1960 in sports - Definition and Overview

See also: 1959 in sports, other events of 1960, 1961 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • Junior Johnson won the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Rex White
• Indianapolis 500 - Jim Rathmann
• USAC Racing - A.J. Foyt won the season championship
• Formula One Championship - Jack Brabham of Australia
• 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Olivier Gendebien / Paul Frère won, driving a Ferrari TR60
• Rally racing - the team of Walter Schock / Rolf Moll won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Mercedes 220SE.
• Drag racing - Leonard Harris won "Top Eliminator" at the NHRA Nationals

Baseball

• World Series: Pittsburgh Pirates win 4 games to 3 over the New York Yankees. The Series MVP is Bobby Richardson, New York.
• October 13 - 1960 World Series: Baseballer Bill Mazeroski becomes the first person to end a World Series with a home run.
• The Winnipeg Goldeyes win the Northern League championship.

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • Ohio St. wins 75-55 over California

• NBA Finals:
  • Boston Celtics win 4 games to 3 over the St. Louis Hawks

Boxing

• March 16 - Flash Elorde won the world junior lightweight title with a seventh-round knockout of Harold Gomes in Quezon City, Philippines.
• September 5 - Cassius Clay wins the gold medal in boxing at the Rome Olympic Games.

Cycling

• Tour de France - Gastone Nencini of Italy
• Giro d'Italia - Jacques Anquetil of France

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Alain Giletti, France
  • Women's champion: Carol Heiss, United States
  • Pairs champions: Barbara Wagner & Robert Paul, Canada

Football (American)

• The American Football League (AFL) played its first season
• First black pro football placekicker: Gene Mingo (Denver Broncos, AFL)
• First Hispanic pro football quarterback: Tom Flores (Oakland Raiders, AFL)
• AFL Championship: Houston Oilers won 24-16 over the Los Angeles Chargers
• NFL Championship: Philadelphia Eagles won 17-13 over the Green Bay Packers

Football (Australian Rules)

• Victorian Football League
  • Melbourne wins the 64th VFL Premiership (Melbourne 8.14 (62) d Collingwood 2.2 (14))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to John Schultz (Footscray)

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Ottawa Rough Riders win 16-6 over the Edmonton Eskimos

Football (Soccer)

• England - FA Cup: Wolverhampton Wanderers won 3-0 over the Blackburn Rovers

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters golf tournament - Arnold Palmer
  2. June - US Open - Arnold Palmer
  3. July - British Open - Kel Nagle
  4. August - PGA Championship - Jay Hebert

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Arnold Palmer - $75,263

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Betsy Rawls
• LPGA Championship - Mickey Wright
• Louise Suggs: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $16,892

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup
• Canada - Queen's Plate
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Chamour

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

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Venetian Way
  2. Preakness Stakes - Bally Ache
  3. Belmont Stakes - Celtic Ash

Harness Racing

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Countess Adios
  2. Little Brown Jug - Bullet Hanover
  3. Messenger Stakes - Countess Adios

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Blaze Hanover
  2. Yonkers Trot
  3. Kentucky Futurity

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Caduceus

Ice Hockey

• The American Olympic men's ice-hockey tream won the United States' first Olympic hockey gold medal with a record of 7–0–0 during the tournament.

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Bobby Hull, Chicago Blackhawks

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

• Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 0 over the Toronto Maple Leafs

• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: United States defeats Canada

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
• The men's Olympic Gold Medal:
  • Downhill: Jean Vuarnet, France
  • Slalom: Ernst Hinterseer, Austria
  • Giant Slalom: Roger Staub, Switzerland

• • The women's Olympic Gold Medal:
  • Downhill: Heidi Biebl, West Germany
  • Slalom: Ann Heggtveit, Canada
  • Giant Slalom: Yvonne Ruegg, Switzerland

• ISF World Championships:
• Ann Heggtveit of Canada becomes the first non-European to win the International Ski Federation overall world championship in Alpine skiing.
  • Men's combined champion: Guy Périllat, France
  • Women's combined champion: Ann Heggtveit, Canada

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Rod Laver
  2. French Open - Nicola Pietrangeli
  3. Wimbledon championships - Neale Fraser
  4. US Open - Neale Fraser

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Margaret Smith
  2. French Open - Darlene Hard
  3. Wimbledon championships - Maria Bueno
  4. US Open - Darlene Hard

• Davis Cup: Australia wins 4-1 over Italy in world tennis.

General sporting events

• 1960 Summer Olympics takes place in Rome, Italy
  • USSR wins the most medals (103), and the most gold medals (43).

• 1960 Winter Olympics takes place in Squaw Valley, United States
  • USSR wins the most medals (21), and the most gold medals (7).

Events

• First Paralympic Games held. From September 18 to September 25. See: 1960 Summer Paralympics

Births

• January 6 - Howie Long, American football star
• January 29 - Greg Louganis, Olympics gold medalist in swimming
• February 13 - Pierluigi Collina, football referee
• February 21 - Wendy Banks,British field hockey goalkeeper
• March 21 - Ayrton Senna, automobile racer (+ 1994)
• March 26 - Marcus Allen, American football star
• June 28 - John Elway, American football star
• October 30 - Diego Maradona, soccer player
• November 3 - Karch Kiraly, volleyball star
• December 12 - Val Hallam, British field hockey goalkeeper

Deaths

• November 11 - Monte Attell, bantamweight world boxing champion