# 1982 in sports

1982 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

## Alpine skiing

* Alpine Skiing World Cup:
** Men's overall season champion: Phil Mahre, United States
** Women's overall season champion: Erika Hess, Switzerland

## American football

* Super Bowl XVI – the San Francisco 49ers (NFC) won 26–21 over the Cincinnati Bengals (AFC)
** Location: Pontiac Silverdome
** Attendance: 81,270
** MVP: Joe Montana, QB (San Francisco)
* Orange Bowl (1981 season):
** The Clemson Tigers won 22-15 over the Nebraska Cornhuskers to win the college football national championship
* Strike – First regular season strike by NFL players ends on November 16 after 57 days.

## Association football

* World Cup in Spain – Italy beats West Germany 3-1 for their third title.
* Champions' Cup – Aston Villa 1-0 Bayern München
* UEFA Cup – Two legs; 1st leg IFK Göteborg 1-0 Hamburger SV; 2nd leg Hamburger SV 0-3 IFK Göteborg. IFK Göteborg won 4-0 on aggregate. 66 fans died in the Luzhniki disaster during the UEFA Cup second round match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem in Moscow on 20 October.
* Cup Winners' Cup – Barcelona 2-1 Standard Liège
* Super Cup – Two legs; 1st leg Barcelona 1-0 Aston Villa; 2nd leg Aston Villa 3-0 Barcelona. Aston Villa won 3-1 on aggregate
* Copa Libertadores de América – Two legs; 1st leg Peñarol 0-0 Cobreloa; 2nd leg Cobreloa 0-1 Peñarol. Peñarol win 1-0 on aggregate
* England – FA Cup – Tottenham Hotspur won 1-0 over Queens Park Rangers

## Athletics

* September – 1982 European Athletics Championships held in Athens
* October – 1982 Commonwealth Games held in Brisbane, Australia
* December – 1982 Asian Games held in New Delhi, India

## Australian rules football

* Victorian Football League
** Carlton wins the 86th VFL Premiership (Carlton 14.19 (103) d Richmond 12.13 (83))
** Brownlow Medal awarded to Brian Wilson (Melbourne)
** The inaugural VFL Players Association Most Valuable Player Award goes to Leigh Matthews (Hawthorn). The award would be renamed the Leigh Matthews Trophy in his honour in 2002.

## Baseball

* March 27 – KBO League, a professional baseball league in South Korea, a first officially game held.
* May 30 – Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles plays the first of what will become a record-breaking 2,632 consecutive games
* July 13 – Montreal hosts the first MLB All-Star Game outside the United States. Reds SS Dave Concepción hits a 2-run home run in the 2nd inning to spark the National League to its 11th consecutive win over the American League 4-1. The NL has now won 19 of the last 20 contests. Concepción was named the MVP.
* August 18 – Pete Rose sets record with his 13,941st plate appearance.
* World Series – St. Louis Cardinals won 4 games to 3 over the Milwaukee Brewers to claim their first World Championship since 1967. The Series MVP was Cardinals catcher Darrell Porter.
* The Salem Angels won the Northwest League championship.

## Basketball

* NCAA Men's Basketball Championship –
** North Carolina wins 63-62 over Georgetown
* NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship
** Louisiana Tech wins 76–62 over Cheyney State
* NBA Finals –
** Los Angeles Lakers won 4 games to 2 over the Philadelphia 76ers
* National Basketball League (Australia) Finals:
** West Adelaide Bearcats defeated the Geelong Cats 80-74 in the final.
* FIBA World Championship
** USSR World Champion

## Boxing

* May 4 to May 15 – 1982 World Amateur Boxing Championships held in Munich
* June 11 – Larry Holmes defeats Gerry Cooney for the WBC Heavyweight title. Cooney, a white challenger, was dubbed "The White Hope" in what built up to be a very racially toned fight: see Larry Holmes vs. Gerry Cooney.
* November 12 – Aaron Pryor defeats Alexis Argüello in what would later be called the fight of the decade. Pryor retained the WBA's world Jr. Welterweight title with a 14th round knockout
* November 13 – Ray Mancini defeats Duk Koo Kim by knockout in 14 rounds in a tragic fight. Kim died four days later and the fight's outcome brought many new resolutions to boxing.
* December 3 – The Carnival of Champions; Wilfredo Gomez defeats Lupe Pintor by a 14th round knockout and Thomas Hearns defeats Wilfred Benitez by a 15 rounds majority decision; all four boxers are later enshrined as members of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

## Canadian football

* Grey Cup – Edmonton Eskimos won 32–16 over the Toronto Argonauts, the Eskimos' record fifth consecutive Grey Cup victory.
* Vanier Cup – UBC Thunderbirds won 39–14 over the Western Ontario Mustangs

## Cricket

* Graham Gooch leads a "rebel" team of players on tour of South Africa, banned from official cricket since 1970 because of apartheid.

