1982 in sports

Auto Racing

Stock car racing:
- NASCAR Championship - Darrell Waltrip
- Bobby Allison won the Daytona 500
CART Racing - Rick Mears won the season championship
- Indianapolis 500 - Gordon Johncock
Formula One Champion - Keke Rosberg of Finland
24 hours of Le Mans:
- won by the team of Jacky Ickx / Derek Bell driving a Porsche 956
Rally racing - Walter Röhrl in an Opel won the World Rally Championship
- Walter Rohrl / Christian Geistdorfer won the Monte Carlo Rally driving an Opel Ascona 400
Drag racing - Shirley Muldowney won the NHRA Top Fuel championship.

Baseball

July 13: Montreal hosts the first MLB All-Star Game outside the United States. Reds SS Dave Concepción hits a 2-run home run in the 2nd inning to spark the National League to its 11th consecutive win over the American League 4-1. The NL has now won 19 of the last 20 contests. Concepción was named the MVP.

August 18: Pete Rose sets record with his 13,941st plate appearance.

World Series: St. Louis Cardinals won 4 games to 3 over the Milwaukee Brewers. The Series MVP was Cardinals catcher Darrell Porter.

Basketball

NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
- North Carolina wins 63-62 over Georgetown

NBA Finals:
- Los Angeles Lakers won 4 games to 2 over the Philadelphia 76ers

FIBA World Championship
- USSR World Champion

Boxing

June 11 Larry Holmes defeats Gerry Cooney for the WBC Heavyweight title. Cooney, a white challenger, was dubbed "The White Hope" in what builded up to be a very racially toned fight, see Larry Holmes vs. Gerry Cooney.
November 12 Aaron Pryor defeats Alexis Arguello in what would later be called the fight of the decade. Pryor retained the WBA's world Jr. Welterweight title with a 14th round knockout
November 13 Ray Mancini defeats Duk Koo Kim by knockout in 14 rounds in a tragic fight. Kim died five days later and the fight's outcome brought many new resolutions to boxing.
December 3 the Carnival of Champions

Cricket

Graham Gooch leads a "rebel" team of players on tour of South Africa, banned from official cricket since 1970 because of apartheid.

Cycling

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

Dogsled racing

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
- Rick Swenson won with lead dog: Andy

Field Hockey

Men's World Cup in Bombay, India
- Gold Medal: Pakistan
- Silver Medal: West Germany
- Bronze Medal: Australia

Men's Champions Trophy in Amstelveen, The Netherlands
- Gold Medal: The Netherlands
- Silver Medal: Australia
- Bronze Medal: India

March 20: In an international women's field hockey match at Wembley Stadium,England. The Netherlands beat England 4-2.

Figure Skating

World Figure Skating Championships:
- Men's champion: Scott Hamilton, (United States)
- Women's champion: Elaine Zayak, (United States)
- Pairs champions: Sabine Baess & Tassilo Thierbach, (Germany)
- Ice Dance champions: Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean (Great Britain)

Football (American)

Super Bowl XVI: San Francisco 49ers won 26-21 over the Cincinnati Bengals
NCAA Division I-A: Clemson University Tigers defeat University of Nebraska Cornhuskers 22-15 in the Orange Bowl, voted 1981 NCAA Division I-A College Football National Champion in AP and UPI polls.
Strike: First regular season strike by NFL players ends on November 16 after 57 days.

Football (Australian Rules)

Victorian Football League
- Carlton wins the 86th VFL Premiership (Carlton 14.19 (103) d Richmond 12.13 (83))
- Brownlow Medal awarded to Brian Wilson (Melbourne)
- The inaugural VFL Players Association Most Valuable Player Award goes to Leigh Matthews (Hawthorn). The award would be renamed the Leigh Matthews Trophy in his honour in 2002.

Football (Canadian)

Grey Cup: Edmonton Eskimos won 32-16 over the Toronto Argonauts, the Eskimos' record fifth consecutive Grey Cup victory.
Vanier Cup: UBC Thunderbirds won 39-14 over the Western Ontario Mustangs

Football (Rugby union)

Five Nations Championship: Ireland win the Triple Crown for the first time since 1948.

