See also: 1984 in sports, other events of 1985, 1986 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Contents

1 Auto Racing 2 Baseball 3 Basketball 4 Boxing 5 Cricket 6 Cycling 7 Field Hockey 8 Figure Skating 9 Football (American) 10 Football (Australian Rules) 11 Football (Canadian) 12 Football (Soccer) 13 Golf 14 Thoroughbred Horse Racing 15 Harness Racing 16 Ice Hockey 17 Skiing 18 Snooker 19 Tennis 20 General sporting events 21 Births 22 Deaths

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • Bill Elliott won the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Darrell Waltrip
  • Ken Schrader enters NASCAR
• CART Racing - Al Unser Sr won the season championship
  • • Indianapolis 500 - Danny Sullivan
• Formula One Championship - Alain Prost of France
• 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Klaus Ludwig / Paolo Barilla / John Winter won, driving a Porsche 956
• Rally racing - Timo Salonen in a Peugeot won the World Rally Championship
  • the team of Ari Vatanen / Terry Harryman won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Peugeot 205T16
• Drag racing:
  • Don Garlits won the NHRA Top Fuel championship
  • Gary Beck won Top Fuel at the NHRA World Finals

Baseball

• Rollie Fingers breaks Sparky Lyle's American League career record of 232 saves.
• World Series: The Kansas City Royals defeat the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 3, becoming the first team to come back from a 3 to 0 deficit to win a series in baseball.
• Books published:
  • Bill James, The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract : A seminal volume of baseball history by the leading sabermetrician of the day. He revised the book into a new edition in 2001.

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • Villanova wins 66-64 over Georgetown

• NBA Finals:
  • Los Angeles Lakers win 4 games to 2 over the Boston Celtics

Boxing

• April 15 - The War: Marvin Hagler knocks out Thomas Hearns in three rounds to retain the world's Middleweight title.
• August 10 - Hector Camacho defeats Jose Luis Ramirez to lift the WBC's world Lightweight title.
• September 21 - Michael Spinks beats Larry Holmes by a decision in 15 rounds to become the first world Light Heavyweight champion to win a world Heavyweight title.

Cricket

• Kim Hughes leads a "rebel" team of players on tour of South Africa, banned from official cricket since 1970 because of apartheid.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Bernard Hinault of France
• Tour de France - Bernard Hinault of France
• World Cycling Championship: Joop Zoetemelk of the Netherlands

Field Hockey

• November 16 - 24 - Seventh Men's Champions Trophy held for the first time in Australia at Perth won by hosts Australia. Great Britain finished second, their best show till then.

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Alexander Fadejew , (Soviet Union)
  • Women's champion: Katarina Witt, (Germany)
  • Pairs champions: Jelena Walowa & Oleg Wassiljew , (Soviet Union)

Football (American)

• Super Bowl XIX: San Francisco 49ers won 38-16 over the Miami Dolphins

Football (Australian Rules)

• Victorian Football League
  • Essendon wins the 89th VFL Premiership (Essendon 26.14 (170) d Hawthorn 14.8 (92))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Brad Hardie (Footscray)

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: B.C. Lions win 37-24 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
• Vanier Cup: Calgary Dinos win 25-6 over the Western Ontario Mustangs

Football (Soccer)

• The NASL announced that it was suspending operations and hoped to return in 1986; it never did.

• England - FA Cup: Manchester United won 1-0 (aet) over Everton

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Bernhard Langer
  2. June - US Open - Andy North
  3. July - British Open - Sandy Lyle
  4. August - PGA Championship - Hubert Green

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Curtis Strange - $542,321
• PGA Champions Tour leading money winner: Peter Thomson - $386,724
• Ryder Cup: Europe won 16 1/2 to 11 1/2 over the USA in world team golf

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Kathy Baker
• LPGA Championship - Nancy Lopez
• Nancy Lopez: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $416,472

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - What A Nuisance
• Canada - Queen's Plate - La Lorgnette
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Rainbow Quest
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Law Society

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Shadeed
  2. Epsom Derby - Slip Anchor
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Oh So Sharp

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Spend a Buck
  2. Preakness Stakes - Tank's Prospect
  3. Belmont Stakes - Creme Fraiche

• Breeders' Cup:
  1. Breeders' Cup Classic - Proud Truth
  2. Breeders' Cup Distaff - Life's Magic
  3. Breeders' Cup Juvenile - Tasso
  4. Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies - Twilight Ridge
  5. Breeders' Cup Mile - Cozzene
  6. Breeders' Cup Sprint - Precisionist
  7. Breeders' Cup Turf - Pebbles

Harness Racing

• North America Cup - Staff Director

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Chairmanoftheboard
  2. Little Brown Jug - Nihilator
  3. Messenger Stakes - Pershing Square

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Prakas
  2. Yonkers Trot -
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Flak Bait

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Preux Chevalier
  • Trotters: Scotch Notch

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers

• Stanley Cup: Edmonton Oilers win 4 games to 1 over the Philadelphia Flyers

• World Hockey Championship:
  • Men's champion: Czechoslovakia defeated Canada
  • Junior Men's champion: Canada defeated Czechoslovakia

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Marc Girardelli, Luxembourg
  • The women's overall season champion: Michela Figini , Switzerland

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: Dennis Taylor beats Steve Davis 18-17 in one of the greatest snooker matches of all time
• World rankings: Steve Davis remains world number one for 1985/86

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Stefan Edberg
  2. French Open - Mats Wilander
  3. Wimbledon championships - Boris Becker
  4. US Open - Ivan Lendl

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Martina Navratilova
  2. French Open - Chris Evert
  3. Wimbledon championships - Martina Navratilova
  4. US Open - Hana Mandlikova

• Davis Cup: Sweden wins 3-2 over Germany F.R. in world team tennis.

General sporting events

• Libby Riddles with her lead dogs, Axle & Dugan, becomes the first woman to ever win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race

Births

• February 5 - Cristiano Ronaldo, Portuguese football star
• May 2 - Sarah Hughes, figure skater
• June 30 - Michael Phelps, American swimmer
• October 24 - Wayne Rooney, English football star

Deaths

• August 12 - Manfred Winkelhock, auto racing driver
• November 13 - Pelle Lindbergh , NHL goaltender Philadelphia Flyers
• December 14 - Roger Maris, Major League Baseball player