Aug. 9
1936 — Jesse Owens becomes the first American to win four Olympic gold medals as the United States sets a world record in the 4×100 relay at the Berlin Games. The record time of 39.8 seconds lasts for 20 years.
1950 — Lusty Song, driven by Delvin Miller, wins the Hambletonian Stakes in straight heats over Star’s Pride. Lusty Song wins by a length in the first race and by a neck in the second.
1981 — Larry Nelson beats Fuzzy Zoeller by three strokes to take the PGA Championship.
1984 — Britain’s Daley Thompson wins his second Olympic decathlon with a record 8,797 points and Valerie Brisco-Hooks sets her second Olympic record with a 21.81 time in the 200-meter run.
1987 — Larry Nelson sinks a 6-foot putt in the first hole of a playoff to beat Lanny Wadkins in the PGA Championship.
1988 — Edmonton Oilers trade Wayne Gretzky to LA Kings for $15-$20 millions.
1992 — The Summer Olympics ends with the Unified Team holding a 112-108 lead in medals over the United States, the closest race since America won 90-86 in 1964 at Tokyo.
1995 — John Godina becomes the first American to win the shot put event at the World Championships with a toss of 70 feet, 5¼ inches.
2007 — Alexis Thompson becomes the youngest quarterfinalist in the 107-year history of the U.S. Women’s Amateur, beating fellow 12-year-old Pearl Jin 5 and 4 in the second round and Lizette Salas 5 and 4 in the third.
2007 — David Beckham makes his long-awaited Major League Soccer debut, entering in the 72nd minute of the Los Angeles Galaxy’s 1-0 loss to D.C. United.
2008 — Mariel Zagunis leads a U.S. sweep of the women’s saber fencing for the first American medals of the Beijing Games. Zagunis, the 2004 gold Olympic champion, beats Sada Jacobson 15-8 for the gold medal. Becca Ward takes the bronze.
2009 — Jennifer Song becomes the second woman to win two U.S. Golf Association championships in the same year, beating Jennifer Johnson 3 and 1 in the U.S. Women’s Amateur final at Old Warson. The 19-year-old Song, coming off her freshman year at Southern California, won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links in June. Pearl Sinn is the only other woman to win two USGA titles in a year, taking the 1988 Amateur and Public Links.
2010 — No American player appears in the top 10 for the first time since the men’s tennis computer rankings began in 1973. Andy Roddick drops from No. 9 to No. 11 in the latest ATP rankings.
2012 — Usain Bolt wins the 200 meters in 19.32 seconds, making him the only man with two Olympic titles in that event. He adds it to the 100 gold he won Aug. 5, duplicating the 100-200 double he produced at the Beijing Games four years ago. This time, Bolt leads a Jamaican sweep, with his training partner and pal Yohan Blake getting the silver in 19.44, and Warren Weir taking the bronze in 19.84. The American men take the top two spots in the men’s decathlon (Ashton Eaton and Trey Hardee) and triple jump (Christian Taylor and Will Claye), raising the U.S. track and field total with three days to go to 24 medals.
2012 — The U.S. women’s soccer team wins the Olympic gold medal, avenging one of its most painful defeats with a 2-1 victory over Japan. Carli Lloyd scores in the eighth and 54th minutes for the Americans, who lost to the Japanese in penalty kicks at last year’s World Cup final.
2012 — Maggie Steffens scored five times and the U.S. women’s water polo team beat Spain 8-5 to take the Olympic tournament for the first time. U.S. middleweight Claressa Shields caps her swift rise to the top of women’s Olympic boxing with a 19-12 victory over Russia’s Nadezda Torlopova. The 17-year-old Shields dances and slugs her way past her 33-year-old opponent.
2014 — Nick Rimando breaks the MLS record with his 113th shutout in Real Salt Lake’s 3-0 victory over D.C. United. Rimando broke a tie with Kevin Hartman for the record.
2016 — Michael Phelps adds to his Olympic record medal haul twice. He avenges his London 2012 loss to South African rival Chad le Clos with a 200-meter butterfly victory and his 20th career gold. Then, he anchors the 4×200 freestyle relay team for his 21st gold.
2016 — American swimmer Katie Ledecky wins her second gold medal of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 1:53.73 in the women’s 200m freestyle ahead of Sarah Sjöström of Sweden and Australian Emma McKeon.
2022 — Tennis superstar Serena Williams announces her intention to retire in an interview with “Vogue”.
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