The Sydney New South Wales Rugby League premiership expanded its competition for the very first time in its seventy four year history out of the state of New South Wales. Nine teams contested the initial season back in 1908, but to date the NSWRL consists of fourteen teams.

Fourteen Teams competing

Eastern Suburbs Roosters,

South Sydney Rabbitohs,

Western Suburbs Magpies,

Team	Played	Wins	Draws	Losses	For	Against	Points
Parramatta Eels	26	21		5	619	242	42
Manly Sea Eagles	26	17		9	530	411	34
North Sydney Bears	26	16	1	9	399	360	33
Eastern Suburbs Roosters	26	15	2	9	437	304	32
Western Suburbs Magpies	26	16		10	412	349	32
South Sydney Rabbitohs	26	14	1	11	395	400	29
Newtown Jets	26	13	2	11	406	309	28
Cronulla Sharks	26	13	1	12	400	336	27
Canterbury Bulldogs	26	12	3	11	399	361	27
St. George Dragons	26	11	2	13	408	402	24
Balmain Tigers	26	10	1	15	383	427	21
Penrith Panthers	26	7	1	18	375	441	15
Illawarra Steelers	26	6		20	344	572	12
Canberra Raiders	26	4		22	269	862	8

- Parramatta Eels win their second title, defeating Manly Sea Eagles 21-8 in the final.

Football (Soccer)

World Cup in Spain: Italy beats West Germany 3-1 for their third title.
Champions' Cup: Aston Villa 1-0 Bayern München
UEFA Cup: Two legs; 1st leg IFK Göteborg 1-0 Hamburger SV; 2nd leg Hamburger SV 0-3 IFK Göteborg. IFK Göteborg won 4-0 on aggregate
Cup Winners' Cup: Barcelona 2-1 Standard Liège
Super Cup: Two legs; 1st leg Barcelona 1-0 Aston Villa; 2nd leg Aston Villa 3-0 Barcelona. Aston Villa won 3-1 on aggregate
Copa Libertadores de América: Two legs; 1st leg Peñarol 0-0 Cobreloa; 2nd leg Cobreloa 0-1 Peñarol. Peñarol win 1-0 on aggregate
League champions
- Argentina: Ferro Carril Oeste (National Championship) and Estudiantes (Metropolitan Championship)
- Brazil: Flamengo
- England: Liverpool
- France: AS Monaco
- Italy: Juventus
- Netherlands: Ajax
- Portugal: Sporting Lisbon
- Scotland: Celtic
- Spain: Real Sociedad
- West Germany: Hamburger SV
England - FA Cup: Tottenham Hotspur won 1-0 over Queens Park Rangers

Gaelic Athletic Association

Camogie
- All-Ireland Camogie Champion: Cork
- National Camogie League: Kilkenny

Gaelic football
- All-Ireland Senior Football Championship: Offaly 1-15 d. Kerry 0-17
- National Football League: Kerry 1-9 d. Cork 0-5 (replay)

Ladies' Gaelic football
- All-Ireland Senior Football Champion: Kerry
- National Football League: Kerry

Hurling
- All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship: Kilkenny 3-18 d. Cork 1-13
- National Hurling League:

Golf

Men's Golf

Major championship results:
1. May - The Masters - Craig Stadler
2. June - US Open - Tom Watson
3. July - British Open - Tom Watson
4. August - PGA Championship - Ray Floyd

PGA Tour leading money winner for the year: Craig Stadler - $446,462
Champions Tour leading money winner: Miller Barber - $106,890

Women's Golf

US Women's Open - Janet Anderson
LPGA Championship - Jan Stephenson
JoAnne Carner: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $310,399.

Skiing

Alpine Skiing
- The men's overall season champion: Phil Mahre, USA
- The women's overall season champion: Erika Hess, Switzerland

Snooker

World Snooker Championship: Alex Higgins beats Ray Reardon 18-15
World rankings: Ray Reardon becomes world number one for 1982/83

Tennis

Grand Slam in tennis men's results:

Grand Slam in tennis women's results:

Davis Cup: United States won 4-1 over France in world tennis.
Billy Jean King makes her final singles appearance at the US Open, losing in the first round.
Total prize money at US Open exceeds 1 million US dollars.

