THOSE WERE

THE DAYS

ON THIS DATE IN SPORTING HISTORY

1776: The St Leger, the oldest of the five Classic horse races, was run for the first time at Doncaster. The race, which had only five runners, was won by the 2-1 favourite Allabucilia.

1975: Phil Bennett scored an international rugby union record 34 points for Wales against Japan in Tokyo. 1988: At the Seoul Olympics, Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, below, won the 100m final in a world-record 9.79secs. The time was expunged from the records and the gold medal taken from him when drug tests proved he had taken performance-boosting anabolic steroids. 1989: Europe retained the Ryder Cup following a 14-14 draw with the US at the Belfry – only the second tied match in the cup’s history.

2002: England batsman Graham Thorpe, days after being recalled to the Test squad for the Ashes series in Australia, pulled out of the tour.

2006: Europe won the Ryder Cup for the fifth time in six matches with a record-equalling 18.5-9.5 victory at the K Club, near Dublin.