1998 in sports

yearbox
in?=in sports
cp=19th century
c=20th century
cf=21st century
yp1=1995
yp2=1996
yp3=1997
year=1998
ya1=1999
ya2=2000
ya3=2001
dp3=1960s
dp2=1970s
dp1=1980s
d=1990s
da=0
dn1=2000s
dn2=2010s
dn3=2020s|

Athletics

::"For an extensive coverage see 1998 in athletics (track and field)"

Decathlon

*Best Year Performance:* flagathlete|Dan O'Brien|USA – 8755 points

Marathon

* June 7 — flagicon|NED Enschede Marathon, Netherlands
**Men's Winner: Ahmed Salah (DJI) 2:13:25
**Women's Winner: Violetta Kryza (POL) 2:38:51

* August 22 — flagicon|HUN European Championships Marathon, Budapest, Hungary
**Men's Winner: Stefano Baldini (ITA) 2:12:01

* August 23 — flagicon|HUN European Championships Marathon, Budapest, Hungary
**Women's Winner: Manuela Machado (POR) 2:27:10

* September 20 — flagicon|MAS Commonwealth Games Marathon, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
**Men's Winner: Thabiso Moqhali (LES) 2:19:15
**Women's Winner: Heather Turland (AUS) 2:41:24

* December 6 — flagicon|JPN Fukuoka Marathon, Japan
**Men's Winner: Jackson Kabiga (KEN) 2:08:42

* December 6 — flagicon|THA Asian Games Marathon, Bangkok, Thailand
**Women's Winner: Naoko Takahashi (JPN) 2:21:47

* December 20 — flagicon|THA Asian Games Marathon, Bangkok, Thailand
**Men's Winner: Lee Bong-Ju (KOR) 2:12:32

Auto racing

*Stock car racing:
**Dale Earnhardt won the Daytona 500
**NASCAR Championship - Jeff Gordon
**NASCAR celebrates its 50th anniversary
*Indy Racing League -
*Indianapolis 500 - Eddie Cheever
*CART Racing - Alex Zanardi won the season championship
*Formula One Championship - Mika Häkkinen of Finland
*24 hours of Le Mans: won by the team of Laurent Aïello / Allan McNish / Stéphane Ortelli driving a Porsche 911 GT-1
*Rallying - Tommi Mäkinen won the World Rally Championship
**the team of Carlos Sainz / Luis Moyà won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Toyota Corolla WRC
*Drag racing - Gary Scelzi won the NHRA "Top Fuel" championship.

Baseball

*Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa each chase the home run record set previously by Roger Maris in 1961. Both men end up breaking the record; McGwire with 70 and Sosa with 66.

* Cal Ripken Jr. ends his consecutive game streak at 2,632 in Baltimore against the New York Yankees. It was the first time he wasn't in the lineup since 1982.

*World Series: New York Yankees win 4 games to 0 over the San Diego Padres. The Series MVP is Scott Brosius, New York

Basketball

*July 1 - The NBA locked out its players and the season was put on hold for the next 6 1/2 months and the season began under a 50-game schedule.

*NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
**Kentucky wins 78-69 over Utah

* NBA Finals:
**Chicago Bulls win 4 games to 2 over the Utah Jazz, to complete their second three-peat of the decade.

* WNBA Finals:
**Houston Comets win two games to one over the Phoenix Mercury to repeat as champions.

* FIBA World Championship
**Yugoslavia World Champion

*National Basketball League (Australia) Finals:
**Adelaide 36ers defeated the South East Melbourne Magic 2-0 in the best-of-three final series.

Boxing

* May 17 to 24 – 32nd European Amateur Boxing Championships held in Minsk, Belarus
**"Light Flyweight (– 48 kg):" Sergey Kazakov (Russia)
**"Flyweight (– 51 kg):" Vladimir Sidorenko (Ukraine)
**"Bantamweight (– 54 kg):" Sergey Danilchenko (Ukraine)
**"Featherweight (– 57 kg):" Ramaz Paliani (Georgia)
**"Lightweight (– 60 kg):" Kay Huste (Germany)
**"Light Welterweight (– 63.5 kg):" Dorel Simion (Romania)
**"Welterweight (– 67 kg):" Oleg Saitov (Russia)
**"Light Middleweight (– 71 kg):" Frédéric Esther (France)
**"Middleweight (– 75 kg):" Zsolt Erdei (Hungary)
**"Light Heavyweight (– 81 kg):" Aleksandr Lebziak (Russia)
**"Heavyweight (– 91 kg):" Giacobbe Fragomeni (Italy)
**"Super Heavyweight (+ 91 kg):" Alexei Lezin (Russia)
*June 27 – Shane Mosley stopped Wilfrido Ruiz in the 5th round to retain the IBF Lightweight Championship.

