Events in Sports History in 1980

Events 1 - 200 of 240

• Jan 1 46th Orange Bowl: #5 Oklahoma beats #4 Florida State, 24-7
• Jan 1 46th Sugar Bowl: #2 Alabama beats #6 Arkansas, 24-9
• Jan 1 66th Rose Bowl: #3 Southern California beats #1 Ohio State, 17-16

• Jan 1 Australian Open Women's Tennis: In an all-American final Barbara Jordan wins her first and only Grand Slam singles title; beats Sharon Walsh 6-3, 6-3

• Jan 6 AFC Championship, Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Houston Oilers, 27-13
• Jan 6 NFC Championship, Tampa Stadium: Los Angeles Rams beat Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 9-0
• Jan 6 Phil Flyers set NHL record of 35 straight games without a defeat
• Jan 7 Minnesota ends Philadelphia Flyers' NHL record 35 game unbeaten streak ends
• Jan 8 Islander Glenn Resch's 20th shut-out opponent-Canucks 3-0
• Jan 8 NCAA decides to sponsor women's championships in 5 sports

• Jan 12 Phoenix point guard Mike Bratz begins NBA free throw streak of 57 games during a 107-96 loss at the Golden State Warriors

• Jan 20 Super Bowl XIV, Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA: Pittsburgh Steelers beat LA Rams, 31-19; MVP: Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh, QB
• Jan 21 Les Henson, Virginia Tech, makes 89' 3" basketball field goal
• Jan 22 West Indies beat England 2-0 to win cricket's 1st World Series Cup
• Jan 25 Dutch government demands boycott of Olympics
• Jan 26 Islanders & Whalers play a NHL penalty-free game
• Jan 27 NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI: NFC beats AFC, 37-27; MVP: Chuck Muncie, New Orleans Saints, RB
• Jan 28 New York coach Red Holzman wins his 600th NBA game, only the second (after Red Auerbach) coach at the time to reach the plateau, as the Knicks beat Golden State, 107-103
• Jan 29 Cleveland Cavaliers beat LA Lakers 154-153 in quadruple OT
• Feb 2 Mexican boxer Salvador Sánchez dethrones Danny “Little Red” Lopez as WBC world featherweight champion with a 13th-round TKO in Phoenix, AZ; Lopez champion since November 1976, 8th defense

• Feb 5 32nd NHL All-Star Game, Joe Louis Arena, Detroit: Wales Conference beats Campbell Conference, 6-3; MVP: Reggie Leach, Philadelphia Flyers, RW

• Feb 12 NY Islanders 2nd scoreless tie, vs Winnipeg Jets

• Feb 13 NZ beats West Indies by one wicket in cricket at Dunedin
• Feb 13 XIII Winter Olympic Games open in Lake Placid, New York

• Feb 15 East German speed skater Karin Enke wins first of 3 career Olympic gold medals with victory in the 500m at Lake Placid Winter; wins 1,000m & 1,500m in Sarajevo (1984)

• Feb 15 Soviet cross-country skier Raisa Smetanina claims her 3rd of 4 career Olympic gold medals in 5k event at Lake Placid; also wins 10k and relay gold (Innsbruck 1976) and relay (Albertville 1992)
• Feb 16 American speed skater Eric Heiden wins 5,000m in Olympic record 7:02.29; second of record 5 gold medal sweep of events at Lake Placid

• Feb 17 Sapporo downhill silver medallist Annemarie Moser-Pröll of Austria goes one better with gold at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics
• Feb 17 Swedish cross-country skier Thomas Wassberg earns first of 4 career Olympic gold medals in the 15k at Lake Placid; wins by 0.01s from Finland's Juha Mieto; closest margin of victory ever in Olympic cross-country skiing
• Feb 18 East German cross country skier Barbara Petzold wins first of 2 gold medals at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics in women's 10k; also takes gold as part of 4 x 5k relay team
• Feb 18 Soviet figure skater Irina Rodnina wins her 3rd consecutive Olympic pairs title at Lake Placid; gold medals with husband Alexander Zaitsev (1976, 80) and Alexei Ulanov (1972)
• Feb 19 American speed skater Eric Heiden wins 1,000m in Olympic record 1:15.18; third of record 5 gold medal sweep of events at Lake Placid
• Feb 19 Botham a century & 13 wickets in Jubilee Test Cricket at Bombay
• Feb 19 Swedish alpine skier Ingemar Stenmark wins the giant slalom from Andreas Wenzel of Liechtenstein at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics; also takes slalom gold
• Feb 19 Ulrich Wehling of East Germany wins his third consecutive Olympic gold medal in the Nordic combined event at Lake Placid; winner Sapporo (1972), Innsbruck (1976)
• Feb 19 Washington beats Montreal, 3-1 to end the Canadiens' 34 game unbeaten streak against Capitals; Caps 0-32-2 against Montreal since entering NHL in 1974
• Feb 20 Soviet 2-time world champion team Natalia Linichuk and Gennadi Karponosov win the Olympic ice dance gold medal at Lake Placid by just 0.96 from Krisztina Regőczy & András Sallay of Hungary
• Feb 20 Soviet cross-country skier Nikolay Zimyatov wins his 2nd gold medal of the Lake Placid Winter Olympics as part of the 4 x 10k relay; also wins 30k and 50k gold
• Feb 21 American speed skater Eric Heiden wins 1,500m in Olympic record 1:55.44; 4th of record 5 gold medal sweep of events at Lake Placid
• Feb 21 British figure skater Robin Cousins wins men's singles gold medal at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics; goes on to pro career, TV analysis and stage performance & production
• Feb 21 East German cross country skier Barbara Petzold wins her second gold medal of the Lake Placid Winter Olympics as part of the women's 4 x 5k relay team; also wins 10k gold
• Feb 21 Liechtenstein becomes the smallest country to produce an Olympic champion as Hanni Wenzel wins the women's giant slalom at the Lake Placid Winter Games

