# 1979 in sports

1979 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

## Alpine skiing

* Alpine Skiing World Cup
** Men's overall season champion: Peter Lüscher, Switzerland
** Women's overall season champion: Annemarie Moser-Pröll, Austria

## American football

* Super Bowl XIII – the Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC) won 35−31 over the Dallas Cowboys (NFC)
** Location: Miami Orange Bowl
** Attendance: 79,484
** MVP: Terry Bradshaw, QB (Pittsburgh)
* Sugar Bowl (1978 season):
** The Alabama Crimson Tide won 14–7 over the Penn State Nittany Lions to claim AP Poll national championship
* August 4 – Opening game of the American Football Bundesliga played between Frankfurter Löwen and Düsseldorf Panther, first-ever league game of American football in Germany.
* November 10 – German Bowl I – Frankfurter Löwen defeated the Ansbach Grizzlies 14–8.

## Artistic gymnastics

* World Artistic Gymnastics Championships –
** Men's all-around champion: Alexander Dityatin, USSR
** Women's all-around champion: Nellie Kim, USSR
** Men's team competition champion: USSR
** Women's team competition champion: Romania

## Association football

* May 12 – England – FA Cup – Arsenal win 3–2 over Manchester United
* Sport Club Internacional win the Brazilian Championship undefeated

## Australian rules football

* Victorian Football League
** April 28: Collingwood beats a 70-year-old record for the greatest winning margin in VFL football when they beat St. Kilda by 178 points 31.21 (207) to 3.11 (29)
** July 28: Fitzroy beats Collingwood's three-month-old record when they beat Melbourne 36.22 (238) to 6.12 (48) with Bob Beecroft kicking ten goals
** Carlton win the 83rd VFL Premiership (Carlton 11.16 (82) d Collingwood 11.11 (77))
** Brownlow Medal awarded to Peter Moore (Collingwood)

## Baseball

* January 23 – Willie Mays receives 409 of 432 votes in the BBWAA election to earn enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.
* July 12 – Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park between the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers
* August 2 – death of Thurman Munson, New York Yankees catcher, in an air crash
* World Series – Pittsburgh Pirates won 4 games to 3 over the Baltimore Orioles. The Series MVP was Willie Stargell, Pittsburgh. The Pirates become the only team in sports history to come back from a three games to one deficit in a championship series twice, having also achieved the comeback in the 1925 World Series.

## Basketball

* NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship –
** Michigan St. wins 75–64 over Indiana St.
* NBA Finals –
** Seattle SuperSonics, coached by Lenny Wilkens, won 4 games to 1 over the Washington Bullets for the only finals win in Seattle SuperSonics history.
* National Basketball League (Australia) –
** The Australian NBL was founded. The St Kilda Saints became the first champions by defeating the Canberra Cannons 94–93 in the final.

## Boxing

* September 28 in Las Vegas, Larry Holmes retains his World Heavyweight title with an 11th-round TKO of Earnie Shavers.
* November 30 in Las Vegas, dual world championship undercard: Vito Antuofermo retains his world Middleweight title with a 15-round draw (tie) against Marvin Hagler, and Sugar Ray Leonard wins his first world title, beating WBC world Welterweight champion Wilfred Benítez by knockout in round 15.

## Canadian football

* Grey Cup – Edmonton Eskimos win 17–9 over the Montreal Alouettes
* Vanier Cup – Acadia Axemen win 34–12 over the Western Ontario Mustangs

## Cricket

* Cricket World Cup – West Indies beat England by 92 runs
* World Series Cricket rival competition to official International Cricket Council matches is disbanded.

## Cycling

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

## Dogsled racing

* Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion –
** Rick Swenson won with lead dogs: Andy & O.B. (Old Buddy)

## Field hockey

* 1979 Pan American Games men's competition held in San Juan, Puerto Rico and won by Argentina
* August – The 2nd Women's World Field Hockey Championships are held at Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada with the Netherlands as the champions.