Cycling

*Giro d'Italia won by Marco Pantani of Italy
*Tour de France - Marco Pantani of Italy
*World Cycling Championship: Oskar Camenzind of Switzerland

Dogsled racing

*Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion
**Jeff King wins with lead dogs: "Red" & "Jenna"

Field hockey

World competitions

* Men's World Cup in Utrecht, The Netherlands
** Gold: The Netherlands
** Silver: Spain
** Bronze: Germany

* Commonwealth Games (Men's Competition) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
** Gold: Australia
** Silver: Malaysia
** Bronze: England

* Men's Champions Trophy in Lahore, Pakistan
** Gold: The Netherlands
** Silver: Pakistan
** Bronze: Australia
* Women's World Cup in Utrecht, The Netherlands
** Gold: Australia
** Silver: The Netherlands
** Bronze: Germany

* Commonwealth Games (Women's Competition) in Manchester, England
** Gold: Australia
** Silver: England
** Bronze: New Zealand

Regional competitions

* Asian Games (Men's Competition) in Bangkok, Thailand
** Gold: India
** Silver: South Korea
** Bronze: Pakistan

* Asian Games (Women's Competition) in Bangkok, Thailand
** Gold: South Korea
** Silver: India
** Bronze: China

Figure skating

*World Figure Skating Championships:
**Men's champion: Alexei Yagudin, Russia
**Ladies' champion: Michelle Kwan, United States
**Pairs' champions: Elena Bereschnaya / Anton Sicharulidze, Russia
**Ice dancing champions: Anjelika Krylova / Oleg Ovsyannikov, Russia

=Football (American)=

*January 13 - ABC and ESPN negotiate a $1.15 billion a season contract to keep Monday Night Football.

*Super Bowl XXXII: Denver Broncos won 31-24 over the Green Bay Packers

* December 13 - The Baltimore Ravens and Minnesota Vikings return an NFL record 3 kickoff returns for touchdowns.

*NCAA: BCS National Championship (Fiesta Bowl): Tennessee Volunteers (13-0) won 23-16 over the Florida State Seminoles (11-2) in the first year of the Bowl Championship Series

=Football (Australian)=

* Australian Football League
** The Adelaide Crows win the 102nd AFL premiership (Adelaide Crows 15.15 (105) d North Melbourne 8.22 (70))
** Brownlow Medal awarded to Robert Harvey] (St Kilda)

=Football (Canadian)=

* Grey Cup: Calgary Stampeders win 26-24 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
* Vanier Cup: Saskatchewan Huskies win 24-17 over the Concordia Stingers

Football (rugby league)

The North Queensland Cowboys home stadium sponsor Stockland finished up their sponsorship contract seeing out their three year deal.

A new sponsorship deal was drawn up by the Cowboys, with local milking organisation Dairy Farmers who owned the local North Queensland milking dairy in the Tablelands. It was rebadged into the newly named 'Dairy Farmers Stadium' for year 1998.

It was also the start of the National Rugby League competition. Super League (Australia) ended its 1 year competition and the Australian Rugby League also ended theirs to merge together to become one. But for some clubs it came at a cost.

For the Hunter Mariners and Western Reds from Super League (Australia) and the South Queensland Crushers from the Australian Rugby League these franchises were over. But it was the birth of a new franchise and a first in rugby league history. A team in the state of Victoria going by the name Melbourne Storm.

The 20 teams competing in season 98 were:

Adelaide Rams,

Auckland Warriors,
Balmain Tigers,

Brisbane Broncos,

Canberra Raiders,

Canterbury Bulldogs,

Cronulla Sharks,

Gold Coast Chargers,

Illawarra Steelers,

Manly Sea Eagles,

Melbourne Storm,

Newcastle Knights,

North Queensland Cowboys,

North Sydney Bears,

Parramatta Eels,

Penrith Panthers,

St. George Dragons,

South Sydney Rabbitohs,

Sydney City Roosters,

Western Suburbs Magpies.

**Brisbane Broncos win their fourth title, defeating Canterbury Bulldogs 38-12 in the final.

Football (Soccer)

::"For an extensive coverage see 1998 in football (soccer)"

Gaelic Athletic Association

*Camogie
**All-Ireland Camogie Champion: Cork
**National Camogie League: Cork

*Gaelic football
**All-Ireland Senior Football Championship: Galway 1-14 d. Kiladre 1-10
**National Football League: Offaly 0-9 d. Derry 0-7

*Ladies' Gaelic football
**All-Ireland Senior Football Champion: Waterford
**National Football League: Waterford

*Hurling
**All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship: Offaly 2-16 d. Kilkenny 1-13
**National Hurling League:

Golf

Men's professional
*April 12 - Masters Tournament - Mark O'Meara
*June 21 - U.S. Open - Lee Janzen
*July 19 - British Open - Mark O'Meara
*August 16 - PGA Championship - Vijay Singh
*PGA Tour money leader - David Duval - $2,591,031
*PGA Tour Player of the Year - Mark O'Meara
*PGA Tour Rookie of the Year - Steve Flesch
*Senior PGA Tour money leader - Hale Irwin - $2,861,945Men's amateur
*British Amateur - Sergio García
*U.S. Amateur - Hank Kuehne
*European Amateur - Paddy GribbenWomen's professional
*Nabisco Dinah Shore - Pat Hurst
*LPGA Championship - Se Ri Pak
*U.S. Women's Open - Se Ri Pak
*Classique du Maurier - Brandie Burton
*LPGA Tour money leader - Annika Sörenstam - $1,092,748
*The Solheim Cup is retained by the United States team who beat the European team 16 to 12.

=Handball=

Men's Competition

*European Championship in Italy:* Gold Medal: hb|ESP:* Silver Medal: hb|SWE:* Bronze Medal: hb|GER

Women's Competition

*European Championship in the Netherlands:* Gold Medal: hbw|NOR:* Silver Medal: hbw|DEN:* Bronze Medal: hbw|HUN

Harness racing

*North America Cup - Straight Path

*United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
*#Cane Pace - Shady Character
*#Little Brown Jug - Shady Character
*#Messenger Stakes - Fit For Life

*United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
*#Hambletonian - Muscles Yankee
*#Yonkers Trot - Muscles Yankee
*#Kentucky Futurity - Trade Balance

*Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
**Pacers: Our Sir Vancelot
**Trotters: Buster Hanover

Ice hockey

*For the first time, professional players from the National Hockey League (NHL, USA) participated in the Winter Olympics. And also for the first time in Olympic history, women took part in ice hockey.
*Women's Gold - United States won 3-1 over Canada
*Men's Gold - Czech Republic won 1-0 over Russia

*Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh Penguins

*Hart Memorial Trophy: for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Dominik Hasek - Buffalo Sabres

*Stanley Cup: Detroit Red Wings defeated the Washington Capitals 4 games to 0.

*World Hockey Championship
** Men's champion: Sweden defeated Finland
** Junior Men's champion: Russia defeated Canada

Lacrosse

* The 8th World Lacrosse Championship is held in Baltimore, Maryland. The United States win, and Canada is the runner-up.
* The Philadelphia Wings sweep the Baltimore Thunder in the best of three series held to determine the winner of the Champion's Cup.
* The Brampton­ Excelsiors win the Mann Cup.
* The Clarington Green Gaels win the Founders Cup.
* The Burnaby Lakers win the Minto Cup.

BASEketball NBL

*BASEketball - NBL 1998Milwaukee Beers win Denslow Cup V

Rugby league

*The North Queensland Cowboys home stadium sponsor Stockland finished up their sponsorship contract seeing out their three year deal.

A new sponsorship deal was drawn up by the Cowboys, with local milking organisation Dairy Farmers who owned the local North Queensland milking dairy in the Tablelands. It was rebadged into the newly named 'Dairy Farmers Stadium' for year 1998.

Skiing

*Alpine skiing
**The men's overall season champion: Hermann Maier, Austria
**The women's overall season champion: Katja Seizinger, Germany

Snooker

*World Snooker Championship: John Higgins beats Ken Doherty 18-12
*World rankings: John Higgins becomes world number one for 1998/99

Swimming

International tournaments

*Eighth FINA World Championships, held in Perth, Australia (January 8 – 17)
*Second European SC Championships, held in Sheffield, United Kingdom (December 11 – December 13)

Records

*December 1 – U.S.-swimmer Jenny Thompson breaks her own world record in the women's 100m butterfly (short course): 56:90

* December 13 — Mark Foster twice breaks the world record in the men's 50m freestyle (short course) during the European SC Championships in Sheffield, clocking 21.31 eventually.

Tennis

*Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
*#Australian Open - Petr Korda
*#French Open - Carlos Moyà
*#Wimbledon championships - Pete Sampras
*#US Open - Patrick Rafter

*Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
*#Australian Open - Martina Hingis
*#French Open - Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
*#Wimbledon championships - Jana Novotná
*#US Open - Lindsay Davenport

*Davis Cup: Sweden wins 4-1 over Italy in world tennis.
*Serena Williams finishes the year in the top 20
*Elena Dementieva turns professional, becomes the first woman representing Russia to enter the US Open semifinal.

