See also: 1989 in sports, other events of 1990, 1991 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Contents

1 Auto Racing 2 Baseball 3 Basketball 4 Boxing 5 Cycling 6 Field Hockey 7 Figure Skating 8 Football (American) 9 Football (Australian Rules) 10 Football (Canadian) 11 Football (Soccer) 12 Golf 13 Thoroughbred Horse Racing 14 Harness Racing 15 Ice Hockey 16 Skiing 17 Snooker 18 Tennis 19 General sporting events 20 Births 21 Deaths

Auto 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
• 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.

Baseball

• Bobby Thigpen saves 57 games for the Chicago White Sox, breaking Dave Righetti's record of 46.
• World Series: The Cincinnati Reds win 4 games to 0 over the Oakland Athletics - Series MVP: Jose Rijo , Cincinnati

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • UNLV wins 103-73 over Duke

• NBA Finals:
  • Detroit Pistons won 4 games to 1 over the Portland Trail Blazers

Boxing

• February 11 - James 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 Cesar Chavez defeated Meldrick Taylor to unify boxing's world junior welterweight title.

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

Field Hockey

• November 17 - 25 - Twelfth Men's Champions Trophy held in Melbourne, Australia won by hosts Australia

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Kurt Browning, Canada
  • Women's champion: Jill Trenary , United States
  • Pairs champions: Jekaterina Gordejewa & Sergej Grinkow , Soviet Union

Football (American)

• Super Bowl XXIV - San Francisco 49ers won 55-10 over the Denver Broncos

Football (Australian Rules)

• 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)

Football (Canadian)

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

Football (Soccer)

• West Germany won the Football World Cup in Rome, Italy, defeating defending champion Argentina 1-0 in the final.

• England - FA Cup: Manchester United won 1-0 over Crystal Palace

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Nick Faldo
  2. June - US Open - Hale Irwin
  3. July - British Open - Nick Faldo
  4. August - PGA Championship - Wayne Grady

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Greg Norman - $1,165,477
• PGA Champions Tour leading money winner: Lee Trevino - $1,190,518

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open: Betsy King
• LPGA Championship - Beth Daniel
• Beth Daniel: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $863,578

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Kingston Rule
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Izvestia
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Saumarez
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Salsabil

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand 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:
  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

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

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 Russia
  • Women's champion: in the inaugural event, Canada defeated United States

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Pirmin Zurbriggen , Switzerland
  • The women's overall season champion: Petra Kronberger , Austria

Snooker

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

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Ivan Lendl
  2. French Open - Andres Gomez
  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.

General sporting events

• Commonwealth Games held in Auckland

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

Births

December 3 Zak Kanoff, Soccer Star

Deaths

• January 1 - Joe Hardstaff, Jr. , English cricketer
• January 7 - Bronko Nagurski, NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame
• February 14 - Graeme Hole , Australian cricketer
• February 24 - Tony Conigliaro, MLB baseball player, Boston Red Sox
• February 26 - Leslie Ames, English cricketer
• March 6 - Joe Sewell, Major League Baseball player (1920-1933)
• March 15 - Tom Harmon, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner
• March 20 - Lev Yashin, Soviet football goalkeeper
• April 21 - Johnny Beagley , Major League Baseball pitcher
• May 22 - Rocky Graziano, boxer
• June 18 - Dennis Dyer , South African cricketer
• August 28 - Larry Jackson , Major League Baseball pitcher (1955-1968)
• September 9 - Doc Cramer, Major League Baseball player (1929-1948)
• October 7 - John "Cat" Thompson , Basketball Hall of Fame
• October 10 - Wally Moses , Major League Baseball player (1935-1951)
• November 16 - Northern Dancer, racehorse
• December 13 - Alice Marble , tennis star, Wimbledon champion
• December 31 - George Allen, NFL coach