1984 in sports

1984 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

Alpine Skiing

Alpine Skiing World Cup:
- Men's overall season champion: Pirmin Zurbriggen, Switzerland
- Women's overall season champion: Erika Hess, Switzerland
At the Winter Olympics, Bill Johnson becomes the first American to win the gold medal in downhill skiing.

American football

Super Bowl XVIII – the Los Angeles Raiders (AFC) won 38–9 over the Washington Redskins (NFC)
- Location: Tampa Stadium
- Attendance: 72,920
- MVP: Marcus Allen, RB (Los Angeles)
Walter Payton breaks Jim Brown's rushing record on October 7.
Philadelphia Stars win United States Football League Championship, 23-3 over Arizona Wranglers
Orange Bowl (1983 season):
- The Miami Hurricanes won 31-30 over the Nebraska Cornhuskers to win the national championship
Doug Flutie wins the Heisman Trophy
November 23 – The Hail Flutie Game
1984 college football season:
- The Brigham Young Cougars win the national championship following their victory in the Holiday Bowl on December 21

Association football

European Championship – Final: France 2-0 Spain; Hosts: France
Asian Cup – Final: Saudi Arabia 2 – 0 P.R. China; Hosts: Singapore
Champions' Cup – – May 30 – Liverpool 1-1 A.S. Roma; Liverpool won 4-2 on penalties after extra time.
UEFA Cup – Two legs; 1st leg Anderlecht 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur; 2nd leg Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Anderlecht; 2-2 on aggregate, Spurs won 4-2 on penalties
Cup Winners' Cup – Juventus 2-1 Porto
Super Cup – Juventus 2-0 Liverpool
Copa Libertadores de América – Two legs; 1st leg Grêmio 0-1 Independiente; 2nd leg Independiente 0-0 Grêmio; Independiente won 1-0 on aggregate
England – FA Cup – – May 12 – Everton win 2-0 against Watford
FIFA gives the right to host the 1990 FIFA World Cup to Italy
The North American Soccer League folds due to financial problems

Australian rules football

Victorian Football League
- March 31: Carlton 31.13 (199) beat North Melbourne 9.8 (62) at VFL Park. This remains the largest opening round win in League history.
- July 28: On a waterlogged Western Oval, Footscray and Essendon play a goalless first half. It is the first time this has occurred since 1968 and only the second since 1899.
- Essendon wins the 88th VFL Premiership, defeating Hawthorn 14.21 (105) to 12.9 (81) in the Grand Final
- Brownlow Medal awarded to Peter Moore (Melbourne)
West Australian Football League
- May 5: West Perth 15.15 (105) draw with South Fremantle 16.9 (105) at Leederville Oval for the first senior WAFL draw in 888 matches since East Fremantle and Swan Districts each scored 11.14 (80) at East Fremantle Oval on April 21 of 1974.^[1] This constitutes the second-longest non-occurrence of draws in a major Australian Rules competition; ironically the only longer one ended with a draw between the same two clubs at the same ground.^[2]

Baseball

January 10 – Luis Aparicio, Harmon Killebrew, and Don Drysdale are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
World Series – Detroit Tigers win 4 games to 1 over the San Diego Padres

Basketball

Donald Sterling relocates the San Diego Clippers to Los Angeles.
NCAA Men's Basketball Championship –
- Georgetown wins 84-75 over Houston
NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship
- University of Southern California(USC) wins 72–61 over Tennessee
NBA Finals –
- Boston Celtics won 4 games to 3 over the Los Angeles Lakers
National Basketball League (Australia) Finals:
- Canberra Cannons defeated the Brisbane Bullets 84-82 in the final.
Central Missouri State University won the NCAA Division II men's and women's basketball titles, becoming the first school ever in any division to accomplish the feat. The University of Connecticut would do the same in Division I in 2004.
NBA draft –
- A new era in the NBA is born on June 23 with the drafting of Houston's Hakeem Olajuwon, North Carolina's Michael Jordan, Auburn's Charles Barkley and Gonzaga's John Stockton.

Boxing

March 31 – Wilfredo Gómez defeats Juan Laporte by a decision in 12 rounds to conquer the WBC's world Featherweight crown.
June 15 – in the most anticipated bout of the year, Thomas Hearns, WBC world Jr. Middleweight champion, knocks out WBA world champion Roberto Durán in two rounds. The WBA elects not to sanction the bout, declaring their version of the title vacant instead.

