# 1985 in sports

1985 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

## Alpine skiing

* Alpine Skiing World Cup:
** Men's overall season champion: Marc Girardelli, Luxembourg
** Women's overall season champion: Michela Figini, Switzerland

## American football

* Super Bowl XIX – the San Francisco 49ers (NFC) won 38–16 over the Miami Dolphins (AFC)
** Location: Stanford Stadium
** Attendance: 84,059
** MVP: Joe Montana, QB (San Francisco)
* Baltimore Stars win USFL Championship 28-24 over Oakland Invaders

## Artistic gymnastics

* World Artistic Gymnastics Championships –
** Men's all-around champion: Yuri Korolev, USSR
** Women's all-around champions: Oksana Omelianchik, USSR, Yelena Shushunova, USSR
** Men's team competition champion: USSR
** Women's team competition champion: USSR

## Association football

* NASL announces suspension of operations and hopes to return in 1986. It never did.
* England – FA Cup – Manchester United won 1-0 (aet) over Everton. Kevin Moran of MU receives first-ever red card in an FA Cup final.
* Everton are crowned English champions for the eighth time, setting a then record points total for a 42-game programme under three points for a win.

## Australian rules football

* Victorian Football League
** Essendon wins the 89th VFL Premiership (Essendon 26.14 (170) d Hawthorn 14.8 (92))
** Brownlow Medal awarded to Brad Hardie (Footscray)

## Baseball

* Cincinnati Reds' player/manager Pete Rose breaks Ty Cobb's All-Time Hit Record of 4,191 hits. Rose's record-breaking single was off of San Diego Padres pitcher Eric Show (September 11)
* Tom Seaver of the Chicago White Sox and Phil Niekro of the New York Yankees become the 17th and 18th pitchers to join the 300 win club on August 4 and October 6 respectively.
* Rollie Fingers breaks Sparky Lyle's American League career record of 232 saves.
* World Series – The Kansas City Royals defeat the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 3, becoming the first team to win the World Series after losing the first two games at home.
* Books published:
** Bill James, The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract: A seminal volume of baseball history by the leading sabermetrician of the day. He revised the book into a new edition in 2001.

## Basketball

* NCAA Men's Basketball Championship –
** Villanova wins 66-64 over Georgetown
* NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship
** Old Dominion wins 70–65 over Georgia
* National Basketball Association
** 1985 NBA All-Star Game
** 1985 NBA draft
** NBA Finals
*** Los Angeles Lakers win 4 games to 2 over the Boston Celtics
** Team moves
*** Kansas City Kings franchise moves, 1985–86 NBA season first Sacramento Kings season.
* National Basketball League (Australia) Finals:
** Brisbane Bullets defeated the Adelaide 36ers 121-95 in the final.
* United States Basketball League ( USBL ) was founded
* Michael Jordan competes in his first dunk contest, wearing the first edition of his now famous line of "Air" Jordan basketball shoes.
* A first game of Liga Nacional de Basket, a professional basketball league of Argentina on April 26.

## Boxing

* April 15 – The War: Marvin Hagler knocks out Thomas Hearns in three rounds to retain the world's Middleweight title.
* August 10 – Héctor Camacho defeats José Luis Ramírez to lift the WBC's world Lightweight title.
* September 21 – Michael Spinks beats Larry Holmes by a decision in 15 rounds to become the first world Light Heavyweight champion to win a world Heavyweight title.

## Canadian football

* Grey Cup – B.C. Lions win 37–24 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
* Vanier Cup – Calgary Dinos win 25–6 over the Western Ontario Mustangs

## Cricket

* Kim Hughes 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 – Joop Zoetemelk of the Netherlands

## Dogsled racing

* Libby Riddles with her lead dogs, Axle & Dugan, becomes the first woman to ever win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race

## Field hockey

* Men's Champions Trophy held in Perth, Western Australia, won by Australia

## Figure skating

* World Figure Skating Championships –
** Men's champion: Alexander Fadeev, Soviet Union
** Ladies' champion: Katarina Witt, East Germany
** Pair skating champions: Elena Valova / Oleg Vasiliev, Soviet Union
** Ice dancing champions: Natalia Bestemianova / Andrei Bukin, Soviet Union

## Gaelic Athletic Association

* Camogie
** All-Ireland Camogie Champion: Kilkenny
** National Camogie League: Kilkenny
* Gaelic football
** All-Ireland Senior Football Championship – Kerry 2-12 died Dublin 2-8
** National Football League – Monaghan 1-11 died Armagh 0-9
* Ladies' Gaelic football
** All-Ireland Senior Football Champion: Kerry
** National Football League: Kerry
* Hurling
** All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship – Offaly 2-11 died Galway 1-12
** National Hurling League – Limerick 3–12 beat Clare 1–7

