1990 in sports

1990 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

Alpine skiing

• Alpine Skiing World Cup
  • Men's overall season champion: Pirmin Zurbriggen, Switzerland

American football

• January 28 - Super Bowl XXIV - San Francisco 49ers won 55-10 over the Denver Broncos
• November 11 - Derrick Thomas has 7 sacks for Kansas City Chiefs against Seattle Seahawks.
• The Colorado Buffaloes are named the AP Poll champion.
• The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are named the UPI Poll

Association football

• West Germany won the Football World Cup in Rome, Italy, defeating defending champion Argentina 1-0 in the final.
• Ecuador - Ecuadorian Serie A Champions: Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito

Athletics

• 1990 Commonwealth Games held in Auckland, New Zealand
• 1990 European Championships in Athletics held in Split, Yugoslavia

Australian rules football

• Australian Football League
  • The Victorian Football League is renamed the Australian Football League
  • Collingwood wins the 94th AFL premiership (Collingwood 13.11 (89) d Essendon 5.11 (41))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Tony Liberatore (Footscray)

Baseball

• June 11 - Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers pitched a no-hitter against the Oakland Athletics.
• The Cincinnati Reds sweep the Oakland A's in the World Series.
• Ira Smith becomes the first player in NCAA history to win consecutive batting titles after hitting .519 with the UMES Hawks.

Basketball

• National Basketball League (Australia) Finals:
  • Perth Wildcats defeated the Brisbane Bullets 2-1 in the best-of-three final series.
• Detroit Pistons win the NBA Finals.
• Erica Jiles AkA All-City of Indianapolis, Indiana
• UNLV wins the NCAA Men's Division I championship
• Yugoslavia wins the FIBA World Championship.

Boxing

• February 11 – Buster Douglas defeated Mike Tyson by a knockout in round 10 to win the world's unified Heavyweight title, in what many consider boxing's biggest upset ever.
• March 31 – Thunder Meets Lightning: Julio César Chávez defeated Meldrick Taylor to unify boxing's world junior welterweight title
• September 22 to October 7 – Asian Games held in Beijing, PR China
• November 24 to December 3 – Central American and Caribbean Games held in Mexico City

Canadian football

• Grey Cup – Winnipeg Blue Bombers 50-11 over the Edmonton Eskimos
• Vanier Cup – Saskatchewan Huskies win 24-21 over the St. Mary's Huskies

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Gianni Bugno of Italy
• Tour de France - Greg Lemond of the United States
• World Cycling Championship – Rudy Dhaenens of Belgium

Dogsled racing

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion –
  • Susan Butcher won with lead dogs: Sluggo & Lightning

Field hockey

• Men's World Cup held in Lahore won by the Netherlands
• Men's Champions Trophy held in Melbourne won by Australia
• Women's World Cup held in Sydney won by the Netherlands

Figure skating

• World Figure Skating Championships –
  • Men's champion: Kurt Browning, Canada
  • Ladies' champion: Jill Trenary, United States
  • Pair skating champions: Ekaterina Gordeeva & Sergei Grinkov, Soviet Union
  • Ice dancing champions: Marina Klimova / Sergei Ponomarenko, Soviet Union

Gaelic Athletic Association

• Camogie
  • All-Ireland Camogie Champion: Kilkenny
  • National Camogie League: Kilkenny
• Gaelic football
  • All-Ireland Senior Football Championship – Cork 0-11 d. Meath 0-9
  • National Football League – Meath 2-7 d. Down 0-11
• Ladies' Gaelic football
  • All-Ireland Senior Football Champion: Kerry
  • National Football League: Kerry
• Hurling
  • All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship – Cork 5-15 d. Galway 2-21
  • National Hurling League –

Golf

Men's professional

• Masters Tournament - Nick Faldo
• U.S. Open - Hale Irwin
• British Open - Nick Faldo
• PGA Championship - Wayne Grady
• PGA Tour money leader - Greg Norman - $1,165,477
• Senior PGA Tour money leader - Lee Trevino - $1,190,518

Men's amateur

• British Amateur - Rolf Muntz
• U.S. Amateur - Phil Mickelson
• European Amateur - Klas Erikson

Women's professional

• Nabisco Dinah Shore - Betsy King
• U.S. Women's Open - Betsy King
• LPGA Championship - Beth Daniel
• Classique du Maurier - Cathy Johnston-Forbes
• LPGA Tour money leader - Beth Daniel - $863,578
• The inaugural Solheim Cup match was won by the United States who beat Europe 11½ - 4½

Harness racing

• North America Cup - Apaches Fame
• United States Pacing Triple Crown races –
  1. Cane Pace - Jake And Elwood
  2. Little Brown Jug - Beach Towel
  3. Messenger Stakes - Jake And Elwood
• United States Trotting Triple Crown races –
  1. Hambletonian - Harmonious
  2. Yonkers Trot -
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Star Mystic
• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
  • Pacers: Thorate
  • Trotters: Real Force

