:''Note — many sporting events did not take place because of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

'' 1916 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

College championship *

College football national championship A national championship in the highest level of college football in the United States, currently the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), is a designation awarded annually by various organizations to their selection of the best co ...

–

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facu ...

Events * 7 October —

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

Yellow Jackets Yellowjacket or yellowjacket is the common name in North America for predatory social wasps of the genera ''Vespula'' and ''Dolichovespula''. Members of these genera are known simply as "wasps" in other English-speaking countries. Most of these ...

defeats the

Cumberland University Cumberland University is a private university in Lebanon, Tennessee. It was founded in 1842. The campus's current historic buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896. History 1842-1861 The university was founded by the Cumberland ...

Bulldogs by a score of 222–0, the most one-sided game in college football history.

Association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

Europe * There is no major football in Europe due to

South America * 9 July —

CONMEBOL The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL, , or CSF; es, Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol; pt, Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol) is the continental governing body of football in South America (apart from Guyana, Suri ...

, the governing body of South American football, is founded

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

VFL Premiership * 2 September:

Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

wins the 20th VFL Premiership: Fitzroy 12.13 (85) d

Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

8.8 (56) at

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...

(MCG). Fitzroy wins the title despite having finished last in the regular season.

South Australian Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...

: * not contested due to World War I

West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...

: * 9 September: South Fremantle 7.12 (54) defeat

East Fremantle East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

5.5 (35) for their first WAFL premiership.

Bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...

Sweden * Championship final –

IFK Uppsala IFK Uppsala is a Swedish sports club located in Uppsala in Sweden, with several departments: * IFK Uppsala Fotboll, association football department * IFK Uppsala Bandy, bandy department The club was established in 1895. On 30 January 1921, t ...

3–2

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Name The club is named ...

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

World Series * 7–12 October —

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

defeats the Brooklyn Robins by 4 games to 1 to win the

1916 World Series The 1916 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1916 season. The 13th edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion Boston Red Sox against the National League champion Brooklyn Robi ...

. Events * The Philadelphia Athletics finish the season with a record of 36–117 or a .235 winning percentage, the worst Major League Baseball record since 1900. *

Winnipeg Maroons The Winnipeg Maroons were a minor League baseball team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, which played in the Northern League from 1902–1942. Their home field from 1906 to 1922 was Happyland Park, which had a seating capacity Seating ...

wins the Northern League Championship * The

Federal League The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that played its first season as a minor league in 1913 and operated as a "third major league", in competition with the e ...

goes out of business in a settlement with organised baseball that leaves out one club; the

Baltimore Terrapins The Baltimore Terrapins were one of the most successful teams in the short-lived Federal League of professional baseball from to , but their brief existence led to litigation that led to an important legal precedent in baseball. The team played i ...

pursue a legal remedy

Boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

Events * Having already lost to him earlier in the year,

Battling Levinsky Barney Lebrowitz (June 10, 1891 – February 12, 1949), better known as Battling Levinsky, was an American boxer who was the world light heavyweight champion from 1916 to 1920. Statistical boxing website BoxRec lists Levinsky as the #12 ran ...

defeats

Jack Dillon Ernest Cutler Price (February 2, 1891 – August 7, 1942) better known as Jack Dillon, was an American boxer who held the Light Heavyweight Championship of the World. Dillon was often referred to as "Jack the Giant Killer" for his ability to han ...

in 12 rounds at

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

to claim the

World Light Heavyweight Champion This is a chronological list of world light heavyweight boxing champions, as recognized by four of the better-known sanctioning organizations: Championship recognition 1903–1910 The light-heavyweight division was created in 1903, the brainc ...

ship. * The series of fights between

Ted "Kid" Lewis Ted "Kid" Lewis (born Gershon Mendeloff; 28 October 1893 – 20 October 1970) was an English professional boxer who twice won the World Welterweight Championship (147 lb). Lewis is often ranked among the all-time greats, with ESPN ranking ...

and

Jack Britton Jack Britton (October 14, 1885 – March 27, 1962) was an American boxer who was the first three-time world welterweight boxing champion. Born William J. Breslin in Clinton, New York, his professional career lasted for 25 years beginning in ...

continues with Britton taking the

World Welterweight Champion In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

ship into 1917. Lineal world champions *

World Heavyweight Champion At boxing's beginning, the heavyweight division had no weight limit, and historically the weight class has gone with vague or no definition. During the 19th century many heavyweights were 170 pounds (12 st 2 lb, 77 kg) or less, tho ...

