See also: 1964 in sports, other events of 1965, 1966 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • Fred Lorenzen wins the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Ned Jarrett
• Indianapolis 500 - Jimmy Clark
• USAC Racing - Mario Andretti
• Formula One Champion - Jimmy Clark of Great Britain
• 24 hours of Le Mans:
  • the team of Jochen Rindt / Masten Gregory won, driving a Ferrari 275LM
• Rally racing - the team of Timo Makinen / Paul Easter won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Mini Cooper S
• Drag racing:
  • Don Garlits won the NHRA, "Top Fuel" Championship
  • Maynard Rupp won "Top Fuel" at the NHRA World Finals

Baseball

• World Series: Los Angeles Dodgers win 4 games to 3 over the Minnesota Twins. The Series MVP was Sandy Koufax, Los Angeles.

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • UCLA wins 91-80 over Michigan

• NBA Finals:
  • Boston Celtics win 4 games to 1 over the Los Angeles Lakers

Boxing

• March 30 - Jose Torres won the Light Heavyweight Championship of the World, stopping Willie Pastrano in nine rounds, at New York's Madison Square Garden.

Cricket

• Imperial Cricket Conference is renamed to International Cricket Conference and new rules are adopted to permit the election of countries from outside the British Commonwealth.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Vittorio Adorni of Italy
• Tour de France - Felice Gimondi of Italy
• World Cycling Championship: Tom Simpson of Great Britain

Field Hockey

• March 13 - In an international women's field hockey match at Wembley Stadium,England. South Africa beat England 2-1.

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Alain Calmat , (France)
  • Women's champion: Petra Burka, (Canada)
  • Pairs champions: Ludmila Belousowa & Oleg Protopopow , (Soviet Union)

Football (American)

• AFL Championship Buffalo Bills won 23-0 over the San Diego Chargers
• NFL Championship: Green Bay Packers won 23-12 over the Cleveland Browns

Football (Australian Rules)

• Victorian Football League
  • Essendon wins the 69th VFL Premiership (Essendon 14.21 (105) d St Kilda 9.16 (70))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Ian Stewart (St Kilda) and Noel Teasdale (North Melbourne)

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Hamilton Tiger-Cats win 22-16 over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers
• Vanier Cup: Toronto Varsity Blues win 14-7 over the Alberta Golden Bears

Football (Soccer)

• England - FA Cup: Liverpool won 2 - 1 (aet) over Leeds United

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Jack Nicklaus
  2. June - US Open - Gary Player
  3. July - British Open - Peter Thomson
  4. August - PGA Championship - Dave Marr

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Jack Nicklaus - $140,752

• Ryder Cup: United States wins 19½ to 12½ over Britain in world team golf.

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Carol Mann
• LPGA Championship - Sandra Haynie
• Kathy Whitworth: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $28,658

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Light Fingers
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Whistling Sea
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Sea-Bird II
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Meadow Court

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Niksar
  2. Epsom Derby - Sea-Bird
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Provoke

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Lucky Debonair
  2. Preakness Stakes - Tom Rolfe
  3. Belmont Stakes - Hail to All

Harness Racing

• Bret Hanover wins the United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Bret Hanover
  2. Little Brown Jug - Bret Hanover
  3. Messenger Stakes - Bret Hanover

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

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Jay Ar
  • Trotters: Poupette

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Stan Mikita, Chicago Blackhawks

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Bobby Hull, Chicago Blackhawks

• Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens won 4 games to 3 over the Chicago Blackhawks

• World Hockey Championship:
  • Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Czechoslovakia

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship challenge matches:
  • John Pulman beats Fred Davis 37-36
  • John Pulman beats Rex Williams 25-22
  • John Pulman beats Fred Van Rensburg 39-12

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Roy Emerson
  2. French Open - Fred Stolle
  3. Wimbledon championships - Roy Emerson
  4. US Open - Manuel Santana

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Margaret Smith
  2. French Open - Lesley Turner
  3. Wimbledon championships - Margaret Smith
  4. US Open - Margaret Smith

• Davis Cup: Australia won 4-1 over Spain in world tennis.

General sporting events

Births

• January 25 - Dominik Hasek, ice hockey player
• February 11 - Angie Ridgeway , golfer
• March 1 - Stewart Elliott, jockey
• May 9 - Steve Yzerman, ice hockey player
• May 13 - Jo Thompson, British field hockey goalkeeper
• May 22 - Clare Taylor , English cricketer
• May 25 - Sue Metcalfe , English cricketer
• June 3 - Helen Plimmer, English cricketer
• June 15 - Bernard Hopkins, boxer
• September 25 - Scottie Pippen, NBA star
• October 5 - Mario Lemieux, ice hockey player
• October 5 - Patrick Roy, ice hockey player
• November 29 - Joanne Broadbent , Australian cricketer
• December 3 - Katarina Witt, figure skater

Deaths

• January 11 - Wally Pipp, Major League Baseball player, (1913-1928)
• March 5 - Pepper Martin, Major League Baseball player, (1928-1944)
• March 6 - Wally Schang , Major League Baseball player, (1913-1931)
• March 17 - Amos Alonzo Stagg, baseball, basketball and American football coach and player