• Feb 22 Aleksandr Tikhonov of the Soviet Union earns his 4th straight gold medal as part of the 4 x 7.5k biathlon relay team at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics
• Feb 22 Soviet biathlete Anatoly Alyabyev wins his 2nd gold medal of the Lake Placid Winter Olympics as part of the 4 x 7.5k relay team; also wins individual gold
• Feb 22 Swedish World Cup and World champion Ingemar Stenmark wins his 2nd gold medal of the Lake Placid Winter Olympics, taking out the slalom; follows-on from giant slalom success
• Feb 23 American speed skater Eric Heiden wins Olympic 10,000m in world record 14:28.13; sweeps all 5 speed skating events at Lake Placid; only athlete to win 5 gold medals at one Winter Games
• Feb 23 Olympic giant slalom champion Hanni Wenzel of Liechtenstein wins the women's slalom, her second gold medal of the Lake Placid Winter Games
• Feb 23 Soviet cross-country skier Nikolay Zimyatov wins his 3rd gold medal of the Lake Placid Winter Olympics when he takes out the 50k event; also wins 30k and relay gold
• Feb 24 Rangers score 5 power-play goals against Islanders

• Feb 24 XIII Winter Olympic Games close in Lake Placid, New York
• Feb 26 New Zealand cricket captain Geoff Howarth 147 and Richard Hadlee 103 hold off West Indies pace quartet of Roberts, Garner, Holding and Croft during famous 2nd Test draw at Christchurch

• Mar 1 21st SEC Men's Basketball Tournament, BJCC Coliseum, Birmingham, AL: LSU beats Kentucky, 80-78
• Mar 1 27th ACC Men's Basketball Tournament, Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC: Duke beats Maryland, 73-72
• Mar 2 Phoenix point guard Mike Bratz ends NBA free throw streak of 57 games with a miss in the Suns' 123-115 home win over the LA Lakers

• Mar 12 NY Islanders 3rd scoreless tie, vs Pittsburgh Penguin
• Mar 13 American speed skater Eric Heiden sets world record 1000m (1:13.60)
• Mar 14 Ice Dance Championship at Dortmund West Germany won by Regoczy & Sallay
• Mar 14 Polish airliner crash kills all 87 aboard (22 are US amateur boxers)
• Mar 15 England beats Scotland, 30-18 at Murrayfield, Edinburgh to claim it's 18th outright Five Nations Rugby Championship, 8th Grand Slam and 15th Triple Crown

• Mar 24 42nd NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Louisville beats UCLA, 59-54; Cardinals' first title in first title game
• Mar 29 134th Grand National: American amateur rider Charlie Fenwick wins aboard 40/1 outsider Ben Nevis; only 4 from 30 starters finish race
• Mar 31 Almost concurrent heavyweight boxing championship fights: Larry Holmes TKOs Leroy Jones in 8 for WBC title in Las Vegas, NV whilst Mike Weaver KOs John Tate in 15 for WBA belt in Knoxville, TN
• Apr 2 In his first full season in the NHL, Wayne Gretzky scores for Edmonton in a 1-1 tie with Minnesota North Stars to become the youngest player to reach 50 goals at 19 years and 2 months of age

• Apr 6 Gordie Howe completes a record 26th NHL season
• Apr 8 Islander Potvin's 2 shorthanded goals tie NHL record vs Kings & set NHL rec of 2 shorthanded playoff goals in 1 period
• Apr 9 Los Angeles Kings tie NHL record with two shorthanded playoff goals (vs NY Islanders)

