Sport
- 50m penalty introduced in the VFL.
- 4 March – First game of rugby league played at the newly-built Sydney Football Stadium. St. George defeat Eastern Suburbs 24-14.
- 5 March – Newcastle Knights play their first game in the NSWRL. At Newcastle International Sports Centre (later EnergyAustralia Stadium), Parramatta win 28–4. On the same day, the Gold Coast Giants (later Seagulls & finally Chargers) play their first game in the same competition. At Seagulls Stadium, Canterbury win 21–10.
- 6 March – Brisbane Broncos make their debut at Lang Park (now Suncorp Stadium), defeating defending premiers Manly 44-10.
- 11 June – In the 100th rugby league test between the two nations, Australia defeat Great Britain 17-6.
- 17 July – Australia thrash reigning World Champions Argentina 4-1 in the Bicentennial Gold Cup, at Sydney Football Stadium.
- 24 July – Patrick Carroll wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:10:44 in Brisbane, while Karen McCann claims the women's title in 2:44:05.
- 11 September – Canterbury defeat Balmain 24-12 to win the 81st NSWRL premiership. It is the first Grand Final played at the S.F.S. & the last game for Steve Mortimer. The Grand Final was played early so that Channel Ten could broadcast the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
- 24 September – Hawthorn Hawks (22.20.152) defeat Melbourne Demons (6.20.56) to with the 92nd VFL premiership.
- 9 October – Australia defeat New Zealand 25-12 in the final of the Rugby League World Cup, played at Eden Park in Auckland
- Debbie Flintoff-King wins gold in the women's 400m over Tatyana Ledovskaya (Soviet Union) in a photo finish by 0.01s
- Duncan Armstrong wins gold in the men's 200m freestyle over Anders Holmertz of Sweden & race favourite Matt Biondi of the United States.
- Brownlow Medal awarded to Gerard Healy (Sydney)
Read more about this topic: 1988 In Australia
Famous quotes containing the word sport:
“I wish glib and indiscriminate critics of industrialists had some conception of the problems that have to be met by factory management.... General condemnation of employers is a favorite indoor sport of the uninformed intelligentsia who assume the role of lance- bearers for labor.”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877–?)
“Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence: in other words it is war minus the shooting.
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—George Orwell (1903–1950)