1996 in sports

Athletics

June 16 — Enschede Marathon, Netherlands
- Men's Winner: John Mandu (KEN) 2:15:14
- Women's Winner: Mieke Pullen (NED) 2:41:13

July 28 — Olympic Marathon, Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
- Women's Winner: Fatuma Roba (ETH) 2:26:05

August 4 — Olympic Marathon, Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
- Men's Winner: Josia Thugwane (RSA) 2:12:36

Stock car racing:
- Dale Jarrett won the Daytona 500
NASCAR Championship - Terry Labonte
- Rusty Wallace wins the Suzuka NASCAR Thunder 100 at Suzuka City November 24, the first NASCAR event held in Japan.
Indy Racing League - Scott Sharp and Buzz Calkins tie for the inaugural IRL championship
- Indianapolis 500 - Buddy Lazier
CART - Jimmy Vasser won the season championship
Formula One Championship - Damon Hill of Great Britain
24 hours of Le Mans: won by the team of Manuel Reuter / Davy Jones / Alexander Wurz driving a TWR-Porsche
Rally racing - Tommi Mäkinen won the World Rally Championship
- the team of Patrick Bernardini / Bernard Occelli won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Ford Escort RS Cosworth
Drag racing - Kenny Bernstein won the NHRA "Top Fuel" championship.

January 8 - For the first time in 25 years, no one garners 75 percent of the votes needed to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Phil Niekro comes closest with 68 percent.

World Series: New York Yankees won 4 games to 2 over the Atlanta Braves. The Series MVP was relief pitcher, John Wetteland, New York

April 1 - NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
- Kentucky wins 76-67 over Syracuse

NBA Finals|NBA Finals:
- Chicago Bulls win 4 games to 2 over the Seattle SuperSonics, after a record-breaking 72-10 regular season.

National Basketball League (Australia) Finals:
- South East Melbourne Magic defeated the Melbourne Tigers 2-1 in the best-of-three final series.

March 16 - Christy Martin defeats Deirdre Gogarty by a decision in six rounds to retain her Women's boxing world title in front of a national tv audience. This fight is credited with making the general public aware of women's boxing. <br>
March 30 to 7 – 31st European Amateur Boxing Championships held in Vejle, Denmark.
- Light Flyweight (– 48 kg): Daniel Petrov (Bulgaria)
- Flyweight (– 51 kg): Albert Pakeyev (Russia)
- Bantamweight (– 54 kg): István Kovács (Hungary)
- Featherweight (– 57 kg): Ramaz Paliani (Russia)
- Lightweight (– 60 kg): Leonard Doroftei (Romania)
- Light Welterweight (– 63.5 kg): Oktay Urkal (Germany)
- Welterweight (– 67 kg): Al Hassan (Denmark)
- Light Middleweight (– 71 kg): Francisc Vaştag (Romania)
- Middleweight (– 75 kg): Sven Ottke (Germany)
- Light Heavyweight (– 81 kg): Pietro Aurino (Italy)
- Heavyweight (– 91 kg): Luan Krasniqi (Germany)
- Super Heavyweight (+ 91 kg): Alexei Lezin (Russia) <br>
June 7 - Oscar de la Hoya defeats Julio César Chávez by a knockout in four rounds to win the WBC's world Jr. Welterweight championship.

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
- Jeff King wins with lead dogs: Jake & Booster

Men's Olympic Qualifier Tournament in Barcelona, Spain
- Gold: The Netherlands
- Silver: India
- Bronze: Great Britain

Olympic Games (Men's Competition) in Atlanta, United States
- Gold: The Netherlands
- Silver: Spain
- Bronze: Australia

Men's Champions Trophy in Madras, India
- Gold: The Netherlands
- Silver: Pakistan
- Bronze: Germany

Olympic Games (Women's Competition) in Atlanta, United States
- Gold: Australia
- Silver: South Korea
- Bronze: The Netherlands

World Figure Skating Championships:
- Men's champion: Todd Eldredge, United States
- Ladies' champion: Michelle Kwan, United States
- Pairs' champions: Marina Eltsova / Sergei Bushkov, Russia
- Ice dancing champions: Oksana Grishuk / Evgeny Platov, Russia

For an extensive coverage see 1996 in football (soccer)