Water Polo

Men's World Championship in Guayaquil, Ecuador
- Gold Medal: Soviet Union
- Silver Medal: Hungary
- Bronze Medal: West Germany

General sporting events

Asian Games held in New Delhi, India

First Gay Games held in San Francisco, California

Births

January

January 1 — Ahmed Khaddour, Lebanese born Danish boxer
January 1 — Joseph Lubega, Ugandan boxer
January 1 — David Nalbandian, Argentinian tennis player
January 1 — Sebastián Pardo, Chilean football player
January 2 — Athanasia Tsoumeleka, Greek race walker
January 5 — Janica Kostelić, Croatian alpine skier
January 5 — Vadims Vasiļevskis, Latvian athlete
January 7 — Joachim Johansson, Swedish tennis player
January 7 — Hannah Stockbauer, German swimmer
January 12 — Sherzod Abdurahmonov, Uzbek boxer
January 13 — Guillermo Coria, Argentinian tennis player
January 15 — Benjamin Agosto, American skater
January 17 — Dwyane Wade, NBA player
January 20 — Serghei Covalciuc, Moldovan football (soccer) midfielder
January 23 — Stephanie Jameson, Canadian field hockey player
January 29 — Adam van Koeverden, Canadian kayaker
January 31 — Maret Ani, Estonian tennis player

February

February 2 — Dorcus Inzikuru, Ugandan athlete
February 2 — Filippo Magnini, Italian swimmer
February 6 — Bojan Djordjic, Swedish football (soccer) player
February 6 — Jade Edmistone, Australian swimmer
February 9 — Zersenay Tadesse, Eritrean athlete
February 10 — Justin Gatlin, American athlete
February 13 — Vanja Rogulj, Croatian breaststroke swimmer
February 14 — Marian Gaborik, Slovak ice hockey player
February 17 — Adriano, Brazilian football (soccer) player
February 19 — Camelia Potec, Romanian swimmer
February 19 — Hamit Şare, Turkish skier
February 23 — Malia Metella, French swimmer
February 25 — Flavia Pennetta, Italian tennis player
February 26 — Li Na, Chinese tennis player
February 26 — Andrew Sewnauth, Scottish field hockey player
February 28 — Thijs de Greeff, Dutch field hockey player

March

March 2 — Henrik Lundqvist, Swedish ice hockey player
March 2 — Joel Lundqvist, Swedish ice hockey player
March 5 — Daniel Carter, New Zealand rugby player
March 9 — Matias Paredes, Argentine field hockey midfielder
March 17 — Steven Pienaar, South African football player
March 21 — Klete Keller, American swimmer

April

April 2 — David Ferrer, Spanish tennis player
April 5 — Donna-Lee Patrick, Australian field hockey player
April 8 — Gennadiy Golovkin, Kazakh boxer
April 13 — Ria Male, Welsh field hockey goalkeeper
April 22 — Kaká (Ricardo Iczecson Santos Leite), Brazilian football player
April 23 — Angie Loy, American field hockey forward

May

May 1 — Tommy Robredo, Spanish tennis player
May 4 — Markus Rogan, Austrian swimmer
May 5 — Pavel Vorobiev, Kazakhstani ice hockey right winger
May 6 — Sergey Fesenko, Ukrainian freestyle swimmer
May 6 — Kyle Shewfelt, Canadian gymnast
May 8 — Ugur Yildirim, Dutch football player
May 14 — Ai Shibata, Japanese swimmer
May 15 — Veronica Campbell, Jamaican athlete
May 17 — Tony Parker, French NBA player
May 18 — Mihály Flaskay, Hungarian breaststroke swimmer
May 18 — Timo Glock, German race driver
May 18 — Roderick Weusthof, Dutch field hockey player
May 22 — Apolo Anton Ohno, US short track speed skater
May 24 — DaMarcus Beasley, American football player
May 25 — Ezekiel Kemboi, Kenyan athlete
May 26 — Mikel Arteta, Spanish football player

