A Salty Master of the High Seas

The America's Cup came home from Australia in February in the weathered hands of Dennis Conner, skipper of Stars & Stripes. After nearly four months of preliminary races in the Indian Ocean off Fremantle, Conner, who in 1983 had been the first U.S. helmsman to lose the Cup, guided Stars & Stripes to four straight lopsided wins over Australia's Kookaburra III in the best-of-seven match race. Back on dry land, SMU's recidivist football program was put out of business, and Bill Elliott won the Daytona 500 when Geoff Bodine, who was leading by a mile with three laps to go, ran out of gas.

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JON WRIGHT

Dennis Conner, a loser in 1983, redeemed himself by recapturing the America's Cup.

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CARL YARBROUGH

Marc Girardelli of Luxembourg schussed to three medals at the Alpine worlds.

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RENE ROBERT/AGENCE VERTICAL

Thiery Renault surmounted this 300-foot palisade of glacial ice in the French Alps.

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ANDY HAYT

Chicago's Michael Jordan had the competition licked in the NBA Slam Dunk finals.

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CARYN LEVY

Martina Navratilova was unfazed after taking a fall in a Key Biscayne, Fla., tourney.

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SPORTING PICTURES

Dashing through the snow, these horses had a ball in St. Moritz's winter wonderland.