Today’s Sports Highlight in History:
In 2007, 32-year-old Alex Rodriguez becomes the youngest player in MLB history to hit 500 home runs.
On this date:
1936 — American athlete Jesse Owens wins his 2nd gold medal at the Berlin Olympics; beats German Luz Long in the long jump final with an Olympic record.
1945 — Byron Nelson wins his 11th consecutive PGA Tour event, beating Herman Barron by four strokes. Nelson finishes the year with a record for most tournament wins (18) in a season.
1982 — Joel Youngblood becomes the only player in major league history to play and get hits for two different teams in two different cities on the same day. In the afternoon, his hit drives in the winning run for the New York Mets in a 7-4 victory at Chicago. After the game, he’s traded to the Montreal Expos and plays that night in Philadelphia. He enters the game in right field in the fourth inning and later gets a single.
1984 — Carl Lewis wins the 100-meter dash in 9.99 seconds at the Los Angeles Summer Games. US teammate Sam Graddy wins the silver in 10.19 and Canada’s Ben Johnson gets the bronze with a time of 10.22.
1985 — Tom Seaver, 40, becomes the 17th 300-game winner in major league history with a six-hitter — all singles — as the Chicago White Sox beat the New York Yankees 4-1.
1985 — Rod Carew of the California Angels gets his 3,000th hit in a 6-5 win over the Minnesota Twins, his first major league team.
1996 — Laura Davies shoots a 6-under 66 for a two-stroke victory over Nancy Lopez and Karrie Webb in the du Maurier Classic.
1996 — The Atlanta Olympic Games end with U.S. boxer David Reid’s stunning gold-medal knockout, and the women Dream Team’s romp over Brazil. Reid captures America’s only boxing gold, knocking down Cuban Alfredo Duvergel, while the U.S. women roll to a 111-87 victory behind Lisa Leslie’s 29 points. A record 11,000 athletes from 197 countries make it the biggest Olympics.
2011 — Cappie Pondexter scores 15 points to lead New York past Chicago 59-49, and the Liberty hold the Sky to a WNBA-record one point in the fourth quarter.
2012 — Michael Phelps wins another gold medal as the United States wins the medley relay at the London Olympics. Phelps leaves the sport with a record 18 golds and 22 medals overall. At these games, he wins four golds and two silvers.
2012 — Serena Williams beats Maria Sharapova 6-0, 6-1 to join Steffi Graf as the only women to complete the Golden Slam — winning the Olympics and the four majors. In a men’s semifinal match, Roger Federer outlasts Juan Martin del Potro in a 19-17 final set and clinches his first Olympic singles medal. Canadian equestrian Ian Millar rides into Olympic history by competing in his 10th games — the most of any athlete.
2013 — Missy Franklin claims her record sixth gold medal on the final day of the world championships in Barcelona, becoming the most successful female swimmer ever at a world meet. Franklin eclipses the record shared by Tracy Caulkins — who won five times in 1978 — and Libby Trickett, who did it in 2007.
2013 — Stacy Lewis wins the Women’s British Open after a marathon final day. Lewis finishes with a pair of birdies on the Old Course at St. Andrews and closes with an even-par 72. It’s her second major on the LPGA Tour, and it ends a record streak of 10 straight majors won by Asian players. Forced to play 36 holes, Lewis is the only player at par or better from the last 21 groups that tee off.
2018 — British swimmer Adam Peaty improves his own world record in the 100-meter breaststroke to 57.1 seconds at the European Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.
2021 — Sydney McLaughlin sets a world record in in the women’s 400m hurdles, 51.46s, for a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.