1979 in sports

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Years in sports:	1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982
Centuries:	19th century · 20th century · 21st century
Decades:	1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
Years:	1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982

Contents 1 Artistic Gymnastics 2 Athletics 2.1 Marathon 3 Auto Racing 4 Baseball 5 Basketball 6 Boxing 7 Cricket 8 Cycling 9 Dogsled racing 10 Field Hockey 11 Figure skating 12 Football (American) 13 Football (Australian rules football) 14 Football (Canadian) 15 Football (Soccer) 16 Golf 17 Thoroughbred Horse Racing 18 Harness Racing 19 Ice Hockey 20 Skiing 21 Snooker 22 Swimming 22.1 Records 23 Tennis 24 General sporting events 25 Awards 26 Births 26.1 January 26.2 February 26.3 March 26.4 April 26.5 May 26.6 June 26.7 July 26.8 August 26.9 September 26.10 October 26.11 November 26.12 December 27 Deaths

[edit] 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

[edit] Athletics

[edit] Marathon

• July 14 — Pan American Games Marathon, San Juan, Puerto Rico
  • Men's Winner: Radames González (CUB) 2:24:10

• August 25 — Enschede Marathon, Netherlands
  • Men's Winner: Kirk Pfeffer (USA) 2:11:50

• September 28 — Mediterranean Games Marathon, Split, Yugoslavia
  • Men's Winner: Mikhail Koussis (GRE) 2:06:53 (This course was reported as too short)

• December 2 — Fukuoka Marathon, Japan
  • Men's Winner: Toshihiko Seko (JPN) 2:10:35

[edit] Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • NASCAR Championship - Richard Petty
  • February - Richard Petty won the Daytona 500
• CART Racing (replaced USAC): Rick Mears won the season championship
  • May - Indianapolis 500 - Rick Mears
• Formula One Champion - Jody Scheckter of South Africa
• 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Klaus Ludwig / Bill Whittington / Don Whittington win driving a Porsche 935
• Rally racing - the team of Bernard Darniche / Alain Mahe win the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Lancia Stratos HF
• Drag racing:
  • Rob Bruins won the NHRA Top Fuel championship.
  • Don Garlits won Top Fuel at the [NHRA] World Finals
• Touring car racing - Peter Brock and Jim Richards won their second consecutive Bathurst 1000, driving a Holden Torana

[edit] Baseball

• January 23: Willie Mays receives 409 of 432 votes in the BBWAA election to earn enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.

• World Series: Pittsburgh Pirates won 4 games to 3 over the Baltimore Orioles. The Series MVP was Willie Stargell, Pittsburgh

[edit] Basketball

• NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship:
  • Michigan St. wins 75-64 over Indiana St.

• NBA Finals:
  • Seattle SuperSonics, coached by Lenny Wilkins, won 4 games to 1 over the Washington Bulletsfor 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.

[edit] Boxing

• September 28 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Larry Holmes retains his World Heavyweight title with an 11th round TKO of Earnie Shavers.

• November 3 also 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 word title, beating WBC world Welterweight champion Wilfredo Benitez by knockout in round 15.

[edit] Cricket

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

[edit] Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Giuseppe Saronni of Italy
• Tour de France - Bernard Hinault -France
• World Cycling Championship: Jan Raas of Netherlands

[edit] Dogsled racing

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

[edit] Field Hockey

• Pan American Games (Men's Competition) in San Juan, Puerto Rico
  • Gold Medal: Argentina
  • Silver Medal: Canada
  • Bronze Medal: Mexico

• March 10 - In an international women's field hockey match at Wembley Stadium,England.England drew 0-0 with Ireland.
• August - The 2nd Women's World Field Hockey Championships was held at Vancouver, Canada with the Netherlands as the champions.