ship –

Jess Willard Jess Myron Willard (December 29, 1881 – December 15, 1968) was an American world heavyweight boxing champion billed as the Pottawatomie Giant who knocked out Jack Johnson in April 1915 for the heavyweight title. Willard was known for size rat ...

ship –

→

* World Middleweight Championship – Al McCoy *

ship –

→

* World Lightweight Championship –

Freddie Welsh Freddie Welsh (born Frederick Hall Thomas; 5 March 1886 – 29 July 1927) was a Welsh World lightweight boxing champion. Born in Pontypridd, Wales, he was nicknamed the "Welsh Wizard". Brought up in a tough mining community, Welsh left a working- ...

World Featherweight Champion Championship recognition Public Acclamation: 1884 to 1921 Champions were recognized by wide public acclamation. A heavyweight champion was a boxer who had a notable win over another notable boxer and then went without defeat. Retirements from the ...

ship –

Johnny Kilbane John Patrick Kilbane (April 9, 1889 – May 31, 1957) was an American featherweight boxer in the early part of the 20th century. He held the World Featherweight title from 1912 to 1923, the longest period in the division's history, having defen ...

World Bantamweight Champion This is a list of world bantamweight boxing champions, as recognized by the four major sanctioning organizations in boxing: * The World Boxing Association (WBA), established in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA). The WBA often recognize ...

ship –

Kid Williams John Gutenko (December 1, 1893 – October 18, 1963) was a Ukrainian-born American boxer of Danish and Polish heritage who fought under the name Kid Williams and was known as the Baltimore Tiger, he knocked out Johnny Coulon in Vernon, California ...

World Flyweight Champion This is a list of world flyweight boxing champions, as recognized by the four major sanctioning organizations in boxing: * The World Boxing Association (WBA), established in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA). The WBA often recognize up ...

ship –

Jimmy Wilde William James Wilde (15 May 1892 – 10 March 1969) was a Welsh professional boxer who competed from 1911 to 1923. He held the IBU world flyweight title in 1916, the EBU European flyweight title twice; firstly in 1914 and again from 1916 to 19 ...

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

Grey Cup * not contested due to

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

Events * There is no

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

in England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa or the West Indies due to

India *

Bombay Quadrangular The Bombay Quadrangular was an influential cricket tournament held in Bombay, British India between 1892–93 and 1945–46. At other times it was known variously as the Presidency Match, Bombay Triangular, and the Bombay Pentangular. Presidency ...

–

Europeans Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common genetic ancestry, common language, or both. Pan and Pfeil (2004) ...

Cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

* not contested due to

Giro d'Italia * not contested due to

Figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

World Figure Skating Championships * not contested due to

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

Events * The inaugural USPGA Championship is held as a matchplay tournament Major tournaments *

British Open The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

– not contested due to

* June 29–30 — US Open –

Chick Evans Charles E. "Chick" Evans Jr. (July 18, 1890 – November 6, 1979) was an American amateur golfer of the 1910s and 1920s. Evans, who won the 1910 Western Open, became the first amateur to win both the U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur in one year, a f ...

* October 10–14 — USPGA Championship –

Jim Barnes James Martin Barnes (April 8, 1886 – May 24, 1966) was an English golfer and a leading figure in the early years of professional golf in the United States. He is one of three native Britons (with Tommy Armour and Rory McIlroy) to win three di ...

Other tournaments *

British Amateur The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

– not contested due to

US Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

–

Horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

England *

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap ...

– ''not held due to

'' *

1,000 Guineas Stakes The 1000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 ...

–

Canyon A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

2,000 Guineas Stakes The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres) and scheduled to take place each year at ...

–

Clarissimus The constitution of the late Roman Empire was an unwritten set of guidelines and principles passed down, mainly through precedent, which defined the manner in which the late Roman Empire was governed. As a matter of historical convention, the late ...

* The Derby –

Fifinella Fifinella was a female gremlin designed by Walt Disney for a proposed film from Roald Dahl's book ''The Gremlins''. During World War II, the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) asked permission to use the image as their official mascot, and th ...

* The Oaks – Fifinella *

St. Leger Stakes The St Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a ...

–

Hurry On Hurry On (7 May 1913 – 1936) was an undefeated British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire that revived the Matchem sire line.Leicester, Sir Charles, "Bloodstock Breeding", J.A. Allen & Co, London, 1969 English trainer Fred Darling called Hurry On ...

