1980 in sports
1980 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.
| Centuries: | 19th century · 20th century · 21st century |
| Decades: | 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s |
| Years: | 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 |
- Alpine Skiing World Cup:
- Men's overall season champion: Andreas Wenzel, Liechtenstein
- Women's overall season champion: Hanni Wenzel, Liechtenstein
- January 12 - Canada's Ken Read, the leader of the "Crazy Canucks" ski team, wins the Hahnenkamm downhill in Kitzbühel, Austria, becoming the first North American to ever win the classic race.
- Super Bowl XIV – Pittsburgh Steelers won 31-19 over the Los Angeles Rams
- European Championship – West Germany 2-1 Belgium
- European Cup – Nottingham Forest 1-0 Hamburg
- UEFA Cup – 2 legs, Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-2 Eintracht Frankfurt; Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 Borussia Mönchengladbach, 3-3 on aggregate, Frankfurt win on away goals
- Cup Winners' Cup – Valencia 0-0 Arsenal (AET), Valencia won 5-4 on penalties
- England - FA Cup – West Ham United won 1-0 over Arsenal
Newport County AFC win Welsh Cup for first time.
- March 31 – death of Jesse Owens, American sprinter who won four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics in 1936
- June 12 – Soviet Union's Nadezhda Olizarenko sets the world record in the women's 800 metres, clocking 1:54.85 at Moscow
- July 27 – Nadezhda Olizarenko betters her own world record in the women's 800 metres at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, clocking 1:53.43.
- Victorian Football League
- Richmond wins the 84th VFL Premiership (Richmond 23.21 (159) d Collingwood 9.24 (78))
- Brownlow Medal awarded to Kelvin Templeton (Footscray)
- September 18 – Outfielder Gary Ward become the sixth Minnesota Twins player to hit for the cycle. The Twins lose 9-8 to the Milwaukee Brewers, wasting Ward's effort. On May 26, 2004 his son, Daryle Ward, will repeat the feat guiding the Pirates' 11-8 victory over the Cardinals. Ward joined his father to become the first father-son combination in major league history to hit for the cycle.
- Rollie Fingers breaks Hoyt Wilhelm's major league record of 250 saves
- 1980 World Series – The Philadelphia Phillies of the National League end 97 years of frustration by defeating the American League champion Kansas City Royals four games to two, for the Phillies' first-ever World Championship.
- Japan's Sadaharu Oh retires from the Yomiuri Giants as the all time professional baseball home run king.
- NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship –
- Louisville wins 59-54 over UCLA
- NBA Finals –
- Los Angeles Lakers won 4 games to 2 over the Philadelphia 76ers
- National Basketball League (Australia) Finals:
- St. Kilda Saints defeated the West Adelaide Bearcats 113-88 in the final.
To- You From- Yo mama
- March 14–22 members of the United States Olympic boxing team died in a plane crash near Warsaw, Poland
- June 20- Roberto Durán defeats Sugar Ray Leonard by a 15 round decision to win boxing's WBC world Welterweight title.
- August 2- Thomas Hearns defeats Jose Pipino Cuevas by a knockout in round 2 to win boxing's WBA world Welterweight title and Yasutsune Uehara knocks out Samuel Serrano in round six to win the WBA's world Jr. Lightweight title in Detroit
- In Cincinnati, Aaron Pryor defeats Antonio Kid Pambele Cervantes by a knockout in round four to win the WBA's world Jr. Welterweight title.
- October 2- Larry Holmes defeats Muhammad Ali by a knockout in round eleven to retain boxing's WBC world Heavyweight title, in what would be Ali's last world title bout.
- November 25- In The No Más Fight, in New Orleans, Louisiana, Sugar Ray Leonard recovers the WBC's world Welterweight championship with an eight round technical knockout of Roberto Durán.
- Grey Cup – Edmonton Eskimos win 48-10 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
- Vanier Cup – Alberta Golden Bears win 40-21 over the Ottawa Gee-Gees
- Giro d'Italia won by Bernard Hinault of France
- Tour de France - Joop Zoetemelk of the Netherlands
- World Cycling Championship – Bernard Hinault of France
- Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion –
- Joe May won with lead dogs: Wilbur & Cora Gray
- Men's Champions Trophy held in Karachi and won by Pakistan
- Olympic Games (Men's Competition) won by India
- Olympic Games (Women's Competition) won by Zimbabwe
- World Figure Skating Championships –
- Men's champion: Jan Hoffmann, Germany
- Ladies' champion: Anett Pötzsch, Germany
- Pair skating champions: Marina Cherkasova & Sergei Shakhrai, Soviet Union
- Ice dancing champions: Krisztina Regőczy & András Sallay, Hungary
- Camogie
- Gaelic football
- All-Ireland Senior Football Championship – Kerry 1-9 d. Roscommon 1-6
- National Football League – Cork 0-11 d. Kerry 0-10
- Ladies' Gaelic football
- Hurling
- All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship – Galway 2-15 d. Limerick 3-9
- National Hurling League –
Men's professional
- the Senior PGA Tour (now called Champions Tour) is founded.