[edit] 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

[edit] Football (American)

• January 21 - Super Bowl XIII: Pittsburgh Steelers won 35-31 over the Dallas Cowboys

[edit] Football (Australian rules football)

• Victorian Football League
  • Carlton wins the 83rd VFL Premiership (Carlton 11.16 (82) d Collingwood 11.11 (77))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Peter Moore (Collingwood)

[edit] Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Edmonton Eskimos won 17-9 over the Montreal Alouettes
• Vanier Cup: Acadia Axmen won 34-12 over the Western Ontario Mustangs

[edit] Football (Soccer)

For an extensive coverage see 1979 in football (soccer)

• May 12 - England - FA Cup: Arsenal won 3-2 over Manchester United
• Sport Club Internacional Brazilian Champion, without defeats.

[edit] Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. April - The Masters - Fuzzy Zoeller. Zoeller defeated Ed Sneed and Tom Watson in the second hole of a sudden-death playoff, the first time the Masters used a sudden-death format.
  2. June - US Open - Hale Irwin
  3. July 20 - British Open - Seve Ballesteros. He becomes the first golfer from Continental Europe to win a major since Arnaud Massy of France won this event in 1907.
  4. August - PGA Championship - David Graham

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Tom Watson - $462,636

• Ryder Cup: United States won 17-11 over Europe in the first Ryder Cup to feature a side representing all Europe.

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Jerilyn Britz
• LPGA Championship - Donna Caponi
• Nancy Lopez: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $189,213.

[edit] Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Hyperno
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Steady Growth
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Three Troikas
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Troy

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Tap On Wood
  2. Epsom Derby - Troy
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Son of Love

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Spectacular Bid
  2. Preakness Stakes - Spectacular Bid
  3. Belmont Stakes - Coastal

[edit] Harness Racing

• The Hambletonian is awarded to Meadowlands Racetrack, starting in 1981.

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Happy Motoring
  2. Little Brown Jug - Hot Hitter
  3. Messenger Stakes - Hot Hitter

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Legend Hanover
  2. Yonkers Trot
  3. Kentucky Futurity

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Rondel
  • Trotters: No Response

[edit] Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial 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

• Real Cloutier of the Quebec Nordiques became the first NHL player ever to score a hat trick in his debut NHL game.

[edit] Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Peter Lüscher, Switzerland
  • The women's overall season champion: Annemarie Moser-Pröll, Austria

[edit] Snooker

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

[edit] Swimming

[edit] Records

• 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.

[edit] Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Guillermo Vilas
  2. French Open - Björn Borg
  3. Wimbledon championships - July 7 - Björn Borg
  4. US Open - John McEnroe

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Barbara Jordan
  2. French Open - Chris Evert
  3. Wimbledon championships - July 7 - Martina Navratilova
  4. US 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.

[edit] General sporting 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.

[edit] Awards

• Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year: Willie Stargell, Major League Baseball
• Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year: Tracy Austin, Tennis

[edit] Births

[edit] January

• January 2 — Hanna Ljungberg, Swedish football (soccer) player
• January 2 — Carla Tagliente, American field hockey striker
• January 3 — Brooke Morrison, Australian field hockey player
• January 5 — Giuseppe Gibilisco, Italian pole vaulter
• January 5 — Masami Tanaka, Japanese breaststroke swimmer
• January 7 — Fabiola Zuluaga, Colombian tennis player
• January 9 — Jenny Johnson, Canadian field hockey midfielder
• January 9 — Kate Wilson-Smith, Australian badminton player
• January 11 — Olga Jarkova, Russian curler
• January 14 — Whynter Lamarre, Canadian water polo goalie
• January 15 — Marie-Helene Chisholm, Canadian judoka
• January 16 — Helen Grant, English field hockey player
• January 17 — Oleg Lisogor, Ukrainian swimmer
• January 20 — Jérôme Thomas, French boxer
• January 21 — Brian O'Driscoll, Irish rugby player
• January 24 — Amanda Levens, American basketball player
• January 25 — Pi Hongyan, China-born badminton player from France
• January 26 — Joris Keizer, Dutch swimmer
• January 27 — Barbara Schwartz, Austrian tennis player
• January 30 — Luis Amaranto Perea, Colombian football (soccer) defender
• January 30 — Karen Smith, Australian field hockey player

