1978 in sports

1978 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

Alpine skiing

Alpine Skiing World Cup
- Men's overall season champion: Ingemar Stenmark, Sweden
- Women's overall season champion: Hanni Wenzel, Liechtenstein

American football

January 15 − Super Bowl XII: the Dallas Cowboys (NFC) won 27−10 over the Denver Broncos (AFC)
- Location: Superdome
- Attendance: 76,400
- co–MVPs: Harvey Martin, DE and Randy White, DT (Dallas)
The Holy Roller Game – Oakland Raiders vs San Diego Chargers
Cotton Bowl (1977 season):
- The Notre Dame Fighting Irish won 38–10 over the Texas Longhorns to win the college football national championship

Artistic gymnastics

World Artistic Gymnastics Championships –
- Men's all-around champion: Nikolai Andrianov, USSR
- Women's all-around champion: Elena Mukhina, USSR
- Men's team competition champion: Japan
- Women's team competition champion: USSR

Association football

Football World Cup – Argentina wins 3-1 (after extra time) over the Netherlands
England - FA Cup – Ipswich Town win 1–0 over Arsenal
England - League – Nottingham Forest win the championship as well as the League Cup
La Liga won by Real Madrid
Primeira Liga won by FC Porto
Serie A won by Juventus
French Division 1 won by AS Monaco
European Cup won by Liverpool
Kirin Cup tournament is first held in Japan (international club competition phase).
Major Indoor Soccer League begins operations in the United States.

Athletics

August – 1978 Commonwealth Games held at Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
September – 1978 European Championships in Athletics held at Prague
December – 1978 Asian Games held at Bangkok, Thailand

Australian rules football

Victorian Football League

1 July: Footscray beat Carlton's nine year record for the highest VFL score when they kick 33.15 (213) to St. Kilda’s 16.10 (106). Kelvin Templeton and Ian Dunstan amass 22 goals between them, equalling the 1931 record of Doug Strang and Jack Titus (who died that year).
Hawthorn wins the 82nd VFL Premiership (Hawthorn 18.13 (121) d North Melbourne 15.13 (103))
Brownlow Medal awarded to Malcolm Blight (North Melbourne)

South Australian National Football League

30 September: Norwood 16.15 (111) pip Sturt 14.26 (110) to win their twenty-fourth league premiership after the Double Blues had lost only one match all season.
Magarey Medal awarded to Kym Hodgeman (Glenelg)

Western Australian National Football League

23 September: East Perth 11.15 (81) defeat Perth 12.7 (79) to win their fourteenth WA(N)FL premiership
Sandover Medal won by Phil Kelly (East Perth)

Baseball

May 5, 1978 – Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds becomes the 13th player in Major League history to collect 3,000 career hits.
June 14-July 31 – Pete Rose hits safely in 44 consecutive games, tying Willie Keeler’s all-time National League hitting streak.
September 23 – Lyman Bostock (27) of the California Angels is shot and killed in error by a jealous husband.
World Series – New York Yankees win 4 games to 2 over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Series MVP is Bucky Dent, New York

Basketball

Wilt Chamberlain is elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, along with coaches Sam Barry, Eddie Hickey, John McLendon, Ray Meyer and Pete Newell, and referee Jim Enright
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship –
- Kentucky wins 94-88 over Duke
NBA Finals –
- Washington Bullets win 4 games to 3 over the Seattle SuperSonics
FIBA World Championship
- Yugoslavia World Champion

Boxing

February 15 – Leon Spinks defeats Muhammad Ali by decision in 15 rounds to win the world heavyweight title.
Second World Amateur Boxing Championships held in Belgrade, Yugoslavia
September 15 – Muhammad Ali recovers the world’s heavyweight title, beating Leon Spinks by decision in their rematch. It is the first time a boxer wins the world heavyweight title for a third time.

