AP Sportlight
Aug. 12
1876 — Madeleine wins two straight heats over Canada’s Countess of Dufferin to defend the America’s Cup.
1936 — Rosalind, driven by Ben White, wins the Hambletonian Stakes in straight heats.
1937 — Shirley Hanover, driven by Henry Thomas, wins the Hambletonian Stakes in straight heats.
1942 — The Ambassador, driven by Ben White, wins the Hambletonian Stakes in the third heat.
1953 — Helicopter, driven by Harry Harvey, wins the Hambletonian Stakes in the third heat.
1978 — Cold Comfort, driven by 23-year-old Peter Haughton, ties the International Trot mark of 2:31 3-5 at Roosevelt Raceway which makes Haughton the youngest driver to win the International.
1990 — Wayne Grady of Australia sheds his runner-up image with a 3-stroke victory over Fred Couples in the PGA Championship. Grady had recorded 29 second-place finishes in his career.
1994 — Major league baseball players strike in the sport’s eighth work stoppage since 1972.
2000 — Evander Holyfield scores a 12-round unanimous decision over John Ruiz in Las Vegas to win the vacant WBA heavyweight title.
2001 — Wendy Ward sets LPGA scoring records for a 54-hole tournament to win the Wendy’s Championship for Children by three shots. Ward’s 54-hole hole total of 21-under 195 is a tour record for a 54-hole tournament, both in relation to par and scoring total.
2007 — Tiger Woods captures the PGA Championship to win at least one major for the third straight season and run his career total to 13. Woods closes with a 1-under 69 for a two-shot victory over Woody Austin.
2008 — Michael Phelps wins the 200-meter freestyle for his third gold medal at the Beijing Games. It’s his ninth career gold which ties Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis, Soviet gymnast Larysa Latynina and Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi for the most ever.
2011 — Tiger Woods misses the cut at the PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club. With one final bogey for a 3-over 73, Woods finishes out of the top 100 for the first time ever in a major. He is 15 shots behind Jason Dufner and Keegan Bradley.
2012 — The U.S. men’s basketball team fights off another huge challenge from Spain, pulling away in the final minutes for a 107-100 victory and its second straight Olympic championship. The victory by the men’s basketball team gives the United States its 46th gold medal in London, the most ever by Americans in a “road” Olympics.
2012 — Rory McIlroy breaks the PGA Championship record for margin of victory that Jack Nicklaus set in 1980. McIlroy sinks one last birdie from 25 feet on the 18th hole to give him a 6-under 66 for an eight-shot victory.
2016 — Katie Ledecky caps off one of the greatest performances in Olympic history with her fourth gold medal and second world record, shattering her own mark in the 800-meter freestyle. Ledecky is the first woman since Debbie Meyer swept the three longer freestyle events at the same Olympics. Meyer took the 200, 400 and 800 at the 1968 Mexico Games.
2017 — Usain Bolt ends his stellar career in excruciating pain. The Jamaican great crumples to the track with a left-leg injury while chasing a final gold medal for the Jamaican 4x100-meter relay team at the world championships in London. Having to make up lots of ground on the anchor leg, Bolt suddenly screams and stumbles as he comes down with the first injury he has experienced at a major competition. Britain goes on to beat the United States in a tight finish. Tori Bowie is the unlikely first double gold medalist at the championships, anchoring the U.S. team to the 4x100-meter relay title ahead of Britain and Jamaica. At the same time, Allyson Felix, running the second leg on the winning team, earns a record 15th medal at the world championships in a career going back to 2005.
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