Did any recorded champagne-spraying celebrations occur in other sports before 1966?
Executive summary
Recorded instances of intentional champagne‑spraying on podiums trace to mid‑1960s motorsport—an accidental spray by Jo Siffert at Le Mans in 1966 and an intentional celebration by Dan Gurney in 1967 are repeatedly cited [1] [2] [3]. However, celebratory use of champagne for spraying in team locker rooms appears in American baseball at least as early as 1965, meaning spray celebrations in some sports predate the motorsport podium ritual [4] [5].
1. The motorsport origin story — accident in 1966, ritualized in 1967
Multiple contemporary and retrospective accounts place the first widely reported champagne spray at the 24 Hours of Le Mans when Swiss driver Jo Siffert’s magnum cork reportedly blew and drenched spectators in 1966, an incident that is described as accidental and often framed as the spark for later podium spraying [1] [2] [6]. A follow‑up narrative credits American Dan Gurney with turning that accident into a deliberate act the next year—shaking and spraying his bottle after his 1967 Le Mans victory, an image captured by Life‑magazine photographers that helped cement the gesture as an attention‑grabbing ritual in motorsport [7] [8] [9]. Reporting is consistent that while bottles and celebratory toasts existed earlier in racing, the theatrical spray as a podium staple coalesced in this 1966–1967 moment [3] [10].
2. Champagne spraying in team sports — documented clubhouse antics in the mid‑1960s
Separate from podium theatrics, team sports—especially American baseball—had adopted a more rambunctious, locker‑room form of champagne celebration before podium spraying became a motorsport showpiece: press coverage records the Minnesota Twins splashing champagne in the clubhouse after clinching the 1965 American League pennant, and baseball reporting traces regular use of bubbly in post‑season clubhouse celebrations through the 1940s–60s, with spraying and pouring becoming common in the 1960s [4] [5]. Those incidents were generally informal, private celebrations rather than choreographed, camera‑focused podium sprays, but they are recorded examples of champagne being sprayed in sports contexts prior to or alongside the motorsport accounts [4] [5].
3. Earlier champagne presentations without spraying — the 1950s trophy tradition
Historical notes show that champagne was given to winners in motor racing well before the 1960s—Juan Manuel Fangio reportedly received a bottle after the 1950 French Grand Prix—yet those earlier instances are described as toasts or gifts rather than spraying spectacles, underscoring a distinction between champagne as an award and the later performative act of spraying [10] [6]. Several writers and motorsport historians make precisely this distinction: presentation and drinking occurred earlier, while the visual, sprayed celebration became notable only in the mid‑1960s [3] [11].
4. Conflicting credit and why sources differ
Primary accounts diverge over who “invented” spraying: many mainstream features credit Siffert’s 1966 accidental pop as the origin story while others single out Gurney’s 1967 deliberate spray as the originator of the ritual [1] [2] [7] [9]. The disagreement reflects two legitimate perspectives: an accidental mechanical cork‑failure that produced the first public spray (Siffert, 1966) versus the first intentional, photographed, and repeatable act that turned spraying into ceremony (Gurney, 1967) [6] [7]. Different publications emphasize different moments depending on whether they prioritize the first instance or the first deliberate, emulated act [8] [3].
5. Bottom line and reporting limits
Answering precisely whether any recorded champagne‑spraying celebrations occurred in other sports before 1966: yes, documented instances of champagne being sprayed in sports contexts—most notably baseball clubhouse celebrations—exist from at least 1965 [4] [5]. If the question is narrowly about the podium‑style, camera‑visible spraying associated with motorsport and later other sports, primary reporting locates that phenomenon to the 1966–1967 Le Mans episodes (Siffert’s accidental 1966 pop and Gurney’s intentional 1967 spray) [1] [2] [7]. Sources surveyed do not document a widely photographed, podium‑style champagne spray in other sports before those Le Mans incidents; reporting instead finds earlier champagne presentations and some locker‑room sprayings in team sports [10] [4]. Where claims fall outside the provided sources—such as undocumented private celebrations in other sports prior to 1965—this review does not assert their occurrence.