See also:
1989 in sports,
other events of 1990,
1991 in sports and the
list of 'years in sports'.

Auto 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
*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.

DIESA!

Basketball

Boxing

*February 11 - James 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 Cesar Chavez defeated Meldrick Taylor to unify boxing's world junior welterweight title.

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 in Lahore, Pakistan
** Gold Medal: The Netherlands
** Silver Medal: Pakistan
** Bronze Medal: Australia

* Men's Champions Trophy in Melbourne, Australia
** Gold Medal: Australia
** Silver Medal: West Germany
** Bronze Medal: The Netherlands

* Women's World Cup in Sydney, Australia
** Gold Medal: The Netherlands
** Silver Medal: Australia
** Bronze Medal: South Korea

* March 24 - In an international women's field hockey match at Wembley Stadium, England. England drew 0-0 with The Netherlands but The Netherlands beat England 4-3 on penalty strokes.

Figure Skating

*World Figure Skating Championships:
**Men's champion: Kurt Browning, Canada
**Women's champion: Jill Trenary, United States
**Pairs champions: Ekaterina Gordeeva & Sergei Grinkov, Soviet Union

Football (American)

Football (College)

*The Colorado Buffaloes are named the AP Poll champion.
*The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are named the UPI Poll champion.

Football (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)

Football (Canadian)

* Grey Cup: Winnipeg Blue Bombers 50-11 over the Edmonton Eskimos
* Vanier Cup: Saskatchewan Huskies win 24-21 over the St. Mary's Huskies

Football (Soccer)

*West Germany won the Football World Cup in Rome, Italy, defeating defending champion Argentina 1-0 in the final.

For fuller coverage, see: 1990 in football (soccer)

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 Golf
*Major championship results:
*#April - The Masters - Nick Faldo
*#June - US Open - Hale Irwin
*#July - British Open - Nick Faldo
*#August - PGA Championship - Wayne Grady

*PGA Tour leading money winner for the year: Greg Norman - $1,165,477
*Champions Tour leading money winner: Lee Trevino - $1,190,518

Women's Golf
*US Women's Open: Betsy King
*LPGA Championship - Beth Daniel
*Beth Daniel: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $863,578

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

*Australia - Melbourne Cup - Kingston Rule
*Canada - Queen's Plate - Izvestia
*France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Saumarez
*Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Salsabil

*English Triple Crown Races:
*#Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Tirol
*#Epsom Derby - Quest For Fame
*#St. Leger Stakes - Snurge

*United States Triple Crown Races:
*#Kentucky Derby - Unbridled
*#Preakness Stakes - Summer Squall
*#Belmont Stakes - Go and Go

*Breeders' Cup:
*#Breeders' Cup Classic - Unbridled
*#Breeders' Cup Distaff - Bayakoa
*#Breeders' Cup Juvenile - Fly So Free
*#Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies - Meadow Star
*#Breeders' Cup Mile - Royal Academy
*#Breeders' Cup Sprint - Safely Kept
*#Breeders' Cup Turf - In the Wings

Harness Racing

*North America Cup - Apaches Fame

*United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
*#Cane Pace - Jake And Elwood
*#Little Brown Jug - Beach Towel
*#Messenger Stakes - Jake And Elwood

*United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
*#Hambletonian - Harmonious
*#Yonkers Trot -
*#Kentucky Futurity - Star Mystic

*Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
**Pacers: Thorate
**Trotters: Real Force

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 Russia
** 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.

Radiosport

*The first World Radiosport Team Championship held in Seattle, Washington, USA. Gold medals won by John Dorr K1AR and Norm Grant K1DG of the United States.
*Fifth Amateur Radio Direction Finding World Championship held in Strbske Pleso, Czechoslovakia.

Skiing

*Alpine Skiing.
**The men's overall season champion: Pirmin Zurbriggen, Switzerland
**The women's overall season champion: Petra Kronberger, Austria

Snooker

*World Snooker Championship: Stephen Hendry beats Jimmy White 18-12
*World rankings: Stephen Hendry becomes world number one for 1990/91

Tennis

*Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
*#Australian Open - Ivan Lendl
*#French Open - Andres Gomez
*#Wimbledon championships - Stefan Edberg
*#US Open - Pete Sampras

*Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
*#Australian Open - Steffi Graf
*#French Open - Monica Seles
*#Wimbledon championships - Martina Navratilova
*#US Open - Gabriela Sabatini

*Davis Cup: United States won 3-2 over Australia in world tennis.

Volleyball

Italy wins his first World Volleyball Championship, by defeating 3-1 Cuba in Rio de Janeiro.

General sporting events

*Asian Games held in Beijing, China

* Winter Asian Games held in Sapporo, Japan

*Commonwealth Games held in Auckland

* Summer Goodwill Games held in Seattle, United States

* Third Gay Games held in Vancouver, Canada

Births

* August 9 — Laura Czarnotta, Polish figure skater

Deaths

*January 1 — Joe Hardstaff, Jr., English cricketer
*January 7 — Bronko Nagurski, National Football League Pro Football Hall of Fame
*February 14 — Graeme Hole, Australian cricketer
*February 24 — Tony Conigliaro, MLB baseball player, Boston Red Sox
*February 26 — Leslie Ames, English cricketer
*March 6 — Joe Sewell, Major League Baseball player (1920-1933)
*March 15 — Tom Harmon, National Football League player, Heisman Trophy winner
*March 20 — Lev Yashin, Soviet football (soccer) goalkeeper
*April 21 — Johnny Beagley, Major League Baseball pitcher
*May 22 — Rocky Graziano, boxer
*June 18 — Dennis Dyer, South African cricketer
*August 15 — Jimmy Carruthers (61), Australian boxer (b. 1929)
*August 28 — Larry Jackson, Major League Baseball pitcher (1955-1968)
*August 29 — Luigi Beccali, Italian athlete (b. 1907)
*September 9 — Doc Cramer, Major League Baseball player (1929-1948)
*October 7 — John "Cat" Thompson, Basketball Hall of Fame
*October 10 — Wally Moses, Major League Baseball player (1935-1951)
* October 25 — Costa Pereira (60), Portuguese football (soccer) goalkeeper (b. 1929)
*November 16 — Northern Dancer, racehorse
*December 13 — Alice Marble, tennis player, Wimbledon champion
*December 31 — George Allen, National Football League coach

Sports
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