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

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

• January 15 −Super Bowl XII: theDallas Cowboys (NFC) won 27−10 over theDenver Broncos (AFC)
  • Location:Superdome
  • Attendance: 76,400
  • co–MVPs:Harvey Martin, DE andRandy White, DT (Dallas)
• The Holy Roller Game –Oakland Raiders vsSan Diego Chargers
• Cotton Bowl (1977 season):
  • TheNotre Dame Fighting Irish won 38–10 over theTexas Longhorns to win the college footballnational championship

• 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

• Football World Cup –Argentina wins 3-1 (after extra time) over theNetherlands
• England -FA Cup –Ipswich Town win 1–0 overArsenal
• England - League –Nottingham Forest win the championship as well as the League Cup
• La Liga won byReal Madrid
• Primeira Liga won byFC Porto
• Serie A won byJuventus
• French Division 1 won byAS Monaco
• European Cup won byLiverpool
• Kirin Cup tournament is first held in Japan (international club competition phase).
• Major Indoor Soccer League begins operations in the United States.

• August –1978 Commonwealth Games held atEdmonton, Alberta, Canada
• September –1978 European Championships in Athletics held at Prague
• December –1978 Asian Games held atBangkok, Thailand

Victorian Football League

• 1 July:Footscray beat Carlton's nine year record for the highest VFL score when they kick 33.15 (213) toSt. Kilda’s 16.10 (106).Kelvin Templeton andIan Dunstan amass 22 goals between them, equalling the 1931 record ofDoug Strang andJack Titus (who died that year).
• Hawthorn wins the 82ndVFL Premiership (Hawthorn 18.13 (121) dNorth Melbourne 15.13 (103))
• Brownlow Medal awarded toMalcolm Blight (North Melbourne)

South Australian National Football League

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

Western Australian National Football League

• 23 September:East Perth 11.15 (81) defeatPerth 12.7 (79) to win their fourteenthWA(N)FL premiership
• Sandover Medal won byPhil Kelly (East Perth)

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

• Wilt Chamberlain is elected to theNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, along with coachesSam Barry,Eddie Hickey,John McLendon,Ray Meyer andPete Newell, and refereeJim Enright
• NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship –
  • Kentucky wins 94-88 overDuke
• NBA Finals –
  • Washington Bullets win 4 games to 3 overthe Seattle SuperSonics
• FIBA World Championship
  • Yugoslavia World Champion

• February 15 –Leon Spinks defeatsMuhammad Ali by decision in 15 rounds to win the world heavyweight title.
• Second World Amateur Boxing Championships held inBelgrade,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.

• Grey Cup –Edmonton Eskimos win 20–13 over theMontreal Alouettes
• Vanier Cup –Queen's Golden Gaels win 16–3 over theUBC Thunderbirds

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

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

• 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

• 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

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

• British Amateur -Peter McEvoy
• U.S. Amateur -John Cook

Women's professional

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

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races –
  1. Cane Pace -Armbro Tiger
  2. Little Brown Jug -Happy Escort
  3. Messenger Stakes -Abercrombie
• United States Trotting Triple Crown races –
  1. Hambletonian -Speedy Somolli
  2. Yonkers Trot -Speedy Somolli
  3. Kentucky Futurity -Doublemint
• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
  • Pacers:Markovina
  • Trotters:Derby Royale

Steeplechases

• Cheltenham Gold Cup –Midnight Court
• Grand National –Lucius

Hurdle races

• Champion Hurdle –Monksfield

Flat races

• Australia –Melbourne Cup won byArwon
• Canada –Queen's Plate won byRegal Embrace
• France –Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won byAlleged
• Ireland –Irish Derby Stakes won byShirley 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

• Art Ross Trophy as theNHL’s leading scorer during the regular season:Guy Lafleur,Montreal Canadiens
• Hart Memorial Trophy for theNHL’s Most Valuable Player:Guy Lafleur,Montreal Canadiens
• Stanley Cup –Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 2 overthe Boston Bruins
• World Hockey Championship
  • Men’s champion: Soviet Union defeatedCzechoslovakia
  • 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, theMemorial 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 theNew England Whalers

• 1978 World Orienteering Championships.^[2]

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

• 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 atPenrith Park,Panther propJohn Farragher is left aquadriplegic after breaking his neck in a scrum – the worst accident in rugby league history.^[3]

• 84thFive Nations Championship series is won byWales who complete theGrand Slam

• World Snooker Championship –Ray Reardon beatsPerrie Mans 25-18
• World rankings –Ray Reardon remainsworld number one for 1978/79.

• FirstISUShort Track Speed Skating Championships for men and ladies held inSolihull, UK

• The thirdFINA World Championships held inWest-Berlin,West Germany
• July 29 – USA'sRon Manganiello sets a world record in the50m freestyle at a swimming meet inMiami, Florida (United States), shaving off 0.02 of the previous record (23.74) set byJoe Bottom a year ago:23.72.

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open -Guillermo Vilas
  2. French Open -Björn Borg
  3. Wimbledon championships -Björn Borg
  4. U.S. Open -Jimmy Connors
• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open -Chris O'Neil
  2. French Open -Virginia Ruzici
  3. Wimbledon championships -Martina Navratilova
  4. U.S. Open -Chris Evert
• Davis Cup – United States win 4–1 over Great Britain in world tennis.
• US Open moves to hard courts of theUSTA National Tennis Center inFlushing Meadows,New York.
• Total prize money at US Open exceeds US$500,000.

• FirstIronman Triathlon held in Kona,Hawaii

• 1978 FIVB Men's World Championship held in Rome and won by USSR

• 1978 World Aquatics Championships held in West Berlin and won by Italy.

• ThirdAll-Africa Games held inAlgiers, Algeria
• EighthAsian Games held inBangkok, Thailand
• Central American and Caribbean Games held inMedellin,Colombia
• The Commonwealth Games held inEdmonton, Alberta, Canada^[4]
• NinthWinter Universiade held inŠpindleruv Mlýn,Czechoslovakia

• Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year –Ron Guidry,Major League Baseball
• Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year –Nancy Lopez,LPGA golf

• 1978 in sports
• Sports by year

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