Horse racing

Steeplechases

• Cheltenham Gold Cup – Norton's Coin
• Grand National – Mr Frisk

Flat races

• Australia – Melbourne Cup won by Kingston Rule
• Canadian Triple Crown Races:
  1. Queen's Plate – Izvestia
  2. Prince of Wales Stakes – Izvestia
  3. Breeders' Stakes – Izvestia
  • For the second straight year, a horse sweeps the series.
• France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Saumarez
• Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Salsabil
• Japan – Japan Cup won by Better Loosen Up
• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Tirol
  2. Epsom Derby – Quest for Fame
  3. St. Leger Stakes – Snurge
• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby – Unbridled
  2. Preakness Stakes – Summer Squall
  3. Belmont Stakes – Go and Go
• Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships:
  1. Breeders' Cup Classic – Unbridled
  2. Breeders' Cup Distaff – Bayakoa
  3. Breeders' Cup Juvenile – Fly So Free
  4. Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies – Meadow Star
  5. Breeders' Cup Mile – Royal Academy
  6. Breeders' Cup Sprint – Safely Kept
  7. Breeders' Cup Turf – In the Wings

Ice hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings
• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Mark Messier, Edmonton Oilers
• Stanley Cup – Edmonton Oilers won 4 games to 1 over the Boston Bruins
• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Sweden
  • Junior Men's champion: Canada defeated Brussia
  • Women's champion: in the inaugural event, Canada defeated United States

Lacrosse

• The 6th World Lacrosse Championship is held in Perth, Australia. The United States win, and Canada is the runner-up.
• The Philadelphia Wings beat the New England Blazers 17-7 in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League Championship.
• The Brooklin Redmen win the Mann Cup.
• Orangeville wins the Founders Cup.
• The St. Catharines Athletics win the Minto Cup.

Motor racing

• Stock car racing –
  • Derrike Cope won the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Dale Earnhardt
• CART Racing - Al Unser, Jr. won the season championship
  • Indianapolis 500 - Arie Luyendyk of the Netherlands
• Formula One Championship - Ayrton Senna of Brazil
• 24 hours of Le Mans –
  • won by the team of John Nielsen / Price Cobb / Martin Brundle driving a Jaguar XJR-12.
• Rally racing - Carlos Sainz in a Toyota won the World Rally Championship
  • the team of Didier Auriol/Bernard Occelli won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Lancia Delta HF Integrale
• Drag racing - Joe Amato won the NHRA "Top Fuel" championship.

Radiosport

• The first World Radiosport Team Championship held in Seattle, Washington, USA. Gold medals won by John Dorr K1AR and Doug Grant K1DG of the United States.
• Fifth Amateur Radio Direction Finding World Championship held in Štrbské Pleso, Czechoslovakia.

Rugby league

• 1990–91 French Championship season
• 1990 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France
• 1990 New Zealand rugby league season
• 1990 NSWRL season
• 1990 Pacific Cup
• 1989–90 Rugby Football League season / 1990–91 Rugby Football League season
• 1990 State of Origin series
• 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup

Rugby union

• 96th Five Nations Championship series is won by Scotland who complete the Grand Slam

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship – Stephen Hendry beats Jimmy White 18-12
• World rankings – Stephen Hendry becomes world number one for 1990/91

Swimming

• March 24 – Tom Jager betters his own world record (22.12) in the 50m freestyle (long course) twice at a swimming meet in Nashville, Tennessee. After having swum 21.98 in the heats, the sprinter sets the mark at 21.81 in the final. Jager is the first man in history to break the 22 seconds barrier in the 50 free.

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Ivan Lendl
  2. French Open - Andrés Gómez
  3. Wimbledon championships - Stefan Edberg
  4. US Open - Pete Sampras
• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Steffi Graf
  2. French Open - Monica Seles
  3. Wimbledon championships - Martina Navratilova
  4. US Open - Gabriela Sabatini
• Davis Cup – United States won 3-2 over Australia in world tennis.

Triathlon

• ITU World Championships held in Orlando, United States
• ETU European Championships held in Linz, Austria

Volleyball

• FIVB World League 1990 held in Osaka, Japan won by Italy
• 1990 FIVB Men's World Championship held in Rio de Janeiro won by Italy
• 1990 FIVB Women's World Championship held in Beijing won by USSR

Multi-sport events

• Asian Games held in Beijing, China
• Winter Asian Games held in Sapporo, Japan
• Central American and Caribbean Games held in Mexico City, Mexico
• Commonwealth Games held in Auckland
• Summer Goodwill Games held in Seattle, United States

Awards

• Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Joe Montana, National Football League
• Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Beth Daniel, LPGA golf

References