1984 in sports - Definition and Overview

See also: 1983 in sports, other events of 1984, 1985 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • NASCAR Championship - Terry Labonte
  • Cale Yarborough won the Daytona 500
  • Richard Petty won the 200th (and final) race of his career on July 4.
• CART Racing - Mario Andretti won the season championship
  • Indianapolis 500 - Rick Mears
• Formula One Championship - Niki Lauda of Austria
• 24 hours of Le Mans:
  • the team of Klaus Ludwig / Henri Pescarolo won, driving a Porsche 956
• Rally racing - Stig Blomqvist in an Audi won the World Rally Championship
  • the team of Walter Rohrl / Christian Geistdorfer won the Monte Carlo Rally driving an Audi Quattro
• Drag racing - Joe Amato won the NHRA Top Fuel championship.

Baseball

• January 10 - Luis Aparicio, Harmon Killebrew, and Don Drysdale are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame

• World Series: - Detroit Tigers win 4 games to 1 over the San Diego Padres

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • Georgetown wins 84-75 over Houston

• NBA Finals:
  • Boston Celtics won 4 games to 3 over the Los Angeles Lakers

• Central Missouri State University won the NCAA Division II men's and women's basketball titles, becoming the first school ever in any division to accomplish the feat. The University of Connecticut would do the same in Division I in 2004.

• NBA Draft:
  • A new era in the NBA is born on June 23 with the drafting of Houston's {Hakeem Olajuwon, North Carolina's Michael Jordan and Auburn's Charles Barkley.

Boxing

• March 31 - Wilfredo Gomez defeats Juan Laporte by a decision in 12 rounds to conquer the WBC's world Featherweight crown.
• June 15 - In the most anticipated bout of the year, Thomas Hearns, WBC world Jr. Middleweight champion, knocks out WBA world champion Roberto Duran in two rounds. The WBA elects not to sanction the bout, declaring their version of the title vacant instead.

Cricket

• Courtney Walsh makes his test and one day international debut.
• Inaugural edition of the Asia Cup is held in Sharjah, UAE. India defeat Pakistan in the final.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Francesco Moser of Italy
• Tour de France - Laurent Fignon of France
• World Cycling Championship: Claude Criquielion of Belgium

Field Hockey

• March 10 - In an international women's field hockey match at Wembley Stadium,England. Ireland beat England 1-0.
• August 11 - In the Olympics Women's Field Hockey Tournament in Los Angeles, The Netherlands win the gold medal.
• December 1 - 8: Sixth Men's Champions Trophy held for the 5th time in 6 editions in Pakistan in Karachi won again by Australia. Hosts Pakistan finish 2nd again.

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Scott Hamilton, (United States)
  • Women's champion: Katarina Witt, (Germany)
  • Pairs champions: Barbara Underhill & Paul Martini, (Canada)

Football (American)

• Super Bowl XVIII: Los Angeles Raiders won 38-9 over the Washington Redskins
• Walter Payton breaks Jim Brown's rushing record on October 7th.

Football (Australian Rules)

• Victorian Football League
  • Essendon wins the 88th VFL Premiership (Essendon 14.21 (105) d Hawthorn 12.9 (81))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Peter Moore (Melbourne)

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Winnipeg Blue Bombers won 47-17 over the Hamilton Tiger Cats
• Vanier Cup: Guelph Gryphons won 22-13 over the Mount Allison Mounties

Football (Soccer)

• European Championship: Final: France 2-0 Spain; Hosts: France
• Champions' Cup: - May 30 - Liverpool 1-1 A.S. Roma; Liverpool won 4-2 on penalties after extra time.
• UEFA Cup: Two legs; 1st leg Anderlecht 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur; 2nd leg Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Anderlecht; 2-2 on aggregate, Spurs won 4-2 on penalties
• Cup Winners' Cup: Juventus 2-1 Porto
• Super Cup: Juventus 2-0 Liverpool
• Copa Libertadores de América: Two legs; 1st leg Grêmio 0-1 Independiente; 2nd leg Independiente 0-0 Grêmio; Independiente won 1-0 on aggregate
• League champions
  • Argentina: Ferro Carril Oeste (Nacional), Argentinos Juniors (Metropolitano)
  • Brazil: Fluminense (Campeonato Brasileiro)
  • England: Liverpool
  • France: Girondins de Bordeaux
  • Italy: Juventus
  • Netherlands: Ajax
  • Portugal: Benfica
  • Scotland: Aberdeen
  • Spain: Athletic Bilbao
  • West Germany: VfB Stuttgart
• England - FA Cup: - May 12 - Everton win 2-0 against Watford

