title: 1979 in sports
text: # 1979 in sports
  
  1979 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.
  
  ## Alpine skiing
  
  * Alpine Skiing World Cup
     * Men's overall season champion: Peter Lüscher, Switzerland
     * Women's overall season champion: Annemarie Moser-Pröll, Austria
  
  ## American football
  
  * Super Bowl XIII – the Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC) won 35−31 over the Dallas Cowboys (NFC)
     * Location: Miami Orange Bowl
     * Attendance: 79,484
     * MVP: Terry Bradshaw, QB (Pittsburgh)
  * Sugar Bowl (1978 season):
     * The Alabama Crimson Tide won 14–7 over the Penn State Nittany Lions to claim AP Poll national championship
  * August 4 – Opening game of the American Football Bundesliga played between Frankfurter Löwen and Düsseldorf Panther, first-ever league game of American football in Germany.
  * November 10 – German Bowl I – Frankfurter Löwen defeated the Ansbach Grizzlies 14–8.
  
  ## 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
  
  ## Association football
  
  * May 12 – England – FA Cup – Arsenal win 3–2 over Manchester United
  * Sport Club Internacional win the Brazilian Championship undefeated
  
  ## Australian rules football
  
  * Victorian Football League
     * April 28: Collingwood beats a 70-year-old record for the greatest winning margin in VFL football when they beat St. Kilda by 178 points 31.21 (207) to 3.11 (29)
     * July 28: Fitzroy beats Collingwood's three-month-old record when they beat Melbourne 36.22 (238) to 6.12 (48) with Bob Beecroft kicking ten goals
     * Carlton win the 83rd VFL Premiership (Carlton 11.16 (82) d Collingwood 11.11 (77))
     * Brownlow Medal awarded to Peter Moore (Collingwood)
  
  ## Baseball
  
  * January 23 – Willie Mays receives 409 of 432 votes in the BBWAA election to earn enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.
  * July 12 – Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park between the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers
  * August 2 – death of Thurman Munson, New York Yankees catcher, in an air crash
  * World Series – Pittsburgh Pirates won 4 games to 3 over the Baltimore Orioles. The Series MVP was Willie Stargell, Pittsburgh. The Pirates become the only team in sports history to come back from a three games to one deficit in a championship series twice, having also achieved the comeback in the 1925 World Series.
  
  ## Basketball
  
  * NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship –
     * Michigan St. wins 75–64 over Indiana St.
  * NBA Finals –
     * Seattle SuperSonics, coached by Lenny Wilkens, won 4 games to 1 over the Washington Bullets for the only finals win in Seattle SuperSonics history.
  * National Basketball League (Australia) –
     * The Australian NBL was founded. The St Kilda Saints became the first champions by defeating the Canberra Cannons 94–93 in the final.
  
  ## Boxing
  
  * September 28 in Las Vegas, Larry Holmes retains his World Heavyweight title with an 11th-round TKO of Earnie Shavers.
  * November 30 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 world title, beating WBC world Welterweight champion Wilfred Benítez by knockout in round 15.
  
  ## Canadian football
  
  * Grey Cup – Edmonton Eskimos win 17–9 over the Montreal Alouettes
  * Vanier Cup – Acadia Axemen win 34–12 over the Western Ontario Mustangs
  
  ## 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 of France
  * UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race – 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
  
  * 1979 Pan American Games men's competition held in San Juan, Puerto Rico and won by Argentina
  * August – The 2nd Women's World Field Hockey Championships are held at Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada with the Netherlands as the champions.
  
  ## Figure skating
  
  * World Figure Skating Championships –
     * Men's champion: Vladimir Kovalev, Soviet Union
     * Ladies' champion: Linda Fratianne, United States
     * Pair skating champions: Tai Babilonia & Randy Gardner, United States
     * Ice dancing champions: Natalia Linichuk & Gennadi Karponossov, Soviet Union
  
  ## Golf
  
  Men's professional
  
  * Masters Tournament – Fuzzy Zoeller defeats Ed Sneed and Tom Watson in the second hole of a sudden-death playoff, the first time the Masters used a sudden-death format.
  * U.S. Open – Hale Irwin
  * British Open – Seve Ballesteros becomes the first golfer from Continental Europe to win a major since Arnaud Massy of France won this event in 1907.
  * PGA Championship – David Graham
  * PGA Tour money leader – Tom Watson – $462,636
  * Ryder Cup – United States won 17–11 over Europe in the first Ryder Cup to feature a side representing all of Europe.
  
