1978 in sports

Encyclopedia : 1 : 19 : 197 : 1978 in sports

Contents

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

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

World Series: New York Yankees win 4 games to 2 over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Series MVP is Bucky Dent, New York

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

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.

Giro d'Italia won by Johan de Muynck of Belgium
Tour de France - Bernard Hinault of France
World Cycling Championship: Gerrie Knetemann of Netherlands

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
Dick Mackey won with lead dogs: Skipper* & Shrew

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.

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

Super Bowl XII: Dallas Cowboys won 27-10 over the Denver Broncos

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)

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 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

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
Women's golf
US Women's Open - Hollis Stacy
LPGA Championship - Nancy Lopez
Nancy Lopez: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $189,213.

Australia - Melbourne Cup - Arwon
Canada - Queen's Plate - Regal Embrace
France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Alleged
Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Shirley Heights

English Triple Crown Races:
#Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Roland Gardens
#Epsom Derby - Shirley Heights
#St. Leger Stakes - Julio Mariner

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:
#Kentucky Derby - Affirmed, Alydar
#Preakness Stakes - Affirmed, Alydar
#Belmont Stakes - Affirmed, Alydar

United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
#Cane Pace - Armbro Tiger
#Little Brown Jug - Happy Escort
#Messenger Stakes - Abercrombie

United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
#Hambletonian - Speedy Somolli
#Yonkers Trot - Speedy Somolli
#Kentucky Futurity - Doublemint

Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
Pacers: Markovina
Trotters: Derby Royale

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.

Alpine Skiing
The men's overall season champion: Ingemar Stenmark, Sweden
The women's overall season champion: Hanni Wenzel, Liechtenstein

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

Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
#Australian Open - Guillermo Vilas
#French Open - Björn Borg
#Wimbledon championships - Björn Borg
#US Open - Jimmy Connors

Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
#Australian Open - Chris O'Neil
#French Open - Virginia Ruzici
#Wimbledon championships - Martina Navratilova
#US Open - Chris Evert

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.

First Ironman Triathlon held in Hawaii

Men's World Championship in Berlin, West Germany
* Gold Medal: Italy
* Silver Medal: Hungary
* Bronze Medal: Yugoslavia

Third All-Africa Games held in Algiers, Algeria

Eighth Asian Games held in Bangkok, Thailand

British Commonwealth Games held in Edmonton, Canada

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)

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