1954 in sports
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1954 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.
| Centuries: | 19th century · 20th century · 21st century |
| Decades: | 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s |
| Years: | 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 |
[edit] American football
- NFL Championship – Cleveland Browns win 56-10 over the Detroit Lions
- Ohio State Buckeyes - college football champions.
[edit] Artistic gymnastics
- 1954 World Championships
- Men's all-around champion – Viktor Chukarin, USSR
- Women's all-around champion – Galina Rud'ko, USSR
- Team competition champions – men's - USSR; women's - USSR
[edit] Association football
- 1954 World Cup held in Switzerland. West Germany beat Hungary 3-2.
England
- First Division - Wolverhampton Wanderers win the 1953-54 title.
- FA Cup – West Bromwich Albion beat Preston North End 3-2.
Other events
[edit] Athletics
- May 6 – Roger Bannister breaks the four-minute mile barrier with a time of 3:59.4
- August 25 to 29 August – European Championships held at Berne, capital of Switzerland
[edit] Australian rules football
- Footscray wins the 58th VFL Premiership (Footscray 15.12 (102) d Melbourne 7.9 (51))
- Brownlow Medal awarded to Roy Wright (Richmond)
[edit] Baseball
- January 14 – Former Yankees great Joe DiMaggio marries legendary actress Marilyn Monroe in a union of heavily publicized media stars.
- World Series – New York Giants win 4 games to 0 over the Cleveland Indians
[edit] Basketball
- FIBA World Championship –
- Gold: United States of America
- Silver: Brazil
- Bronze: Philippines
- NCAA Men's Basketball Championship –
- La Salle wins 92-76 over Bradley
- NBA Finals|NBA Finals –
- Minneapolis Lakers win 4-3 over the Syracuse Nationals
- March 13 – Milan High School, enrollment 161, defeated Muncie Central High School (enrollment over 1,600) 32-30 to win the Indiana state title. The 1986 movie classic Hoosiers was very loosely based on the story of this Milan team.
[edit] Boxing
- September 17 in New York City, Rocky Marciano retained his World Heavyweight title with an 8th round knockout of Ezzard Charles
- December 12 – death of Ed Sanders (30), American heavyweight soon after a fight with Willie James in which he lost consciousness
[edit] Canadian football
* The British Columbia Lions started play in the Western Interprovincial Football Union as the ninth professional team.
- The Ontario Rugby Football Union stops challenging for the Grey Cup, permanently establishing that trophy as one to be awarded only to professional teams.
- These changes result in the Grey Cup being an East vs. West competition. Although the Canadian Football League was not technically founded until the late 1950's, 1954 is often referred to as the start of the "modern era" of Canadian professional football. It is also considered to be the year the CFL was founded in substance if not in name.
- In the Grey Cup, the Edmonton Eskimos win 26-25 over the Montreal Alouettes.
- The Canadian Intermediate-Senior championship was awarded to the Winnipeg Rams. The team consisted of [1] Rich Kolisnyk (quarterback), Mel Kotch, Bob Jones, Tom Brisson, Bill Ritchie, Len Sigurdson, Walt Van Wynsberg, Lorne Miller, Gerry Duguid, Harry Makin, Art Makin, Jerry Lavitt, John Thorney, Bill Barrett, Jim Thorney, Al McBride, Bill Senyk, Bob Bouchard, Ray Charambura, Nick Miller, Dick Hebertson, Ron Stephenson, Al Passman, Mort Corrin, Bill Yee, Norm Lampe, Dede Brown, Joe Sawchuk, Art Brockhill, Lew Miles, Ken Freeman, Bill Thomas, Ron Cooke, Pete Sawchuk, Harry Snider, Harold Neufeld and their mascot Ken Kolisnyk.
[edit] Figure skating
- World Figure Skating Championships –
- Men's champion: Hayes Alan Jenkins, United States
- Ladies' champion: Gundi Busch, Germany
- Pair skating champions: Frances Dafoe & Norris Bowden, Canada
- Ice dancing champions: Jean Westwood & Lawrence Demmy, Great Britain
[edit] Golf
Men's professional
- Masters Tournament - Sam Snead
- U.S. Open - Ed Furgol
- British Open - Peter Thomson
- PGA Championship - Chick Harbert
- PGA Tour money leader - Bob Toski - $65,820
Men's amateur
Women's professional
- Women's Western Open - Betty Jameson
- U.S. Women's Open - Babe Zaharias
- Titleholders Championship - Louise Suggs
- LPGA Tour money leader - Patty Berg - $16,011
[edit] Harness racing
- Little Brown Jug for pacers won by Adios Harry
- Hambletonian for trotters won by Newport Dream
- Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
- Pacers: Tennessee Sky
[edit] Horse racing
Steeplechases
Flat races
- Australia – Melbourne Cup won by Rising Fast
- Canada – Queen's Plate won by Collisteo
- France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Sica Boy
- Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Zarathustra
- English Triple Crown Races:
- United States Triple Crown Races:
[edit] 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: Al Rollins, Chicago Black Hawks
- Stanley Cup – Detroit Red Wings win 4 games to 3 over the Montreal Canadiens
- World Hockey Championship
- Men's champion: USSR wins 7-2 over Canada's East York Lyndhursts.
- NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers defeat University of Minnesota Golden Gophers 5-4 in overtime in Colorado Springs, CO
[edit] Motor racing
- NASCAR Championship - Lee Petty
- AAA Racing –
- Bill Vukovich won the Indianapolis 500
- Jimmy Bryan won the season championship
- Formula One Championship - Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina
- 24 hours of Le Mans – the team of Froilán González / Maurice Trintignant won, driving a Ferrari 375
- Rally racing - the team of Louis Chiron / Ciro Basadonna win the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Lancia Aurelia GT
- Drag racing - The NHRA expands, sanctioning other drag strip operators in the United States.
- Daytona 200 - BSA take all first five places with remainder of the team at 8th and 16th.
[edit] Rugby league
- May 5 – 1953-54 Challenge Cup final replay is won 8-4 by Warrington against Halifax before a world record crowd of over 102,000 at Odsal Stadium
- May 8 – 1953-54 Northern Rugby Football League season culminates in Warrington's 8-7 win over Halifax in the Championship Final at Maine Road before 36,519.
- September 18 – NSWRFL season 1954 culminates in South Sydney's 23-15 win over Newtown in the grand final.
- November 13 – first World Cup tournament culminates in Great Britain's 16 - 12 win over France in the final.
- December 13 - the final match of the 1953–54 European Championship was played, with England finishing on top of the tournament ladder to claim the championship.
[edit] Skiing
- ISF World Championships –
- Men's combined champion: Stein Eriksen, Norway
- Women's combined champion: Ida Schöpfer, Austria
[edit] Snooker
- World Snooker Championship – Fred Davis beats Walter Donaldson 39-21
[edit] Tennis
- Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
- Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
- Davis Cup – United States wins 3-2 over Australia in world tennis.
[edit] Multi-sport events
- Asian Games held in Manila, the Philippines
- Central American and Caribbean Games held in Mexico City, Mexico
- British Empire & Commonwealth Games held in Vancouver, British Columbia
[edit] Awards
- Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Willie Mays, Major League Baseball
- Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Babe Didrikson Zaharias, LPGA golf
[edit] References
|
||||||||
