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.^[1]
November 10 – German Bowl I – Frankfurter Löwen defeated the Ansbach Grizzlies 14–8.^[2]

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 –
1. Cane Pace – Happy Motoring
2. Little Brown Jug – Hot Hitter
3. Messenger Stakes – Hot Hitter
United States Trotting Triple Crown races –
1. Hambletonian – Legend Hanover
2. Yonkers Trot – Mo Bandy
3. 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:
1. 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Tap On Wood
2. The Derby – Troy^[3]
3. St. Leger Stakes – Son of Love
United States Triple Crown Races:
1. Kentucky Derby – Spectacular Bid
2. Preakness Stakes – Spectacular Bid
3. 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

Motorsport

Rugby league

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:
1. Australian Open – Guillermo Vilas
2. French Open – Björn Borg
3. Wimbledon championships – July 7 – Björn Borg
4. U.S. Open – John McEnroe
Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
1. Australian Open – Barbara Jordan
2. French Open – Chris Evert
3. Wimbledon championships – July 7 – Martina Navratilova
4. 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.