[edit] February

• February 2 — Fani Halkia, Greek athlete
• February 6 — Robyn Kenney, American field hockey midfielder
• February 8 — Adam Trupish, Canadian boxer
• February 9 — Irina Slutskaya, Russian figure skater
• February 9 — Luka Špik, Slovenian rower
• February 10 — Kristen Viikmäe, Estonian football (soccer) striker
• February 11 — Arnaud di Pasquale, French tennis player
• February 13 — Rafael Márquez, Mexican football (soccer) player
• February 15 — Alenka Kejžar, Slovenian swimmer
• February 16 — Valentino Rossi, Italian motorcyclist
• February 17 — Cara Black, Zimbabwean tennis player
• February 19 — Sarah Schleper, American alpine skier
• February 20 — Cindy Morgan, Australian field hockey player
• February 21 — Nathalie Dechy, French tennis player
• February 28 — Gareth Brooks, New Zealand field hockey player

[edit] March

• March 1 — Magui Serna, Spanish tennis player
• March 4 — Geoff Huegill, Australian swimmer
• March 8 — Susanna Garabatos, Spanish freestyle swimmer
• March 10 — Ashley Callus, Australian freestyle swimmer
• March 12 — Jamie Dwyer, Australian field hockey player
• March 12 — Nidia Guenard, Puerto Rican wrestler
• March 13 — Cédric Van Branteghem, Belgian athlete
• March 14 — Nicolas Anelka, French football (soccer) player
• March 14 — Gao Ling, Chinese female badminton player
• March 14 — Yoko Shibui, Japanese long-distance runner
• March 15 — Rachel Harris, Australian freestyle and medley swimmer
• March 15 — Azelia Liu, Canadian field hockey goalkeeper
• March 16 — Suzie Faulkner, Australian field hockey player
• March 17 — Florina Herea, Romanian freestyle swimmer
• March 21 — Ben Bishop, Australian field hockey player
• March 22 — Minke Smabers, Dutch field hockey player
• March 23 — Natalya Baranovskaya, Belarusian swimmer
• March 23 — Misty Hyman, American swimmer
• March 25 — Muriel Hurtis, French athlete
• March 26 — Almudena Gallardo, Spanish archer

[edit] April

• April 5 — Emily Halliday, Australian field hockey player
• April 6 — Marcos Costa, Brazilian boxer
• April 6 — Jana Salat, Canadian waterpolo player
• April 7 — Michel Kratochvil, Swiss tennis player
• April 12 — Cezar Bădiţă, Romanian medley swimmer
• April 12 — Mateja Kežman, Serbian football (soccer) player
• April 13 — Meghann Shaughnessy, American tennis player
• April 16 — Christijan Albers, Dutch Formula 1-driver
• April 18 — Ngaire Smith, Australian field hockey player
• April 18 — Pawina Thongsuk, Thai weightlifter
• April 18 — Zain Wright, Australian field hockey midfielder
• April 19 — Candice Forword, South African field hockey forward
• April 19 — Sarah Price, British backstroke swimmer
• April 20 — Zac Cannata, Scottish swimmer
• April 21 — Israel Héctor Perez, Argentine featherweight boxer
• April 24 — Ronald Brouwer, Dutch field hockey player
• April 27 — Alison Bradley, Canadian softball player
• April 30 — Kip Carpenter, American speed skater
• April 30 — Gerardo Torrado, Mexican football (soccer) player

