1990 in sports

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

Centuries:	19th century · 20th century · 21st century
Decades:	1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
Years:	1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993

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

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 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:
Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
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

References

Sports by year 1951 – 2000

1951 \| 1952 \| 1953 \| 1954 \| 1955 \| 1956 \| 1957 \| 1958 \| 1959 \| 1960 1961 \| 1962 \| 1963 \| 1964 \| 1965 \| 1966 \| 1967 \| 1968 \| 1969 \| 1970 \| 1971 \| 1972 \| 1973 \| 1974 \| 1975 \| 1976 \| 1977 \| 1978 \| 1979 \| 1980 1981 \| 1982 \| 1983 \| 1984 \| 1985 \| 1986 \| 1987 \| 1988 \| 1989 \| 1990 \| 1991 \| 1992 \| 1993 \| 1994 \| 1995 \| 1996 \| 1997 \| 1998 \| 1999 \| 2000

to 1850 • 1851 – 1900 • 1901 – 1950 • 1951 – 2000 • from 2001

1990 in sports

Contents

Awards

References