80s Sports Trivia
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69 free 80s Sports trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This 80s sports trivia quiz runs year by year through the decade, from the Miracle on Ice at Lake Placid in February 1980 to the earthquake that stopped the 1989 World Series. In between are the two Olympic boycotts, Carl Lewis and Mary Lou Retton in Los Angeles, Ben Johnson and Flo-Jo in Seoul, Eddie the Eagle in Calgary, and the Torvill and Dean Boléro. The American pro sports questions cover the 1985 Bears, The Catch, Buckner's error, Kirk Gibson's homer, the Gretzky trade, Showtime and the Bad Boys. There is plenty from outside the US too: Maradona's Hand of God, Boris Becker's Wimbledon at 17, Steffi Graf's Golden Slam, Europe's first Ryder Cup, Australia II ending a 132-year streak, and Greg LeMond's eight-second Tour de France. Every answer has been checked against a Wikipedia article on the event or athlete, and each explanation adds one detail worth remembering.
30 of 69 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The 'Miracle on Ice' saw the US beat which country in ice hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics?
Soviet Union
The Americans still had to beat Finland two days later to clinch the gold; coach Herb Brooks sprinted to the locker room and cried after the upset.
Q 02Which broadcaster asked 'Do you believe in miracles?' as the 1980 US hockey upset ended?
Al Michaels
Michaels was calling the game for ABC; the final score was 4-3 after the Soviets had led 3-2 through two periods.
Q 03Which American speed skater won all five speed skating events at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics?
Eric Heiden
Eric Heiden swept the men's speed skating golds at Lake Placid in 1980, winning every event from the 500 to the 10,000 metres with an Olympic record in each; he later became an orthopedic surgeon.
Q 04Why did the United States boycott the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics?
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
The US led a boycott in protest at the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979; President Carter even sent Muhammad Ali on a diplomatic tour of Africa to rally support.
Q 05Which British runner beat Sebastian Coe to win the 800 metres at the 1980 Moscow Olympics?
Steve Ovett
Steve Ovett, the favourite for the 1,500 m, instead beat Sebastian Coe over 800 m in Moscow; days later Coe turned the tables and won the 1,500 m.
Q 06Rosie Ruiz was stripped of her 1980 Boston Marathon win eight days later for what reason?
She had not run the entire course
Investigators concluded she had not run the entire course, having jumped in near the finish; New York officials then found she had also cheated in the 1979 NYC Marathon that qualified her for Boston.
Q 07Which rookie replaced the injured Kareem at center and scored 42 to clinch the 1980 NBA Finals?
Magic Johnson
Rookie Magic Johnson, aged 20, started at center for the injured Abdul-Jabbar in Game 6 in Philadelphia, scored 42 points and was named Finals MVP.
Q 08What was the score of the fourth-set tiebreak in the 1980 Borg–McEnroe Wimbledon final?
18-16
McEnroe saved match point after match point to take the fourth-set tiebreak 18-16, but Borg won the fifth set for his fifth straight Wimbledon title; McEnroe beat him in the 1981 final.
Q 09Which Dodgers rookie pitcher won both the Cy Young and Rookie of the Year in 1981?
Fernando Valenzuela
Fernando Valenzuela's screwball and eight shutouts in 1981 set off 'Fernandomania' at Dodger Stadium; he became the first player to win the Cy Young and Rookie of the Year in one season.
Q 10Who caught 'The Catch', Joe Montana's winning pass in the January 1982 NFC Championship?
Dwight Clark
Dwight Clark leapt to pull in Montana's pass at the back of the end zone with 51 seconds left; the 49ers beat Dallas 28-27 and won their first Super Bowl two weeks later.
Q 11How many bases did Rickey Henderson steal in 1982 to set the single-season record?
130
Henderson stole 130 bases for Oakland in 1982, breaking Lou Brock's 1974 mark of 118; he also stole 100 in 1980 and 108 in 1983.
Q 12Which country won the 1982 FIFA World Cup, beating West Germany 3-1 in Madrid?
Italy
It was Italy's first title since 1938; Paolo Rossi's goals carried them after a slow start.
Q 13Which Georgia running back won the 1982 Heisman Trophy before jumping to the USFL's New Jersey Generals?
Herschel Walker
Herschel Walker won the 1982 Heisman at Georgia and signed with the USFL's New Jersey Generals in 1983; his 1989 trade from Dallas to Minnesota is credited with building the Cowboys' 1990s dynasty.
Q 21Which Warsaw Pact country defied the Eastern Bloc boycott and competed at Los Angeles in 1984?