[edit] May

• May 1 — Ann Dow, Canadian waterpolo player
• May 1 — Lars Berger, Norwegian biathlete
• May 2 — Sumika Minamoto, Japanese freestyle swimmer
• May 5 — Muideen Ganiyu, Nigerian boxer
• May 9 — Rubens Bertogliati, Swiss road cyclist
• May 11 — Javier Bruses, Spanish field hockey goalkeeper
• May 15 — Ravi Kahlon, Canadian field hockey player
• May 16 — Jonas Lennart Andersson, Swedish archer
• May 18 — Bruno Bonfim, Brazilian freestyle swimmer
• May 18 — Justin Sheriff, Irish field hockey forward
• May 19 — Diego Forlán, Uruguay football (soccer) player
• May 24 — Tracy McGrady, American NBA player
• May 24 — Natalya Nazarova, Russian athlete
• May 25 — Jonny Wilkinson, English rugby union player
• May 25 — Dragan Zorić, Serbian flatwater canoer
• May 27 — Salem Mubarak Al-Yami, Saudi Arabian athlete
• May 29 — Angela Platt, Irish field hockey goalkeeper
• May 29 — Tal Stricker, Israeli breaststroke swimmer
• May 31 — Said Saif Asaad, Qatari weightlifter

[edit] June

• June 6 — Solenne Figues, French swimmer
• June 6 — Lisanne de Roever, Dutch field hockey player
• June 7 — Kevin Hofland, Dutch football (soccer) player
• June 11 — Ali Boussaboun, Moroccan-born football (soccer) player
• June 11 — Patricia Miranda, US wrestler
• June 15 — Yulia Nesterenko, Belarusian athlete
• June 16 — Hüsnü Koçabas, Dutch boxer
• June 20 — Todd Matthews-Jouda, Sudanese track and field athlete
• June 22 — Joey Cheek, American speed skater
• June 24 — Fanny Letourneau, Canadian synchronised swimmer
• June 27 — Ehud Vaks, Israeli judoka
• June 29 — Marleen Veldhuis, Dutch freestyle swimmer
• June 30 — Ioana Diaconescu, Romanian freestyle swimmer

[edit] July

• July 5 — Amélie Mauresmo, French tennis player
• July 7 — Alexandra Fouace, French archer
• July 7 — Matias Vila, Argentine field hockey midfielder
• July 8 — Olesya Krasnomovets, Russian athlete
• July 9 — Andrea Dewar, Canadian waterpolo player
• July 13 — Saralee Thungthongkam, Thai badminton player
• July 16 — Mai Nakamura, Japanese swimmer
• July 16 — Kim Rhode, American shooter
• July 17 — Robin Szolkowy, German pair figure skater
• July 17 — Juan Manuel Vivaldi, Argentine field hockey goalkeeper
• July 20 — Gijs Damen, Dutch swimmer
• July 20 — Miklós Fehér, Hungarian football (soccer) player (d. 2004)
• July 20 — David Ortega, Spanish freestyle and backstroke swimmer
• July 21 — Tine Rasmussen, Danish badminton player
• July 23 — Károly Balzsay, Hungarian boxer
• July 25 — Mylanie Barre, Canadian canoeist
• July 27 — Sergey Dotsenko, Ukrainian boxer
• July 28 — Alena Popchanka, Belarusian freestyle swimmer
• July 31 — Carlos Marchena, Spanish football (soccer) player

[edit] August

• August 2 — Thamar Henneken, Dutch freestyle swimmer
• August 8 — William Avery, American basketball player
• August 8 — Carrie Lightbound, Canadian canoeist
• August 9 — Erin Chan, Canadian synchronised swimmer
• August 12 — Cindy Klassen, Canadian ice speed skater
• August 15 — Kamil Djamaloudinov, Russian boxer
• August 22 — Mia Audina, Indonesia-born badminton player from the Netherlands
• August 23 — Luke Doerner, Australian field hockey player
• August 23 — Kaori Mori, Japanese badminton player
• August 28 — Robert Hoyzer, disgraced German football (soccer) referee
• August 31 — Mark Johnston, Canadian freestyle swimmer

[edit] September

• September 2 — Alexander Povetkin, Russian boxer
• September 6 — Annika Liebs, German freestyle and backstroke swimmer
• September 12 — Aaron Hopkins, Australian field hockey player
• September 18 — Silvia Muñoz, Spanish field hockey player
• September 19 — Li Wing Mui, Hong Kong badminton player
• September 23 — Kim Un-Chol, North Korean boxer
• September 26 — Jaycie Phelps, US gymnast
• September 26 — Yurendell DeCaster, Dutch baseball player
• September 27 — Shinji Ono, Japanese football (soccer) player
• September 30 — Andy van der Meyde, Dutch football (soccer) player