Canadian football

Grey Cup – Winnipeg Blue Bombers won 47–17 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Vanier Cup – Guelph Gryphons won 22–13 over the Mount Allison Mounties

Cricket

Inaugural edition of the Asia Cup is held in Sharjah, UAE: India defeats Pakistan in the final.

Cycling

Giro d'Italia won by Francesco Moser of Italy
Tour de France – Laurent Fignon of France
UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race – Claude Criquielion of Belgium

Dog sledding

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion –
- Dean Osmar wins with lead dogs: Red & Bullet

Field hockey

Olympic Games (Men's Competition) won by Pakistan
Olympic Games (Women's Competition) won by the Netherlands
Men's Champions Trophy held in Karachi won by Australia
Women's European Nations Cup held in Lille won by the Netherlands

Figure skating

World Figure Skating Championships –
- Men's champion: Scott Hamilton, United States
- Ladies' champion: Katarina Witt, East Germany
- Pair skating champions: Barbara Underhill & Paul Martini, Canada
- Ice dancing champions: Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean, Great Britain

Gaelic Athletic Association

Camogie
- All-Ireland Camogie Champion: Dublin
- National Camogie League: Cork
Gaelic football
- All-Ireland Senior Football Championship – Kerry 1-11 defeated Dublin 1-6
- National Football League – Kerry 1-11 defeated Galway 0-11
Ladies' Gaelic football
- All-Ireland Senior Football Champion: Kerry
- National Football League: Kerry
Hurling
- All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship – Cork 3-16 defeated Offaly 1-12
- National Hurling League – Limerick 3–16 beat Wexford 1–9

Golf

Men's professional

Masters Tournament – Ben Crenshaw
U.S. Open – Fuzzy Zoeller
British Open – Seve Ballesteros
PGA Championship – Lee Trevino
PGA Tour money leader – Tom Watson – $476,260
Senior PGA Tour money leader – Don January – $328,597

Men's amateur

British Amateur – José María Olazábal
U.S. Amateur – Scott Verplank

Women's professional

Nabisco Dinah Shore – Juli Inkster
LPGA Championship – Patty Sheehan
U.S. Women's Open – Hollis Stacy
Classique du Maurier Classic – Juli Inkster
LPGA Tour money leader – Betsy King – $266,771

Harness racing

North America Cup – the inaugural event won by Legal Notice
United States Pacing Triple Crown races –
1. Cane Pace – On the Road Again
2. Little Brown Jug – Colt Fortysix
3. Messenger Stakes – Troublemaker
United States Trotting Triple Crown races –
1. Hambletonian – Historic Freight
2. Yonkers Trot – Baltic Speed
3. Kentucky Futurity – Fancy Crown
Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
- Pacers: Gammalite
- Trotters: Sir Castleton

Horse racing

Steeplechases

Cheltenham Gold Cup – Burrough Hill Lad
Grand National – Hallo Dandy

Flat races

Australia – Melbourne Cup won by Black Knight
Canada – Queen's Plate won by Key to the Moon
France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Sagace
Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by El Gran Senor
Japan – Japan Cup won by Katsuragi Ace
English Triple Crown Races:
1. 2,000 Guineas Stakes – El Gran Senor
2. The Derby – Secreto^[3]
3. St. Leger Stakes – Commanche Run
United States Triple Crown Races:
1. Kentucky Derby – Swale
2. Preakness Stakes – Gate Dancer
3. Belmont Stakes – Swale
Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships:
1. Breeders' Cup Classic – Wild Again
2. Breeders' Cup Distaff – Princess Rooney
3. Breeders' Cup Juvenile – Chief's Crown
4. Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies – Outstandingly
5. Breeders' Cup Mile – Royal Heroine
6. Breeders' Cup Sprint – Eillo
7. Breeders' Cup Turf – Lashkari

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 won 4 games to 1 over the New York Islanders
World Hockey Championship –
- Men's champion: (vacant) – the USSR won the Olympic Gold Medal
- Junior Men's champion: USSR defeated Finland

Motorsport

Olympic Games

1984 Summer Olympics takes place at Los Angeles (July 28 - August 12)
- USA wins the most medals (174) and the most gold medals (83)
1984 Winter Olympics takes place at Sarajevo (February 8 - February 19)
- USSR wins the most medals (25) and the GDR wins the most gold medals (9)