## Figure skating

* World Figure Skating Championships –
** Men's champion: Vladimir Kovalev, Soviet Union
** Ladies' champion: Linda Fratianne, United States
** Pair skating champions: Tai Babilonia & Randy Gardner, United States
** Ice dancing champions: Natalia Linichuk & Gennadi Karponossov, Soviet Union

## Golf

Men's professional
* Masters Tournament – Fuzzy Zoeller defeats Ed Sneed and Tom Watson in the second hole of a sudden-death playoff, the first time the Masters used a sudden-death format.
* U.S. Open – Hale Irwin
* British Open – Seve Ballesteros becomes the first golfer from Continental Europe to win a major since Arnaud Massy of France won this event in 1907.
* PGA Championship – David Graham
* PGA Tour money leader – Tom Watson – $462,636
* Ryder Cup – United States won 17–11 over Europe in the first Ryder Cup to feature a side representing all of Europe.
Men's amateur
* British Amateur – Jay Sigel
* U.S. Amateur – Mark O'Meara
Women's professional
* LPGA Championship – Donna Caponi
* U.S. Women's Open – Jerilyn Britz
* Classique Peter Jackson Classic – Amy Alcott
* LPGA Tour money leader – Nancy Lopez – $197,489

## Harness racing

* The Hambletonian is awarded to Meadowlands Racetrack, starting in 1981.
* United States Pacing Triple Crown races –
** Cane Pace – Happy Motoring
** Little Brown Jug – Hot Hitter
** Messenger Stakes – Hot Hitter
* United States Trotting Triple Crown races –
** Hambletonian – Legend Hanover
** Yonkers Trot – Mo Bandy
** Kentucky Futurity – Filet of Sole
* Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
** Pacers: Rondel
** Trotters: No Response

## Horse racing

Steeplechases
* Cheltenham Gold Cup – Alverton
* Grand National – Rubstic
Flat races
* Australia – Melbourne Cup won by Hyperno
* Canada – Queen's Plate won by Steady Growth
* France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Three Troikas
* Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Troy
* English Triple Crown Races:
** 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Tap On Wood
** The Derby – Troy
** St. Leger Stakes – Son of Love
* United States Triple Crown Races:
** Kentucky Derby – Spectacular Bid
** Preakness Stakes – Spectacular Bid
** Belmont Stakes – Coastal

## Ice hockey

* Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders
* Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders
* Stanley Cup – Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 1 over the New York Rangers
* World Hockey Championship
** Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Czechoslovakia
** Junior Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Sweden
* Réal Cloutier of the Quebec Nordiques became the second NHL player to score a hat trick in his debut NHL game.
* Avco World Trophy – Winnipeg Jets won 4 games to 2 over the Edmonton Oilers

## Rugby league

* 1979 Amco Cup
* 1979 European Rugby League Championship
* 1979 New Zealand rugby league season
* 1978–79 Northern Rugby Football League season / 1979–80 Northern Rugby Football League season
* 1979 NSWRFL season

## Rugby union

* 85th Five Nations Championship series is won by Wales

## Snooker

* World Snooker Championship – outsider Terry Griffiths beats Dennis Taylor 24-16
* World rankings – Ray Reardon remains world number one for 1979/80

## Swimming

* Pan American Games in San Juan, Puerto Rico
* July 23 – West Germany's Klaus Steinbach sets a world record in the 50m freestyle at a swimming meet in Freiburg, shaving off 0.02 of the previous record (23.72) set by Ron Manganiello nearly a year ago: 23.70.

## Tennis

* Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
** Australian Open – Guillermo Vilas
** French Open – Björn Borg
** Wimbledon championships – July 7 – Björn Borg
** U.S. Open – John McEnroe
* Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
** Australian Open – Barbara Jordan
** French Open – Chris Evert
** Wimbledon championships – July 7 – Martina Navratilova
** U.S. Open – Tracy Austin, youngest US Open Champion at the age of 16 years, 8 months and 28 days defeating 4-time defending champion Chris Evert 6–4, 6–3 in the final after defeating 2nd seeded Martina Navratilova in the semifinal making Evert lose for the first time in 32 matches.
* Davis Cup – United States wins 5–0 over Italy in world tennis.

## Volleyball

* Asian Men's Volleyball Championship: won by China
* Asian Women's Volleyball Championship: won by China
* Men and Women's European Volleyball Championship held in France: both won by USSR
* Volleyball at the 1979 Pan American Games in San Juan, Puerto Rico: men's and women's tournaments both won by Cuba

## Water polo

* 1979 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup held in Yugoslavia and won by Hungary
* 1979 FINA Women's Water Polo World Cup held in Merced, California and won by USA

## Multi-sport events

* 8th Pan American Games held in San Juan, Puerto Rico
* 8th Mediterranean Games held in Split, Yugoslavia
* Tenth Summer Universiade held in Mexico City, Mexico
* September 7 – The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) makes its debut.

## Awards

* Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Willie Stargell, Major League Baseball
* Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Tracy Austin, Tennis
* ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year: Willie Stargell, Major League Baseball