- Masters Tournament - Seve Ballesteros
- U.S. Open - Jack Nicklaus
- British Open - Tom Watson
- PGA Championship - Jack Nicklaus
- PGA Tour money leader - Tom Watson - $530,808
- Senior PGA Tour - money leader - Don January - $44,100
Men's amateur
Women's professional
- LPGA Championship - Sally Little
- U.S. Women's Open - Amy Alcott
- Classique Peter Jackson Classic - Pat Bradley
- LPGA Tour money leader - Beth Daniel - $231,000
- Superhorse, Niatross wins the United States Pacing Triple Crown races –
- United States Trotting Triple Crown races –
- Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
- Pacers: Koala King
- Trotters: Hano Direct
Hockey
- New York Islanders win Stanley Cup on Bobby Nystrom's overtime goal in Game 6 of the Finals over the Philadelphia Flyers.he
- The United States Men's Olympic hockey team win the Gold Medal after defeating the USSR in the medal round and then Finland in the Gold Medal Round.
Steeplechases
Flat races
- Australia – Melbourne Cup won by Beldale Ball
- Canada – Queen's Plate won by Driving Home
- France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Detroit
- Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Tyrnavos
- English Triple Crown Races:
- United States Triple Crown Races:
- Stock car racing –
- CART Racing - Johnny Rutherford won the season championship
- Formula One Champion - Alan Jones of Australia
- 24 hours of Le Mans – the team of Jean Rondeau / Jean-Pierre Jaussaud won, driving a Rondeau M379B
- Rally racing - Walter Röhrl in a Fiat won the World Rally Championship
- The team of Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Fiat 131 Abarth
- Drag racing - Shirley Muldowney won the NHRA Top Fuel championship.
- Touring car racing - Peter Brock and Jim Richards won their third consecutive Bathurst 1000, driving a Holden Torana
- 1980 Summer Olympics takes place in Moscow, USSR
- USSR wins the most medals (195), and the most gold medals (80).
- 1980 Winter Olympics takes place in Lake Placid, United States
- First Amateur Radio Direction Finding World Championships held in Cetniewo, Poland.
- 8 July – inaugural State of Origin match is won by Queensland who defeat New South Wales 20–10 at Lang Park
- 86th Five Nations Championship series is won by England who complete the Grand Slam
- World Snooker Championship – Cliff Thorburn beats Alex Higgins 18-16, becoming the first non-UK player to win the title
- World rankings – Ray Reardon remains world number one for 1980/81
- XXII Olympic Games, held in Moscow, Soviet Union (July 20 – July 27)
- February 2 – USA's Chris Cavanaugh sets a world record in the 50m freestyle (long course) at a swimming meet in Amersfoort, Netherlands, shaving off 0.04 of the previous record (23.70) set by Germany's Klaus Steinbach nearly a year ago: 23.66.
- April 10 – Chris Cavanaugh betters his own world record in the 50m freestyle (long course) at a swimming meet in Austin, Texas (USA): 23.12. At the same event (and on the same day), two other swimmers from the United States, Rowdy Gaines and Bruce Stahl, go under his time, clocking 22.96 and 22.83 respectively.
- August 15 – USA's Joe Bottom betters the world record in the 50m freestyle (long course) at a meet in Honolulu, Hawaii, shaving off 0.12 of the previous record (22.83) set by Bruce Stahl four months earlier: 22.71.
- Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
- Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
- Davis Cup World tennis - Czechoslovakia defeated Italy 4-1.
- The New York Yacht Club retains the America's Cup as Freedom defeats challenger Australia, of the Royal Perth Yacht Club, 4 races to 1
- Water polo at the 1980 Summer Olympics won by USSR
Awards
- ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year: U.S. Olympic Hockey Team
- Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – U.S. Olympic hockey team, Amateur Ice Hockey
- Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Chris Evert, Tennis