Gourt Home::Gourt :: 1978 in sports
See also: 1977 in sports, other events of 1978, 1979 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.
Artistic Gymnastics
- World Artistic Gymnastics Championships:
- Men's all-around champion: Nikolai Andrianov, USSR
- Women's all-around champion: Elena Mukhina, USSR
- Men's team competition champion: Japan
- Women's team competition champion: USSR
Auto racing
- USAC - A J Foyt won final season championship under USAC.
- CART, Championship Auto Racing Teams open wheel racing established in the United States.
- Indianapolis 500 - won by Al Unser Snr
Baseball
- World Series: New York Yankees win 4 games to 2 over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Series MVP is Bucky Dent, New York
Basketball
- Wilt Chamberlain is elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame, along with coaches Sam Barry, Eddie Hickey, John McLendon, Ray Meyer and Pete Newell, and referee Jim Enright
- NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship:
- Kentucky wins 94-88 over Duke
- NBA Finals:
- Washington Bullets won 4 games to 3 over the Seattle SuperSonics
- FIBA World Championship
- Yugoslavia World Champion
Boxing
- February 15: Leon Spinks defeats Muhammad Ali by decision in 15 rounds to win the world's Heavyweight title.
- September 15: Muhammad Ali recovers the world's Heavyweight title, beating Leon Spinks by decision in their rematch. It is the first time a boxer wins the world Heavyweight title for a third time.
Cycling
- Giro d'Italia won by Johan de Muynck of Belgium
- Tour de France - Bernard Hinault of France
- World Cycling Championship: Gerrie Knetemann of Netherlands
Dogsled racing
- Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
- Dick Mackey won with lead dogs: Skipper & Shrew
Field hockey
- Men's World Cup in Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Gold Medal: Pakistan
- Silver Medal: The Netherlands
- Bronze Medal: Australia
- Men's European Nations Cup in Hannover, West Germany
- Gold Medal: West Germany
- Silver Medal: The Netherlands
- Bronze Medal: England
- Men's Champions Trophy in Lahore, Pakistan
- Gold Medal: Pakistan
- Silver Medal: Australia
- Bronze Medal: Great Britain
- Women's World Cup in Madrid, Spain
- Gold Medal: The Netherlands
- Silver Medal: West Germany
- Bronze Medal: Argentina / Belgium
- March 11 - In an international women's field hockey match at Wembley Stadium, London. England drew with the United States of America: 2-2.
Figure skating
- World Figure Skating Championships:
- Men's champion: Charles Tickner, United States
- Women's champion: Anett Pötzsch, Germany
- Pairs champions: Irina Rodnina & Alexander Saizew, Soviet Union
Football (American)
- Super Bowl XII: Dallas Cowboys won 27-10 over the Denver Broncos
Football (Australian Rules)
- Victorian Football League
- Hawthorn wins the 82nd VFL Premiership (Hawthorn 18.13 (121) d North Melbourne 15.13 (103))
- Brownlow Medal awarded to Malcolm Blight (North Melbourne)
Football (Canadian)
- Grey Cup: Edmonton Eskimos win 20-13 over the Montreal Alouettes
- Vanier Cup: Queen's Golden Gaels win 16-3 over the UBC Thunderbirds
Football (Soccer)
- Football World Cup: Argentina wins 3-1 (after extra time) over the Netherlands
- England - FA Cup: Ipswich Town won 1-0 over Arsenal
- England - League: Nottingham Forest won the championship as well as the League Cup
Golf
Men's golf
- Grand Slam of golf results:
- May - The Masters - Gary Player
- June - US Open - Andy North
- July - British Open - Jack Nicklaus
- August - PGA Championship - John Mahaffey
- PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Tom Watson - $362,429
- US Women's Open - Hollis Stacy
- LPGA Championship - Nancy Lopez
- Nancy Lopez: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $189,213.
Thoroughbred horse racing
- Australia - Melbourne Cup - Arwon
- Canada - Queen's Plate - Regal Embrace
- France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Alleged
- Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Shirley Heights
- July 13: At Belmont Park, Elmont, New York, star jockey, Ron Turcotte is injured in a racing accident ending his career, leaving him a paraplegic.
- Affirmed, ridden by jockey Steve Cauthen, wins the United States Triple Crown Races by narrowly defeating Alydar in all three races:
Harness racing
- Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
- Pacers: Markovina
- Trotters: Derby Royale
Ice hockey
- Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Guy Lafleur, Montreal Canadiens
- Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Guy Lafleur, Montreal Canadiens
- Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 2 over the Boston Bruins
- World Hockey Championship
- Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Czechoslovakia
- Junior Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Sweden
- Note: In the early years of the Junior tournament, Canada did not send a true National Junior team to the event. Instead, the Memorial Cup champions usually went to represent Canada. The exception was 1978 in Montreal, when an "all-star" team was put together.
Skiing
- Alpine Skiing
- The men's overall season champion: Ingemar Stenmark, Sweden
- The women's overall season champion: Hanni Wenzel, Liechtenstein
Snooker
- World Snooker Championship: Ray Reardon beats Perrie Mans 25-18
- World rankings: Ray Reardon remains world number one for 1978/79.