=Thoroughbred horse racing=

*Australia - Melbourne Cup - Jezabeel
*Canada - Queen's Plate - Archers Bay
*France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Sagamix
*Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Dream Well

*English Triple Crown races:
*#2,000 Guineas Stakes - King of Kings
*#Epsom Derby - High-Rise
*#St. Leger Stakes - Nedawi

*United States Triple Crown races:
*#May 2 - Kentucky Derby - Real Quiet
*#Preakness Stakes - Real Quiet
*#Belmont Stakes - Victory Gallop

*Breeders' Cup:
*#Breeders' Cup Classic - Awesome Again
*#Breeders' Cup Distaff - Escena
*#Breeders' Cup Juvenile - Answer Lively
*#Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies - Silverbulletday
*#Breeders' Cup Mile - Da Hoss
*#Breeders' Cup Sprint - Reraise
*#Breeders' Cup Turf - Buck's Boy

Volleyball

Men's Competition

* World Championship in several cities in Japan
** Gold Medal: vb|ITA
** Silver Medal: vb|YUG|FR
** Bronze Medal: vb|CUB
* World League – Final Round in Milan, Italy
** Gold Medal: vb|CUB
** Silver Medal: vb|RUS
** Bronze Medal: vb|NED
* Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand
** Gold Medal: vb|CHN
** Silver Medal: vb|KOR
** Bronze Medal: vb|TPE
* America's Cup in Mar del Plata, Argentina
** Gold Medal: vb|BRA
** Silver Medal: vb|ARG
** Bronze Medal: vb|CUB

Women's Competition

* World Championship in several cities in Japan
** Gold Medal: vbw|CUB
** Silver Medal: vbw|CHN
** Bronze Medal: vbw|RUS
* FIVB World Grand Prix – Final Round in Hong Kong
** Gold Medal: vbw|BRA
** Silver Medal: vbw|RUS
** Bronze Medal: vbw|CUB
* Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand
** Gold Medal: vbw|CHN
** Silver Medal: vbw|KOR
** Bronze Medal: vbw|JPN

Water polo

Men's Competition

* World Championship in Perth, Australia
** Gold Medal: wp|ESP
** Silver Medal: wp|HUN
** Bronze Medal: wp|YUG

Women's Competition

* World Championship in Perth, Australia
** Gold Medal: wpw|ITA
** Silver Medal: wpw|NED
** Bronze Medal: wpw|AUS

* Holiday Cup in Los Alamitos, United States
** Gold Medal: wpw|AUS
** Silver Medal: wpw|USA
** Bronze Medal: wpw|CAN

Multi-sport events

* 1998 Winter Olympics held in Nagano, Japan
** Germany wins the most medals (29), and the most gold medals (12)
**Curling makes its Olympic debut
***Men's Gold: Switzerland wins 9-3 over Canada
***Women's Gold: Canada wins 7-5 over Denmark

* Asian Games held in Bangkok, Thailand

* 1998 Commonwealth Games held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

* Central American and Caribbean Games held in Maracaibo, Venezuela

* Summer Goodwill Games held in New York City, United States

* Fifth Gay Games held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Awards

*Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year: Mark McGwire, Major League Baseball
*Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year: Se Ri Pak, LPGA golf

Deaths

*January 1 — Helen Wills Moody, American tennis player
*January 29 — Rob Mulders (30), Dutch road cyclist (b. 1967)
*March 8 — Ray Nitschke, American football player
*March 13 — Risen Star, champion thoroughbred race horse
*March 17 — Cliff Barker (77), American basketball player (b. 1921)
*April 9 — John Tate (43), American boxer (b. 1955)
*April 13 — Patrick de Gayardon (38), French skydiver and skysurfing pioneer (b. 1960)
*April 22 — Kitch Christie (58), South African rugby coach (b. 1940)
*April 30 — Jopie Selbach (79), Dutch swimmer (b. 1918)
*May 15 — Earl Manigault, basketball player
*May 25 — José Pedraza (60), Mexican race walker (b. 1937)
*July 4 — Strike Out, harness racing horse
*July 8 — Lili de Alvarez, Spanish multi-sport competitor, tennis champion and author (b. 1905)
*August 17 — Władysław Komar (58), Polish shot putter (b. 1940)
*September 15 — Viljo Heino, Finnish athlete (b. 1914)
*October 2 — Olivier Gendebien, Belgian race car driver
*October 27 — Winnie van Weerdenburg (52), Dutch swimmer
*November 10 — Hal Newhouser, American baseball player
*November 13 — Henk Timmer (94), Dutch tennis and field hockey player (b. 1904)
*November 17 — Kornelia Bouman (94), Dutch female tennis player (b. 1903)
*December 2 — Mikio Oda (93), Japanese athlete (b. 1905)
*December 20 — Phil Stubbs (36), New Zealand ocean rowing champion
* December 24 — Daan Kagchelland (84), Ductch sailboat racer (b. 1914)