1985 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

Alpine skiing

• Alpine Skiing World Cup:
  • Men's overall season champion: Marc Girardelli, Luxembourg
  • Women's overall season champion: Michela Figini, Switzerland

American football

• Super Bowl XIX – the San Francisco 49ers (NFC) won 38–16 over the Miami Dolphins (AFC)
  • Location: Stanford Stadium
  • Attendance: 84,059
  • MVP: Joe Montana, QB (San Francisco)
• Baltimore Stars win USFL Championship 28-24 over Oakland Invaders

Artistic gymnastics

• World Artistic Gymnastics Championships –
  • Men's all-around champion: Yuri Korolev, USSR
  • Women's all-around champions: Oksana Omelianchik, USSR, Yelena Shushunova, USSR
  • Men's team competition champion: USSR
  • Women's team competition champion: USSR

Association football

• NASL announces suspension of operations and hopes to return in 1986. It never did.
• England – FA Cup – Manchester United won 1-0 (aet) over Everton. Kevin Moran of MU receives first-ever red card in an FA Cup final.
• Everton are crowned English champions for the eighth time, setting a then record points total for a 42-game programme under three points for a win.

Australian rules football

• Victorian Football League
  • Essendon wins the 89th VFL Premiership (Essendon 26.14 (170) d Hawthorn 14.8 (92))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Brad Hardie (Footscray)

Baseball

• Cincinnati Reds' player/manager Pete Rose breaks Ty Cobb's All-Time Hit Record of 4,191 hits. Rose's record-breaking single was off of San Diego Padres pitcher Eric Show (September 11)
• Tom Seaver of the Chicago White Sox and Phil Niekro of the New York Yankees become the 17th and 18th pitchers to join the 300 win club on August 4 and October 6 respectively.
• Rollie Fingers breaks Sparky Lyle's American League career record of 232 saves.
• World Series – The Kansas City Royals defeat the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 3, becoming the first team to win the World Series after losing the first two games at home.
• Books published:
  • Bill James, The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract: A seminal volume of baseball history by the leading sabermetrician of the day. He revised the book into a new edition in 2001.

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship –
  • Villanova wins 66-64 over Georgetown
• NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship
  • Old Dominion wins 70–65 over Georgia
• National Basketball Association
  • 1985 NBA All-Star Game
  • 1985 NBA draft
  • NBA Finals
    • Los Angeles Lakers win 4 games to 2 over the Boston Celtics
  • Team moves
    • Kansas City Kings franchise moves, 1985–86 NBA season first Sacramento Kings season.
• National Basketball League (Australia) Finals:
  • Brisbane Bullets defeated the Adelaide 36ers 121-95 in the final.
• United States Basketball League ( USBL ) was founded
• Michael Jordan competes in his first dunk contest, wearing the first edition of his now famous line of "Air" Jordan basketball shoes.
• A first game of Liga Nacional de Basket, a professional basketball league of Argentina on April 26.^{[citation needed]}

Boxing

• April 15 – The War: Marvin Hagler knocks out Thomas Hearns in three rounds to retain the world's Middleweight title.
• August 10 – Héctor Camacho defeats José Luis Ramírez to lift the WBC's world Lightweight title.
• September 21 – Michael Spinks beats Larry Holmes by a decision in 15 rounds to become the first world Light Heavyweight champion to win a world Heavyweight title.

Canadian football

• Grey Cup – B.C. Lions win 37–24 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
• Vanier Cup – Calgary Dinos win 25–6 over the Western Ontario Mustangs

Cricket

• Kim Hughes 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
• UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race – Joop Zoetemelk of the Netherlands

Dogsled racing

• Libby Riddles with her lead dogs, Axle & Dugan, becomes the first woman to ever win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race

Field hockey

• Men's Champions Trophy held in Perth, Western Australia, won by Australia

Figure skating

• World Figure Skating Championships –
  • Men's champion: Alexander Fadeev, Soviet Union
  • Ladies' champion: Katarina Witt, East Germany
  • Pair skating champions: Elena Valova / Oleg Vasiliev, Soviet Union
  • Ice dancing champions: Natalia Bestemianova / Andrei Bukin, Soviet Union

Gaelic Athletic Association

• Camogie
  • All-Ireland Camogie Champion: Kilkenny
  • National Camogie League: Kilkenny
• Gaelic football
  • All-Ireland Senior Football Championship – Kerry 2-12 died Dublin 2-8
  • National Football League – Monaghan 1-11 died Armagh 0-9
• Ladies' Gaelic football
  • All-Ireland Senior Football Champion: Kerry
  • National Football League: Kerry
• Hurling
  • All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship – Offaly 2-11 died Galway 1-12
  • National Hurling League – Limerick 3–12 beat Clare 1–7

Golf

Men's professional

• Masters Tournament – Bernhard Langer
• U.S. Open – Andy North
• British Open – Sandy Lyle
• PGA Championship – Hubert Green
• PGA Tour money leader – Curtis Strange – $542,321
• Senior PGA Tour money leader – Peter Thomson – $386,724
• Ryder Cup – Europe won 16½ to 11½ over the United States in team golf.

