1896 in sports

1896 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

Athletics

 * USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
 * March 22 - Greek runner Charilaos Vasilakos wins the first modern marathon (3:18)

American football
College championship
 * College football national championship – Princeton Tigers

Professional championships
 * Western Pennsylvania champions – Allegheny Athletic Association

Association football
England Scotland
 * The Football League – Aston Villa 45 points, Derby County 41, Everton 39, Bolton Wanderers 37, Sunderland 37, Stoke FC 30
 * FA Cup final – The Wednesday 2–1 Wolverhampton Wanderers at Crystal Palace, London.
 * Scottish Football League – Celtic
 * Scottish Cup final – Hearts 3–1 Hibernian at Logie Green

Baseball
National championship Events
 * Baltimore Orioles win the third of three successive National League championships
 * Temple Cup – Baltimore Orioles 4–0 Cleveland Spiders

Boxing
Lineal world champions
 * 10 March - After Bob Fitzsimmons KOs much larger Jim Corbett to win world HW championship he says, The bigger they are, the harder they fall
 * World Heavyweight Championship – James J. Corbett
 * World Middleweight Championship – title vacant
 * World Welterweight Championship – Tommy Ryan
 * World Lightweight Championship – vacant → George "Kid" Lavigne
 * World Featherweight Championship – George Dixon
 * World Bantamweight Championship – Jimmy Barry

Cricket
Events England Australia India South Africa West Indies
 * England retain The Ashes, defeating Australia 2–1 in a three-match series. In a low-scoring decider at The Oval, England win by 66 runs.
 * County Championship – Yorkshire
 * Minor Counties Championship – Worcestershire
 * Most runs – K S Ranjitsinhji 2780 @ 57.91 (HS 171*)
 * Most wickets – J T Hearne 257 @ 14.28 (BB 9–73)
 * Wisden Five Cricketers of the Season – Syd Gregory, Dick Lilley, K S Ranjitsinhji, Tom Richardson, Hugh Trumble
 * Sheffield Shield – New South Wales
 * Most runs – Harry Donnan 626 @ 69.55 (HS 160)
 * Most wickets – Tom McKibbin 46 @ 23.86 (BB 8–93)
 * Bombay Presidency – Europeans shared with Parsees
 * Currie Cup – not contested
 * Inter-Colonial Tournament – not contested

Figure skating
Events World Figure Skating Championships
 * Inaugural World Figure Skating Championships (open to men only) is held in Saint Petersburg
 * World Men's Champion – Gilbert Fuchs (Germany)

Golf
Major tournaments Other tournaments
 * British Open – Harry Vardon (the first of Vardon's six British Open titles)
 * U.S. Open – James Foulis
 * British Amateur – Freddie Tait
 * US Amateur – H. J. Whigham

Horse racing
England Australia Canada Ireland USA
 * Grand National – The Soarer
 * 1,000 Guineas Stakes – Thais
 * 2,000 Guineas Stakes – St. Frusquin
 * The Derby – Persimmon
 * The Oaks – Canterbury Pilgrim
 * St. Leger Stakes – Persimmon
 * Melbourne Cup – Newhaven
 * Queen's Plate – Millbrook
 * Irish Grand National – Royston Crow
 * Irish Derby Stakes – Gulsalberk
 * Kentucky Derby – Lieut. Gibson
 * Preakness Stakes – Margrave
 * Belmont Stakes – Hastings

Ice hockey

 * 14 February — the Winnipeg Victorias defeat the Montreal Victorias 2–0 in a challenge match to win the 1896 Stanley Cup championship
 * 7 March — the Montreal Victorias are the 1896 AHAC season champions.
 * March — Queen's University defeats Stratford, Ontario 12–3 to win the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) title. The club does not challenge Winnipeg.
 * 17 November — the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, which later became the first ice hockey league to openly trade and hire players, began play at Pittsburgh's Schenley Park Casino.
 * 17 December — the Schenley Park Casino, which was the first multi-purpose arena with the technology to create an artificial ice surface in North America as well as the home to the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, was destroyed in a fire.
 * 30 December — the Montreal Victorias defeat the Winnipeg Victorias 6–5 in a challenge match to regain the Stanley Cup

Motor racing
Paris-Marseille-Paris Trail
 * The 1896 Paris–Marseille–Paris Trail is held over 1710 km from 24 September to 3 October and won by Émile Mayade driving a Panhard-Levassor 8 hp model in a time of 67:42:58. The race is in retrospect sometimes referred to as the II Grand Prix de l'ACF.

Olympic Games
1896 Summer Olympics
 * The 1896 Summer Olympics, the first modern Games, takes place in Athens with 13 nations competing, the most competitors coming from Greece, Germany and France.
 * 16 April — American James Connolly wins the triple jump to become the first Olympic champion in over 1,500 years.
 * Winners receive a silver medal and a crown of olive branches; Greece wins the most medals (46) and the United States wins the most gold medals (11).

Rowing
The Boat Race
 * 28 March — Oxford wins the 53rd Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race
 * There is no Harvard–Yale Regatta during "a breakdown in relations between the two schools". From the third Race in 1859, the only exceptions outside major wars are 1871 and 1896.

Rugby league
Events
 * In the 1895–96 Northern Rugby Football Union season's final match, Manningham defeats Halifax to claim the inaugural Rugby Football League Championship.
 * The inaugural Rugby League Challenge Cup competition begins in the 1896–97 season.

England
 * Championship – Manningham
 * Lancashire League Championship – Runcorn
 * Yorkshire League Championship – Manningham

Rugby union
Home Nations Championship
 * 14th Home Nations Championship series is won by Ireland

Skiing

 * The foundation of the Ski-Club of Grenoble by Henry Duhamel.

Speed skating
Speed Skating World Championships
 * Men's All-round Champion – Jaap Eden (Netherlands)

Tennis
England France USA
 * Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship – Harold Mahony (Ireland) defeats Wilfred Baddeley (GB) 6–2 6–8 5–7 8–6 6–3
 * Wimbledon Women's Singles Championship – Charlotte Cooper Sterry (GB) defeats Alice Simpson-Pickering (GB) 6–2 6–3
 * French Men's Singles Championship – André Vacherot (France) defeats Gérard Brosselin (France) 6–1 7–5
 * American Men's Singles Championship – Robert Wrenn (USA) defeats Fred Hovey (USA) 7–5 3–6 6–0 1–6 6–1
 * American Women's Singles Championship – Elisabeth Moore (USA) defeats Juliette Atkinson (USA) 6–4 4–6 6–2 6–2