  Men's amateur
  
  * British Amateur – Jay Sigel
  * U.S. Amateur – Mark O'Meara
  
  Women's professional
  
  * LPGA Championship – Donna Caponi
  * U.S. Women's Open – Jerilyn Britz
  * Classique Peter Jackson Classic – Amy Alcott
  * LPGA Tour money leader – Nancy Lopez – $197,489
  
  ## Harness racing
  
  * The Hambletonian is awarded to Meadowlands Racetrack, starting in 1981.
  * United States Pacing Triple Crown races –
     * Cane Pace – Happy Motoring
     * Little Brown Jug – Hot Hitter
     * Messenger Stakes – Hot Hitter
  * United States Trotting Triple Crown races –
     * Hambletonian – Legend Hanover
     * Yonkers Trot – Mo Bandy
     * Kentucky Futurity – Filet of Sole
  * Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
     * Pacers: Rondel
     * Trotters: No Response
  
  ## Horse racing
  
  Steeplechases
  
  * Cheltenham Gold Cup – Alverton
  * Grand National – Rubstic
  
  Flat races
  
  * Australia – Melbourne Cup won by Hyperno
  * Canada – Queen's Plate won by Steady Growth
  * France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Three Troikas
  * Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Troy
  * English Triple Crown Races:
     * 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Tap On Wood
     * The Derby – Troy
     * St. Leger Stakes – Son of Love
  * United States Triple Crown Races:
     * Kentucky Derby – Spectacular Bid
     * Preakness Stakes – Spectacular Bid
     * Belmont Stakes – Coastal
  
  ## Ice hockey
  
  * Art Ross 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
  * Réal Cloutier of the Quebec Nordiques became the second NHL player to score a hat trick in his debut NHL game.
  * Avco World Trophy – Winnipeg Jets won 4 games to 2 over the Edmonton Oilers
  
  ## Rugby league
  
  * 1979 Amco Cup
  * 1979 European Rugby League Championship
  * 1979 New Zealand rugby league season
  * 1978–79 Northern Rugby Football League season / 1979–80 Northern Rugby Football League season
  * 1979 NSWRFL season
  
  ## Rugby union
  
  * 85th Five Nations Championship series is won by Wales
  
  ## Snooker
  
  * World Snooker Championship – outsider Terry Griffiths beats Dennis Taylor 24-16
  * World rankings – Ray Reardon remains world number one for 1979/80
  
  ## Swimming
  
  * Pan American Games in San Juan, Puerto Rico
  * July 23 – West Germany's Klaus Steinbach sets a world record in the 50m freestyle at a swimming meet in Freiburg, shaving off 0.02 of the previous record (23.72) set by Ron Manganiello nearly a year ago: 23.70.
  
  ## Tennis
  
  * Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
     * Australian Open – Guillermo Vilas
     * French Open – Björn Borg
     * Wimbledon championships – July 7 – Björn Borg
     * U.S. Open – John McEnroe
  * Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
     * Australian Open – Barbara Jordan
     * French Open – Chris Evert
     * Wimbledon championships – July 7 – Martina Navratilova
     * U.S. 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.
  
  ## Volleyball
  
  * Asian Men's Volleyball Championship: won by China
  * Asian Women's Volleyball Championship: won by China
  * Men and Women's European Volleyball Championship held in France: both won by USSR
  * Volleyball at the 1979 Pan American Games in San Juan, Puerto Rico: men's and women's tournaments both won by Cuba
  
  ## Water polo
  
  * 1979 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup held in Yugoslavia and won by Hungary
  * 1979 FINA Women's Water Polo World Cup held in Merced, California and won by USA
  
  ## Multi-sport 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.
  
  ## Awards
  
  * Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Willie Stargell, Major League Baseball
  * Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Tracy Austin, Tennis
  * ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year: Willie Stargell, Major League Baseball
  