See also: 1952 in sports, other events of 1953, 1954 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Contents

1 Auto Racing 2 Baseball 3 Basketball 4 Boxing 5 Cricket 6 Cycling 7 Figure Skating 8 Football (American) 9 Football (Australian Rules) 10 Football (Canadian) 11 Football (Soccer) 12 Golf 13 Thoroughbred Horse Racing 14 Harness Racing 15 Ice Hockey 16 Snooker 17 Tennis 18 General sporting events 19 Births 20 Deaths

Auto Racing

• NASCAR Championship - Herb Thomas
• AAA Racing:
  • Bill Vukovich won the Indianapolis 500
  • Sam Hanks won the season driving championship
• Formula One Championship - Alberto Ascari of Italy
• 24 hours of Le Mans:
  • the team of Tony Rolt / Duncan Hamilton won, driving a Jaguar C-Type
• Rally racing:
  • the team of Maurice Gatsonides /Peter Worledge won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Ford Zephyr
• Drag racing - The NHRA held its first official race in April on a section of the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds parking lot in Pomona, California.

Baseball

• World Series: New York Yankees won 4 games to 2 over the Brooklyn Dodgers

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • Indiana wins 69-68 over Kansas

• NBA Finals:
  • Minneapolis Lakers won 4 games to 1 over the New York Knicks

Boxing

• September 24 in New York City - Rocky Marciano retains his World Heavyweight title with a TKO over Roland LaStarza in the 11th round.

• October in New York City - Bobo Olson scored a 15 round decision over Randy Turpin to win the World Middleweight Championship

Cricket

• Pakistan becomes the seventh test playing nation.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Fausto Coppi of Italy
• Tour de France - Louison Bobet of France
• World Cycling Championship: Fausto Coppi of Italy

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Hayes Alan Jenkins , United States
  • Women's champion: Tenley Albright, United States
  • Pairs champions: Jennifer Nicks & John Nicks , Great Britain

Football (American)

• NFL Championship : Detroit Lions won 17-16 over the Cleveland Browns

Football (Australian Rules)

• Victorian Football League
  • Collingwood wins the 57th VFL Premiership (Collingwood 11.11 (77) d Geelong 8.17 (65))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Bill Hutchinson (Essendon)

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Hamilton Tiger-Cats win 12-6 over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Football (Soccer)

• England - FA Cup: Blackpool won 4-3 over the Bolton Wanderers
• England lose 6-3 to Hungary at Wembley Stadium, their first ever loss to a continental team at home

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Ben Hogan
  2. June - US Open - Ben Hogan
  3. July - British Open - Ben Hogan
  4. August - PGA Championship - Walter Burkemo

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Lew Worsham - $34,002

• Ryder Cup: United States wins 6 1/2 to 5 1/2 over the British team in world golf.

Women's Golf

• The US Women's Open - Betsy Rawls

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Wodalla
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Canadiana
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - La Sorellina
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Chamier

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Nearula
  2. Epsom Derby - Pinza
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Premonition

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Dark Star
  2. Preakness Stakes - Native Dancer
  3. Belmont Stakes - Native Dancer

Harness Racing

• Little Brown Jug for pacers won by Keystoner
• Hambletonian for trotters won by Helicopter

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Captain Sandy

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings

• Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 1 over the Boston Bruins

• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Sweden defeated the heavily favoured Soviet Union
  • Canada did not participate in the World Hockey Championship, the government claiming it was not worth the expense.

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: Fred Davis beats Walter Donaldson 37-34

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Ken Rosewall
  2. French Open - Ken Rosewall
  3. Wimbledon championships - Vic Seixas
  4. US Open - Tony Trabert

• Maureen Connolly became the first woman to win the Grand Slam in tennis. Women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Maureen Connolly
  2. French Open - Maureen Connolly
  3. Wimbledon championships - Maureen Connolly
  4. US Open - Maureen Connolly

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

General sporting events

Births

• January 10 - Bobby Rahal, automobile racer

Deaths

• March 3 - Clyde Milan , Major League Baseball player (1907-1922)
• March 3 James J. Jeffries, world heavyweight boxing champion
• March 28 - Jim Thorpe, athlete
• April 11 - Kid Nichols, Major League Baseball pitcher (1890-1906)
• May 27 - Jesse Burkett, Major League Baseball player (1890-1905)
• June 5 - Bill Tilden, tennis player
• August 11 - Tazio Nuvolari, race car driver