1990 in sports

Alpine skiing

• Alpine Skiing World Cup
• * Men's overall season champion: Pirmin Zurbriggen, Switzerland

  American football

• Super Bowl XXIV – the San Francisco 49ers won 55–10 over the Denver Broncos
• *Location: Superdome
• *Attendance: 72,919
• *MVP: Joe Montana, QB
• Sugar Bowl :
• * The Miami Hurricanes won 33–25 over the Alabama Crimson Tide to win the national championship
• November 11 – Derrick Thomas has 7 sacks for Kansas City Chiefs against Seattle Seahawks.

  Association football

• West Germany won the Football World Cup in Rome, Italy, defeating defending champion Argentina 1–0 in the final.
• Ecuador – Ecuadorian Serie A Champions: Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito

  Athletics">Sport of athletics">Athletics

• 1990 Commonwealth Games held in Auckland, New Zealand
• 1990 European Athletics Championships held in Split, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia

  [Australian rules football]

• Australian Football League
• * The Victorian Football League is renamed the Australian Football League
• * Collingwood wins the 94th AFL premiership to Essendon 5.11 )
• * Brownlow Medal awarded to Tony Liberatore

  [Baseball]

• March 17 – Taiwan Professional Baseball League, a first official game held.
• June 11 – Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers pitched a no-hitter, his 6th, against the Oakland Athletics.
• The Cincinnati Reds sweep the Oakland A's in the World Series.
• Ira Smith becomes the first player in NCAA history to win consecutive batting titles after hitting.519 with the Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks.

  [Basketball]

• Detroit Pistons win four games to one over the Portland Trail Blazers

• Perth Wildcats defeated the Brisbane Bullets 2–1 in the best-of-three final series.

• UNLV wins the NCAA Division I Men's championship
• Yugoslavia wins the FIBA World Championship.
• March 4 - American player Hank Gathers died after collapsing during the semifinals of a West Coast Conference tournament game.

  [Boxing]

• February 11 – 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 17 – Thunder Meets Lightning: Julio César Chávez defeated Meldrick Taylor to unify boxing's world junior welterweight title
• September 22 to October 7 – Asian Games held in Beijing, China
• November 24 to December 3 – Central American and Caribbean Games held in Mexico City

  [Canadian football]

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

  Cycling">Cycle sport">Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Gianni Bugno of Italy
• Tour de France – Greg LeMond of the United States
• UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race – Rudy Dhaenens of Belgium

  [Dogsled racing]

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion –
• * Susan Butcher won with lead dogs: Sluggo & ''Lightning''

  [Darts]

• Phil Taylor wins his first world title

  [Field hockey]

• Men's Champions Trophy held in Melbourne won by Australia
• Women's World Cup held in Sydney won by the Netherlands

  [Figure skating]

• World Figure Skating Championships –
• * Men's champion: Kurt Browning, Canada
• * Ladies' champion: Jill Trenary, United States
• * Pair skating champions: Ekaterina Gordeeva & Sergei Grinkov, Soviet Union
• * Ice dancing champions: Marina Klimova / Sergei Ponomarenko, Soviet Union

  [Gaelic Athletic Association]

• Camogie
• *All-Ireland Camogie champion: Kilkenny
• *National Camogie League: Kilkenny
• Gaelic football
• * All-Ireland Senior Football Championship – Cork 0-11 died Meath 0-9
• * National Football League – Meath 2-7 died 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 died Galway 2-21
• * National Hurling League – Kilkenny 0–19 beat New York 0–9

  [Golf]

• Masters tournament – Nick Faldo
• U.S. Open – Hale Irwin
• British Open – Nick Faldo
• PGA Championship – Wayne Grady
• PGA Tour money leader – Greg Norman – $1,165,477
• Senior PGA Tour money leader – Lee Trevino – $1,190,518

• British Amateur – Rolf Muntz
• U.S. Amateur – Phil Mickelson
• European Amateur – Klas Erikson

• Nabisco Dinah Shore – Betsy King
• U.S. Women's Open – Betsy King
• LPGA Championship – Beth Daniel
• Classique du Maurier – Cathy Johnston-Forbes
• LPGA Tour money leader – Beth Daniel – $863,578
• The inaugural Solheim Cup match was won by the United States who beat Europe 11½ – 4½

  [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 - Royal Troubador
• # Kentucky Futurity – Star Mystic
• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
• * Pacers: Thorate
• * Trotters: Real Force

  [Horse racing]

• Cheltenham Gold Cup – Norton's Coin
• Grand National – Mr Frisk

• Australia – Melbourne Cup won by Kingston Rule
• Canadian Triple Crown Races:
• # Queen's Plate – Izvestia
• # Prince of Wales Stakes – Izvestia
• # Breeders' Stakes – Izvestia
• * For the second straight year, a horse sweeps the series.
• France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Saumarez
• Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Salsabil
• Japan – Japan Cup won by Better Loosen Up
• English Triple Crown Races:
• # 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Tirol
• # The 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 World Thoroughbred Championships:
• # 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

  [Ice hockey]

• Art Ross 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 Championships
• * Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Sweden
• * Junior Men's champion: Canada defeated Soviet Union
• * 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.

  [Motorsport]

[Radiosport]

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

  [Rugby league]

• 1990–91 French Championship season
• 1990 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France
• 1990 New Zealand rugby league season
• 1990 NSWRL season
• 1990 Pacific Cup
• 1989–90 Rugby Football League season / 1990–91 Rugby Football League season
• 1990 State of Origin series
• 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup

  [Rugby union]

• 96th Five Nations Championship series is won by Scotland who complete the Grand Slam

  [Snooker]

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

  Swimming">Swimming (sport)">Swimming

• March 24 – Tom Jager betters his own world record in the 50m freestyle twice at a swimming meet in Nashville, Tennessee, swimming 21.98 in the heats and 21.81 in the final.

  [Tennis]

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
• # Australian Open – Ivan Lendl
• # French Open – Andrés Gómez
• # 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
• # U.S. Open – Gabriela Sabatini
• Davis Cup – United States won 3–2 over Australia in world tennis.

  [Triathlon]

• ITU World Championships held in Orlando, United States
• ETU European Championships held in Linz, Austria

  [Volleyball]

• FIVB World League 1990 held in Osaka, Japan won by Italy
• 1990 FIVB Men's World Championship held in Rio de Janeiro won by Italy
• 1990 FIVB Women's World Championship held in Beijing won by USSR

  [Multi-sport event]s

• Asian Games held in Beijing, China
• Winter Asian Games held in Sapporo, Japan
• Central American and Caribbean Games held in Mexico City, Mexico
• 1990 Commonwealth Games held in Auckland, New Zealand
• Summer Goodwill Games held in Seattle, United States

  Awards

• Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Joe Montana, National Football League
• Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Beth Daniel, LPGA golf
• BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year – Mal Meninga, Australian rugby league footballer
• Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year - Joe Montana, National Football League