See also: 1989 in sports, other events of 1990, 1991 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • Derrike Cope won the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Dale Earnhardt
• CART Racing - Al Unser, Jr. won the season championship
  • Indianapolis 500 - Arie Luyendyk
• Formula One Championship - Ayrton Senna of Brazil
• 24 hours of Le Mans:
  • won by the team of John Nielsen / Price Cobb / Martin Brundle driving a Jaguar XJR-12.
• Rally racing - Carlos Sainz in a Toyota won the World Rally Championship
  • the team of Didier Auriol/Bernard Occelli won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Lancia Delta HF Integrale
• Drag racing - Joe Amato won the NHRA "Top Fuel" championship.

Baseball

• Bobby Thigpen saves 57 games for the Chicago White Sox, breaking Dave Righetti's record of 46.
• World Series: The Cincinnati Reds win 4 games to 0 over the Oakland Athletics - Series MVP: Jose Rijo , Cincinnati

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • UNLV wins 103-73 over Duke

• NBA Finals:
  • Detroit Pistons won 4 games to 1 over the Portland Trail Blazers

Boxing

• February 11 - James Buster Douglas defeated Mike Tyson by a knockout in round 10 to win the world's unified Heavyweight title, in what many consider boxing's biggest upset ever.

• March 31 - Thunder Meets Lightning: Julio Cesar Chavez defeated Meldrick Taylor to unify boxing's world junior welterweight title.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Gianni Bugno of Italy
• Tour de France - Greg Lemond of the United States
• World Cycling Championship: Rudy Dhaenens of Belgium

Field Hockey

• November 17 - 25 - Twelfth Men's Champions Trophy held in Melbourne, Australia won by hosts Australia

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Kurt Browning, Canada
  • Women's champion: Jill Trenary , United States
  • Pairs champions: Jekaterina Gordejewa & Sergej Grinkow , Soviet Union

Football (American)

• Super Bowl XXIV - San Francisco 49ers won 55-10 over the Denver Broncos

Football (Australian Rules)

• Australian Football League
  • The Victorian Football League is renamed the Australian Football League
  • Collingwood wins the 94th AFL premiership (Collingwood 13.11 (89) d Essendon 5.11 (41))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Tony Liberatore (Footscray)

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Winnipeg Blue Bombers 50-11 over the Edmonton Eskimos
• Vanier Cup: Saskatchewan Huskies win 24-21 over the St. Mary's Huskies

Football (Soccer)

• West Germany won the Football World Cup in Rome, Italy, defeating defending champion Argentina 1-0 in the final.

• England - FA Cup: Manchester United won 1-0 over Crystal Palace

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Nick Faldo
  2. June - US Open - Hale Irwin
  3. July - British Open - Nick Faldo
  4. August - PGA Championship - Wayne Grady

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Greg Norman - $1,165,477
• PGA Champions Tour leading money winner: Lee Trevino - $1,190,518

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open: Betsy King
• LPGA Championship - Beth Daniel
• Beth Daniel: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $863,578

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Kingston Rule
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Izvestia
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Saumarez
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Salsabil

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Tirol
  2. Epsom Derby - Quest For Fame
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Snurge

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Unbridled
  2. Preakness Stakes - Summer Squall
  3. Belmont Stakes - Go and Go

• Breeders' Cup:
  1. Breeders' Cup Classic - Unbridled
  2. Breeders' Cup Distaff - Bayakoa
  3. Breeders' Cup Juvenile - Fly So Free
  4. Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies - Meadow Star
  5. Breeders' Cup Mile - Royal Academy
  6. Breeders' Cup Sprint - Safely Kept
  7. Breeders' Cup Turf - In the Wings

Harness Racing

• North America Cup - Apaches Fame

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Jake And Elwood
  2. Little Brown Jug - Beach Towel
  3. Messenger Stakes - Jake And Elwood

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Harmonious
  2. Yonkers Trot -
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Star Mystic

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Thorate
  • Trotters: Real Force

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Mark Messier, Edmonton Oilers

• Stanley Cup: Edmonton Oilers won 4 games to 1 over the Boston Bruins

• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Sweden
  • Junior Men's champion: Canada defeated Russia
  • Women's champion: in the inaugural event, Canada defeated United States

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Pirmin Zurbriggen , Switzerland
  • The women's overall season champion: Petra Kronberger , Austria

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: Stephen Hendry beats Jimmy White 18-12
• World rankings: Stephen Hendry becomes world number one for 1990/91

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Ivan Lendl
  2. French Open - Andres Gomez
  3. Wimbledon championships - Stefan Edberg
  4. US Open - Pete Sampras

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Steffi Graf
  2. French Open - Monica Seles
  3. Wimbledon championships - Martina Navratilova
  4. US Open - Gabriela Sabatini

• Davis Cup: United States won 3-2 over Australia in world tennis.

General sporting events

• Commonwealth Games held in Auckland

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
  • Susan Butcher won with lead dogs: Sluggo & Lightning

Births

December 3 Zak Kanoff, Soccer Star

Deaths

• January 1 - Joe Hardstaff, Jr. , English cricketer
• January 7 - Bronko Nagurski, NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame
• February 14 - Graeme Hole , Australian cricketer
• February 24 - Tony Conigliaro, MLB baseball player, Boston Red Sox
• February 26 - Leslie Ames, English cricketer
• March 6 - Joe Sewell, Major League Baseball player (1920-1933)
• March 15 - Tom Harmon, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner
• March 20 - Lev Yashin, Soviet football goalkeeper
• April 21 - Johnny Beagley , Major League Baseball pitcher
• May 22 - Rocky Graziano, boxer
• June 18 - Dennis Dyer , South African cricketer
• August 28 - Larry Jackson , Major League Baseball pitcher (1955-1968)
• September 9 - Doc Cramer, Major League Baseball player (1929-1948)
• October 7 - John "Cat" Thompson , Basketball Hall of Fame
• October 10 - Wally Moses , Major League Baseball player (1935-1951)
• November 16 - Northern Dancer, racehorse
• December 13 - Alice Marble , tennis star, Wimbledon champion
• December 31 - George Allen, NFL coach