Nadia Comăneci
Dec 1 Romanian 5-time Olympic gold medal winning gymnast Nadia Comăneci arrives in NYC requesting political asylum to the United States; granted
- Dec 2 54th Iron Bowl: Auburn beats Alabama 30-20 in Auburn
- Dec 2 55th Heisman Trophy Award: Andre Ware, Houston (QB)
Stefan Edberg
Dec 3 Stefan Edberg of Sweden claims his first and only ATP Masters Grand Prix tennis title with a 4–6, 7–6, 6–3, 6–1 win over defending champion Boris Becker at Madison Square Garden, NYC
- Dec 11 Mark Davis signs record $3.25 million per year KC Royals contract
- Dec 13 Walter Davis (Denver) ends NBA free throw streak of 53 games
- Dec 16 Commencement of 1st Test Cricket play at Bellerive Oval, Hobart (v SL)
- Dec 17 78th Davis Cup: Germany beats Sweden in Stuttgart (3-2)
- Dec 17 Michael Bevan scores cricket century on 1st-class debut (114 SA v WA)
Bird Begins Free Throw Streak
Dec 19 Larry Bird (Celtics) begins NBA free throw streak of 71 games
Ballon d'Or
Dec 26 Ballon d'Or: Milan's second straight 1-2-3; Dutch striker Marco van Basten wins his 2nd best football player in Europe title ahead of Franco Baresi and Frank Rijkaard
Taylor and Jayasuriya Debut
Dec 26 ODI cricket debut for Australia's Mark Taylor and Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya at the MCG
- Dec 27 Oregon begins taking bids on NBA games
Athletes of the Decade
Dec 29 Wayne Gretzky and Martina Navratilova, named athletes of decade by the Associated Press
Desormeaux's Win Record
Dec 31 Jockey Kent Desormeaux sets record with 598 wins in a year
Baseball Players
Basketball Stars
Boxers
Footballers
NFL Stars
Tennis Champions