1985 in sports

1985 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

Alpine skiing

 * Alpine Skiing World Cup:
 * Men's overall season champion: Marc Girardelli, Luxembourg
 * Women's overall season champion: Michela Figini, Switzerland

American football

 * January 20 Super Bowl XIX – San Francisco 49ers won 38-16 over the Miami Dolphins
 * Baltimore Stars win USFL Championship 28-24 over Oakland Invaders

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

Association football

 * NASL announces suspension of operations and hopes to return in 1986. It never did.
 * England – FA Cup – Manchester United won 1-0 (aet) over Everton. Kevin Moran of MU receives first-ever red card in an FA Cup final.
 * Everton are crowned English champions for the eighth time, setting a then record points total for a 42-game programme under three points for a win.

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)

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)
 * Tom Seaver of the Chicago White Sox and Phil Niekro of the New York Yankees become the 17th and 18th pitchers to join the 300 win club on August 4 and October 6 respectively.
 * 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
 * NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship
 * Old Dominion wins 70–65 over Georgia
 * National Basketball Association
 * 1985 NBA draft
 * NBA Finals
 * Los Angeles Lakers win 4 games to 2 over the Boston Celtics
 * Team moves
 * Kansas City Kings franchise moves, 1985–86 NBA season first Sacramento Kings season.
 * National Basketball League (Australia) Finals:
 * Brisbane Bullets defeated the Adelaide 36ers 121-95 in the final.
 * United States Basketball League ( USBL ) was founded
 * Michael Jordan competes in his first dunk contest, wearing the first edition of his now famous line of "Air" Jordan basketball shoes.

Boxing

 * April 15 – The War: Marvin Hagler knocks out Thomas Hearns in three rounds to retain the world's Middleweight title.
 * August 10 – Héctor Camacho defeats José Luis Ramírez 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.

Canadian football

 * 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

Cricket

 * Kim Hughes leads a "rebel" team of players on tour of South Africa, banned from official cricket since 1970 because of apartheid

Cycling
'In 1983 India won the world cup
 * Giro d'Italia won by Bernard Hinault of France
 * Tour de France – Bernard Hinault of France
 * UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race – 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

 * Men's Champions Trophy held in Perth, Western Australia, won by Australia

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

Gaelic Athletic Association

 * Camogie
 * All-Ireland Camogie Champion: Kilkenny
 * National Camogie League: Kilkenny
 * Gaelic football
 * All-Ireland Senior Football Championship – Kerry 2-12 died Dublin 2-8
 * National Football League – Monaghan 1-11 died 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 died Galway 1-12
 * National Hurling League –

Golf
Men's professional Men's amateur Women's professional
 * Masters Tournament – Bernhard Langer
 * U.S. Open – Andy North
 * British Open – Sandy Lyle
 * 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 16½ to 11½ over the United States in team golf.
 * British Amateur – Garth McGimpsey
 * U.S. Amateur – Sam Randolph
 * 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

Harness racing

 * North America Cup – Staff Director
 * United States Pacing Triple Crown races –
 * Cane Pace – Chairmanoftheboard
 * Little Brown Jug – Nihilator
 * Messenger Stakes – Pershing Square
 * United States Trotting Triple Crown races –
 * Hambletonian – Prakas
 * Yonkers Trot -
 * Kentucky Futurity – Flak Bait
 * Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
 * Pacers: Preux Chevalier
 * Trotters: Scotch Notch

Horse racing
Steeplechases Flat races
 * Cheltenham Gold Cup – Forgive 'n Forget
 * Grand National – Last Suspect
 * Australia – Melbourne Cup won by What A Nuisance
 * Canada – Queen's Plate won by La Lorgnette
 * France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Rainbow Quest
 * Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Law Society
 * Japan – Japan Cup won by Symboli Rudolf
 * English Triple Crown Races:
 * 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Shadeed
 * The Derby – Slip Anchor
 * St. Leger Stakes – Oh So Sharp
 * United States Triple Crown Races:
 * Kentucky Derby – Spend a Buck
 * Preakness Stakes – Tank's Prospect
 * Belmont Stakes – Creme Fraiche
 * Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships:
 * Breeders' Cup Classic – Proud Truth
 * Breeders' Cup Distaff – Life's Magic
 * Breeders' Cup Juvenile – Tasso
 * Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies – Twilight Ridge
 * Breeders' Cup Mile – Cozzene
 * Breeders' Cup Sprint – Precisionist
 * Breeders' Cup Turf – Pebbles

Ice hockey

 * Art Ross 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

Rugby league

 * 1985 National Panasonic Cup
 * 1985 New Zealand rugby league season
 * 1985 NSWRL season
 * 1984–85 Rugby Football League season / 1985–86 Rugby Football League season
 * 1985 State of Origin series
 * 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup

Rugby union

 * 91st Five Nations Championship series is won by Ireland

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

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

Tennis

 * Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
 * Australian Open – Stefan Edberg
 * French Open – Mats Wilander
 * Wimbledon championships – Boris Becker
 * US Open – Ivan Lendl
 * Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
 * Australian Open – Martina Navratilova
 * French Open – Chris Evert
 * Wimbledon championships – Martina Navratilova
 * US Open – Hana Mandlíková
 * Davis Cup – Sweden wins 3-2 over Germany F.R. in world team tennis.

Volleyball

 * Men and Women's European Volleyball Championships held in the Netherlands: both men's and women's tournaments won by USSR

Water polo

 * 1985 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup held in Duisburg won by West Germany
 * 1985 Men's European Water Polo Championship held in Sofia, Bulgaria won by USSR
 * 1985 Women's European Water Polo Championship held in Oslo, Norway won by the Netherlands

Multi-sport events

 * Sixth Pan Arab Games held in Rabat, Morocco
 * Second World Games held in London, United Kingdom
 * Thirteenth Summer Universiade held in Kobe, Japan
 * Twelfth Winter Universiade held in Belluno, Italy

Awards

 * Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Dwight Gooden, Major League Baseball
 * Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Nancy Lopez, LPGA golf
 * ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the year: Pete Rose Major League Baseball