1954 in sports - Definition and Overview

See also: 1953 in sports, other events of 1954, 1955 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Auto 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.

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

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • La Salle wins 92-76 over Bradley

• NBA Finals:
  • Minneapolis Lakers win 4-3 over the Syracuse Nationals

• 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.

Boxing

• September 17 in New York City, Rocky Marciano retained his World Heavyweight title with an 8th round knockout of Ezzard Charles

Cycling

• Tour de France - Louison Bobet of France

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Hayes Alan Jenkins, United States
  • Women's champion: Gundi Busch, Germany
  • Pairs champions: Frances Dafoe & Norris Bowden, Canada

Football (American)

• NFL Championship: Cleveland Browns win 56-10 over the Detroit Lions

Football (Australian Rules)

• Victorian Football League
  • Footscray wins the 58th VFL Premiership (Footscray 15.12 (102) d Melbourne 7.9 (51))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Roy Wright (Richmond)

Football (Canadian)

• 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.

Football (Soccer)

• West Germany wins Football World Cup in Switzerland
• England - FA Cup: West Bromwich Albion won 3-2 over Preston North End

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. April - The Masters golf tournament - Sam Snead
  2. June - US Open - Ed Furgol
  3. July - British Open - Peter Thomson
  4. August - PGA Championship - Chick Harbert

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Bob Toski - $65,820

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Babe Zaharias
• Patty Berg: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $16,011.

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Rising Fast
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Collisteo
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Sica Boy
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Zarathustra

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Darius
  2. Epsom Derby - Never Say Die
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Never Say Die

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Determine
  2. Preakness Stakes - Hasty Road
  3. Belmont Stakes - High Gun

Harness Racing

• Little Brown Jug for pacers won by Adios Harry
• Hambletonian for yrotters won by Newport Dream

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Tennessee Sky

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 Blackhawks

• 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.

Skiing

• ISF World Championships:
  • Men's combined champion: Stein Eriksen, Norway
  • Women's combined champion: Ida Schöpfer, Austria

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: Fred Davis beats Walter Donaldson 39-21

Tennis

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

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Thelma Long
  2. French Open - Maureen Connolly
  3. Wimbledon championships - Maureen Connolly
  4. US Open - Doris Hart

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

General sporting events

• British Empire & Commonwealth Games held in Vancouver, British Columbia
• May 6 - Roger Bannister becomes the first person to run a sub four minute mile.

Births

• February 19 - Socrates, football player
• March 8 - Julie Cook,British field hockey goalkeeper
• April 7 - Tony Dorsett, American football star
• April 17 - Riccardo Patrese, Italian racing driver
• April 18 - Mary Geaney,Irish field hockey goalkeeper
• May 7 - Jane Swinnerton,British field hockey international
• July 5 - John Wright, coach of Indian national cricket team
• August 14 - Mark Fidrych, American baseball player
• August 25 - Pauline Gibbon,British field hockey goalkeeper
• October 1 - Martin Strel, Slovene ultra marathon swimmer
• October 3 - Dennis Eckersley, Baseball Hall of Famer
• December 21 - Chris Evert,US tennis star
• December 26 - Susan Butcher, American dog-sled racing champion

Deaths

• July 29 - Coen de Koning, Dutch speed skater