1980 in sports
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See also: 1979 in sports, other events of 1980, 1981 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.
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Auto Racing
- Stock car racing:
- CART Racing - Johnny Rutherford won the season championship
- Formula One Champion - Alan Jones of Australia
- 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Jean Rondeau / Jean-Pierre Jaussaud won, driving a Rondeau M379B
- Rally racing - Walter Röhrl in a Fiat won the World Rally Championship
- the team of Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdorfer won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Fiat 131 Abarth
- Drag racing - Shirley Muldowney won the NHRA Top Fuel championship.
Baseball
- September 18: Outfielder Gary Ward become the sixth Minnesota Twins player to hit for the cycle. The Twins lose 9-8 to the Milwaukee Brewers, wasting Ward's effort. On May 26, 2004 his son, Daryle Ward, will repeat the feat guiding the Pirates' 11-8 victory over the Cardinals. Ward joined his father to become the first father-son combination in major league history to hit for the cycle.
- Rollie Fingers breaks Hoyt Wilhelm's major league record of 227 career saves.
- World Series: The Philadelphia Phillies of the National League end 97 years of frustration by defeating the American League champion Kansas City Royals.
- Japan's Sadaharu Oh retires from the Yomiuri Giants as the all time professional baseball home run king.
Basketball
- NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship:
- Louisville wins 59-54 over UCLA
- NBA Finals:
- Los Angeles Lakers won 4 games to 2 over the Philadelphia 76ers
Boxing
- March 14 - 22 members of the United States Olympic boxing team died in a plane crash near Warsaw, Poland
- June 20- Roberto Duran defeats Sugar Ray Leonard by a 15 round decision to win boxing's WBC world Welterweight title.
- August 2- Thomas Hearns defeats Jose Pipino Cuevas by a knockout in round 2 to win boxing's WBA world Welterweight title and Yasutsune Uehara knocks out Samuel Serrano in round six to win the WBA's world Jr. Lightweight title in Detroit
- In Cincinnati, Aaron Pryor defeats Antonio Kid Pambele Cervantes by a knockout in round four to win the WBA's world Jr. Welterweight title.
- October 2- Larry Holmes defeats Muhammad Ali by a knockout in round eleven to retain boxing's WBC world Heavyweight title, in what would be Ali's last world title bout.
- November 25- In The No Más Fight, in Montreal, Quebec, Sugar Ray Leonard recovers the WBC's world Welterweight championship with an eight round technical knockout of Roberto Duran.
Cycling
- Giro d'Italia won by Bernard Hinault of France
- Tour de France - Joop Zoetemelk of the Netherlands
- World Cycling Championship: Bernard Hinault of France
Field Hockey
- January 3 - 11 - 2nd Champions Trophy held in Lahore, Pakistan won by Pakistan.
- March 8 - In an international women's field hockey match at Wembley Stadium,England. England beat Scotland 2-0.
- August - In the first ever Olympic women's Field Hockey Final,Zimbabwe are the Olympic champions.
Figure Skating
- World Figure Skating Championships:
- Men's champion: Jan Hoffmann, Germany
- Women's champion: Anett Pötzsch, Germany
- Pairs champions: Marina Tscherkasowa & Sergej Schachrai, Soviet Union
Football (American)
- Super Bowl XIV: Pittsburgh Steelers won 31-19 over the Los Angeles Rams
Football (Australian Rules)
- Victorian Football League
- Richmond wins the 84th VFL Premiership (Richmond 23.21 (159) d Collingwood 9.24 (78))
- Brownlow Medal awarded to Kelvin Templeton (Footscray)
Football (Canadian)
- Grey Cup: Edmonton Eskimos win 48-10 over the Hamilton Tigercats
- Vanier Cup: Alberta Golden Bears win 40-21 over the Ottawa Gee Gees
Football (Soccer)
- European Championship: West Germany 2-1 Belgium
- European Cup: Nottingham Forest 1-0 Hamburg
- UEFA Cup: 2 legs, Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-2 Eintracht Frankfurt; Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 Borussia Mönchengladbach, 3-3 on aggregate, Frankfurt win on away goals
- Cup Winners' Cup: Valencia 0-0 Arsenal (AET), Valencia won 5-4 on penalties
- England - FA Cup: West Ham United won 1-0 over Arsenal
Golf
- January - the Senior PGA Tour (Champions Tour) is founded.
- Grand Slam of golf results:
- PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Tom Watson - $530,808
- PGA Champions Tour - In its first year, Don January is the leading money winner with earnings of $44,100.
- US Women's Open - Amy Alcott
- LPGA Championship - Sally Little
- Beth Daniel: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $231,000.
Horse racing
Thoroughbred Horse Racing
- Australia - Melbourne Cup - Beldale Ball
- Canada - Queen's Plate - Driving Home
- France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Detroit
- Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Tyrnavos
Harness Racing
- Superhorse, Niatross wins the United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
- Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
- Pacers: Koala King
- Trotters: Hano Direct
Ice Hockey
Skiing
- Alpine Skiing
- The men's overall season champion: Andreas Wenzel, Liechtenstein
- The women's overall season champion: Hanni Wenzel, Liechtenstein
January 12 - Canada’s Ken Read, the leader of the "Crazy Canucks" ski team, wins the Hahnenkamm downhill in Kitzbühel, Austria, becoming the first North American to ever win the classic race.
Snooker
- World Snooker Championship: Cliff Thorburn beats Alex Higgins 18-16, becoming the first non-UK player to win the title
- World rankings: Ray Reardon remains world number one for 1980/81
Tennis
- Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
- Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
- Davis Cup World tennis - Czechoslovakia defeated Italy 4-1.
General sporting events
- 1980 Summer Olympics takes place in Moscow, USSR
- USSR wins the most medals (195), and the most gold medals (80).
- 1980 Winter Olympics takes place in Lake Placid, United States
- Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
- Joe May won with lead dogs: Wilbur & Cora Gray
Births
- February 10 - Gordon D'Arcy, Irish international rugby player
- February 12 - Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spanish tennis player
- February 20 - Imanol Harinordoquy, French international rugby player
- March 21 - Ronaldinho, Brazilian international footballer
- May 14 - Joe van Niekerk, South Africa international rugby player
- June 9 - Udonis Haslem, American basketball player
- June 17 - Venus Williams, American tennis player
- June 23 - Ramnaresh Sarwan, Guyanese cricketer
- July 6 - Pau Gasol, Catalan NBA star
- July 8 - Robbie Keane, Irish international footballer
- July 10 - Adam Petty, fourth-generation NASCAR driver (d. 2000)
- August 29 - Perdita Felicien, world champion track and field star
- September 1 - Dawn Holden, English cricketer
- September 12 - Yao Ming, Chinese NBA star
- September 30 - Martina Hingis, Swiss tennis player
- October 3 - Sarah Collyer, English cricketer
- October 13 - Scott Parker, English football player
- October 21 - Mike Danton, Canadian ice hockey player, accused of murder
Deaths
- January 25 - Peter Haughton, harness racing driver - auto accident
- March 21 - Marcel Boussac - last of France's horse racing tycoons
- March 31 - Jesse Owens, American athlete
- October 25- Victor Galindez, boxing light heavyweight world champion, in car race accident.fr:1980 en sport