- Apr 1 47th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Villanova beats Georgetown, 66-64; Wildcats lowest-seeded team (8th) to win tournament
NHL Record
Apr 2 Edmonton center Wayne Gretzky sets an NHL record with his 34th career hat trick as the Oilers beat the Kings 6-4 in Los Angeles
Sports History
Apr 2 Quebec's Czech center Peter Šťastný scores his 100th NHL point of the season for the 5th straight year, with an assist for the Nordiques in a 6-4 win over the Boston Bruins in Quebec City
- Apr 2 The NCAA Rules Committee adopts a 45-second shot clock for men’s basketball to begin in the 1986 season in an effort to eliminate stalling
- Apr 4 Tulane University cancels its basketball season amidst scandal
- Apr 7 Nabisco Dinah Shore Women's Golf, Mission Hills CC: Alice Miller shoots a final round 67 (−5) to win her only major title, 3 strokes ahead of Jan Stephenson of Australia
Sports History
Apr 9 White Sox pitcher Tom Seaver starts a record 15th opening day game
- Apr 13 "TASS" denounces US boycott of Moscow Olympics
- Apr 13 Katrin Dörre wins 1st female World Cup marathon (2:33:30)
US Masters Golf
Apr 14 49th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Bernhard Langer wins by 2 strokes from Seve Ballesteros, Curtis Strange & Raymond Floyd; first German champion
- Apr 14 Ahmed Salah wins 1st World Cup marathon (2:08:09)
- Apr 14 Bob Carpenter is unsuccessful on Washington Capitals 1st playoff penalty shot
- Apr 15 89th Boston Marathon: Englishman Geoff Smith repeats as men's champion in 2:14:05; American Lisa Larsen Weidenbach takes women's title in 2:34:06
- Apr 20 Carlos Lopes runs world record marathon (2:07:12)
Sports History
Apr 21 Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway wins London Marathon in race record 2:21:06
- Apr 23 Brooklyn College soccer team wins Nepal's invitational
- Apr 25 For 2nd time, Wayne Gretzky, scores 7 points in a Cup game (3 goals, 4 assists)
Sports History
Apr 28 Billy Martin named NY Yankee manager for 4th time
Sports History
Apr 28 Fernando Valenzuela sets record of 41 scoreless inn to start season
Sports History
Apr 29 New York Yankees fire manager Yogi Berra 16 games into season, despite assurance from owner George Steinbrenner that he would be kept for the whole season. Billy Martin named as replacement.
- Apr 29 Tony Tubbs beats defending champion Greg Page by unanimous decision in 15 rounds at Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo for WBA heavyweight boxing title
Sports History
Apr 30 Dale Murphy drives in record tying 28th & 29th runs of April
- Apr 30 NFL Draft: Virginia Tech defensive end Bruce Smith first pick by Buffalo Bills
Baseball Players
Basketball Stars
Boxers
Footballers
NFL Stars
Tennis Champions