Games timeline
Alf Ramsey (manager) and Bobby Moore (captain) lead the England football team to victory in the World Cup
English yachtsman Francis Chichester completes a record round-the-world voyage, sailing 29,600 miles solo in 226 days
British racing driver Jim Clark is killed in an accident on the Hockenheim circuit, while leading in the world championship
US athlete Bob Beamon sets a world long-jump record of 8.9 metres that will stand for 23 years
Russian chess player Boris Spassky beats Tigran Petrosian to become world champion
19-year-old rugby player J.P.R. Williams makes his debut for Wales in a match against Scotland
Australian tennis player Rod Laver is the first to win the Grand Slam a second time
Scottish Grand Prix racing driver Jackie Stewart wins the first of his three world championship titles
The Northern Irish player George Best is voted European Footballer of the Year
Australian tennis player Margaret Court achieves the grand slam in singles, adding it to her previous grand slam in doubles
Joe Frazier becomes the first boxer to beat Muhammad Ali in a professional fight, at New York's Madison Square Gardens
19-year-old Aboriginal tennis player Evonne Goolagong wins the singles title at Wimbledon
US swimmer Mark Spitz wins seven gold medals in the Munich Olympics
Chess player Bobby Fischer defeats Boris Spassky to become the first US world champion
US tennis player Chris Evert wins the first of three victories at Wimbledon and of seven in the French Open
Jimmy Connors wins both Wimbledon and the US Open, on each occasion defeating the veteran Ken Rosewall
Muhammad Ali regains the world heavyweight title, beating George Foreman in Zaire in a fight that becomes known as the Rumble in the Jungle
Anatoly Karpov becomes world chess champion by default when Bobby Fischer fails to defend his title
Austrian racing driver Niki Lauda wins the first of three Formula One world championship titles
The Swedish tennis player Björn Borg wins the first of five consecutive singles titles at Wimbledon
Liverpool football player Kevin Keegan begins six years as captain of England
19-year-old Spanish golfer Severiano Ballesteros ends the year as number one in Europe
Muhammad Ali is the first boxer to become world heavyweight champion three times, defeating Leon Spinks in a return match a year after losing the title
Czech-born US tennis player Martina Navratilova wins the first of nine singles titles at Wimbledon
English cricketer Ian Botham sets a new Test record, scoring a century and taking eight wickets against Pakistan at Lord's