1964 in sports - Definition and Overview

See also: 1963 in sports, other events of 1964, 1965 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • Richard Petty won the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Richard Petty
• Indianapolis 500 - A.J. Foyt
• USAC Racing - A.J. Foyt won the season championship
• Formula One Championship - John Surtees of Great Britain
• 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Jean Guichet / Nino Vaccarella won driving a Ferrari 275P
• Rally racing - the team of Paddy Hopkirk / Henry Liddon won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Mini Cooper S
• Drag racing - Don Garlits won the NHRA, Top Fuel Championship

Baseball

• World Series: St. Louis Cardinals win 4 games to 3 over the New York Yankees. The Series MVP is pitcher, Bob Gibson of St. Louis.

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • UCLA wins 98-83 over Duke

• NBA Finals:
  • Boston Celtics won 4 games to 1 over the San Francisco Warriors

Boxing

• February 25 in Miami, Florida - Cassius Clay defeated Sonny Liston by TKO in the 8th round to win the World Heavyweight Championship.

• December 14 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Joey Giardello won a 15 round decision over Rubin "Hurricane" Carter to win the World Middleweight Title.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Jacques Anquetil of France
• Tour de France - Jacques Anquetil of France
• World Cycling Championship: Jan Janssen of Netherlands

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Manfred Schnelldorfer, Germany
  • Women's champion: Sjoukje Dijkstra, Netherlands
  • Pairs champions: Marika Kilius & Hans-Jürgen Bäumler, Germany

Football (American)

• AFL Championship:1964 - Buffalo Bills win 20-7 over the San Diego Chargers
• NFL Championship:1964 - Cleveland Browns win 27-0 over the Baltimore Colts

Football (Australian Rules)

• Victorian Football League
  • Melbourne wins the 68th VFL Premiership (Melbourne 8.16 (64) d Collingwood 8.12 (60))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Gordon Collis (Carlton)

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: B.C. Lions win 34-24 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Football (Soccer)

• England - FA Cup: West Ham United won 3-2 over Preston North End

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Arnold Palmer
  2. June - US Open - Ken Venturi
  3. July - British Open - Tony Lema
  4. August - PGA Championship - Bobby Nichols

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Jack Nicklaus - $113,285

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Mickey Wright
• LPGA Championship - Mary Mills
• Mickey Wright: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $29,800

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Polo Prince
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Northern Dancer
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Prince Royal
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Santa Claus

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Baldric
  2. Epsom Derby - Santa Claus
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Indiana

• United States Triple Crown Races: Northern Dancer is the first Canadian-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby
  1. Kentucky Derby - Northern Dancer

• 1. Preakness Stakes - Northern Dancer
  2. Belmont Stakes - Quadrangle

Harness Racing

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Race Time
  2. Little Brown Jug - Vicar Hanover
  3. Messenger Stakes - Race Time

• Ayres won the United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Ayres
  2. Yonkers Trot - Ayres
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Ayres

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

Ice Hockey

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

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens

• Stanley Cup: Toronto Maple Leafs won 4-3 over the Detroit Red Wings

• World Hockey Championship:
  • Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Sweden

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
• The men's Olympic Gold Medal:
  • Downhill: Egon Zimmermann, Austria
  • Slalom: Josef Stiegler, Austria
  • Giant Slalom: Francois Bonlieu, France

• • The women's Olympic Gold Medal:
  • Downhill: Christl Haas, Austria
  • Slalom: Christine Goitschel, France
  • Giant Slalom: Marielle Goitschel, France

• ISF World Championships:
  • Men's combined champion: Ludwig Leitner, Germany
  • Women's combined champion: Marielle Goitschel, France

Snooker

• The World Snooker Championship is revived in a challenge format:
  • John Pulman beats Fred Davis 19-16
  • John Pulman beats Rex Williams 40-33

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Roy Emerson
  2. French Open - Manuel Santana
  3. Wimbledon championships - Roy Emerson
  4. US Open - Roy Emerson

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

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

General sporting events

• 1964 Summer Olympics takes place in Tokyo, Japan
  • United States wins the most medals (90), and the most gold medals (36).

• 1964 Winter Olympics takes place in Innsbruck, Austria
  • USSR wins the most medals (25), and the most gold medals (11).

• February 29 - In Sydney, Australian swimmer Dawn Fraser sets a new world record in the 100-meter freestyle swimming competition (58.9 seconds).
• March 6 - Tom O'Hara sets a new world record for the indoor mile run by completing it in 3 minutes, 56.4 seconds.

Births

• January 1 - Susan Devoy, squash player
• January 2 - Pat Sutherland, English netballer
• January 6 - Henry Maske, German boxer
• February 10 - Victor Davis, Olympic and World swimming champion (+ 1989)
• March 18 - Bonnie Blair, Olympic gold medalist in speed skating
• July 24 - Barry Bonds, baseball player
• December 17 - Barbara Daniels, English cricketer
• December 19 - Arvydas Sabonis, Lithuanian basketball star

Deaths

• February 15 - Ken Hubbs 22, MLB baseball player, Chicago Cubs, died in a plane crash