June

June 1 — Justine Henin-Hardenne, Belgian tennis player
June 3 — Yelena Isinbayeva, Russian athlete
June 8 — Nadia Petrova, Russian tennis player
June 11 — Diana Taurasi, WNBA player
June 13 — Kenenisa Bekele, Ethiopian distance runner
June 14 — Chris Cozens, British freestyle swimmer
June 24 — Serginho Greene, Dutch football player
June 25 — Mandy Haase, German field hockey defender
June 25 — Mikhail Youzhny, Russian tennis player

July

July 3 — Manon van Rooijen, Dutch swimmer
July 9 — Rebecca Sanders, Australian field hockey international
July 21 — Katy Sexton, British swimmer
July 31 — Anabel Medina Garrigues, Spanish tennis player

August

August 5 — Brian Johns, Canadian swimmer
August 7 — Yana Klochkova, Ukrainian swimmer
August 7 — Marco Melandri, Italian motorcyclist
August 10 — Shaun Murphy, English snooker player
August 12 — Andrew Hurd, Canadian swimmer
August 12 — Even Wetten, Norwegian speed skater
August 13 — Shani Davis, American speedskater
August 24 — Kim Källström, Swedish football player
August 25 — Rob Derikx, Dutch field hockey player
August 25 — Květoslav Svoboda, Czech freestyle swimmer
August 28 — Thiago Motta, Brazilian football (soccer) player
August 30 — Andy Roddick, American tennis player
August 31 — Ian Crocker, American swimmer
August 31 — Lien Huyghebaert, Belgian athlete

September

September 11 — Elvan Abeylegesse, Ethiopian-born Turkish track and field athlete
September 11 — Tom Prinsen, Dutch long track speedskater
September 13 — Nenê, Brazilian NBA player
September 19 — Eleni Daniilidou, Greek tennis player
September 20 — Kasey Giteau, Australian freestyle swimmer
September 21 — Danny Kass, American snowboarder
September 22 — Kosuke Kitajima, Japanese swimmer
September 22 — Maarten Stekelenburg, Dutch football (soccer) goalkeeper
September 24 — Paul Hamm, US gymnast
September 27 — Fabian Estoyanoff, Uruguay football (soccer) player
September 27 — Markus Rosenberg, Swedish football (soccer) player
September 28 — Anderson Varejão, Brazilian basketball player

October

October 8 — Glenn Kirkham, English field hockey player
October 11 — Lucas Rey, Argentine field hockey midfielder
October 11 — Helen Wardlaw, English cricketer
October 11 — Matthias Witthaus, German field hockey player
October 12 — Frédéric Michalak, French rugby union player
October 13 — Ian Thorpe, Australian swimmer
October 19 — Chantal Groot, Dutch swimmer
October 22 — Isaac Ekpo, Nigerian boxer
October 22 — Melinda Czink, Hungarian tennis player

November

November 3 — Moniek Kleinsman, Dutch speed skater
November 9 — Andy Souwer, Dutch shoot boxer and kickboxer
November 11 — Asafa Powell, Jamaican athlete
November 15 — Giaan Rooney, Australian swimmer
November 16 — Amare Stoudemire, NBA player
November 17 — Andriy Serdinov, Ukrainian swimmer
November 24 — Jakob Jóhann Sveinsson, Icelandic swimmer
November 30 — Igor Alborov, Uzbek boxer
November 30 — Dilshod Mahmudov, Uzbek boxer

December

December 9 — Tamilla Abassova, Russian cyclist
December 11 — Darren Gilford, Maltese athlete
December 13 — Tsoanelo Pholo, South African field hockey striker

Deaths

January 07 - Bert Oosterhuis, Dutch motor racer
January 20 - Marc Demeyer, 31, Belgian cyclist
April 26 - Ville Ritola, Finnish Olympic gold medal runner
May 7 - Claudio "Tripa" Barrientos, 45, Chilean boxer
May 8 - Gilles Villeneuve, Canadian F1-race driver
June 8 - Satchel Paige, baseball great
August 12 - Salvador Sanchez, world champion boxer
October 3 - Roger Claessen, Belgian soccer player
November 13 - Dorothy Round, English tennis player
November 17 - Duk Koo Kim, South Korean boxer
November 26 - Hub Walker, Major League Baseball player
December 16 - Anthony Chapman, English Formula One race driver