1988 in sports

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • Bobby Allison won the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Bill Elliott
• Indianapolis 500 - Rick Mears
• CART Racing - Danny Sullivan won the season championship
• Formula One Championship - Ayrton Senna of Brazil
• 24 hours of Le Mans:
  • won by the team of Jan Lammers / Johnny Dumfries / Andy Wallace driving a Jaguar XJR-9LM
• Rally racing - the team of Bruno Saby / Jean-Franþois Fauchille won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Lancia Delta HF 4x4
• Drag racing - Joe Amato won the NHRA "Top Fuel" championship.

Baseball

• August 8: The first night game ever at Wrigley Field is scheduled, but is rained out. The history-making game would be played the following night.
• World Series: Los Angeles Dodgers won 4 games to 1 over the Oakland Athletics. The Series MVP was Orel Hershiser, Los Angeles

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • Kansas wins 83-79 over Oklahoma

• NBA Finals:
  • Los Angeles Lakers won 4 games to 3 over the Detroit Pistons

Boxing

• June 6 - In Las Vegas, Nevada, Iran Barkley knocked out Thomas Hearns in the 3rd round to win the WBC Middleweight Title.
• November 7 - In Las Vegas, Nevada, boxer Sugar Ray Leonard knocks out Donnie LaLonde.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Andrew Hampsten of the United States
• Tour de France - Pedro Delgado of Spain
• World Cycling Championship: Maurizio Fondriest of Italy

Field Hockey

• * March 25 - April 1 - Tenth Men's Champions Trophy held in Lahore, Pakistan won by Germany. Hosts Pakistan end 2nd.

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Brian Boitano, (United States)
  • Women's champion: Katarina Witt, (East Germany)
  • Pairs champions: Jelena Walowa & Oleg Wassiljew, (Soviet Union)

Football (Soccer)

• England - FA Cup: Wimbledon won 1-0 over Liverpool

Football (American)

• Super Bowl XXII: Washington Redskins won 42-10 over the Denver Broncos

Canadian Football League

• Grey Cup: Winnipeg Blue Bombers won 22-21 over the B.C. Lions
• Vanier Cup: Calgary Dinos won 52-23 over the St. Mary's Huskies

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Sandy Lyle
  2. June - US Open - Curtis Strange
  3. July - British Open - Seve Ballesteros
  4. August - PGA Championship - Jeff Sluman

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Curtis Strange - $1,147,644
• PGA Champions Tour leading money winner: Bob Charles - $533,929

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Liselotte Neumann
• LPGA Championship - Sherri Turner
• Sherri Turner: leading money winner on the LPGA tour with earnings of $347,255.

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Empire Rose
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Regal Intention
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Tony Bin
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Kahyasi

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Doyoun
  2. Epsom Derby - Kahyasi
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Minister Son

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Winning Colors
  2. Preakness Stakes - Risen Star
  3. Belmont Stakes - Risen Star

Harness Racing

• North America Cup - Jate Lobell

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Runnymede Lobell
  2. Little Brown Jug - B.J. Scoot
  3. Messenger Stakes - Matt's Scooter

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Armbro Goal
  2. Yonkers Trot - Southern Newton
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Huggie Hanover

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Our Maestro
  • Trotters: True Roman

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins

• Stanley Cup: Edmonton Oilers won 4 games to 0 over the Boston Bruins

• August 10 - Hockey's Wayne Gretzky traded to the Los Angeles Kings

• World Hockey Championship:
  • Men's champion: Soviet Union won the Olympic gold medal
  • Junior Men's champion: Canada defeated the USSR

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Pirmin Zurbriggen, Switzerland
  • The women's overall season champion: Michela Figini, Switzerland

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Mats Wilander
  2. French Open - Mats Wilander
  3. Wimbledon championships - Stefan Edberg
  4. US Open - Mats Wilander

• Steffi Graf becomes only the third woman in history to win the Grand Slam in tennis:
  1. Australian Open - Steffi Graf
  2. French Open - Steffi Graf
  3. Wimbledon championships - Steffi Graf
  4. US Open - Steffi Graf

• Davis Cup: Germany won 4-1 over Sweden in world team tennis.

General sporting events

• February 13 - 1988 Winter Olympic Games open in Calgary, Alberta, Canada

• September 17 - 1988 Summer Olympics open in Seoul, South Korea
• September 24: Canada's Ben Johnson wins Olympic gold in 100 metres. Two days later, he is stripped of the medal after testing positive for a banned substance.

• Embassy World Snooker Championship:
  • Steve Davis won 18-11 over Terry Griffiths

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
  • Susan Butcher won with lead dogs: Granite & Tolstoi

Births

Deaths

• January 5 - Pete Maravich NBA basketball hall of famer
• February 28 - Harvey Kuenn, Major League Baseball player (1952-1966)
• March 16 - Mickey Thompson, auto race driver - murdered
• March 19 - Bun Cook, NHL Hockey Hall of Fame player,
• March 21 - Edd Roush, Major League Baseball player (1913-1931)
• March 29 - Ted Kluszewski, Major League Baseball player (1947-1961)
• April 10 - Cliff Gladwin, English cricketer
• August 14 - Enzo Ferrari, automobile manufacturer
• October 13 - Mike Venezia, jockey, racing accident at Belmont Park
• October 22 - Henry Armstrong, World boxing champion
• November 21 - "King" Carl Hubbell, Major League Baseball pitcher (1928-1943)

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