1896 in sports

• USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
• March 22 - Greek runner Charilaos Vasilakos wins the first modern marathon (3:18)

College championship

• College football national championship – Princeton Tigers

Professional championships

• Western Pennsylvania champions – Allegheny Athletic Association

Canada

• March 15 - The Newfoundland Football League is founded.
• March 19 - The Manitoba Football Association is founded.

England

• The Football League – Aston Villa 45 points, Derby County 41, Everton 39, Bolton Wanderers 37, Sunderland 37, Stoke FC 30
• FA Cup final – The Wednesday 2–1 Wolverhampton Wanderers at Crystal Palace, London.

Scotland

• Scottish Football League – Celtic
• Scottish Cup final – Hearts 3–1 Hibernian at Logie Green^[1]

• Victorian Football Association premiers - Collingwood
• SANFL premiers - South Adelaide
• WAFL premiers - Fremantle

National championship

• Baltimore Orioles win the third of three successive National League championships

Events

• Temple Cup – Baltimore Orioles 4–0 Cleveland Spiders

• 10 March - After Bob Fitzsimmons KOs much larger Jim Corbett to win world HW championship he says, The bigger they are, the harder they fall

Lineal world champions^[2]

• World Heavyweight Championship – James J. Corbett
• World Middleweight Championship – title vacant
• World Welterweight Championship – Tommy Ryan
• World Lightweight Championship – vacant → George "Kid" Lavigne
• World Featherweight Championship – George Dixon
• World Bantamweight Championship – Jimmy Barry

• Ontario Rugby Football Union - University of Toronto
• Quebec Rugby Football Union - Ottawa College
• Manitoba Rugby Football Union - St John's
• Northwest Championship - Winnipeg
• Dominion Championship - Ottawa College defeats the University of Toronto 12-8

Events

• England retain The Ashes, defeating Australia 2–1 in a three-match series. In a low-scoring decider at The Oval, England win by 66 runs.

England

• County Championship – Yorkshire
• Minor Counties Championship – Worcestershire
• Most runs – K S Ranjitsinhji 2780 @ 57.91 (HS 171*)
• Most wickets – J T Hearne 257 @ 14.28 (BB 9–73)
• Wisden Five Cricketers of the Season – Syd Gregory, Dick Lilley, K S Ranjitsinhji, Tom Richardson, Hugh Trumble

Australia

• Sheffield Shield – New South Wales
• Most runs – Harry Donnan 626 @ 69.55 (HS 160)
• Most wickets – Tom McKibbin 46 @ 23.86 (BB 8–93)

India

• Bombay Presidency – Europeans shared with Parsees

South Africa

• Currie Cup – not contested

West Indies

• Inter-Colonial Tournament – not contested

Events

• Inaugural World Figure Skating Championships (open to men only) is held in Saint Petersburg

World Figure Skating Championships

• World Men's Champion – Gilbert Fuchs (Germany)

Major tournaments

• British Open – Harry Vardon (the first of Vardon's six British Open titles)
• U.S. Open – James Foulis

Other tournaments

• British Amateur – Freddie Tait
• US Amateur – H. J. Whigham

England

• Grand National – The Soarer
• 1,000 Guineas Stakes – Thais
• 2,000 Guineas Stakes – St. Frusquin
• The Derby – Persimmon^[3]
• The Oaks – Canterbury Pilgrim
• St. Leger Stakes – Persimmon

Australia

• Melbourne Cup – Newhaven

Canada

• Queen's Plate – Millbrook

Ireland

• Irish Grand National – Royston Crow
• Irish Derby Stakes – Gulsalberk

USA

• Kentucky Derby – Lieut. Gibson
• Preakness Stakes – Margrave
• Belmont Stakes – Hastings

• 14 February — the Winnipeg Victorias defeat the Montreal Victorias 2–0 in a challenge match to win the 1896 Stanley Cup championship
• 7 March — the Montreal Victorias are the 1896 AHAC season champions.
• March — Queen's University defeats Stratford, Ontario 12–3 to win the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) title. The club does not challenge Winnipeg.
• 17 November — the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, which later became the first ice hockey league to openly trade and hire players, began play at Pittsburgh's Schenley Park Casino.
• 17 December — the Schenley Park Casino, which was the first multi-purpose arena with the technology to create an artificial ice surface in North America as well as the home to the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, was destroyed in a fire.
• 30 December — the Montreal Victorias defeat the Winnipeg Victorias 6–5 in a challenge match to regain the Stanley Cup

Paris-Marseille-Paris Trail

• The 1896 Paris–Marseille–Paris Trail is held over 1710 km from 24 September to 3 October and won by Émile Mayade driving a Panhard-Levassor 8 hp model in a time of 67:42:58. The race is in retrospect sometimes referred to as the II Grand Prix de l'ACF.^[4]

1896 Summer Olympics

• The 1896 Summer Olympics, the first modern Games, takes place in Athens with 13 nations competing, the most competitors coming from Greece, Germany and France.
• 16 April — American James Connolly wins the triple jump to become the first Olympic champion in over 1,500 years.
• Winners receive a silver medal and a crown of olive branches; Greece wins the most medals (46) and the United States wins the most gold medals (11).

The Boat Race

• 28 March — Oxford wins the 53rd Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race
• There is no Harvard–Yale Regatta during "a breakdown in relations between the two schools".^[5] From the third Race in 1859, the only exceptions outside major wars are 1871 and 1896.

Events

• In the 1895–96 Northern Rugby Football Union season's final match, Manningham defeats Halifax to claim the inaugural Rugby Football League Championship.
• The inaugural Rugby League Challenge Cup competition begins in the 1896–97 season.

England

• Championship – Manningham
• Lancashire League Championship – Runcorn
• Yorkshire League Championship – Manningham

Home Nations Championship

• 14th Home Nations Championship series is won by Ireland

• The foundation of the Ski-Club of Grenoble by Henry Duhamel.

Speed Skating World Championships

• Men's All-round Champion – Jaap Eden (Netherlands)

England

• Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship – Harold Mahony (Ireland) defeats Wilfred Baddeley (GB) 6–2 6–8 5–7 8–6 6–3
• Wimbledon Women's Singles Championship – Charlotte Cooper Sterry (GB) defeats Alice Simpson-Pickering (GB) 6–2 6–3

France

• French Men's Singles Championship – André Vacherot (France) defeats Gérard Brosselin (France) 6–1 7–5

USA

• American Men's Singles Championship – Robert Wrenn (USA) defeats Fred Hovey (USA) 7–5 3–6 6–0 1–6 6–1
• American Women's Singles Championship – Elisabeth Moore (USA) defeats Juliette Atkinson (USA) 6–4 4–6 6–2 6–2