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

Table of contents 1 Auto Racing 2 Baseball 3 Basketball 4 Boxing 5 Cycling 6 Figure Skating 7 Football (Soccer) 8 Football (American) 9 Canadian Football League 10 Golf 11 Thoroughbred Horse Racing 12 Harness Racing 13 Ice Hockey 14 Skiing 15 Tennis 16 General sporting events 17 Births 18 Deaths

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • Bobby Allison[?] won the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Cale Yarborough[?]
• Indianapolis 500 - Al Unser, Sr.[?]
• USAC Racing - A.J. Foyt won the season championship
• Formula One Championship - Mario Andretti[?] of the United States
• 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Jean-Pierre Laussaud[?] / Didier Pironi[?] won driving a Renault-Alpine 442[?]
• Rally racing - the team of Jean-Pierre Nicolas[?] / Vincent Laverne[?] win the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Porsche 911 Carrera
• Drag racing:
  • Kelly Brown[?] won the NHRA "Top Fuel" championship
  • Rob Bruins[?] won "Top Fuel" at the NHRA World Finals

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

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • Kentucky wins 94-88 over Duke

• NBA Finals:
  • Washington Wizards 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

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 (Soccer)

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

Football (American)

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

Canadian Football League

• Grey Cup: Edmonton Eskimos win 20-13 over the Montreal Alouettes
• Vanier Cup: Queen's Golden Gaels[?] win 16-3 over the UBC Thunderbirds[?]

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:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Affirmed[?]
  2. Preakness Stakes - Affirmed[?]
  3. Belmont Stakes - Affirmed[?]

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

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 - Jimmy Connors

• Grand Slam in tennis womens 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.

General sporting events

• British Commonwealth Games held in Edmonton, Canada

• Embassy World Snooker Championship[?]:
  • Ray Reardon[?] won 25-18 over Perrie Mans[?]

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

Births

Deaths

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