1985 in sports

Last updated March 12, 2024

1985 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

Alpine skiing

Alpine Skiing World Cup:
- Men's overall season champion: Marc Girardelli, Luxembourg
- Women's overall season champion: Michela Figini, Switzerland

American football

Super Bowl XIX – the San Francisco 49ers (NFC) won 38–16 over the Miami Dolphins (AFC)
- Location: Stanford Stadium
- Attendance: 84,059
- MVP: Joe Montana, QB (San Francisco)
Baltimore Stars win USFL Championship 28-24 over Oakland Invaders

Artistic gymnastics

World Artistic Gymnastics Championships –
- Men's all-around champion: Yuri Korolev, USSR
- Women's all-around champions: Oksana Omelianchik, USSR, Yelena Shushunova, USSR
- Men's team competition champion: USSR
- Women's team competition champion: USSR

Association football

NASL announces suspension of operations and hopes to return in 1986. It never did.
England – FA Cup – Manchester United won 1-0 (aet) over Everton. Kevin Moran of MU receives first-ever red card in an FA Cup final.
Everton are crowned English champions for the eighth time, setting a then record points total for a 42-game programme under three points for a win.

Australian rules football

Victorian Football League
- Essendon wins the 89th VFL Premiership (Essendon 26.14 (170) d Hawthorn 14.8 (92))
- Brownlow Medal awarded to Brad Hardie (Footscray)

Baseball

Cincinnati Reds' player/manager Pete Rose breaks Ty Cobb's All-Time Hit Record of 4,191 hits. Rose's record-breaking single was off of San Diego Padres pitcher Eric Show (September 11)
Tom Seaver of the Chicago White Sox and Phil Niekro of the New York Yankees become the 17th and 18th pitchers to join the 300 win club on August 4 and October 6 respectively.
Rollie Fingers breaks Sparky Lyle's American League career record of 232 saves.
World Series – The Kansas City Royals defeat the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 3, becoming the first team to win the World Series after losing the first two games at home.
Books published:
- Bill James, The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract : A seminal volume of baseball history by the leading sabermetrician of the day. He revised the book into a new edition in 2001.

Basketball

NCAA Men's Basketball Championship –
- Villanova wins 66-64 over Georgetown
NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship
- Old Dominion wins 70–65 over Georgia
National Basketball Association
- 1985 NBA All-Star Game
- 1985 NBA draft
- NBA Finals
  - Los Angeles Lakers win 4 games to 2 over the Boston Celtics
- Team moves
  - Kansas City Kings franchise moves, 1985–86 NBA season first Sacramento Kings season.
National Basketball League (Australia) Finals:
- Brisbane Bullets defeated the Adelaide 36ers 121-95 in the final.
United States Basketball League ( USBL ) was founded
Michael Jordan competes in his first dunk contest, wearing the first edition of his now famous line of "Air" Jordan basketball shoes.
A first game of Liga Nacional de Basket, a professional basketball league of Argentina on April 26.^{[ citation needed ]}

Boxing

April 15 – The War : Marvin Hagler knocks out Thomas Hearns in three rounds to retain the world's Middleweight title.
August 10 – Héctor Camacho defeats José Luis Ramírez to lift the WBC's world Lightweight title.
September 21 – Michael Spinks beats Larry Holmes by a decision in 15 rounds to become the first world Light Heavyweight champion to win a world Heavyweight title.

Canadian football

Grey Cup – B.C. Lions win 37–24 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Vanier Cup – Calgary Dinos win 25–6 over the Western Ontario Mustangs

Cricket

Kim Hughes leads a "rebel" team of players on tour of South Africa, banned from official cricket since 1970 because of apartheid

Cycling

Giro d'Italia won by Bernard Hinault of France
Tour de France – Bernard Hinault of France
UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race – Joop Zoetemelk of the Netherlands

Dogsled racing

Libby Riddles with her lead dogs, Axle & Dugan, becomes the first woman to ever win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race

Field hockey

Men's Champions Trophy held in Perth, Western Australia, won by Australia

Figure skating

World Figure Skating Championships –
- Men's champion: Alexander Fadeev, Soviet Union
- Ladies' champion: Katarina Witt, East Germany
- Pair skating champions: Elena Valova / Oleg Vasiliev, Soviet Union
- Ice dancing champions: Natalia Bestemianova / Andrei Bukin, Soviet Union

Gaelic Athletic Association

Camogie
- All-Ireland Camogie Champion: Kilkenny
- National Camogie League: Kilkenny
Gaelic football
- All-Ireland Senior Football Championship – Kerry 2-12 died Dublin 2-8
- National Football League – Monaghan 1-11 died Armagh 0-9
Ladies' Gaelic football
- All-Ireland Senior Football Champion: Kerry
- National Football League: Kerry
Hurling
- All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship – Offaly 2-11 died Galway 1-12
- National Hurling League – Limerick 3–12 beat Clare 1–7

Golf

Men's professional

Masters Tournament – Bernhard Langer
U.S. Open – Andy North
British Open – Sandy Lyle
PGA Championship – Hubert Green
PGA Tour money leader – Curtis Strange – $542,321
Senior PGA Tour money leader – Peter Thomson – $386,724
Ryder Cup – Europe won 16½ to 11½ over the United States in team golf.

