Today’s highlights in sports history:
In 2012, the Los Angeles Kings defeated the New Jersey Devils 6-1 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final to win their first NHL championship.
On this date:
1898 – Willie Sims rides Sly Fox to victory in the Preakness Stakes, becoming the only African-American jockey to win the race and the only jockey to win all three Triple Crown races. Sims’ other Triple Crown victories include the Kentucky Derby (1896, 1898) and the Belmont Stakes (1893, 1894).
1919 – Walter Hagen wins the U.S. Open by one stroke in a playoff against Michael Brady.
1919 – Sir Burton, ridden by Johnny Loftus, wins the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first thoroughbred to win the Triple Crown.
1921 — Grey Rag, ridden by Earl Sande, wins the first Belmont Stakes race run in a counterclockwise direction. Previously, the race had been run in a clockwise direction on a fishhook-shaped course that included part of the training track and the main dirt oval.
1938 – Ralph Guldahl defeats Dick Metz to win his second consecutive U.S. Open golf title.
1949 – Cary Middlecoff wins the U.S. Open, defeating Sam Snead and Clayton Heafner.
1955 – Nashua, ridden by Eddie Arcaro, wins the Belmont Stakes, giving Arcaro his sixth Belmont win, tying Jimmy McLaughlin’s record.
1977 – Seattle Slew, ridden by jockey Jean Kluge, went from finish to finish in the Belmont Stakes, defeating Run Dusty Run by four lengths to complete the Triple Crown.
1978 – Nancy Lopez wins the LPGA Championship with a record 13-under par, beating Amy Alcott by six strokes.
1982 – Larry Holmes knocks out Gerry Cooney in 13 rounds for the WBC heavyweight title in Las Vegas.
1984 – The Boston Celtics defeat the Los Angeles Lakers 111-102 in Game 7 to win their 15th NBA title.
1990 – At age 43, Nolan Ryan pitches his sixth career no-hitter in a Texas Rangers victory over the Oakland Athletics, 5–0. Ryan becomes the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter with three teams and the oldest pitcher to throw a no-hitter.
1992 – Tracy Austin (age 29) becomes the youngest person inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
1994 — The United States loses in the Women’s Basketball World Championship for the first time in 11 years. Guards Hortensia and Paula combine for 61 points and Brazil beats the defending champions, 110-107, in the semifinals.
2006 – Se Ri Pak beats Carrie Webb on the first hole of a playoff to win the LPGA Championship. Pak atoned for a three-putt bogey on the 18th hole that had put her in the playoff.
2006 – Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer in four sets to win his second consecutive French Open title, thwarting Federer’s dream of a fourth consecutive Grand Slam title and extending his clay court winning streak to 60 matches.
2011 – Texas A&M University sweeps the men’s and women’s titles at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, becoming the first school to win three consecutive championships. Villanova University’s Sheila Reid becomes the first woman to win the 1,500 and 5,000 meters at the same NCAA meet.
2012 – Rafael Nadal wins the French Open for a record seventh time, returning to Roland Garros and defeating Novak Djokovic 6–4, 6–3, 2–6, 7–5. It was Nadal’s 11th Grand Slam title, tying him with Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg, who have both won the French Open six times.
2017 – Rafael Nadal defeated 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 in the final to win his record-breaking 10th French Open title. No other man or woman has won the same major tournament 10 times since the Open era began in 1968.
2017 — Stanley Cup Final, Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee: The Pittsburgh Penguins defeat the Nashville Predators 2-0 to win the series 4-2. The Penguins win their back-to-back championships.
2022 — Charl Schwartzel beats South African Hennie du Plessis by one stroke to win the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational at Centurion Golf Club in Hertfordshire, taking home a massive $4.75 million prize for his victory.
2023 — French Open Men’s Tennis: Novak Djokovic defeats Norway’s Kasper Ruud 7-6, 6-3, 7-5 to win his men’s record 23rd Grand Slam singles title.
