1985 in sports

All you want to know about 1985 in sports

Years in sports:	1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988
Centuries:	19th century · 20th century · 21st century
Decades:	1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
Years:	1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988

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

Athletics

For an extensive coverage see 1985 in athletics (track and field)

Auto Racing

Stock car racing:
- Bill Elliott won the Daytona 500
- NASCAR Championship - Darrell Waltrip
- Ken Schrader enters NASCAR
CART Racing - Al Unser Sr won the season championship
- - Indianapolis 500 - Danny Sullivan
Formula One Championship - Alain Prost of France
24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Klaus Ludwig / Paolo Barilla / "John Winter" (Louis Krages) won, driving a Porsche 956
Rally racing - Timo Salonen in a Peugeot won the World Rally Championship
- the team of Ari Vatanen / Terry Harryman won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Peugeot 205T16
Drag racing:
- Don Garlits won the NHRA Top Fuel championship
- Gary Beck won Top Fuel at the NHRA World Finals

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)
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

April 1NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
- Villanova wins 66-64 over Georgetown

NBA Finals Draft
- Patrick Ewing was drafted, adding the final piece of the puzzle to the NBA, increasing its already immense popularity.

NBA Finals|NBA Finals:
- Los Angeles Lakers win 4 games to 2 over the Boston Celtics

National Basketball League (Australia) Finals:
- Brisbane Bullets defeated the Adelaide 36ers 121-95 in the final.

the United States Basketball League ( USBL ) was founded

Boxing

April 15 - The War: Marvin Hagler knocks out Thomas Hearns in three rounds to retain the world's Middleweight title.
August 10 - Hector Camacho defeats Jose Luis Ramirez 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.

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
World Cycling Championship: 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

World Competitions

Men's World Cup Qualifier Tournament in Barcelona, Spain
- Gold Medal: Spain
- Silver Medal: New Zealand
- Bronze Medal: Poland

Men's Champions Trophy in Perth, Australia
- Gold Medal: Australia
- Silver Medal: Great Britain
- Bronze Medal: West Germany

Women's World Cup Qualifier Tournament in Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Gold Medal: Soviet Union
- Silver Medal: Argentina
- Bronze Medal: South Korea

Regional Competitions

Men's Asia Cup in Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Gold Medal: Pakistan
- Silver Medal: India
- Bronze Medal: South Korea

March 9 – In an international women's field hockey match at Wembley Stadium in England, England beat Scotland 3-0.

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

Football (American)

January 20 Super Bowl XIX: San Francisco 49ers won 38-16 over the Miami Dolphins
Oklahoma Sooners - college football championship.
Baltimore Stars win USFL Championship 28-24 over Oakland Invaders -- USFL folds shortly thereafter

Football (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)

Football (Canadian)

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

Football (Soccer)

For an extensive coverage see 1985 in football (soccer)

The NASL announced that it was suspending operations and hoped to return in 1986; it never did.

England - FA Cup: Manchester United won 1-0 (aet) over Everton - Kevin Moran, first red card in FA Cup history

Gaelic Athletic Association

Camogie
- All-Ireland Camogie Champion: Kilkenny
- National Camogie League: Kilkenny

Gaelic football
- All-Ireland Senior Football Championship: Kerry 2-12 d. Dublin 2-8
- National Football League: Monaghan 1-11 d. 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 d. Galway 1-12
- National Hurling League:

Golf

Men's professional

April 11-14 - Masters Tournament - Bernhard Langer
June 13-16 - U.S. Open - Andy North
July 18-21 - British Open - Sandy Lyle
August 8-11 - 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 16 1/2 to 11 1/2 over the USA 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

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

Australia - Melbourne Cup - What A Nuisance
Canada - Queen's Plate - La Lorgnette
France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Rainbow Quest
Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Law Society

English Triple Crown Races:
1. 2,000 Guineas Stakes - Shadeed
2. Epsom Derby - Slip Anchor
3. St. Leger Stakes - Oh So Sharp

United States Triple Crown Races:
1. May 4 - Kentucky Derby - Spend a Buck
2. Preakness Stakes - Tank's Prospect
3. Belmont Stakes - Creme Fraiche

Breeders' Cup:
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

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 -
3. Kentucky Futurity - Flak Bait

Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
- Pacers: Preux Chevalier
- Trotters: Scotch Notch

Ice Hockey

Art Ross Memorial 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

Skiing

Alpine Skiing
- The men's overall season champion: Marc Girardelli, Luxembourg
- The women's overall season champion: Michela Figini, Switzerland

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

Events

First Pan Pacific Championships held in Tokyo (August 15 – August 18)

Records

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.