[edit] October

• October 7 — Simona Amânar, Romanian gymnast
• October 16 — Michal Tabara, Czech tennis player
• October 17 — Kimi Räikkönen, Finnish Formula 1-driver
• October 23 — Simon Davies, Welsh football (soccer) player
• October 31 — Simão Sabrosa, Portuguese football (soccer) player

[edit] November

• November 1 — Ursula Ditton, Australian field hockey player
• November 3 — Pablo Aimar, Argentinian football (soccer) player
• November 4 — Lazarus Barla, Indian field hockey defender
• November 10 — Petra Banović, Croatian freestyle and medley swimmer
• November 11 — María Jesús Rosa, Spanish field hockey goalkeeper
• November 13 — Ron Artest, American NBA player
• November 14 — Osleidys Menéndez, Cuban athlete
• November 17 — Nehomar Cermeño, Venezuelan bantamweight boxer
• November 20 — Anastasiya Kapachinskaya, Russian athlete
• November 20 — Silvijo Petriško, Croatian coxswain
• November 21 — Alex Tanguay, Canadian ice hockey player
• November 28 — Thomas Lurz, German long distance swimmer
• November 29 — Michael Lamey, Dutch football (soccer) player

[edit] December

• December 2 — Teo Edo, Spanish long-distance freestyle swimmer
• December 2 — Abdul Razzaq, Pakistani cricketer
• December 3 — Rodrigo Garza, Spanish field hockey player
• December 5 — Khumiso Ikgopoleng, Botswanan boxer
• December 7 — Nigella Saunders, Jamaican badminton player
• December 8 — Christian Wilhelmsson, Swedish football (soccer) player
• December 11 — Fernando Oscaris, Argentine field hockey defender
• December 12 — Darren Mew, British breaststroke swimmer
• December 12 — Razundara Tjikuzu, Namibian football (soccer) player
• December 14 — Michael Owen, English football player
• December 17 — Charlotte Edwards, English cricketer
• December 17 — Thum Ping Tjin, Singaporean swimmer
• December 20 — Michael Rogers, Australian cyclist
• December 21 — Stephen Lambert, Australian field hockey goalkeeper
• December 24 — Lucilla Wright, British field hockey player
• December 26 — Aleksander Rodić, Slovenian football (soccer) player
• December 28 — Fátima Madrid, Spanish freestyle swimmer
• December 30 — Angela Lichty, Canadian softball player
• December 30 — Abi Oyepitan, British athlete

[edit] Deaths

• January 7 — Ivan Stedman (83), Australian swimmer (b. 1895)
• February 21 – Glendon Gibbs, Australian cricketer
• March 8 – Gérard Blitz, Belgian swimmer and water polo player (b. 1901)
• April 6 – M Marie Widlow, Hall of Fame softball pitcher
• May 31 – Nigel Howard, English cricketer
• June 22 – Louis Chiron (79), Monegasque racing driver
• June 30 – Chris Taylor (29), American freestyle wrestler (b. 1950)
• July 1 — Vsevolod Bobrov (56), Soviet footballer and ice hockey player (b. 1922)
• July 5 – Elizabeth Ryan, tennis player, won nineteen Wimbledon titles
• July 9 – Betty Evans Grayson, Hall of Fame softball pitcher
• July 21 – Sandor Kocsis, Hungarian soccer player
• July 22 – Tony "Two-Ton" Galento, boxer and actor
• August 2 – Thurman Munson, New York Yankees catcher (1969-1979), plane crash
• August 21 – Giuseppe Meazza, Italian soccer player
• August 24 — Bernt Evensen (74), Norwegian speed skater and cyclist (b. 1905)
• October 22 – Clint Hodgins, Hall of Fame harness-racing driver
• December 15 – Stan Hack, Major League Baseball player (1932-1947)