• Apr 12 Milwaukee beats Boston Red Sox, 18-1 (Cooper & Money hit grand slams)
• Apr 12 US Olympic Committee endorses a boycott of the Moscow Olympic games

• Apr 13 US and its allies boycott the Summer Olympics in Moscow in protest against Russia's invasion of Afghanistan

• Apr 26 Gerard Nijboer runs Dutch record marathon (2:09:01)

• Apr 29 NFL Draft: Oklahoma running back Billy Sims first pick by Detroit Lions
• May 3 106th Kentucky Derby: Jacinto Vasquez on Genuine Risk wins in 2:02

• May 4 Dodgers bat out of order against Phillies in 1st inning
• May 4 White Sox 1st baseman Mike Squires catches final inning of 11-1 loss to Brewers, becoming 1st lefty to catch since Cubs Dale Long in 1958
• May 8 Sabres take only 15 shots, Islanders 22, in a playoff game

• May 12 West Ham United wins the FA Cup, beating Arsenal 1-0 at Wembley Stadium; midfield playmaker Trevor Brooking scores winner with a rare header
• May 13 Cincinnati Red Ray Knight hits 2 HRs in 5th inning vs NY Mets
• May 14 Bucky Dent hits an inside park HR, Royals walk 14 Yanks including 5 with bases loaded, Yanks win 16-3
• May 14 Valencia of Spain wins 20th European Cup Winner's Cup against Arsenal of England 5-4 on penalties in Brussels
• May 15 Flyers score 8 goals against Islanders in playoffs
• May 16 34th NBA Championship: LA Lakers beat Philadelphia 76ers, 4 games to 2

• May 24 Stanley Cup Final, Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY: In first Finals appearance, NY Islanders beat Philadelphia Flyers, 5-4 in OT for a 4 games to 2 series win
• May 25 Indianapolis 500: Johnny Rutherford wins from pole position for his third Indy victory; sixth driver to win the race three times
• May 25 Jacek Wszoka of Poland sets high jump record (7'8")
• May 26 Dietmar Mogenburg of West Germany ties high jump record at 7'8"
• May 28 2 Oakland A's steal home in 1st inning
• May 28 24th European Cup: Nottingham Forest beats Hamburg 1-0 at Madrid
• May 28 Joe Darby does a standing long jump of 12'5"

• Jun 7 112th Belmont: Eddie Maple aboard Temperence Hill wins in 2:29.8

• Jun 8 French Open Men's Tennis: Björn Borg of Sweden wins 3rd straight French title; beats American Vitas Gerulaitis 6-4, 6-1, 6-2

• Jun 9 Phillies and SF Giants end their game at 3:11 AM
• Jun 15 Jorge Orta of Cleveland gets 6 hits in a baseball game

• Jun 20 California Angels Freddie Patek, hits 3 HRs & double to beat Red Sox 20-2

• Jun 22 American golfer Don January beats Mike Souchak by 2 strokes to win the Atlantic City Senior International in Northfield, New Jersey; inaugural tournament of the Senior PGA Tour
• Jun 22 UEFA European Championship Final, Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy: Horst Hrubesch scores a double as Germany beats Belgium, 2-1
• Jun 23 West German wins European soccer title (2-1 against Belgium)
• Jun 24 Affirmed wins $500,000 Hollywood Cup, 1st horse to win $2 million
• Jun 27 Dodgers' Jerry Reuss no-hits SF Giants 8-0
• Jun 28 The South African Springbok rugby team lead by Morné du Plessis beats the British Lions 12-10 in Port Elizabeth to lead 3-0 in the series
• Jun 29 US Senior Open Men's Golf, Winged Foot GC: Roberto De Vicenzo of Argentina wins inaugural event by 4 strokes ahead of amateur William C. Campbell; his Champions Tour debut

• Jul 3 Biggest MLB crowd in 7 years, 73,096 watch Indians beat NY Yankees, 7-0 at Cleveland Stadium

• Jul 4 Wimbledon Women's Tennis: Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley beats Chris Evert 6-1, 7-6 for her 3rd Wimbledon singles crown
• Jul 5 Wimbledon Men's Tennis: Björn Borg beats John McEnroe 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7, 8-6 for his 5th straight Wimbledon crown with famous 22-minute, 34-point, fourth-set tiebreak
• Jul 6 MLB Philadelphia Phillies starter Steve Carlton fans 7 Cardinals to reach 2,836 strikeouts, the most by a left-handed pitcher in MLB history
• Jul 7 American boxer Larry Holmes scores a 7th round TKO of Scott LeDoux in Bloomington, Minnesota in defense of his WBC heavyweight title
• Jul 8 51st All Star Baseball Game: NL wins 4-2 at Dodger Stadium, LA
• Jul 8 All star MVP: Ken Griffey (Cincinnati Reds)

