1979 in sports
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See also: 1978 in sports, other events of 1979, 1980 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.
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Auto Racing
- Stock car racing:
- CART Racing (replaced USAC): Rick Mears won the season championship
- 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
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
Basketball
- NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship:
- Michigan St. wins 75-64 over Indiana St.
- NBA Finals:
- Seattle SuperSonics won 4 games to 1 over the Washington Bullets
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.
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 -France
- World Cycling Championship: Jan Raas of Netherlands
Field Hockey
- 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.
Figure Skating
- World Figure Skating Championships:
- Men's champion: Vladimir Kovalev, (Soviet Union)
- Women's champion: Linda Fratianne, (United States)
- Pairs champions: Tai Babilonia & Randy Gardner, (United States)
Football (American)
- Super Bowl XIII: Pittsburgh Steelers won 35-31 over the Dallas Cowboys
Football (Australian Rules)
- 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)
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
Football (Soccer)
- May 12 - England - FA Cup: Arsenal won 3-2 over Manchester United
Sport Club Internacional Brazilian Champion, without defeats.
Golf
- Grand Slam of golf results:
- 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.
- US Women's Open - Jerilyn Britz
- LPGA Championship - Donna Caponi
- Nancy Lopez: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $189,213.
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
Harness Racing
- Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
- Pacers: Rondel
- Trotters: No Response
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
Skiing
- Alpine Skiing
- The men's overall season champion: Peter Luescher, Switzerland
- The women's overall season champion: Annemarie Moser-Pröll, Austria
Snooker
- World Snooker Championship: outsider Terry Griffiths beats Dennis Taylor 24-16
- World rankings: Ray Reardon remains world number one for 1979/80
Tennis
- Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
- Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
- Australian Open - Barbara Jordan
- French Open - Chris Evert
- Wimbledon championships - July 7 - Martina Navratilova
- 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.
General sporting events
- Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
- Rick Swenson won with lead dogs: Andy & O.B. (Old Buddy)
- September 7 - The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) makes its debut.
Births
- January 15 - Marie-Helene Chisholm, judo star
- January 2 - Hanna Ljungberg, Swedish soccer star
- January 9 - Kate Wilson-Smith, badminton player
- January 14 - Whynter Lamarre, water polo goalie
- January 16 - Helen Grant, English field hockey star
- January 21 - Brian O'Driscoll, Irish rugby star
- January 24 - Amanda Levens, basketball player
- January 25 - Pi Hongyan, badminton player
- January 30 - Karen Smith, Australian field hockey international
- February 2 - Fani Halkia, Greek athlete
- February 9 - Irina Slutskaya, figure skater
- March 12 - Nidia Guenard, professional wrestler
- March 16 - Suzie Faulkner, Australian field hockey international
- March 26 - Almudena Gallardo, Spanish archery star
- April 5 - Emily Halliday, Australian field hockey international
- April 6 - Jana Salat, water polo player
- April 18 - Pawina Thongsuk, weightlifter
- April 27 - Alison Bradley, Canadian softball player
- May 1 - Ann Dow, Canadian water polo star
- May 24 - Tracy McGrady, NBA star
- May 24 - Natalya Nazarova, Russian athlete
- May 25 - Jonny Wilkinson, English rugby star
- June 11 - Patricia Miranda, US wrestler
- June 24 - Fanny Letourneau, synchronised swimming star
- July 5 - Amélie Mauresmo, tennis star
- July 7 - Alexandra Fouace, French archery star
- July 9 - Andrea Dewar, Canadian water polo star
- July 13 - Saralee Thungthongkam, badminton player
- July 16 - Kim Rhode, shooter
- July 21 - Tine Rasmussen, badminton player
- July 25 - Mylanie Barre, canoeist
- August 8 - Carrie Lightbound, canoeist
- August 9 - Erin Chan, synchronised swimming star
- August 23 - Kaori Mori, badminton player
- August 28 - Robert Hoyzer, disgraced German football referee
- September 19 - Li Wing Mui, badminton player
- September 26 - Jaycie Phelps, US gymnast
- November 13 - Ron Artest, NBA star
- November 20 - Anastasiya Kapachinskaya, Russian athlete
- December 2 - Abdul Razzaq, cricketer
- December 7 - Nigella Saunders, badminton player
- December 17 - Charlotte Edwards, English cricketer
- December 24 - Lucilla Wright, UK field hockey international
- December 30 - Angela Lichty, softball player
- December 30 - Abi Oyepitan, athlete
Deaths
- February 21 - Glendon Gibbs, Australian cricketer
- April 6 - M Marie Widlow, Hall of Fame softball pitcher
- May 31 - Nigel Howard, English cricketer
- June 22 Louis Chiron, Grand Prix motor racing champion
- July 5 - Elizabeth Ryan, tennis star, won 19 Wimbledon titles
- July 9 - Betty Evans Grayson, Hall of Fame softball pitcher
- July 21 - Sandor Kocsis, Hungarian soccer star
- July 22 - Tony "Two-Ton" Galento, boxer/actor
- August 2 - Thurman Munson, New York Yankees catcher (1969-1979), plane crash
- August 21 - Giuseppe Meazza, Italian, soccer star
- October 22 - Clint Hodgins, Hall of Fame harness-racing driver
- December 15 - Stan Hack, Major League Baseball player (1932-1947)fr:1979 en sport