Speed skating
- First ISU Short Track Speed Skating Championships for men and ladies held in Solihull, UK
Tennis
- Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
- Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
- Davis Cup: United States won 4-1 over Great Britain in world tennis.
- US Open moves to hard courts of the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York.
- Total prize money at US Open exceeds US $500,000.
Triathlon
- First Ironman Triathlon held in Hawaii
Water Polo
- Men's World Championship in Berlin, West Germany
- Gold Medal: Italy
- Silver Medal: Hungary
- Bronze Medal: Yugoslavia
General sporting events
- Third All-Africa Games held in Algiers, Algeria
- Eighth Asian Games held in Bangkok, Thailand
- Ninth Winter Universiade held in Špindlerův Mlýn, Czechoslovakia
Births
January
- January 4 — Dominik Hrbaty, Slovakian tennis player
- January 8 — Lovrenco Franičević, Croatian butterfly swimmer
- January 8 — Gennaro Gattuso, Italian football player
- January 12 — Bonaventure Kalou, Ivorian football (soccer) player
- January 13 — Nenad Buljan, Croatian freestyle swimmer
- January 14 — Shawn Crawford, American athlete
- January 17 — Petra Mandula, Hungarian tennis player
- January 18 — Thor Hushovd, Norwegian cyclist
- January 18 — Bogdan Lobont, Romanian football (soccer) player
- January 18 — Stev Theloke, German swimmer
- January 19 — Zbigniew Malkowski, Polish football (soccer) player
- January 19 — Megan Sargeant, Australian field hockey player
- January 20 — Lim Jung-Woo, South Korean field hockey player
- January 26 — Corina Morariu, American tennis player
- January 27 — Dipsy Selolwane, Botswana football (soccer) player
- January 28 — Gianluigi Buffon, Italian football (soccer) player
- January 28 — Takumo Sato, Japanese Formula 1-driver
- January 28 — Paul Wettlaufer, Canadian field hockey player
- January 31 — Clemens Arnold, German field hockey goalkeeper
February
- February 3 — Beat Hefti, Swiss bobsledder
- February 6 — Rustam Saidov, Uzbek boxer
- February 17 — Amir Hadad, Israeli tennis player
- February 28 — Benjamin Raich, Austrian skier
- February 28 — Mariano Zabaleta, Argentinian tennis player
March
- March 8 — Johanna Sjöberg, Swedish swimmer
- March 14 — Pieter van den Hoogenband, Dutch swimmer
- March 18 — Brooke Hanson, Australian swimmer
- March 18 — Antonio Margarito, Mexican boxer
- March 21 — Ronnie Jagday, Canadian field hockey player
- March 21 — Sally Barsosio, Kenyan distance runner
- March 23 — György Kozmann, Hungarian canoer
- March 24 — Eric Pacome N'Dri, Ivorian athlete
- March 26 — Ron van der Hoff, Dutch archer
April
- April 2 — Chiel Warners, Dutch athlete
- April 3 — Tommy Haas, German tennis player
- April 5 — Franziska van Almsick, German swimmer
- April 7 — Vladimir Voltchkov, Belarussian tennis player
- April 9 — Naman Keita, French track and field athlete
- April 11 — Victor Sikora, Dutch football player
- April 13 — Carles Puyol, Spanish football player
- April 13 — Raemon Sluiter, Dutch tennis player
- April 16 — Noam Okun, Israeli tennis player
- April 20 — David Sánchez, Spanish tennis player
- April 26 — Elson Becerra, Colombian football (soccer) player (d. 2006)
- April 29 — Bob and Mike Bryan, American twins and tennis players
May
- May 1 — Tracey Larson, American field hockey midfielder
- May 2 — Matthew Wells, Australian field hockey defender
- May 3 — Dai Tamesue, Japanese athlete
- May 7 — Peter Wessels, Dutch tennis player
- May 8 — Danilo Turcios, Honduran football midfielder
- May 15 — Sue Rolph, British swimmer
- May 24 — Caroline Casaretto, German field hockey midfielder
- May 26 — Dan Parks, Scottish rugby union footballer
- May 29 — Sebastien Grosjean, French tennis player
June
- June 1 — Aleksandar Šapić, Serbian water polo player
- June 7 — Tomás MacCormik, Argentine field hockey midfielder
- June 15 — Wilfred Bouma, Dutch football player
- June 18 — Pablo ("Pol") Amat Escudé, Spanish field hockey striker
- June 19 — Dirk Nowitzki, German NBA player
- June 22 — José Meolans, Argentinian swimmer
- June 24 — Shunsuke Nakamura, Japanese football player
- June 24 — Juan Román Riquelme, Argentinian football player
- June 26 — Mark Veens, Dutch swimmer
July
- July 1 — Vladimer Tchanturia, Georgian boxer
- July 4 — Fatima Moreiro de Melo, Dutch field hockey player
- July 4 — Peter Mankoc, Slovenian swimmer
- July 7 — Jana Toepel, American field hockey midfielder
- July 8 — Urmas Rooba, Estonian football (soccer) defender
- July 11 — Massimiliano Rosolino, Italian swimmer