## Golf

Men's professional
* Masters Tournament – Bernhard Langer
* U.S. Open – Andy North
* British Open – Sandy Lyle
* PGA Championship – Hubert Green
* PGA Tour money leader – Curtis Strange – $542,321
* Senior PGA Tour money leader – Peter Thomson – $386,724
* Ryder Cup – Europe won 16½ to 11½ over the United States in team golf.
Men's amateur
* British Amateur – Garth McGimpsey
* U.S. Amateur – Sam Randolph
Women's professional
* Nabisco Dinah Shore – Alice Miller
* LPGA Championship – Nancy Lopez
* U.S. Women's Open – Kathy Baker
* Classique du Maurier Classic – Pat Bradley
* LPGA Tour money leader – Nancy Lopez – $416,472

## Harness racing

* North America Cup – Staff Director
* United States Pacing Triple Crown races –
** Cane Pace – Chairmanoftheboard
** Little Brown Jug – Nihilator
** Messenger Stakes – Pershing Square
* United States Trotting Triple Crown races –
** Hambletonian – Prakas
** Yonkers Trot - Master Willie
** Kentucky Futurity – Flak Bait
* Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
** Pacers: Preux Chevalier
** Trotters: Scotch Notch

## Horse racing

Steeplechases
* Cheltenham Gold Cup – Forgive 'n Forget
* Grand National – Last Suspect
Flat races
* Australia – Melbourne Cup won by What A Nuisance
* Canada – Queen's Plate won by La Lorgnette
* France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Rainbow Quest
* Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Law Society
* Japan – Japan Cup won by Symboli Rudolf
* English Triple Crown Races:
** 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Shadeed
** The Derby – Slip Anchor
** St. Leger Stakes – Oh So Sharp
* United States Triple Crown Races:
** Kentucky Derby – Spend a Buck
** Preakness Stakes – Tank's Prospect
** Belmont Stakes – Creme Fraiche
* Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships:
** Breeders' Cup Classic – Proud Truth
** Breeders' Cup Distaff – Life's Magic
** Breeders' Cup Juvenile – Tasso
** Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies – Twilight Ridge
** Breeders' Cup Mile – Cozzene
** Breeders' Cup Sprint – Precisionist
** Breeders' Cup Turf – Pebbles

## 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 – Edmonton Oilers win 4 games to 1 over the Philadelphia Flyers
* World Hockey Championship –
** Men's champion: Czechoslovakia defeated Canada
** Junior Men's champion: Canada defeated Czechoslovakia

## Rugby league

* 1985 National Panasonic Cup
* 1985 New Zealand rugby league season
* 1985 NSWRL season
* 1984–85 Rugby Football League season / 1985–86 Rugby Football League season
* 1985 State of Origin series
* 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup

## Rugby union

* 91st Five Nations Championship series is won by Ireland

## Snooker

* World Snooker Championship – Dennis Taylor beats Steve Davis 18-17 in one of the greatest snooker matches of all time
* World rankings – Steve Davis remains world number one for 1985/86

## Swimming

* First Pan Pacific Championships held in Tokyo (August 15 – August 18)
* July 21 – Switzerland's Dano Halsall swims a world record in the 50m freestyle (long course) at a swimming meet in Bellinzona, shaving off 0.02 of the previous record (22.54) set by USA's Robin Leamy four years ago: 22.52.
* December 6 – USA's Tom Jager takes the world record from Dano Halsall (22.52) in the 50m freestyle (long course) at a swimming meet in Austin, Texas, clocking 22.40.

## Tennis

* Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
** Australian Open – Stefan Edberg
** French Open – Mats Wilander
** Wimbledon championships – Boris Becker
** US Open – Ivan Lendl
* Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
** Australian Open – Martina Navratilova
** French Open – Chris Evert
** Wimbledon championships – Martina Navratilova
** US Open – Hana Mandlíková
* Davis Cup – Sweden wins 3-2 over Germany F.R. in world team tennis.

## Volleyball

* Men and Women's European Volleyball Championships held in the Netherlands: both men's and women's tournaments won by USSR

## Water polo

* 1985 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup held in Duisburg won by West Germany
* 1985 Men's European Water Polo Championship held in Sofia, Bulgaria won by USSR
* 1985 Women's European Water Polo Championship held in Oslo, Norway won by the Netherlands

## Multi-sport events

* Sixth Pan Arab Games held in Rabat, Morocco
* Second World Games held in London, United Kingdom
* Thirteenth Summer Universiade held in Kobe, Japan
* Twelfth Winter Universiade held in Belluno, Italy

## Awards

* Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Dwight Gooden, Major League Baseball
* Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Nancy Lopez, LPGA golf
* ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the year: Pete Rose Major League Baseball