1979 in sports

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • Richard Petty wins the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Richard Petty
• USAC Racing was supplanted by the Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc.
• Indianapolis 500 - Rick Mears[?]
• CART Racing: Rick Mears[?] won the season championship
• Formula One Championship - 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

Baseball

• World Series: Pittsburgh Pirates won 4 games to 3 over the Baltimore Orioles. The Series MVP was Willie Stargell[?], Pittsburgh

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • Michigan St. wins 75-64 over Indiana St.

• NBA Finals:
  • Seattle Supersonics won 4 games to 1 over the Washington Wizards

Boxing

• 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.

Cycling

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

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Wladimir Kowalew[?], (Soviet Union)
  • Women's champion: Linda Fratianne[?], (United States)
  • Pairs champions: Tai Babilonia[?] & Randy Gardner[?], (United States)

Football (Soccer)

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

Football (American)

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

Canadian Football League

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

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Fuzzy Zoeller[?]
  2. June - US Open - Hale Irwin[?]
  3. July - British Open - Seve Ballesteros[?]
  4. 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 world team golf.

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.

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• 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:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Tap On Wood[?]
  2. Epsom Derby - Troy[?]
  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[?]

Harness Racing

• 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
  3. Kentucky Futurity

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Rondel[?]
  • Trotters: No Response[?]

Ice Hockey

• 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

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Peter Luescher[?], Switzerland
  • The women's overall season champion: Annemarie Moser-Pröll[?], Austria

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis mens results:
  1. Australian Open - Guillermo Vilas[?]
  2. French Open - Bjorn Borg
  3. Wimbledon championships - Bjorn Borg
  4. US Open - John McEnroe[?]

• Grand Slam in tennis womens results:
  1. Australian Open - Barbara Jordan[?]
  2. French Open - Chris Evert
  3. Wimbledon championships - Martina Navratilova
  4. US Open - Tracy Austin[?]

• Davis Cup: United States wins 5-0 over Italy in world tennis.

General sporting events

• Embassy World Snooker Championship[?]:
  • Terry Griffiths[?] won 24-16 over Dennis Taylor[?]

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

Births

Deaths

• February 21 - Glendon Gibbs[?], Australian cricketer
• April 6 - M Marie Widlow[?], Hall of Fame softball pitcher
• May 31 - Nigel Howard[?], English cricketer
• July 5 - Elizabeth Ryan[?], tennis star, won 19 Wimbledon titles
• July 9 - Betty Evans Grayson[?], Hall of Fame softball pitcher
• July 21 - Sandor Kocsis[?], Hungarian soccer star
• July 22 - Tony "Two-Ton" Galento[?], boxer/actor
• August 2 - Thurman Munson[?], New York Yankees catcher (1969-1979), plane crash
• August 21 - Giuseppe Meazza[?], Italian, soccer star
• October 22 - Clint Hodgins[?], Hall of Fame harness-racing driver
• December 15 - Stan Hack[?], Major League Baseball player (1932-1947)