• Jul 19 XXII Summer Olympic Games open in Moscow, Russia; led by United States, 66 nations boycott event because of Soviet-Afghan war
• Jul 20 67th Tour de France won by Joop Zoetemelk of Netherlands

• Jul 30 American swimmers Mary T Meagher (2.06.37) and Craig Beardsley (1.58.21) both set 200m butterfly world records at the US National Swimming Championships at Irvine, California
• Jul 30 Houston Astros pitcher J. R. Richard suffers a stroke and collapses while playing a game of catch before an Astros game, ending his career
• Aug 1 East German runner Waldemar Cierpinski wins his second consecutive Olympic Games marathon in 12:11:03 in Moscow
• Aug 1 Gerd Wessig of East Germany becomes the first male to set a high jump world record at the Olympics (2.36m [7' 9"] Moscow)
• Aug 2 Cuban super-heavyweight Teofilo Stevenson becomes the 1st fighter to win 3 Olympic gold medals in the same division, scores 4-1 points decision over Pyotr Zayev (Soviet Union) in Moscow

• Aug 3 XXII Summer Olympic Games close in Moscow, Russia
• Aug 4 7-time All Star Maury Wills becomes only the 3rd black manager in MLB history when Darrell Johnson is fired by Seattle Mariners after a 9 game losing streak
• Aug 5 Montreal Expos Dick Williams wins his 1,000th career game as a manager in 11-5 win v Mets, for whom Doug Flynn hits MLB record tying 3 triples

• Aug 10 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Oak Hill CC: Jack Nicklaus wins 5th and final PGA C'ship by a convincing 7 strokes from Andy Bean

• Aug 18 KC Royals' George Brett, batting avg reach .400
• Aug 19 Kansas City Royals' George Brett hitting streak ends at 30 games
• Aug 20 Cleveland Indians pitcher Dan Spillner, 5.45 ERA, is 2 outs from a no-hitter when Chicago White Sox rookie Leo Sutherland singles
• Aug 20 NY Yankee Bob Watson hits Seattle Kingdome speaker, 2nd straight day
• Aug 20 Pittsburgh Pirate Omar Moreno pillages record 70 bases for 3rd consecutive season

• Aug 23 Charles O. Finley sells Oakland A's MLB franchise for $12.7m to Walter Haas Jr. (owner and CEO of Levi Strauss)
• Aug 25 MLB Texas Rangers pitcher Ferguson Jenkins arrested for possession of drugs
• Aug 31 80th US Golf Amateur Championship won by Hal Sutton
• Sep 1 Canadian one-legged distance runner Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope ends in Thunder Bay, Ontario with Fox unable to continue because of illness

• Sep 6 French runner Chantal Langlacé sets women's 100k world record (7h 27m 22s) in Amiens, France
• Sep 6 US College football longest losing streak of 50 games ends for Macalester College (St. Paul)
• Sep 6 US Open Women's Tennis: In the centenary women's singles final, Chris Evert-Lloyd wins her 5th US title; beats Hana Mandlíková 5-7, 6-1, 6-1
• Sep 7 Oakland A's pitch record 78th complete game of season

• Sep 14 Dwight Clark begins NFL streak of 105 consecutive game receptions
• Sep 20 Bronze plaque dedicated to memory of catcher Thurman Munson unveiled at Yankee Stadium: Munson died in plane crash in 1979
• Sep 20 George Brett goes 0-for-4 dropping his avg below .400 for good
• Sep 20 Spectacular Bid runs in Belmont alone as 3 horses drop out
• Sep 21 LA Ram Johnnie Johnson scores a 99 yard interception
• Sep 21 Richard Todd of NY Jets completes 42 passes in a game (NFL record)
• Sep 24 Braves join every NL team with 1,000,000+ attendance for this season

• Sep 27 Marvin Hagler defeats Alan Minter to claim boxing's world Middleweight championship in London. They have to be escorted away by police after a riot forms.
• Sep 28 Australian Williams driver Alan Jones clinches his first Formula 1 World Drivers Championship by winning the Canadian Grand Prix at Île Notre-Dame Circuit
• Sep 30 1,754 turn out to see Phillies play NY Mets at Shea Stadium

• Oct 2 38-year-old Muhammad Ali comes out of a two-year retirement to challenge undefeated world heavyweight champion Larry Holmes at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. Ali is pounded unmercifully for ten rounds before his corner throws in the towel.

• Oct 10 MLB American League Championship: Kansas City Royals beat New York Yankees, 3 games to 0
• Oct 10 Yanks lose 4-2 & are swept by Royals in AL Championship series
• Oct 11 Dallas Mavericks open debut NBA season with a 103-92 victory against interstate rival San Antonio Spurs at Reunion Arena

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