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May 1 - The Masters - Ben Crenshaw
  2. June 1 - US Open - Fuzzy Zoeller
  3. July - British Open - Seve Ballesteros
  4. August 1 - PGA Championship - Lee Trevino

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Tom Watson - $476,260
• PGA Champions Tour leading money winner: Don January - $328,597

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Hollis Stacy
• LPGA Championship - Patty Sheehan
• Betsy King: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $266,771

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Black Knight
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Key to the Moon
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Sagace
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - El Gran Senor

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - El Gran Senor
  2. Epsom Derby - Secreto
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Commanche Run

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Swale
  2. Preakness Stakes - Gate Dancer
  3. Belmont Stakes - Swale

• Breeders' Cup:
  1. Breeders' Cup Classic - Wild Again
  2. Breeders' Cup Distaff - Princess Rooney
  3. Breeders' Cup Juvenile - Chief's Crown
  4. Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies - Outstandingly
  5. Breeders' Cup Mile - Royal Heroine
  6. Breeders' Cup Sprint - Eillo
  7. Breeders' Cup Turf - Lashkari

Harness Racing

• North America Cup - the inaugural event won by Legal Notice

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - On The Road Again
  2. Little Brown Jug - Colt Fortysix
  3. Messenger Stakes - Troublemaker

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Historic Freight
  2. Yonkers Trot
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Fancy Crown

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Gammalite
  • Trotters: Sir Castleton

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 won 4 games to 1 over the New York Islanders

• World Hockey Championship:
  • Men's champion: (vacant) - the USSR won the Olympic Gold Medal
  • Junior Men's champion: USSR defeated Finland

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Pirmin Zurbriggen, Switzerland
  • The women's overall season champion: Erika Hess, Switzerland
• At the Winter Olympics, Bill Johnson becomes the 1st American to win the gold medal in downhill skiing.

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: Steve Davis beats Jimmy White 18-16
• World rankings: Steve Davis remains world number one for 1984/85

Tennis

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

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Chris Evert
  2. French Open - Martina Navratilova
  3. Wimbledon championships - July 7 - Martina Navratilova
  4. US Open - Martina Navratilova

• Davis Cup: Sweden wins 4-1 over the United States in world tennis.

General sporting events

• 1984 Summer Olympics takes place in Los Angeles, United States
  • United States wins the most medals (174), and the most gold medals (83).

• 1984 Winter Olympics takes place in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia
  • USSR wins the most medals (25), and the GDR wins the most gold medals (9).

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
  • Dean Osmar wins with lead dogs: Red & Bullet

Births

• January 13 - Eleni Ioannou, Greek judo star
• January 15 - Reena Kumari, Indian archery star
• January 15 - Megan Quann, swimmer
• February 14 - Solakjit Ponsana, badminton player
• February 25 - Xing Huina, Chinese athlete
• April 13 - Kris Britt, Australian cricketer
• April 20 - Maydenia Sarduy, Cuban archery star
• May 17 - Christine Robinson, water polo player
• May 29 - Carmelo Anthony, NBA star
• June 13 - Berangere Schuh, French archery star
• June 27 - Kate Richardson, gymnast
• July 11 - Alejandra Lopez, boxer
• July 11 - Tanith Belbin, US skater
• September 5 - Rachel Riddell, water polo goalie
• September 7 - Vera Zvonareva, Russian tennis star
• October 28 - Mansour May, Egyptian archery star
• November 10 - Seo Yoon-hee, badminton player
• November 11 - Bahnasawy Lamia, Egyptian archery star
• December 30 - LeBron James, NBA star

Deaths

• January 19 - Max Bentley, ice hockey star, Chicago Blackhawks (1940-1954)
• April 27 - Piet Kraak, Dutch soccer player
• June 17 - Swale, race horse and the Kentucky Derby winner, collapses & dies
• August 25 - Waite Hoyt, Major League Baseball pitcher, (1918-1938)
• September 7 - Joe Cronin, Major League Baseball player/executive, (1926-1945)
• October 1 - Walter Alston, manager of baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers
• October 1 - Hellé Nice, Grand Prix race car driver