Australia *

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melbou ...

– Sasanof Canada *

King's Plate The King's Plate (known as the Queen's Plate between 1860 to 1901 and 1952 to 2022) is Canada's oldest Thoroughbred horse race, having been founded in 1860. It is also the oldest continuously run race in North America. It is run at a distance of ...

- Mandarin Ireland *

Irish Grand National The Irish Grand National is a National Hunt steeplechase in Ireland which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Fairyhouse over a distance of about 3 miles and 5 furlongs (5,834 m ...

– All Sorts *

Irish Derby Stakes The Irish Derby (Irish: Dearbaí na hÉireann) is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 ...

– Furore USA * May 13 —

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...

– George Smith *

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () on ...

– Damrosch *

Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed Th ...

– Friar Rock

Ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

Stanley Cup *

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

wins the

National Hockey Association The National Hockey Association (NHA), officially the National Hockey Association of Canada Limited, was a professional ice hockey organization with teams in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is the direct predecessor of today's National Hockey Lea ...

(NHA)

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

* Portland Rosebuds wins the

Pacific Coast Hockey Association The Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) was a professional ice hockey league in western Canada and the western United States, which operated from 1911 to 1924 when it then merged with the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). The PCHA was cons ...

(PCHA)

, the first United States team to do so * 20–30 March — Montreal Canadiens defeats Portland Rosebuds in the

1916 Stanley Cup Finals The 1916 Stanley Cup Finals was played between the National Hockey Association (NHA) champion Montreal Canadiens and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) champion Portland Rosebuds. This was the first time that a best-of-five Cup champion ...

by 3 games to 2 Events *

Winnipeg 61st Battalion Winnipeg 61st Battalion was a Canadian ice hockey team. Composed of players from the 61st Battalion (Winnipeg), CEF, 61st Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force created to participate in World War I, the team won the Pattison Trophy in 1 ...

wins the

Allan Cup The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men's ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. The current champions are the ...

Motor racing Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

1916 Summer Olympics * The

1916 Summer Olympics The 1916 Summer Olympics (german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1916), officially known as the Games of the VI Olympiad, were scheduled to be held in Berlin, German Empire, but were eventually cancelled for the first time in its 20-year history due to ...

, due to take place in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, are cancelled due to

Rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

The Boat Race *

Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. There are separate men's a ...

– not contested due to

Rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

England * All first-class competitions are cancelled due to

Australia * NSW Premiership – Balmain 5–3 South Sydney (grand final) New Zealand * 1916 New Zealand rugby league season

Rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

Five Nations Championship *

Five Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

series is not contested due to

Speed skating Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors racing, race each other in travelling a certain distance on Ice skate, skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marath ...

Speed Skating World Championships * not contested due to

Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

Australia * Australian Men’s Singles Championship – not contested due to

England * Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship – not contested due to

* Wimbledon Women's Singles Championship – not contested due to

France * French Men’s Singles Championship – not contested due to

* French Women’s Singles Championship – not contested due to

USA * American Men's Singles Championship –

Richard Norris Williams Richard "Dick" Norris Williams II (January 29, 1891 – June 2, 1968), generally known as R. Norris Williams, was an American tennis player and RMS ''Titanic'' survivor. Biography Williams was born in Geneva, Switzerland, the son of Philadel ...

(USA) defeats

Bill Johnston Bill or Billy Johnston may refer to: * Bill Johnston (cricketer) (1922–2007), Australian cricketer * Bill Johnston (golfer) (1925–2021), American golfer and golf course architect * Bill Johnston (tennis) William Marquitz "Little Bill" John ...

(USA) 4–6 6–4 0–6 6–2 6–4 * American Women’s Singles Championship –

Molla Bjurstedt Mallory Anna Margrethe "Molla" Bjurstedt Mallory (née Bjurstedt; 6 March 1884 – 22 November 1959) was a Norwegian tennis player, naturalized American. She won a record eight singles titles at the U.S. National Championships. She was the first woman ...

(Norway) defeats

Louise Hammond Raymond Louise Hammond Raymond (''née'' Hammond; December 29, 1886 – August 3, 1991) was an American tennis player. Career She reached the women's singles final of the 1910 U.S. National Championships which she lost to compatriot Hazel Hotchkiss ...

(USA) 6–0 6–1 Davis Cup * 1916 International Lawn Tennis Challenge – ''not contested''

References

{{Sports by year 1901 – 1950 Sports by year el:Κατηγορία:Αθλητικά γεγονότα του 1916