change, New Jersey SACB becomes the first state to regulate MMA in the USA. Uses newly written Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. This event held the first and only UFC super heavyweight bout. December 9 Pride 12 – Cold Fury N/A Japan Saitama, Japan 26,882 N/A N/A December 16 UFC 29: Defense of the Belts N/A Japan Tokyo, Japan 1,414 N/A This was the last UFC event held by SEG. Because in January 2001, SEG sold the UFC to current owners Zuffa LLC.

Motor racing
Stock car racing – NASCAR Championship – Bobby Labonte Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin, Jr., Scott Baker and Tony Roper all died from head–related injuries that brought safety concerns to NASCAR February 20 – 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Daytona 500 won by Dale Jarrett February 27 – 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Dura-Lube/Kmart 400 at North Carolina Motor Speedway won by Bobby Labonte

Indy Racing League – Buddy Lazier won the season championship Indianapolis 500– Juan Pablo Montoya CART Racing – Gil de Ferran won the season championship Formula One Championship – Michael Schumacher of Germany 24 Hours of Le Mans – Frank Biela / Tom Kristensen / Emanuele Pirro won driving an Audi R8R LMP World Rally Championship – Marcus Grönholm of Finland Drag racing – Gary Scelzi won the NHRA "Top Fuel" championship. V8 Supercars – Mark Skaife won the 2000 championship

Radiosport
The third World Radiosport Team Championship held in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Gold medals won by Jeff Steinman N5TJ and Dan Street K1TO of the United States. Tenth Amateur Radio Direction Finding World Championships are held in Nanjing, China, the first time ever to be hosted at a location outside Europe.

Rugby league
January 22, Wigan, England – 2000 World Club Challenge is won by the Melbourne Storm who defeat St. Helens 44 – 6 at JJB Stadium before 13,394. April 21, Sydney, Australia – 2000 ANZAC test match is won by Australia 52–0 against New Zealand at Stadium Australia before 26,023. April 29, Murrayfield Stadium – 2000 Challenge Cup tournament culminates in the Bradford Bulls' 24 – 18 win in the final against the Leeds Rhinos. June 5, Suncorp Stadium – 2000 State of Origin series is wrapped up by New South Wales in game two of the series against Queensland. August 27, Stadium Australia – 2000 NRL season culminates in the Brisbane Broncos' 14-6 win in the grand final against the Sydney Roosters. October 14, Old Trafford – Super League V culminates in St Helens' 29-16 win in the grand final against Wigan Warriors. November 20, Crown Flatt – 2000 Emerging Nations Tournament is won by the British Amateur Rugby League Association who defeated Italy 20-14 in the final. November 25, Old Trafford – 2000 World Cup tournament culminates in Australia's 40-12 win in the final against New Zealand.

Rugby union
Italy is admitted to the former Five Nations Championship which now establishes its current Six Nations format 106th Six Nations Championship series is won by England Tri Nations – Australia

Snooker
World Snooker Championship – Mark Williams beats Matthew Stevens 18–16 World rankings – Mark Williams becomes world number one for 2000/01

Swimming
Fifth World Short Course Championships, held in Athens, Greece (March 16 – March 19) United States wins the most medals (25), and the most gold medals (9)

25th European LC Championships, held in Helsinki, Finland (July 3 – August 9) Romania wins the most medals (14), Sweden and Russia the most gold medals (6)

XXVII Olympic Games, held in Sydney, Australia (September 16 – September 23) Fourth European SC Championships, held in Valencia, Spain (December 14 – December 17) Great Britain wins the most medals (19), Sweden the most gold medals (10)

January 18 – Australia's Susie O'Neill breaks her own world record in the 200 m butterfly (short course) again, this time at a meet in Sydney, Australia, clocking 2:04.16. February 12 – In Paris, France, US–swimmer Jenny Thompson betters her own world record in the women's 100 m butterfly (short course), from 56:90 to 56:80. March 18 – Jenny Thompson again betters her own world record in the women's 100 m butterfly (short course), this time in Athens, Greece, from 56:80 to 56:56. March 23 – Anthony Ervin breaks the world record in the men's 50 m freestyle (short course) at a swimming meet in Minneapolis, clocking 21.21. June 16 – At the Russian National Swimming Championships in Moscow, Alexander Popov betters the ten-year-old world record (21.81) in the 50m freestyle (long course), swam by USA's Tom Jager in 1990 – 21.64.

Tennis
Grand Slam in tennis men's results: 1.Australian Open – Andre Agassi 2.French Open – Gustavo Kuerten 3.Wimbledon championships – Pete Sampras 4.US Open – Marat Safin

Grand Slam in tennis women's results: 1.Australian Open – Lindsay Davenport 2.French Open – Mary Pierce 3.Wimbledon championships – Venus Williams 4.US Open – Venus Williams

2000 Summer Olympics Men's Singles Competition – Yevgeny Kafelnikov Women's Singles Competition – Venus Williams Men's Doubles Competition – Sébastien Lareau & Daniel Nestor Women's Doubles Competition – Venus Williams & Serena Williams

Davis Cup Spain wins 3–1 over Australia in world tennis

Volleyball
Men's World League: Italy Women's World Grand Prix: Cuba Olympic Games Men's Competition – Yugoslavia Olympic Games Women's Competition – Cuba

Water polo
Olympic Games men's competition: Hungary Olympic Games women's competition: Australia

Yacht racing
New Zealand retains the America's Cup as Team New Zealand defeats Italian challenger, Luna Rossa, 5 races to 0

Multi-sport events
2000 Summer Olympics held at Sydney United States wins the most medals (97) and the most gold medals (40).

Winter Goodwill Games held at Lake Placid, New York

Awards
Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Tiger Woods, PGA Tour golfer Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Marion Jones, Track and Field ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year: Tiger Woods, PGA Tour golfer. Note that the Wide World award was discontinued in 2001.

Films

 * Purely Belter