Canadian football

Grey Cup – Edmonton Eskimos win 20–13 over the Montreal Alouettes
Vanier Cup – Queen's Golden Gaels win 16–3 over the UBC Thunderbirds

Cycling

Giro d'Italia won by Johan de Muynck of Belgium
Tour de France won by Bernard Hinault of France
UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race – Gerrie Knetemann of Netherlands

Dogsled racing

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion –
- Dick Mackey wins with lead dogs: Skipper & Shrew

Field hockey

Men's World Cup held in Buenos Aires and won by Pakistan
Men’s European Nations Cup held in Hannover and won by West Germany
Men’s Champions Trophy held in Lahore and won by Pakistan
Women’s World Cup held in Madrid and won by the Netherlands

Figure skating

World Figure Skating Championships –
- Men’s champion: Charles Tickner, United States
- Ladies’ champion: Anett Pötzsch, Germany
- Pair skating champions: Irina Rodnina & Alexander Zaitsev, Soviet Union
- Ice dancing champions: Natalia Linichuk & Gennadi Karponossov, Soviet Union

Golf

Men's professional

Masters Tournament - Gary Player
U.S. Open - Andy North
British Open - Jack Nicklaus
PGA Championship - John Mahaffey
PGA Tour money leader - Tom Watson - $362,429

Men's amateur

Women's professional

LPGA Championship - Nancy Lopez
U.S. Women's Open - Hollis Stacy
LPGA Tour money leader - Nancy Lopez - $189,814

Harness racing

United States Pacing Triple Crown races –
United States Trotting Triple Crown races –
Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
- Pacers: Markovina
- Trotters: Derby Royale

Horse racing

Steeplechases

Cheltenham Gold Cup – Midnight Court
Grand National – Lucius

Hurdle races

Champion Hurdle – Monksfield

Flat races

Australia – Melbourne Cup won by Arwon
Canada – Queen's Plate won by Regal Embrace
France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Alleged
Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Shirley Heights
English Triple Crown Races:
1. 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Roland Gardens
2. The Derby – Shirley Heights^[1]
3. St. Leger Stakes – Julio Mariner
United States Triple Crown Races:
1. Kentucky Derby – Affirmed
2. Preakness Stakes – Affirmed
3. Belmont Stakes – Affirmed

Ice hockey

Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s leading scorer during the regular season: Guy Lafleur, Montreal Canadiens
Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL’s Most Valuable Player: Guy Lafleur, Montreal Canadiens
Stanley Cup – Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 2 over the Boston Bruins
World Hockey Championship
- Men’s champion: Soviet Union defeated Czechoslovakia
- Junior Men’s champion: Soviet Union defeated Sweden
- Note: In the early years of the Junior tournament, Canada did not send a true National Junior team to the event. Instead, the Memorial Cup champions usually went to represent Canada. The exception was 1978 in Montreal, when an “all-star” team was put together.
Avco World Trophy - Winnipeg Jets won 4 games to 0 over the New England Whalers

Motorsport

Orienteering

1978 World Orienteering Championships.^[2]

Rowing

March – The Cambridge boat sinks during the annual English University Boat Race, the first sinking in the race since 1951.

Rugby league

1978 Amco Cup
1978 European Rugby League Championship
1978 Kangaroo tour
1978 New Zealand rugby league season
1977–78 Northern Rugby Football League season / 1978–79 Northern Rugby Football League season
1978 NSWRFL season
- 28 May – In a horrific accident at Penrith Park, Panther prop John Farragher is left a quadriplegic after breaking his neck in a scrum – the worst accident in rugby league history.^[3]

Rugby union

84th Five Nations Championship series is won by Wales who complete the Grand Slam

Snooker

World Snooker Championship – Ray Reardon beats Perrie Mans 25-18
World rankings – Ray Reardon remains world number one for 1978/79.

Speed skating

First ISU Short Track Speed Skating Championships for men and ladies held in Solihull, UK

Swimming

The third FINA World Championships held in West-Berlin, West Germany
July 29 – USA's Ron Manganiello sets a world record in the 50m freestyle at a swimming meet in Miami, Florida (United States), shaving off 0.02 of the previous record (23.74) set by Joe Bottom a year ago: 23.72.