# 1990 in sports

1990 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

## Alpine skiing

* Alpine Skiing World Cup
** Men's overall season champion: Pirmin Zurbriggen, Switzerland

## American football

* Super Bowl XXIV – the San Francisco 49ers (NFC) won 55–10 over the Denver Broncos (AFC)
** Location: Superdome
** Attendance: 72,919
** MVP: Joe Montana, QB (San Francisco)
* Sugar Bowl (1989 season):
** The Miami Hurricanes won 33–25 over the Alabama Crimson Tide to win the national championship
* November 11 – Derrick Thomas has 7 sacks for Kansas City Chiefs against Seattle Seahawks.

## Association football

* West Germany won the Football World Cup in Rome, Italy, defeating defending champion Argentina 1–0 in the final.
* Ecuador – Ecuadorian Serie A Champions: Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito

## Athletics

* 1990 Commonwealth Games held in Auckland, New Zealand
* 1990 European Athletics Championships held in Split, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia

## Australian rules football

* Australian Football League
** The Victorian Football League is renamed the Australian Football League
** Collingwood wins the 94th AFL premiership (Collingwood 13.11 (89) to Essendon 5.11 (41))
** Brownlow Medal awarded to Tony Liberatore (Footscray)

## Baseball

* March 17 – Taiwan Professional Baseball League, a first official game held.
* June 11 – Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers pitched a no-hitter, his 6th, against the Oakland Athletics.
* The Cincinnati Reds sweep the Oakland A's in the World Series.
* Ira Smith becomes the first player in NCAA history to win consecutive batting titles after hitting .519 with the Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks.

## Basketball

NBA Finals
* Detroit Pistons win four games to one over the Portland Trail Blazers
National Basketball League (Australia) Finals
* Perth Wildcats defeated the Brisbane Bullets 2–1 in the best-of-three final series.
Events
* UNLV wins the NCAA Division I Men's championship
* Yugoslavia wins the FIBA World Championship.
* March 4 – American player Hank Gathers died after collapsing during the semifinals of a West Coast Conference tournament game.

## Boxing

* February 11 – Buster Douglas defeated Mike Tyson by a knockout in round 10 to win the world's unified Heavyweight title, in what many consider boxing's biggest upset ever.
* March 17 – Thunder Meets Lightning: Julio César Chávez defeated Meldrick Taylor to unify boxing's world junior welterweight title
* September 22 to October 7 – Asian Games held in Beijing, China
* November 24 to December 3 – Central American and Caribbean Games held in Mexico City

## Canadian football

* Grey Cup – Winnipeg Blue Bombers 50–11 over the Edmonton Eskimos
* Vanier Cup – Saskatchewan Huskies win 24–21 over the St. Mary's Huskies

## Cycling

* Giro d'Italia won by Gianni Bugno of Italy
* Tour de France – Greg LeMond of the United States
* UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race – Rudy Dhaenens of Belgium

## Dogsled racing

* Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion –
** Susan Butcher won with lead dogs: Sluggo & Lightning

## Darts

* Phil Taylor (darts player) wins his first world title

## Field hockey

* Men's Champions Trophy held in Melbourne won by Australia
* Women's World Cup held in Sydney won by the Netherlands

## Figure skating

* World Figure Skating Championships –
** Men's champion: Kurt Browning, Canada
** Ladies' champion: Jill Trenary, United States
** Pair skating champions: Ekaterina Gordeeva & Sergei Grinkov, Soviet Union
** Ice dancing champions: Marina Klimova / Sergei Ponomarenko, Soviet Union

## Gaelic Athletic Association

* Camogie
** All-Ireland Camogie champion: Kilkenny
** National Camogie League: Kilkenny
* Gaelic football
** All-Ireland Senior Football Championship – Cork 0-11 died Meath 0-9
** National Football League – Meath 2-7 died Down 0-11
* Ladies' Gaelic football
** All-Ireland Senior Football Champion: Kerry
** National Football League: Kerry
* Hurling
** All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship – Cork 5-15 died Galway 2-21
** National Hurling League – Kilkenny 0–19 beat New York 0–9

## Golf

Men's professional
* Masters tournament – Nick Faldo
* U.S. Open – Hale Irwin
* British Open – Nick Faldo
* PGA Championship – Wayne Grady
* PGA Tour money leader – Greg Norman – $1,165,477
* Senior PGA Tour money leader – Lee Trevino – $1,190,518
Men's amateur
* British Amateur – Rolf Muntz
* U.S. Amateur – Phil Mickelson
* European Amateur – Klas Erikson
Women's professional
* Nabisco Dinah Shore – Betsy King
* U.S. Women's Open – Betsy King
* LPGA Championship – Beth Daniel
* Classique du Maurier – Cathy Johnston-Forbes
* LPGA Tour money leader – Beth Daniel – $863,578
* The inaugural Solheim Cup match was won by the United States who beat Europe 11½ – 4½

