See also: 1977 in sports, other events of 1978, 1979 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Contents

1 Auto racing 2 Baseball 3 Basketball 4 Boxing 5 Cycling 6 Field hockey 7 Figure skating 8 Football (American) 9 Football (Australian Rules) 10 Football (Canadian) 11 Football (Soccer) 12 Golf 13 Thoroughbred horse racing 14 Harness racing 15 Ice hockey 16 Skiing 17 Snooker 18 Tennis 19 General sporting events 20 Births 21 Deaths

Auto racing

• 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

Baseball

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

Basketball

• 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

Boxing

• 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.

Cycling

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

Field hockey

• March 11 - In an international women's field hockey match at Wembley Stadium,England. England drew with the United States of America 2-2.
• Women's Field Hockey World Cup - The Netherlands are the World Champions.
• November 17 - 24: Champions Trophy first held in Lahore, Pakistan won by Pakistan.

Figure skating

• 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

Football (American)

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

Football (Australian Rules)

• 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)

Football (Canadian)

• 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 (Soccer)

• Football World Cup: Argentina wins 3-1 over the Netherlands
• England - FA Cup: Ipswich Town won 1-0 over Arsenal

Golf

Men's golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Gary Player
  2. June - US Open - Andy North
  3. July - British Open - Jack Nicklaus
  4. 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.

Thoroughbred horse racing

• 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:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Roland Gardens
  2. Epsom Derby - Shirley Heights
  3. 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:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Affirmed, Alydar
  2. Preakness Stakes - Affirmed, Alydar
  3. Belmont Stakes - Affirmed, Alydar

Harness racing

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Armbro Tiger
  2. Little Brown Jug - Happy Escort
  3. Messenger Stakes - Abercrombie

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Speedy Somolli
  2. Yonkers Trot - Speedy Somolli
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Doublemint

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

Ice hockey

• 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.

Skiing

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

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: Ray Reardon beats Perrie Mans 25-18
• World rankings: Ray Reardon remains world number one for 1978/79.

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Guillermo Vilas
  2. French Open - Bjorn Borg
  3. Wimbledon championships - Bjorn Borg
  4. US Open - Jimmy Connors

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Chris O'Neil
  2. French Open - Virginia Ruzici
  3. Wimbledon championships - Martina Navratilova
  4. 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.

General sporting events

• British Commonwealth Games held in Edmonton, Canada

• First Ironman Triathlon held in Hawaii

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

Births

• January 28 - Gianluigi Buffon, Italian football player
• June 19 - Dirk Nowitzki, German NBA player
• August 23 - Kobe Bryant, NBA player
• October 20 - Virender Sehwag, Indian cricketer
• December 2 - Louisa Walter , German field hockey goalkeeper
• December 21 - Jackie Stiles, WNBA player
• December 29 - Kieron Dyer, English football player

Deaths

• January 13 - Joe McCarthy, baseball manager
• January 21 - Dit Clapper, NHL star, Boston Bruins
• September 3 - Alexander Belov , 26, USSR Olympic basketball player
• September 23 - Lyman Bostock, Major League Baseball player