1998 in sports

See also: 1997 in sports, other events of 1998, 1999 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • Dale Earnhardt won the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship – Jeff Gordon
• Indy Racing League –
• Indianapolis 500 – Eddie Cheever
• CART Racing – Alex Zanardi won the season championship
• Formula One Championship – Mika Häkkinen of Finland
• 24 hours of Le Mans: won by the team of Laurent Aiello / Allan McNish / Stéphane Ortelli driving a Porsche 911 GT-1
• Rally racing – Tommi Mäkinen won the World Rally Championship
  • the team of Carlos Sainz / Luis Moya won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Toyota Corolla WRC
• Drag racing – Gary Scelzi won the NHRA "Top Fuel" championship.

Baseball

• Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa each chase the homerun record set previously by Roger Maris in 1961. Both men end up breaking the record; McGwire with 70 and Sosa with 66.

• World Series: New York Yankees win 4 games to 0 over the San Diego Padres. The Series MVP is Scott Brosius, New York

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • Kentucky wins 78–69 over Utah

• NBA Finals:
  • Chicago Bulls win 4 games to 2 over the Utah Jazz, to complete their second three-peat of the decade.

• WNBA Finals:
  • Houston Comets win two games to one over the Phoenix Mercury to repeat as champions.

• FIBA World Championship
  • Yugoslavia World Champion

Boxing

• June 27: Shane Mosley stopped Wilfrido Ruiz in the 5th round to retain the IBF Lightweight Championship.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Marco Pantani of Italy
• Tour de France – Marco Pantani of Italy
• World Cycling Championship: Oskar Camenzind of Switzerland

Field Hockey

• October 31 – November 8: Champions Trophy held at Lahore, Pakistan. Hosts Pakistan finish second.

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Alexei Yagudin, Russia
  • Women's champion: Michelle Kwan, United States
  • Pairs champions: Elena Bereschnaya & Anton Sicharulidze, Russia

Football (American)

• January 13 – ABC and ESPN negotiate a $1.15 billion a season contract to keep Monday Night Football.

• Super Bowl XXXII: Denver Broncos won 31–24 over the Green Bay Packers

Football (Australian Rules)

• Australian Football League
  • The Adelaide Crows win the 102nd AFL premiership (Adelaide Crows 15.15 (105) d North Melbourne 8.22 (70))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Robert Harvey (St Kilda)

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Calgary Stampeders win 26–24 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
• Vanier Cup: Saskatchewan Huskies win 24–17 over the Concordia Stingers

Football (Soccer)

• World Cup – France wins 3–0 over Brazil in Saint-Denis, France, winning their first cup. More than a million delirious fans jammed the Champs-Élysées, dancing through the night.

• Champions' League: Real Madrid won 1–0 in the final against Juventus. This was Real Madrid's 7th European Cup title.

• Cup Winners' Cup: Chelsea beat Stuttgart 1–0 in the final, winning the cup for the second time.

• UEFA Cup: Inter Milan won 3–0 in the final against Lazio. This was Inter's third UEFA Cup title.

• European Super Cup: Chelsea beat Real Madrid 1–0, winning the cup for the first time.

• Intercontinental Cup: Real Madrid beat Vasco da Gama 2–1, winning the cup for the second time.

• Arsenal is the FA Premier League champions

• England – FA Cup: Arsenal wins 2–0 over Newcastle United, achieving The Double

Golf

Men's Golf

• Major championship results:
  1. April – The Masters – Mark O'Meara
  2. June – US Open – Lee Janzen
  3. July – British Open – Mark O'Meara
  4. August – PGA Championship – Vijay Singh

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: David Duval – $2,591,031
• PGA Champions Tour leading money winner: Hale Irwin – $2,861,945

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open: Se Ri Pak
• LPGA Championship: Se Ri Pak
• Annika Sörenstam: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $1,092,748

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia – Melbourne Cup – Jezabeel
• Canada – Queen's Plate – Archers Bay
• France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe – Sagamix
• Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes – Dream Well

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes – King of Kings
  2. Epsom Derby – High Rise
  3. St. Leger Stakes – Nedawi

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby – Real Quiet
  2. Preakness Stakes – Real Quiet
  3. Belmont Stakes – Victory Gallop

• Breeders' Cup:
  1. Breeders' Cup Classic – Awesome Again
  2. Breeders' Cup Distaff – Escena
  3. Breeders' Cup Juvenile – Answer Lively
  4. Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies – Silverbulletday
  5. Breeders' Cup Mile – Da Hoss
  6. Breeders' Cup Sprint – Reraise
  7. Breeders' Cup Turf – Buck's Boy

Harness Racing

• North America Cup – Straight Path

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace – Shady Character
  2. Little Brown Jug – Shady Character
  3. Messenger Stakes – Fit For Life

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian – Muscles Yankee
  2. Yonkers Trot – Muscles Yankee
  3. Kentucky Futurity – Trade Balance

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Our Sir Vancelot
  • Trotters: Buster Hanover

Ice Hockey

• For the first time, professional players from the National Hockey League (NHL, USA) participated in the Winter Olympics. And also for the first time in Olympic history, women took part in ice hockey.
• Women's Gold Medal – United States won 3–1 over Canada
• Men's Gold Medal – Czech Republic won 1–0 over Russia

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh Penguins

• Hart Memorial Trophy: for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Dominik Hasek – Buffalo Sabres

• Stanley Cup: Detroit Red Wings defeated the Washington Capitals 4 games to 0.

• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Sweden defeated Finland
  • Junior Men's champion: Russia defeated Canada

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Hermann Maier, Austria
  • The women's overall season champion: Katja Seizinger, Germany

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: John Higgins beats Ken Doherty 18–12
• World rankings: John Higgins becomes world number one for 1998/99

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open – Petr Korda
  2. French Open – Carlos Moya
  3. Wimbledon championships – Pete Sampras
  4. US Open – Patrick Rafter

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open – Martina Hingis
  2. French Open – Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
  3. Wimbledon championships – Jana Novotna
  4. US Open – Lindsay Davenport

• Davis Cup: Sweden wins 4–1 over Italy in world tennis.
• Serena Williams finishes the year in the top 20
• Elena Dementieva turns professional, becomes the first woman representing Russia to enter the US Open semifinal.

General sporting events

• 1998 Winter Olympics takes place in Nagano, Japan
  • Germany wins the most medals (29), and the most gold medals (12).
  • Curling makes its Olympic debut with men's and women's tournaments.
    • Men's Gold Medal: Switzerland wins 9–3 over Canada
    • Women's Gold Medal: Canada wins 7–5 over Denmark

• 1998 Commonwealth Games take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Malaysia

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
  • Jeff King wins with lead dogs: Red & Jenna

Deaths

• Risen Star – champion thoroughbred race horse
• Strike Out – harness racing horse
• January 1 – Helen Wills Moody, tennis star
• March 8 – Ray Nitschke, American football star
• May 15 – Earl Manigault, basketball player
• October 2 – Olivier Gendebien, Belgian race car driver
• November 10 – Hal Newhouser, baseball player
• December 20 – Phil Stubbs, 36, New Zealand ocean rowing champion, died in a plane crash