ON THIS DATE
1951: Sugar Ray Robinson wins the middleweight title with a technical knockout in the 13th round over Jake Lamotta in Chicago.
1953: Bill Chambers of William & Mary grabs 51 rebounds in a 105-84 victory over Virginia. 1966: Philadelphia’s Wilt Chamberlain scores 41 points in a 149-123 win over Detroit to become the NBA’S all-time scoring leader, passing Bob Pettit (20,880 points).
1975: Julius Erving of the New York Nets scores 63 points in a 176-166 quadruple overtime loss to the San Diego Conquistadors. Erving sets an ABA record by shooting 25-for-46 from the field and the 342 points are an ABA record.
1986: Wayne Gretzky gets seven assists for the third time in his career as the Edmonton Oilers beat the Quebec Nordiques 8-2. Gretzky doesn’t score a goal for a career-high ninth straight game, but ties his NHL record with the seven assists.
1988: Bobby Allison outduels his 26-year-old son Davey to win the Daytona 500 and becomes the first 50-year-old to win NASCAR’S premier event.
1992: Bonnie Blair becomes the first American woman in 40 years to win two gold medals in the Winter Olympics when she takes the 1,000-meter speed skating event.
2010: In Vancouver, British Columbia, an American breaks through the Nordic combined barrier, winning the first Olympic medal in the sport dominated by Europeans. Jason Lamy Chappuis of France overtakes American Johnny Spillane on the final straightaway for the gold medal, winning four-tenths of a second ahead of Spillane.
2010: Sailing’s America’s Cup, once again, belongs to America after Larry Ellison’s space-age trimaran easily speeds ahead of two-time defending champion Alinghi of Switzerland to complete a two-race sweep in the 33rd America’s Cup.
2015: Mikaela Shiffrin becomes the third woman to win back-toback slalom titles at world championships. She finishes in a combined time of 1:38.48, edging Frida Hansdotter of Sweden by 0.34 seconds.
2018: Snowboarder Shaun White wins America’s 100th Winter Olympic gold medal, throwing down a spectacular final run in the men’s halfpipe at the Pyeongchang Games. The United States is the second country to win 100 winter golds, trailing Norway, which started the day with 121.