Romania
Romania was the only Warsaw Pact member to send a team to Los Angeles in 1984; its athletes got a standing ovation at the opening ceremony and finished second in the gold-medal table.
Q 22Who was taken first overall in the 1984 NBA draft, two picks ahead of Michael Jordan?
Hakeem Olajuwon
Houston took Hakeem Olajuwon first, Portland took Sam Bowie second and Chicago got Michael Jordan third; Charles Barkley went fifth and John Stockton 16th.
Q 23Which team beat the Redskins 38-9 in Super Bowl XVIII in January 1984?
Los Angeles Raiders
Q 14Which team's 1983 NCAA title ended with Lorenzo Charles's buzzer-beating dunk and Jim Valvano running around the court?
NC State
NC State's Wolfpack beat Houston's 'Phi Slama Jama' 54-52 when Lorenzo Charles dunked Dereck Whittenburg's 30-foot airball at the buzzer.
Q 15Australia II ended the New York Yacht Club's 132-year hold on which trophy in 1983?
The America's Cup
Australia II won the America's Cup 4-3 off Newport, Rhode Island, with skipper John Bertrand rallying from 3-1 down against Dennis Conner's Liberty.
Q 16Where were the 1984 Winter Olympics held?
Sarajevo
Sarajevo, then in Yugoslavia, hosted the 1984 Winter Games; many of its venues were wrecked in the Bosnian War that began in 1992.
Q 17Which ice dancers earned perfect 6.0 artistic scores from every judge at the 1984 Winter Olympics?
Torvill and Dean
Torvill and Dean's free dance to Ravel's Boléro at the 1984 Games drew 6.0 for artistic impression from all nine judges, the only such sweep before the 6.0 system was retired in 2004.
Q 18Carl Lewis won four gold medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, matching whose 1936 feat?
Jesse Owens
Lewis won the 100 m, 200 m, long jump and 4x100 m relay, the same four events Jesse Owens won in Berlin in 1936; he was even drafted that year by the Chicago Bulls and the Dallas Cowboys.
Q 19Who became the first American woman to win the Olympic gymnastics all-around title in 1984?
Mary Lou Retton
Mary Lou Retton, 16, had arthroscopic knee surgery weeks before the Games and edged Romania's Ecaterina Szabo by 0.05 points to win the all-around in Los Angeles.
Q 20Which event made its Olympic debut in 1984 and was won by Joan Benoit?
The women's marathon
The women's marathon was run for the first time at Los Angeles in 1984, and Joan Benoit won it in 2:24:52, more than a minute ahead of Grete Waitz.
The Los Angeles Raiders routed Washington 38-9 in Tampa; Marcus Allen ran for 191 yards and was MVP, and Apple aired its famous '1984' Macintosh commercial during the broadcast.
Q 24Doug Flutie's 'Hail Mary' pass in November 1984 beat which team?
Miami
Gerard Phelan caught Flutie's 48-yard heave as time expired to beat Miami 47-45 in the Orange Bowl, stunning Bernie Kosar's defending champion Hurricanes.
Q 25Which eighth-seeded team upset Georgetown 66-64 in the 1985 NCAA final?
Villanova
Villanova, coached by Rollie Massimino, shot 22 of 28 from the field to beat Patrick Ewing's Georgetown 66-64 in Lexington; no lower seed had ever won the title.
Q 26How long did the 1985 Hagler–Hearns middleweight fight, known as 'The War', last?
Three rounds
The Ring called it 'the most electrifying eight minutes ever' and named it fight of the year.
Q 27Who became the youngest ever men's Wimbledon singles champion in 1985 at age 17?
Boris Becker
Boris Becker, an unseeded 17-year-old from Leimen, beat Kevin Curren in the 1985 final and went on to win Wimbledon again in 1986 and 1989.
Q 28Pete Rose broke whose all-time hits record in September 1985?
Ty Cobb
Hit number 4,192, a single off San Diego's Eric Show at Riverfront Stadium, passed Ty Cobb's 4,191; four years later Rose was banned for gambling.
Q 29Team Europe won the Ryder Cup for the first time in 1985 at which English course?
The Belfry
Tony Jacklin's Europe beat the US 16½–11½ at The Belfry in Warwickshire in 1985, Europe's first win; two years later at Muirfield Village they became the first visiting side to win on American soil.
Q 30Which umpire made the blown first-base call in Game 6 of the 1985 World Series?
Don Denkinger
Don Denkinger called Jorge Orta safe at first in the ninth inning of Game 6; St. Louis lost that game and then Game 7 11-0, and the call became Cardinals lore.