See also: 1988 in sports, other events of 1989, 1990 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • Darrell Waltrip won the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Rusty Wallace
• CART Racing - season championship won by Emerson Fittipaldi
  • Indianapolis 500 - Emerson Fittipaldi
• Formula One Championship - Alain Prost of France
• 24 hours of Le Mans:
  • won by the team of Jochen Mass / Manuel Reuter / Stanley Dickens driving a Sauber-Mercedes
• Rally racing - Miki Biasion in a Lancia won the World Rally Championship
  • the team of Miki Biasion / Tiziano Siviero won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Lancia Delta HF Integrale
• Drag racing - Gary Ormsby won the NHRA "Top Fuel" championship.

Baseball

• April 8 - One-handed pitcher Jim Abbott makes his major-league debut with the California Angels, without spending a single day in the minor leagues. He went on to a 12-12 record for the season.

• August 10 - Ten months after undergoing surgery for cancer in his pitching arm, San Francisco Giants pitcher Dave Dravecky returns to the major leagues, winning his comeback 4-3.

• August 15 - Dave Dravecky's comeback bid ends tragically when his pitching arm breaks in the sixth inning of his second start. Two years later, the cancer-stricken arm would be amputated.

• August 24 - Following an investigation that he gambled on baseball, superstar player Pete Rose is banned from baseball for life.

• World Series: Oakland Athletics won 4 games to 0 over the San Francisco Giants. The Series MVP was Dave Stewart, Oakland.

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • Michigan wins 80-79 over Seton Hall in overtime

• NBA Finals:
  • Detroit Pistons win 4 games to 0 over the Los Angeles Lakers to win the franchise's first championship.

Boxing

• February 11 - In Grenoble, France, Rene Jacquot won a 12 round decision over Donald Curry to win the World Welterweight Championship

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Laurent Fignon of France
• Tour de France - Greg LeMond of the United States
• World Cycling Championship: Greg LeMond of the United States

Field Hockey

• November 16 - 24 - Eleventh Men's Champions Trophy held in Berlin, Germany won by Australia

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Kurt Browning, Canada
  • Women's champion: Midori Ito, Japan
  • Pairs champions: Ekaterina Gordeeva & Sergei Grinkov, Soviet Union

Football (American)

• Super Bowl XXIII: San Francisco 49ers won 20-16 over the Cincinnati Bengals

Football (Australian Rules)

• Victorian Football League
  • Hawthorn wins the 93rd VFL Premiership (Hawthorn 21.18 (144) d Geelong 21.12 (138))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Paul Couch (Geelong)

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Saskatchewan Roughriders won 43-40 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
• Vanier Cup: Western Ontario Mustangs won 35-10 over the Saskatchewan Huskies

Football (Soccer)

• England - FA Cup: Liverpool won 3-2 (aet) over Everton

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Nick Faldo
  2. June - US Open - Curtis Strange
  3. July - British Open - Mark Calcavecchia
  4. August - PGA Championship - Payne Stewart

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Tom Kite - $1,395,278
• PGA Champions Tour leading money winner: Bob Charles - $725,887
• Ryder Cup: Europe and the United States teams tied 14-14 in world golf.

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Betsy King
• LPGA Championship - Nancy Lopez
• Betsy King: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $654,132.

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Tawriffic
• Canada - Queen's Plate - With Approval
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Carroll House
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Old Vic

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Nashwan
  2. Epsom Derby - Nashwan
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Michelozzo

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Sunday Silence
  2. Preakness Stakes - Sunday Silence
  3. Belmont Stakes - Easy Goer

• Breeders' Cup:
  1. Breeders' Cup Classic - Sunday Silence
  2. Breeders' Cup Distaff - Bayakoa
  3. Breeders' Cup Juvenile - Rhythm
  4. Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies - Go for Wand
  5. Breeders' Cup Mile - Steinlen
  6. Breeders' Cup Sprint - Dancing Spree
  7. Breeders' Cup Turf - Prized

Harness Racing

• North America Cup - Quite A Sensation

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Dancing Master
  2. Little Brown Jug - Goalie Jeff
  3. Messenger Stakes - Sandman Hanover

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Park Ave Joe & Probe (dead heat)
  2. Yonkers Trot - Valley Victory
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Peace Corps

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Jodie's Babe
  • Trotters: Yankee Loch

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: Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings

• Stanley Cup: Calgary Flames won 4 games to 2 over the Montreal Canadiens. The first time ever that the visiting team won their game at Montreal.

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

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Marc Girardelli, Luxembourg
  • The women's overall season champion: Vreni Schneider, Switzerland

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: Steve Davis beats John Parrott 18-3
• World rankings: Steve Davis remains world number one for 1989/90

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Ivan Lendl
  2. French Open - Michael Chang
  3. Wimbledon championships - Boris Becker
  4. US Open - Boris Becker

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Steffi Graf
  2. French Open - Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
  3. Wimbledon championships - Steffi Graf
  4. US Open - Steffi Graf

• Davis Cup: Germany F.R. won 3-2 over Sweden in world tennis.

General sporting events

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
  • Joe Runyan won with lead dogs: Rambo & Ferlin the Husky

Births

• June 2 - Freddy Adu, soccer prodigy
• October 11 - Michelle Wie, golf prodigy

Deaths

• January 9 - Bill Terry, Major League Baseball player (1923-1936)
• January 21 - Carl Furillo, Major League Baseball player (1946-1960)
• February 17 - Lefty Gomez, New York Yankees pitcher (1930-1943)
• February 10 - Dan Kelly, NHL sportscaster
• March 18 - Piet Kruiver , Dutch soccer player
• April 12 - Sugar Ray Robinson, boxing champion
• June 17 - John Matuszak 38, NFL player with Oakland Raiders
• June 22 - Lee Calhoun, Olympic Gold Medal hurdler
• July 18 - Donnie Moore 35, Major League Baseball pitcher, suicide
• August 13 - Tim Richmond, NASCAR driver
• August 18 - Bert Oosterbosch 32, cyclist, world professional pursuit champion
• September 1 - A. Bartlett Giamatti, 7th Major League Baseball commissioner, heart attack
• September 10 - Jeff Stollmeyer , President, West Indies Cricket Board, murdered
• September 15 - Harry Cave , New Zealand cricketer
• October 4 - Secretariat, thoroughbred race horse, 1973 Triple Crown winner, two-time Horse of the Year
• October 4 - Norman Yardley, English cricketer
• November 13 - Victor Davis, 1984 Olympic and World swimming champion
• December 25 - Billy Martin, New York Yankees manager, auto accident
• December 26 - Doug Harvey, NHL superstar defenseman (1947-1969)