See also: 1981 in sports, other events of 1982, 1983 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • NASCAR Championship - Darrell Waltrip
  • Bobby Allison won the Daytona 500
• CART Racing - Rick Mears won the season championship
  • Indianapolis 500 - Gordon Johncock
• Formula One Champion - Keke Rosberg of Finland
• 24 hours of Le Mans:
  • won by the team of Jacky Ickx / Derek Bell driving a Porsche 956
• Rally racing - Walter Rhorl in an Opel won the World Rally Championship
  • Walter Rohrl / Christian Geistdorfer won the Monte Carlo Rally driving an Opel Ascona 400
• Drag racing - Shirley Muldowney won the NHRA Top Fuel championship.

Baseball

• July 13: Montreal hosts the first MLB All-Star Game outside the United States. Reds SS Dave Concepción hits a 2-run home run in the 2nd inning to spark the National League to its 11th consecutive win over the American League 4-1. The NL has now won 19 of the last 20 contests. Concepción was named the MVP.

• World Series: St. Louis Cardinals won 4 games to 3 over the Milwaukee Brewers. The Series MVP was Cardinals catcher Darrell Porter.

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • North Carolina wins 63-62 over Georgetown

• NBA Finals:
  • Los Angeles Lakers won 4 games to 2 over the Philadelphia 76ers

Boxing

• November 12 Aaron Pryor defeats Alexis Arguello in what would later be called the fight of the decade. Pryor retained the WBA's world Jr. Welterweight title with a 14th round knockout
• November 13 Ray Mancini defeats Duk Koo Kim by knockout in 14 rounds in a tragic fight. Kim died five days later and the fight's outcome brought many new resolutions to boxing.
• December 3 the carnival of champions

Cricket

• Graham Gooch leads a "rebel" team of players on tour of South Africa, banned from official cricket since 1970 because of apartheid.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Bernard Hinault of France
• Tour de France - Bernard Hinault of France
• World Cycling Championship: Giuseppe Saronni of Italy

Field Hockey

• March 20: In an international women's field hockey match at Wembley Stadium,England. The Netherlands beat England 4-2.
• June 6 - 13: Fourth Men's Champions Trophy held for the first time in Europe in Amstelveen.

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Scott Hamilton, (United States)
  • Women's champion: Elaine Zayak , (United States)
  • Pairs champions: Sabine Baess & Tassilo Thierbach , (Germany)

Football (American)

• Super Bowl XVI: San Francisco 49ers won 26-21 over the Cincinnati Bengals
• Strike: First regular season strike by NFL players ends on November 16 after 57 days.

Football (Australian Rules)

• Victorian Football League
  • Carlton wins the 86th VFL Premiership (Carlton 14.19 (103) d Richmond 12.13 (83))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Brian Wilson (Melbourne)

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Edmonton Eskimos won 32-16 over the Toronto Argonauts
• Vanier Cup: UBC Thunderbirds won 39-14 over the Western Ontario Mustangs

Football (Rugby)

• Five nations championship : Ireland won triple crown in Lansdowne Road for first time

since 1948

Football (Soccer)

• World Cup: Italy (hosts: Spain)
• Champions' Cup: Aston Villa 1-0 Bayern München
• UEFA Cup: Two legs; 1st leg IFK Göteborg 1-0 Hamburger SV; 2nd leg Hamburger SV 0-3 IFK Göteborg. IFK Göteborg won 4-0 on aggregate
• Cup Winners' Cup: Barcelona 2-1 Standard CL (Liège)
• Super Cup: Two legs; 1st leg Barcelona 1-0 Aston Villa; 2nd leg Aston Villa 3-0 Barcelona. Aston Villa won 3-1 on aggregate
• Copa Libertadores de América: Two legs; 1st leg Peñarol 0-0 Cobreloa; 2nd leg Cobreloa 0-1 Peñarol. Peñarol win 1-0 on aggregate
• League champions
  • Argentina: Ferro Carril Oeste (National Championship) and Estudiantes (Metropolitan ChChampionship)
  • Brazil: Flamengo
  • England: Liverpool
  • France: A.S. Monaco
  • Italy: Juventus
  • Netherlands: Ajax
  • Portugal: Sporting Lisbon
  • Scotland: Celtic
  • Spain: Real Sociedad
  • West Germany: Hamburger SV
• England - FA Cup: Tottenham Hotspur won 1-0 over Queen's Park Rangers

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Craig Stadler
  2. June - US Open - Tom Watson
  3. July - British Open - Tom Watson
  4. August - PGA Championship - Ray Floyd

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Craig Stadler - $446,462
• PGA Champions Tour leading money winner: Miller Barber - $106,890

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Janet Anderson
• LPGA Championship - Jan Stephenson
• JoAnne Carner: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $310,399.

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Gurner's Lane
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Son of Briartic
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Akiyda
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Assert

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Zino
  2. Epsom Derby - Golden Fleece
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Touching Wood

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Gato del Sol
  2. Preakness Stakes - Aloma's Ruler
  3. Belmont Stakes - Conquistador Cielo

Harness Racing

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Cam Fella
  2. Little Brown Jug - Merger
  3. Messenger Stakes - Cam Fella

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Speed Bowl
  2. Yonkers Trot - Mystic Park
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Jazz Cosmos

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Rhett's Law

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial 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: New York Islanders win 4-0 over the Vancouver Canucks

• World Hockey Championship:
  • Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Czechoslovakia
  • Junior Men's champion: Canada defeated Czechoslovakia

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Phil Mahre , USA
  • The women's overall season champion: Erika Hess , Switzerland

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: Alex Higgins beats Ray Reardon 18-15
• World rankings: Ray Reardon becomes world number one for 1982/83

Tennis

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

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Chris Evert
  2. French Open - Martina Navratilova
  3. Wimbledon championships - Martina Navratilova
  4. US Open - Chris Evert

• Davis Cup: United States won 4-1 over France in world tennis.
• Billy Jean King makes her final singles appearance at the US Open, losing in the first round.
• Total prize money at US Open exceeds 1 million US dollars.

General sporting events

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
  • Rick Swenson won with lead dog: Andy

Births

• January 1 - David Nalbandian, Argentinian tennis player
• January 5 - Janica Kostelic, Croatian alpine skier
• January 13 - Guillermo Coria, Argentinian tennis player
• January 15 - Benjamin Agosto, American skater
• April 13 - Ria Male , Welsh field hockey goalkeeper
• May 17 - Tony Parker, French NBA player
• June 1 - Justine Henin-Hardenne, Belgian tennis player
• June 8 - Nadia Petrova, Russian tennis player
• June 11 - Diana Taurasi, WNBA player
• June 25 - Mikhail Youzhny, Russian tennis player
• August 30 - Andy Roddick, American tennis player
• September 13 - Nenê, Brazilian NBA player
• October 11 - Helen Wardlaw, English cricketer

Deaths

• January 07 - Bert Oosterhuis , Dutch motor racer
• January 20 - Marc Demeyer , 31, Belgian cyclist
• April 26 - Ville Ritola, Finnish Olympic gold medal runner
• May 8 - Gilles Villeneuve, F1 race driver
• June 8 - Satchel Paige, baseball great
• August 12 - Salvador Sanchez, world champion boxer
• October 3 - Roger Claessen , Belgian soccer star
• November 13 - Dorothy Round , English tennis star
• November 17 - Duk Koo Kim, South Korean boxer
• November 26 - Hub Walker , MLB player
• December 16 - Anthony Chapman , English F1 race driver