1979
Recap of the year 1979 in sports.
[edit] 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
[edit] 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
- 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
[edit] Baseball
- January 23: Willie Mays receives 409 of 432 votes in the BBWAA election to earn enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.
- 1979 World Series: Pittsburgh Pirates won 4 games to 3 over the Baltimore Orioles. The Series MVP was Willie Stargell, Pittsburgh
- See also 1979 in baseball
[edit] Basketball
- 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament:
- 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Cricket
- Cricket World Cup - West Indies beat England by 92 runs
- World Series Cricket rival competition to official International Cricket Council matches is disbanded.
[edit] Cycling
- Giro d'Italia won by Giuseppe Saronni of Italy
- Tour de France - Bernard Hinault -France
- World Cycling Championship: Jan Raas of Netherlands
[edit] Dogsled racing
- Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
- Rick Swenson won with lead dogs: Andy & O.B. (Old Buddy)
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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)
[edit] Football (American)
- January 21 - Super Bowl XIII: Pittsburgh Steelers won 35-31 over the Dallas Cowboys
[edit] 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)
[edit] 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
[edit] Football (Soccer)
- May 12 - England - FA Cup: Arsenal won 3-2 over Manchester United
- National Champions
- England - Liverpool F.C.
- Italy - A.C. Milan
- Scotland - Celtic F.C.
- Spain - Real Madrid
- Brazil - Sport Club Internacional Champion without any defeats.
[edit] Golf
- Grand Slam of golf results:
- 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.
- June - US Open - Hale Irwin
- July 20 - British Open - Seve Ballesteros
- 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.
- US Women's Open - Jerilyn Britz
- LPGA Championship - Donna Caponi
- Nancy Lopez: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $189,213.
[edit] 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
[edit] Harness Racing
- Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
- Pacers: Rondel
- Trotters: No Response
[edit] 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
- Real Cloutier of the Quebec Nordiques became the first NHL player ever to score a hat trick in his debut NHL game.
[edit] Skiing
- Alpine Skiing
- The men's overall season champion: Peter Lüscher, Switzerland
- The women's overall season champion: Annemarie Moser-Pröll, Austria
[edit] Snooker
- World Snooker Championship: outsider Terry Griffiths beats Dennis Taylor 24-16
- World rankings: Ray Reardon remains world number one for 1979/80
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Births
[edit] 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
[edit] 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
[edit] 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
[edit] 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
[edit] 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
[edit] 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
[edit] 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
[edit] 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
[edit] 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 26 — Jaycie Phelps, US gymnast
- September 27 — Shinji Ono, Japanese football (soccer) player
- September 30 — Andy van der Meyde, Dutch football (soccer) player
[edit] 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
[edit] 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 28 — Thomas Lurz, German long distance swimmer
- November 29 — Michael Lamey, Dutch football (soccer) player
[edit] 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
[edit] 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)
