See also: 1985 in sports, other events of 1986, 1987 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • Geoff Bodine won the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Dale Earnhardt
• CART Racing - Bobby Rahal
  • Indianapolis 500 - Bobby Rahal
• Formula One Championship - Alain Prost of France
• 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Derek Bell / Hans-Joachim Stuck / Al Holbert won, driving a Porsche 962C
• Rally racing - Juha Kankkunen in a Peugeot won the World Rally Championship
  • the team of Henri Toivonen / Sergio Cresto won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Lancia Delta S4
• Drag racing:
  • Don Garlits won the NHRA "Top Fuel" championship
  • Darrell Gwynn won Top Fuel at the NHRA Winston Finals

Baseball

• All-Star Game: American League Manager Dick Howser is diagnosed with brain cancer after mixing up signals during the game.
• Dave Righetti saves 46 games for the New York Yankees, breaking a record shared by Dan Quisenberry and Bruce Sutter.
• World Series: The New York Mets win 4 games to 3 over the Boston Red Sox.

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • Louisville wins 72-69 over Duke
• NBA Finals:
  • Boston Celtics win 4 games to 2 over the Houston Rockets

Boxing

• March 10 in Las Vegas, Nevada - Marvin Hagler retained the World Middleweight Championship with an 11th round knockout of John Mugabi.
• November 22 - Mike Tyson knocks-out Trevor Berbick in a round 2 fight, becoming the youngest world heavyweight-boxing champion (He 20 years, 4 months old).

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Roberto Visentini of Italy
• Tour de France - Greg Lemond is the first winner from the United States
• World Cycling Championship: Moreno Argentin of Italy

Field Hockey

• April 4 - 11 - Eighth Men's Champions Trophy held in Karachi, Pakistan won for the first time by Germany. Australia finish second.

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Brian Boitano, United States
  • Women's champion: Debi Thomas, United States
  • Pairs champions: Jekaterina Gordejewa & Sergej Grinkow , Soviet Union

Football (American)

• Super Bowl XX: Chicago Bears won 46-10 over the New England Patriots

Football (Australian Rules)

• Victorian Football League
  • Hawthorn wins the 90th VFL Premiership (Hawthorn 16.14 (110) d Carlton 9.14 (68))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Greg Williams (Sydney Swans) and Robert DiPierdomenico (Hawthorn)
  • The national draft is held for the first time.

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Hamilton Tiger-Cats won 39-15 over the Edmonton Eskimos
• Vanier Cup: UBC Thunderbirds won 25-23 over the Western Ontario Mustangs

Football (Soccer)

• World Cup: Final: Argentina 3-2 West Germany. Hosts: Mexico
• Champions' Cup: Steaua Bucuresti 0-0 F.C. Barcelona; Steaua Bucuresti won 2-0 on penalties
• UEFA Cup:Two legs; 1st leg Real Madrid C.F. 5-1 1. FC Köln; 2nd leg 1.FC Köln 2-0 Real Madrid CF. Real Madrid CF won 5-3 on aggregate
• Cup Winners' Cup: Dinamo Kiev 3-0 Atlético Madrid
• Super Cup: Steaua Bucuresti 1-0 Dinamo Kiev
• Copa Libertadores de América: Two legs; 1st leg América 1-2 River Plate; 2nd leg River Plate 1-0 América. River Plate won 3-1 on aggregate
• League champions
  • Argentina: River Plate
  • Brazil: São Paulo Futebol Clube
  • England: Liverpool F.C.
  • France: Paris Saint-Germain
  • Italy: Juventus
  • Netherlands: PSV Eindhoven
  • Portugal: SL Benfica
  • Scotland: Glasgow Celtic
  • Spain: Real Madrid C.F.
  • West Germany: FC Bayern München
• England - FA Cup: Liverpool won 3-1 over Everton

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Jack Nicklaus
  2. June - US Open - Ray Floyd
  3. July - British Open - Greg Norman
  4. August - PGA Championship - Bob Tway

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Greg Norman - $653,296
• PGA Champions Tour leading money winner: Bruce Crampton - $454,299

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Jane Geddes
• LPGA Championship - Pat Bradley
• Pat Bradley: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $492,021

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - At Talaq
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Golden Choice
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Dancing Brave
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Shahrastani

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Dancing Brave
  2. Epsom Derby - Shahrastani
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Moon Madness

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Ferdinand
  2. Preakness Stakes - Snow Chief
  3. Belmont Stakes - Danzig Connection

• Breeders' Cup:
  1. Breeders' Cup Classic - Skywalker
  2. Breeders' Cup Distaff - Lady's Secret
  3. Breeders' Cup Juvenile - Capote
  4. Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies - Brave Raj
  5. Breeders' Cup Mile - Last Tycoon
  6. Breeders' Cup Sprint - Smile
  7. Breeders' Cup Turf - Manila

Harness Racing

• North America Cup - Goalie Jeff

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Barberry Spur
  2. Little Brown Jug - Barberry Spur
  3. Messenger Stakes - Amity Chef

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Nuclear Kosmos
  2. Yonkers Trot - Gunslinger Spur
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Sugarcane Hanover

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Village Kid

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers

• Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens won 4 games to 1 over the Calgary Flames

• World Hockey Championship:
  • Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Sweden
  • Junior Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Canada

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Marc Girardelli, Luxembourg
  • The women's overall season champion: Maria Walliser , Switzerland

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: Joe Johnson beats Steve Davis 18-12
• World rankings: Steve Davis remains world number one for 1986/87

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - no tournament held
  2. French Open - Ivan Lendl
  3. Wimbledon championships - Boris Becker
  4. US Open - Boris Becker

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - no tournament held
  2. French Open - Chris Evert
  3. Wimbledon championships - Martina Navratilova
  4. US Open - Martina Navratilova

• Davis Cup: Australia won 3-2 over Sweden in world tennis.

General sporting events

• British Commonwealth Games held in Edinburgh, Scotland

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
  • Susan Butcher won with lead dogs: Granite & Mattie

Births

• February 6 - Mathew Tait, English rugby union player

Deaths

• January 1 - Alfredo Binda, Italian cyclist
• February 17 - Red Ruffing, Major League Baseball pitcher (1924-1947)
• February 27 - Jacques Plante, NHL ice hockey star
• April 6 - Bill Cook , NHL star, New York Rangers
• June 19 - Len Bias, top draft pick of the Boston Celtics, cocaine-induced seizure
• June 27 - Don Rogers , football player, Cleveland Browns, cocaine poisoning
• July 2 - Peanuts Lowrey , Major League Baseball player (1942-1955)
• July 15 - Billy Haughton , Hall of Fame harness-racing driver
• July 25 - Ted Lyons, Major League Baseball pitcher (1923-1946)
• September 4 - Hank Greenberg, Detroit Tigers baseball great (1930-1947)
• October 12 - Norm Cash, Detroit Tigers baseball great (1958-1974)
• December 1 - Bobby Layne, football player, Detroit Lions