## Harness racing

* North America Cup – Apaches Fame
* United States Pacing Triple Crown races –
** Cane Pace – Jake And Elwood
** Little Brown Jug – Beach Towel
** Messenger Stakes – Jake And Elwood
* United States Trotting Triple Crown races –
** Hambletonian – Harmonious
** Yonkers Trot - Royal Troubador
** Kentucky Futurity – Star Mystic
* Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
** Pacers: Thorate
** Trotters: Real Force

## Horse racing

Steeplechases
* Cheltenham Gold Cup – Norton's Coin
* Grand National – Mr Frisk
Flat races
* Australia – Melbourne Cup won by Kingston Rule
* Canadian Triple Crown Races:
** Queen's Plate – Izvestia
** Prince of Wales Stakes – Izvestia
** Breeders' Stakes – Izvestia
** For the second straight year, a horse sweeps the series.
* France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Saumarez
* Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Salsabil
* Japan – Japan Cup won by Better Loosen Up
* English Triple Crown Races:
** 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Tirol
** The Derby – Quest for Fame
** St. Leger Stakes – Snurge
* United States Triple Crown Races:
** Kentucky Derby – Unbridled
** Preakness Stakes – Summer Squall
** Belmont Stakes – Go and Go
* Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships:
** Breeders' Cup Classic – Unbridled
** Breeders' Cup Distaff – Bayakoa
** Breeders' Cup Juvenile – Fly So Free
** Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies – Meadow Star
** Breeders' Cup Mile – Royal Academy
** Breeders' Cup Sprint – Safely Kept
** Breeders' Cup Turf – In the Wings

## Ice hockey

* Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings
* Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Mark Messier, Edmonton Oilers
* Stanley Cup – Edmonton Oilers won 4 games to 1 over the Boston Bruins
* World Hockey Championships
** Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Sweden
** Junior Men's champion: Canada defeated Soviet Union
** Women's champion: in the inaugural event, Canada defeated United States

## Lacrosse

* The 6th World Lacrosse Championship is held in Perth, Australia. The United States win, and Canada is the runner-up.
* The Philadelphia Wings beat the New England Blazers 17–7 in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League Championship.
* The Brooklin Redmen win the Mann Cup.
* Orangeville wins the Founders Cup.
* The St. Catharines Athletics win the Minto Cup.

## Radiosport

* The first World Radiosport Team Championship held in Seattle, United States Gold medals won by John Dorr K1AR and Doug Grant K1DG of the United States.
* Fifth Amateur Radio Direction Finding World Championship held in Štrbské Pleso, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia).

## Rugby league

* 1990–91 French Championship season
* 1990 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France
* 1990 New Zealand rugby league season
* 1990 NSWRL season
* 1990 Pacific Cup
* 1989–90 Rugby Football League season / 1990–91 Rugby Football League season
* 1990 State of Origin series
* 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup

## Rugby union

* 96th Five Nations Championship series is won by Scotland who complete the Grand Slam

## Snooker

* World Snooker Championship – Stephen Hendry beats Jimmy White 18-12
* World rankings – Stephen Hendry becomes world number one for 1990/91

## Swimming

* March 24 – Tom Jager betters his own world record (22.12) in the 50m freestyle (long course) twice at a swimming meet in Nashville, Tennessee, swimming 21.98 in the heats and 21.81 in the final.

## Tennis

* Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
** Australian Open – Ivan Lendl
** French Open – Andrés Gómez
** Wimbledon championships – Stefan Edberg
** US Open – Pete Sampras
* Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
** Australian Open – Steffi Graf
** French Open – Monica Seles
** Wimbledon championships – Martina Navratilova
** U.S. Open – Gabriela Sabatini
* Davis Cup – United States won 3–2 over Australia in world tennis.

## Triathlon

* ITU World Championships held in Orlando, United States
* ETU European Championships held in Linz, Austria

## Volleyball

* FIVB World League 1990 held in Osaka, Japan won by Italy
* 1990 FIVB Men's World Championship held in Rio de Janeiro won by Italy
* 1990 FIVB Women's World Championship held in Beijing won by USSR

## Multi-sport events

* Asian Games held in Beijing, China
* Winter Asian Games held in Sapporo, Japan
* Central American and Caribbean Games held in Mexico City, Mexico
* 1990 Commonwealth Games held in Auckland, New Zealand
* Summer Goodwill Games held in Seattle, United States

## Awards

* Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Joe Montana, National Football League
* Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Beth Daniel, LPGA golf
* BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year – Mal Meninga, Australian rugby league footballer
* Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year - Joe Montana, National Football League