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Sports in February include the NBA and NHL seasons, Super Bowl, NBA All-Star game, college basketball tournaments, spring training for the MLB, NASCAR’s Daytona 500, Formula E, some PGA Tour Events and the Winter Olympics. Over the years, Feb. 23 has witnessed many notable moments and stories involving sporting legends. Here are some of them.
Unforgettable Games and Remarkable Records
Great moments in sports history from Feb. 23 included:
- 1895: Speed skater Jaap Eden skated a world record time of 17:56 in the 10km.
- 1906: Boxer Tommy Burns beat Marvin Hart in 20 rounds and won the heavyweight boxing title.
- 1938: Joe Louis knocked out Nathan Mann in round three and retained his world heavyweight boxing title. This was the second title defense by Louis.
- 1952: Lydia Wideman of Finland became the first female Olympic cross-country skiing champion.
- 1960: Carol Heiss won the first gold medal for the United States at the Squaw Valley Games.
- 1964: In the sixth Daytona 500, driver Richard Petty won the race and led for a record 184 of the 200 laps.
- 1968: Wilt Chamberlain became the first NBA player to score 25,000 points.
- 1980: Speed skater Eric Heiden won the Olympic 10,000 meter in a world record time of 14:28.13. He also swept all five speed skating events at Lake Placid.
- 1985: Goaltender Patrick Roy made his NHL debut for the Montreal Canadiens.
- 1988: Speed skater Yvonne van Gennip skated to a female record time of 4:11.94 in the 3k.
- 1991: Greg Haugen won the WBO light-welterweight title in a split decision over Hector “Macho” Camacho.
- 2002: The United States men’s bobsled team ended a 46-year medal drought by winning silver and bronze in the four-man race.
- 2013: Ronda Rousey beat Liz Carmouche with the armbar at UFC 157 and it was the first women’s fight in the promotion’s history.
- 2014: In the 56th annual Daytona 500, Dale Earnhardt Jr. broke a 55-race winless streak and won his second Great American race.
- 2014: Canada won the Olympic ice hockey double with a 3-0 victory over Sweden in the men’s gold medal game in Sochi.
- 2014: Russia swept the medals in the men’s 50k cross country skiing at Sochi.
- 2018: Speed skater Kjeld Nuis won his second gold medal of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in the 1000 meter distance.
- 2019: Soccer star Lionel Messi scored the 50th hat-trick of his career.
- 2019: Roy Hodgson overtakes Sir Bobby Robson as the oldest man to manage a Premier League football club at the age of 71 years and 198 days.
Three athletes who stood out on Feb. 23 were Tommy Burns, Patrick Roy, and Ronda Rousey.
Burns was a prolific champion, famous for defending his title 11 times across five countries and for fighting the legendary Jack Johnson. Roy is famous for perfecting the “butterfly” style, winning four Stanley Cups (two with Montreal, two with Colorado), and earning a record three Conn Smythe trophies. Rousey is the first female fighter signed by the UFC, the inaugural UFC Women’s Bantamwright Champion, and a 2008 Olympic judo medalist.
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