1979 in sports

Encyclopedia : 1 : 19 : 197 : 1979 in sports

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See also: 1978 in sports, other events of 1979, 1980 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

• 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

• 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 [NHRA] World Finals

• 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

• 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.

• 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 World Cup - West Indies beat England by 92 runs
• World Series Cricket rival competition to official International Cricket Council matches is disbanded.

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

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

• 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.

• 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)

• January 21 - Super Bowl XIII: Pittsburgh Steelers won 35-31 over the Dallas Cowboys

• 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)

• Grey Cup: Edmonton Eskimos won 17-9 over the Montreal Alouettes
• Vanier Cup: Acadia Axmen won 34-12 over the Western Ontario Mustangs

• May 12 - England - FA Cup: Arsenal won 3-2 over Manchester United

Sport Club Internacional Brazilian Champion, without defeats.

Men's 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.

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.

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Hyperno
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Steady Growth
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Three Troikas
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Troy

• English Triple Crown Races:
• #Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Tap On Wood
• #Epsom Derby - Troy
• #St. Leger Stakes - Son of Love

• United States Triple Crown Races:
• #Kentucky Derby - Spectacular Bid
• #Preakness Stakes - Spectacular Bid
• #Belmont Stakes - Coastal

• 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
• #Kentucky Futurity

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
• *Pacers: Rondel
• *Trotters: No Response

• 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.

• Alpine Skiing
• *The men's overall season champion: Peter Lüscher, Switzerland
• *The women's overall season champion: Annemarie Moser-Pröll, Austria

• World Snooker Championship: outsider Terry Griffiths beats Dennis Taylor 24-16
• World rankings: Ray Reardon remains world number one for 1979/80

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
• #Australian Open - Guillermo Vilas
• #French Open - Björn Borg
• #Wimbledon championships - July 7 - Björn Borg
• #US Open - John McEnroe

• 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.

• 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)

 

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