1990 in sports

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.

Baseball

• Bobby Thigpen saves 57 games for the Chicago White Sox, breaking Dave Righetti's record of 46.
• World Series: The Cincinnati Reds win 4 games to 0 over the Oakland Athletics – Series MVP: Jose Rijo, Cincinnati

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • UNLV wins 103–73 over Duke

• NBA Finals:
  • Detroit Pistons won 4 games to 1 over the Portland Trail Blazers

• FIBA World Championship
  • Yugoslavia World Champion

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

Field Hockey

• November 17 – 25 – Twelfth Men's Champions Trophy held in Melbourne, Australia won by hosts Australia

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Kurt Browning, Canada
  • Women's champion: Jill Trenary, United States
  • Pairs champions: Jekaterina Gordejewa & Sergej Grinkow, Soviet Union

Football (American)

• Super Bowl XXIV – San Francisco 49ers won 55–10 over the Denver Broncos

Football (Australian Rules)

• 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.

• England – FA Cup: Manchester United won 1–0 over Crystal Palace

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May – The Masters – Nick Faldo
  2. June – US Open – Hale Irwin
  3. July – British Open – Nick Faldo
  4. August – PGA Championship – Wayne Grady

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Greg Norman – $1,165,477
• PGA 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:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes – Tirol
  2. Epsom Derby – Quest For Fame
  3. St. Leger Stakes – Snurge

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby – Unbridled
  2. Preakness Stakes – Summer Squall
  3. Belmont Stakes – Go and Go

• Breeders' Cup:
  1. Breeders' Cup Classic – Unbridled
  2. Breeders' Cup Distaff – Bayakoa
  3. Breeders' Cup Juvenile – Fly So Free
  4. Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies – Meadow Star
  5. Breeders' Cup Mile – Royal Academy
  6. Breeders' Cup Sprint – Safely Kept
  7. Breeders' Cup Turf – In the Wings

Harness Racing

• North America Cup – Apaches Fame

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace – Jake And Elwood
  2. Little Brown Jug – Beach Towel
  3. Messenger Stakes – Jake And Elwood

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian – Harmonious
  2. Yonkers Trot –
  3. 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

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:
  1. Australian Open – Ivan Lendl
  2. French Open – Andres Gomez
  3. Wimbledon championships – Stefan Edberg
  4. US Open – Pete Sampras

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open – Steffi Graf
  2. French Open – Monica Seles
  3. Wimbledon championships – Martina Navratilova
  4. US Open – Gabriela Sabatini

• Davis Cup: United States won 3–2 over Australia in world tennis.

General sporting events

• Commonwealth Games held in Auckland

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
  • Susan Butcher won with lead dogs: Sluggo & Lightning

Births

Deaths

• January 1 – Joe Hardstaff, Jr., English cricketer
• January 7 – Bronko Nagurski, NFL 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, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner
• March 20 – Lev Yashin, Soviet football goalkeeper
• April 21 – Johnny Beagley, Major League Baseball pitcher
• May 22 – Rocky Graziano, boxer
• June 18 – Dennis Dyer, South African cricketer
• August 28 – Larry Jackson, Major League Baseball pitcher (1955–1968)
• 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)
• November 16 – Northern Dancer, racehorse
• December 13 – Alice Marble, tennis star, Wimbledon champion
• December 31 – George Allen, NFL coach