## Cycling

* Giro d'Italia won by Bernard Hinault of France
* Tour de France – Bernard Hinault of France
* UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race – Giuseppe Saronni of Italy

## Dogsled racing

* Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion –
** Rick Swenson won with lead sled dog – Andy

## Field hockey

* Men's World Cup held in Bombay won by Pakistan
* Men's Champions Trophy held at Amstelveen in the Netherlands and won by the host nation

## Figure skating

* World Figure Skating Championship –
** Men's champion: Scott Hamilton, United States
** Ladies' champion: Elaine Zayak, United States
** Pair skating champions: Sabine Baeß & Tassilo Thierbach, Germany
** Ice dancing champions: Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean, Great Britain

## Gaelic Athletic Association

* Camogie
** All-Ireland Camogie Champion: Cork
** National Camogie League: Kilkenny
* Gaelic football
** All-Ireland Senior Football Championship – Offaly 1-15 died Kerry 0-17
** National Football League – Kerry 1-9 died Cork 0-5 (replay)
* Ladies' Gaelic football
** All-Ireland Senior Football Champion: Kerry
** National Football League: Kerry
* Hurling
** All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship – Kilkenny 3-18 died Cork 1-13
** National Hurling League – Kilkenny 2–14 beat Wexford 1–11

## Golf

Men's professional
* Masters Tournament – Craig Stadler
* U.S. Open – Tom Watson
* British Open – Tom Watson
* PGA Championship – Raymond Floyd
* PGA Tour money leader – Craig Stadler – $446,462
* Senior PGA Tour money leader – Miller Barber – $106,890
Men's amateur
* British Amateur – Martin Thompson
* U.S. Amateur – Jay Sigel
Women's professional
* LPGA Championship – Jan Stephenson
* U.S. Women's Open – Janet Anderson
* Classique Peter Jackson Classic – Sandra Haynie
* LPGA Tour money leader – JoAnne Carner – $310,400

## Harness racing

* United States Pacing Triple Crown races –
** Cane Pace – Cam Fella
** Little Brown Jug – Merger
** Messenger Stakes – Cam Fella
* United States Trotting Triple Crown races –
** Hambletonian – Speed Bowl
** Yonkers Trot – Mystic Park
** Kentucky Futurity – Jazz Cosmos
* Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
** Pacers: Rhett's Law

## Horse racing

Steeplechases
* Cheltenham Gold Cup – Silver Buck
* Grand National – Grittar
Flat races
* Australia – Melbourn Cup won by Gurner's Lane
* Canada – Queen's Plate won by Son of Briartic
* France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Akiyda
* Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Assert
* Japan – Japan Cup won by Half Iced
* English Triple Crown Races:
** 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Zino
** The Derby – Golden Fleece
** St. Leger Stakes – Touching Wood
* United States Triple Crown Races:
** Kentucky Derby – Gato Del Sol
** 1982 Preakness Stakes – Aloma's Ruler
** Belmont Stakes – Conquistador Cielo

## Ice hockey

* Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
* Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
* Stanley Cup – New York Islanders win 4-0 over the Vancouver Canucks
* World Hockey Championship –
** Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Czechoslovakia
** Junior Men's champion: Canada defeated Czechoslovakia

## Rugby league

* 1982 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France
* 1982 KB Cup
* 1982 New Zealand rugby league season
* 1982 NSWRFL season – Parramatta Eels win their second title, defeating Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 21-8 in the final.
* 1981–82 Rugby Football League season / 1982–83 Rugby Football League season
* 1982 State of Origin series

## Rugby union

* 88th Five Nations Championship series is won by Ireland

## Snooker

* World Snooker Championship – Alex Higgins beats Ray Reardon 18-15
* World rankings – Ray Reardon becomes world number one for 1982/83

## Swimming

* The fourth FINA World Championships held in Guayaquil, Ecuador

## Tennis

* Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
** Australian Open – Johan Kriek
** French Open – Mats Wilander
** Wimbledon championships – Jimmy Connors
** U.S. Open – Jimmy Connors
* Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
** Australian Open – Chris Evert
** French Open – Martina Navratilova
** Wimbledon championships – Martina Navratilova
** U.S. Open – Chris Evert
* Davis Cup – United States won 4-1 over France in world tennis.
* Billie Jean King makes her final singles appearance at the US Open, losing in the first round.
* Total prize money at US Open exceeds 1 million US dollars.

## Volleyball

* 1982 FIVB Men's World Championship held in Buenos Aires, Argentina won by USSR
* 1982 FIVB Women's World Championship held in Lima, Peru won by China

## Water polo

* Men's World Championship held in Guayaquil, Ecuador, won by USSR

## Multi-sport events

* Asian Games held in New Delhi, India
* Central American and Caribbean Games held in Havana, Cuba
* Commonwealth Games held in Brisbane, Australia

## Awards

* Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Wayne Gretzky, NHL ice hockey
* Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Mary Decker, Track and field
* ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year: Wayne Gretzky