Men's amateur

British Amateur – Garth McGimpsey
U.S. Amateur – Sam Randolph

Women's professional

Nabisco Dinah Shore – Alice Miller
LPGA Championship – Nancy Lopez
U.S. Women's Open – Kathy Baker
Classique du Maurier Classic – Pat Bradley
LPGA Tour money leader – Nancy Lopez – $416,472

Harness racing

North America Cup – Staff Director
United States Pacing Triple Crown races –
1. Cane Pace – Chairmanoftheboard
2. Little Brown Jug – Nihilator
3. Messenger Stakes – Pershing Square
United States Trotting Triple Crown races –
1. Hambletonian – Prakas
2. Yonkers Trot - Master Willie
3. Kentucky Futurity – Flak Bait
Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
- Pacers: Preux Chevalier
- Trotters: Scotch Notch

Horse racing

Steeplechases

Cheltenham Gold Cup – Forgive 'n Forget
Grand National – Last Suspect

Flat races

Australia – Melbourne Cup won by What A Nuisance
Canada – Queen's Plate won by La Lorgnette
France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Rainbow Quest
Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Law Society
Japan – Japan Cup won by Symboli Rudolf
English Triple Crown Races:
1. 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Shadeed
2. The Derby – Slip Anchor ^[1]
3. St. Leger Stakes – Oh So Sharp
United States Triple Crown Races:
1. Kentucky Derby – Spend a Buck
2. Preakness Stakes – Tank's Prospect
3. Belmont Stakes – Creme Fraiche
Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships:
1. Breeders' Cup Classic – Proud Truth
2. Breeders' Cup Distaff – Life's Magic
3. Breeders' Cup Juvenile – Tasso
4. Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies – Twilight Ridge
5. Breeders' Cup Mile – Cozzene
6. Breeders' Cup Sprint – Precisionist
7. Breeders' Cup Turf – Pebbles

Ice hockey

Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
Stanley Cup – Edmonton Oilers win 4 games to 1 over the Philadelphia Flyers
World Hockey Championship –
- Men's champion: Czechoslovakia defeated Canada
- Junior Men's champion: Canada defeated Czechoslovakia

Motorsport

Rugby league

Rugby union

91st Five Nations Championship series is won by Ireland

Snooker

World Snooker Championship – Dennis Taylor beats Steve Davis 18-17 in one of the greatest snooker matches of all time
World rankings – Steve Davis remains world number one for 1985/86

Swimming

First Pan Pacific Championships held in Tokyo (August 15 – August 18)
July 21 – Switzerland's Dano Halsall swims a world record in the 50m freestyle (long course) at a swimming meet in Bellinzona, shaving off 0.02 of the previous record (22.54) set by USA's Robin Leamy four years ago: 22.52.
December 6 – USA's Tom Jager takes the world record from Dano Halsall (22.52) in the 50m freestyle (long course) at a swimming meet in Austin, Texas, clocking 22.40.

Tennis

Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
1. Australian Open – Stefan Edberg
2. French Open – Mats Wilander
3. Wimbledon championships – Boris Becker
4. US Open – Ivan Lendl
Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
1. Australian Open – Martina Navratilova
2. French Open – Chris Evert
3. Wimbledon championships – Martina Navratilova
4. US Open – Hana Mandlíková
Davis Cup – Sweden wins 3-2 over Germany F.R. in world team tennis.

Volleyball

Men and Women's European Volleyball Championships held in the Netherlands: both men's and women's tournaments won by USSR

Water polo

1985 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup held in Duisburg won by West Germany
1985 Men's European Water Polo Championship held in Sofia, Bulgaria won by USSR
1985 Women's European Water Polo Championship held in Oslo, Norway won by the Netherlands

Multi-sport events

Sixth Pan Arab Games held in Rabat, Morocco
Second World Games held in London, United Kingdom
Thirteenth Summer Universiade held in Kobe, Japan
Twelfth Winter Universiade held in Belluno, Italy

Awards

Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Dwight Gooden, Major League Baseball
Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Nancy Lopez, LPGA golf
ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the year: Pete RoseMajor League Baseball

References

↑ "Epsom Derby | History, Winners, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 4 January 2022.

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[1] "Epsom Derby | History, Winners, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 4 January 2022.

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