- July 12 — Florien Cornelis, Dutch field hockey player
- July 15 — Kim Baker, Canadian field hockey player
- July 21 — Kyoko Iwasaki, Japanese breaststroke swimmer
- July 22 — Ishe Smith, American boxer
- July 29 — Joseph Batangdon, Cameroonian sprints athlete
- July 29 — Caroline Jack, South African field hockey goalkeeper
August
- August 5 — Kim Gevaert, Belgian athlete
- August 5 — Harel Levy, Israeli tennis player
- August 9 — Wesley Sonck, Belgian football player
- August 11 — Jermain Taylor, American boxer
- August 12 — Jesse Mahieu, Dutch field hockey player
- August 14 — Marcel Fischer, Swiss fencer
- August 17 — Mehdi Baala, French middle-distance athlete
- August 20 — Alberto Martin, Spanish tennis player
- August 22 — Kutre Dulecha, Ethiopian middle distance runner
- August 23 — Kobe Bryant, American basketball player
- August 23 — Georgi Chilikov, Bulgarian football (soccer) player
- August 26 — Hestrie Cloete, South African high jumper
- August 29 — Jens Boden, German speed skater
September
- September 2 — Pietie Coetzee, South African field hockey striker
- September 3 — Sam Oud, Dutch canoer
- September 6 — Amy Agulay, Canadian field hockey player
- September 10 — Jyoti Sunita Kullu, Indian field hockey player
- September 13 — Jill Orbinson, Irish field hockey midfielder
- September 15 — Kew Jaliens, Dutch football (soccer) player
- September 20 — Sophie Simard, German-born swimmer from Canada
- September 21 — Alexander Heath, South African alpine skier
- September 24 — Wietse van Alten, Dutch archer
- September 25 — Laura Nicholls, Canadian freestyle swimmer
- September 26 — Gert-Jan Liefers, Dutch athlete
- September 26 — Judith Meulendijks, Dutch badminton player
- September 29 — Karel Klaver, Dutch field hockey player
October
- October 3 — Claudio Pizarro, Peruvian football (soccer) striker
- October 4 — Daniël Mensch, Dutch rower
- October 8 — Ewout Holst, Dutch swimmer
- October 9 — Jacob Carstensen, Danish swimmer
- October 9 — Kristy Kowal, American swimmer
- October 10 — Caroline Evers-Swindell, New Zealand rower
- October 14 — Paul Hunter, British snooker player
- October 16 — Andria Shannon, Canadian field hockey player
- October 19 — Ruslan Chagaev, Uzbek boxer
- October 20 — Virender Sehwag, Indian cricketer
- October 25 — Matt Shirvington, Australian athlete
- October 29 — Alwin de Prins, Luxembourgish swimmer
- October 31 — Emmanuel Izonritei, Nigerian boxer
- October 31 — Martin Verkerk, Dutch tennis player
November
- November 1 — Andrew Smith, Australian field hockey striker
- November 2 — Christian Gyan, Ghanaian football player
- November 2 — Alexander Östlund, Swedish football player
- November 6 — Dean Kent, New Zealand swimmer
- November 7 — Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Dutch football player
- November 8 — Tim de Cler, Dutch football player
- November 11 — Michael Halika, Israeli medley swimmer
- November 12 — Eric Addo, Ghanaian football player
- November 15 — Paul Miller, Australian boxer
- November 22 — Magdalena Grzybowska, Polish tennis player
- November 22 — Francis Obikwelu, Nigerian-born athlete
- November 27 — Radek Štěpánek, Czech tennis player
- November 30 — Chris Thompson, American freestyle swimmer
December
- December 2 — Sven Coster, Dutch sailor
- December 2 — Louisa Walter, German field hockey goalkeeper
- December 9 — Gaston Gaudio, Argentinian tennis player
- December 12 — Kassim Ouma, Ugandan boxer
- December 14 — Patty Schnyder, Swiss tennis player
- December 15 — Christophe Rochus, Belgian tennis player
- December 16 — Rachel Imison, Australian field hockey goalkeeper
- December 20 — Lechedzani Luza, Botswanan boxer
- December 21 — Emiliano Brembilla, Italian swimmer
- December 21 — Jackie Stiles, WNBA player
- December 22 — Kristal Timmer, Canadian field hockey player
- December 27 — Antje Buschschulte, German swimmer
- December 29 — Kieron Dyer, English football player
- December 29 — Wayne Fernandes, Canadian field hockey player
- December 29 — Brian Pinas, Dutch football player
Deaths
- January 13 — Joe McCarthy, baseball manager
- January 21 — Dit Clapper, NHL player, Boston Bruins
- March 20 — Jacques Brugnon, French tennis player (b. 1895)
- March 27 — Sverre Farstad, Norwegian speed skater (b. 1920)
- September 3 — Alexander Belov (26), USSR Olympic basketball player
- September 15 — Ricardo Zamora (77), Spanish football player
- September 23 — Lyman Bostock, Major League Baseball player
- November 28 — Fernando Peyroteo (60), Angola-born Portuguese football player (b. 1918)
"1978 in sports"