1979 in sports

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

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 ^* 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, coached by Lenny Wilkins, won 4 games to 1 over the Washington Bulletsfor the only finals win in Seattle Supersonics history.

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

Dogsled racing

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

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.

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)

January 21 - 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

Men's Golf

Grand Slam of golf results:
1. April - The Masters - Fuzzy Zoeller - Fuzzy 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
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.

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

Skiing

Alpine Skiing
- The men's overall season champion: Peter Lüscher, 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:
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.

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.

Births

January

January 2 — Hanna Ljungberg, Swedish football (soccer) player
January 3 — Brooke Morrison, Australian field hockey player
January 5 — Giuseppe Gibilisco, Italian pole vaulter
January 7 — Fabiola Zuluaga, Colombian tennis player
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 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

February

February 2 — Fani Halkia, Greek athlete
February 6 — Robyn Kenney, American field hockey midfielder
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

March

March 1 — Magui Serna, Spanish tennis player
March 4 — Geoff Huegill, Australian 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 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 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

April

April 5 — Emily Halliday, Australian field hockey player
April 6 — Jana Salat, Canadian waterpolo player
April 7 — Michel Kratochvil, Swiss tennis player
April 12 — Mateja Kezman, 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 19 — Candice Forword, South African field hockey forward
April 19 — Sarah Price, British backstroke swimmer
April 20 — Gregor Tait, Scottish swimmer
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

May

May 1 — Ann Dow, Canadian waterpolo player
May 1 — Lars Berger, Norwegian biathlete
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 — Justin Sheriff, Irish field hockey forward
May 19 — Diego Forlán, Uruguay football (soccer) player
May 24 — Tracy McGrady, NBA star
May 24 — Natalya Nazarova, Russian athlete
May 25 — Jonny Wilkinson, English rugby union player
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

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 swimmer

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 21 — Tine Rasmussen, Danish badminton player
July 25 — Mylanie Barre, Canadian canoeist
July 31 — Carlos Marchena, Spanish football (soccer) player

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 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

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 19 — Li Wing Mui, Hong Kong badminton player
September 23 — Kim Un-Chol, North Korean boxer
September 26 — Jaycie Phelps, US gymnast
September 27 — Shinji Ono, Japanese football (soccer) player
September 30 — Andy van der Meyde, Dutch football (soccer) player

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

November

November 1 — Ursula Ditton, Australian field hockey player
November 3 — Pablo Aimar, Argentinian football (soccer) player
November 10 — Petra Banović, Croatian freestyle and medley swimmer
November 13 — Ron Artest, American NBA player
November 14 — Osleidys Menéndez, Cuban athlete
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

December

December 2 — Abdul Razzaq, Pakistani cricketer
December 5 — Khumiso Ikgopoleng, Botswanan boxer
December 7 — Nigella Saunders, Jamaican badminton player
December 8 — Christian Wilhelmsson, Swedish football (soccer) player
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 30 — Angela Lichty, Canadian softball player
December 30 — Abi Oyepitan, British athlete

Deaths

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, Grand Prix motor racing champion
June 30 – Chris Taylor (29), American freestyle wrestler (b. 1950)
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
October 22 – Clint Hodgins, Hall of Fame harness-racing driver
December 15 – Stan Hack, Major League Baseball player (1932-1947)

1979 | 1979 in sports

1979 en sport | 1979年のスポーツ | Sportåret 1979

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