Men's amateur

• British Amateur – Garth McGimpsey
• U.S. Amateur – Sam Randolph

Women's professional

• Nabisco Dinah Shore – Alice Miller
• LPGA Championship – Nancy Lopez
• U.S. Women's Open – Kathy Baker
• Classique du Maurier Classic – Pat Bradley
• LPGA Tour money leader – Nancy Lopez – $416,472

Harness racing

• North America Cup – Staff Director
• United States Pacing Triple Crown races –
  1. Cane Pace – Chairmanoftheboard
  2. Little Brown Jug – Nihilator
  3. Messenger Stakes – Pershing Square
• United States Trotting Triple Crown races –
  1. Hambletonian – Prakas
  2. Yonkers Trot - Master Willie
  3. Kentucky Futurity – Flak Bait
• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
  • Pacers: Preux Chevalier
  • Trotters: Scotch Notch

Horse racing

Steeplechases

• Cheltenham Gold Cup – Forgive 'n Forget
• Grand National – Last Suspect

Flat races

• Australia – Melbourne Cup won by What A Nuisance
• Canada – Queen's Plate won by La Lorgnette
• France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Rainbow Quest
• Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Law Society
• Japan – Japan Cup won by Symboli Rudolf
• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Shadeed
  2. The Derby – Slip Anchor^[1]
  3. St. Leger Stakes – Oh So Sharp
• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby – Spend a Buck
  2. Preakness Stakes – Tank's Prospect
  3. Belmont Stakes – Creme Fraiche
• Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships:
  1. Breeders' Cup Classic – Proud Truth
  2. Breeders' Cup Distaff – Life's Magic
  3. Breeders' Cup Juvenile – Tasso
  4. Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies – Twilight Ridge
  5. Breeders' Cup Mile – Cozzene
  6. Breeders' Cup Sprint – Precisionist
  7. Breeders' Cup Turf – Pebbles

Ice hockey

• Art Ross 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 – Edmonton Oilers win 4 games to 1 over the Philadelphia Flyers
• World Hockey Championship –
  • Men's champion: Czechoslovakia defeated Canada
  • Junior Men's champion: Canada defeated Czechoslovakia

Motorsport

Rugby league

• 1985 National Panasonic Cup
• 1985 New Zealand rugby league season
• 1985 NSWRL season
• 1984–85 Rugby Football League season / 1985–86 Rugby Football League season
• 1985 State of Origin series
• 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup

Rugby union

• 91st Five Nations Championship series is won by Ireland

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship – Dennis Taylor beats Steve Davis 18-17 in one of the greatest snooker matches of all time
• World rankings – Steve Davis remains world number one for 1985/86

Swimming

• First Pan Pacific Championships held in Tokyo (August 15 – August 18)
• July 21 – Switzerland's Dano Halsall swims a world record in the 50m freestyle (long course) at a swimming meet in Bellinzona, shaving off 0.02 of the previous record (22.54) set by USA's Robin Leamy four years ago: 22.52.
• December 6 – USA's Tom Jager takes the world record from Dano Halsall (22.52) in the 50m freestyle (long course) at a swimming meet in Austin, Texas, clocking 22.40.

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open – Stefan Edberg
  2. French Open – Mats Wilander
  3. Wimbledon championships – Boris Becker
  4. US Open – Ivan Lendl
• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open – Martina Navratilova
  2. French Open – Chris Evert
  3. Wimbledon championships – Martina Navratilova
  4. US Open – Hana Mandlíková
• Davis Cup – Sweden wins 3-2 over Germany F.R. in world team tennis.

Volleyball

• Men and Women's European Volleyball Championships held in the Netherlands: both men's and women's tournaments won by USSR

Water polo

• 1985 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup held in Duisburg won by West Germany
• 1985 Men's European Water Polo Championship held in Sofia, Bulgaria won by USSR
• 1985 Women's European Water Polo Championship held in Oslo, Norway won by the Netherlands

Multi-sport events

• Sixth Pan Arab Games held in Rabat, Morocco
• Second World Games held in London, United Kingdom
• Thirteenth Summer Universiade held in Kobe, Japan
• Twelfth Winter Universiade held in Belluno, Italy

Awards

• Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Dwight Gooden, Major League Baseball
• Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Nancy Lopez, LPGA golf
• ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the year: Pete Rose Major League Baseball