1954 in sports

yearbox
in?=in sports
cp=19th century
c=20th century
cf=21st century
yp1=1951
yp2=1952
yp3=1953
year=1954
ya1=1955
ya2=1956
ya3=1957
dp3=1920s
dp2=1930s
dp1=1940s
d=1950s
da=0
dn1=1960s
dn2=1970s
dn3=1980s|

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

Athletics

Marathon

* August 25 — flagicon|SUI European Championships Marathon, Bern, Switzerland
**Men's Winner: Veikko Karvonen (FIN) 2:24:52

* December 5 — flagicon|JPN Fukuoka Marathon, Japan
**Men's Winner: Reinaldo Gorno (ARG) 2:24:55

=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.
*Daytona 200 - BSA take all first five places with remainder of the team at 8th and 16th.

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

* FIBA World Championship:
** USA World Champion

*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.

Boxing

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

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

=Football (American)=

*NFL Championship: Cleveland Browns win 56-10 over the Detroit Lions
*Ohio State Buckeyes - college football champions.

Football (Australian rules football)

* 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.

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Football (soccer)

FIFA World Cup

*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.

Golf

Men's professional
*April 9-12 - Masters Tournament - Sam Snead
*June 7-9 - U.S. Open - Ed Furgol
*July 6-9 - British Open - Peter Thomson
*July 27 - PGA Championship - Chick Harbert
*PGA Tour money leader - Bob Toski - $65,820Men's amateur
*British Amateur - Douglas Bachli
*U.S. Amateur - Arnold PalmerWomen'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

=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:
*#2,000 Guineas Stakes - Darius
*#Epsom Derby - Never Say Die
*#St. Leger Stakes - Never Say Die

*United States Triple Crown Races:
*#May 1 - Kentucky Derby - Determine
*#Preakness Stakes - Hasty Road
*#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 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

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:
*#Australian Open - Mervyn Rose
*#French Open - Tony Trabert
*#Wimbledon championships - Jaroslav Drobny
*#US Open - Vic Seixs

*Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
*#Australian Open - Thelma Long
*#French Open - Maureen Connolly
*#Wimbledon championships - Maureen Connolly
*#US Open - Doris Hart

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

Track and Field

*May 6 - *Roger Bannister breaks the *four-minute mile* barrier with a time of 3:59.4

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

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

Births

January

* January 4 — Roberto Machusso, Brazilian judoka
* January 6 — Ayub Kalule, Ugandan boxer
* January 14 — Tineke Hofland, Dutch breaststroke swimmer
* January 17 — Janet Dykman, American archer
* January 30 — Sergei Klevtsov, Soviet field hockey player

February

* February 3 — Maurice Marquet, New Zealand field hockey player
* February 6 — Kostica Dafinoiu, Romanian boxer
* February 9 — Alfonso Zamora, Mexican bantamweight boxer
* February 15 — Armand Parmentier, Belgian long-distance runner
* February 17 — Ton van Klooster, Dutch freestyle swimmer and swimming coach
* February 19 — Sócrates, Brazilian football (soccer) player
* February 22 — Russell Simpson, New Zealand tennis player

March

* March 8 — Julie Cook, British field hockey goalkeeper
* March 8 — David Wilkie, Scottish swimmer
* March 15 — Henry Marsh, American long-distance runner
* March 15 — Fred Tyler, American swimmer and aquatics coach
* March 16 — Dave Long, British long-distance runner
* March 23 — Geno Auriemma, American basketball coach
* March 29 — Helen Volk, Zimbabwean field hockey player

April

* April 3 — Nico Landeweerd, Dutch water polo player
* April 5 — Roger van Hamburg, Dutch freestyle and medley swimmer
* April 7 — Tony Dorsett, American football player
* April 12 — Annemiek Derckx, Dutch canoer
* April 13 — Ben Plucknett, American discus thrower (d. 2002)
* April 15 — Martha Laurijsen, Dutch rower
* April 17 — Riccardo Patrese, Italian racing driver
* April 18 — Mary Geaney, Irish field hockey goalkeeper
* April 29 — Margriet Zegers, Dutch field hockey defender

May

* May 1 — Eduardo Castro, Mexican long-distance runner
* May 1 — Aziz Salihu, Yugoslav heavyweight boxer
* May 2 — Don Cameron, Australian water polo player and coach
* May 4 — Sylvia Burka, Canadian cyclist and ice speed skater
* May 4 — Hans van Zeeland, Dutch water polo player and coach
* May 7 — Jane Swinnerton, British field hockey international
* May 9 — Balazs Taroczy, Hungarian tennis player
* May 13 — David Bissett, Canadian field hockey player
* May 17 — Daniel Londas, Martinique-born boxer from France
* May 19 — Anthony Sandoval, American long-distance runner
* May 21 — Rik Toonen, Dutch water polo player
* May 23 — Hans Kruize, Dutch field hockey player
* May 24 — Gijze Stroboer, Dutch water polo player
* May 25 — Leszek Kosedowski, Polish boxer
* May 28 — João Carlos de Oliveira, Brazilian athlete (d. 1999)
* May 29 — John Hencken, American breaststroke swimmer

June

* June 7 — Frieke Buys, Dutch butterfly swimmer
* June 8 — Mudashiru Lawal, Nigerian football (soccer) midfielder (d. 1991)
* June 15 — Zdeňka Šilhavá, Czech track and field athlete
* June 15 — Beverley Whitfield, Australian breaststroke swimmer (d. 1996)
* June 24 — Mark Edmondson, Australian tennis player
* June 29 — Susan Huggett, Zimbabwean field hockey player

July

* July 5 — John Wright, coach of Indian national cricket team
* July 15 — Mario Kempes, Argentine football (soccer) striker
* July 18 — Audrey Vandervelden, Canadian volleyball player
* July 19 — Art Burns, American discus thrower
* July 20 — Vicente Rodríguez, Spanish boxer
* July 26 — Vitas Gerulaitis, American tennis player (d. 1994)

August

* August 14 — Mark Fidrych, American baseball player
* August 15 — Maria Teresa Ramírez, Mexican freestyle swimmer
* August 15 — Farit Zigangirov, Soviet field hockey player
* August 18 — Sue McLeish, New Zealand field hockey player
* August 22 — Emilio Campos, Venezuelan football (soccer) player
* August 28 — John Crist, American decathlete
* August 29 — Luis Shinohara, Brazilian judoka
* August 31 — Ramón Duvalón, Cuban boxer

eptember

* September 3 — Jaak Uudmäe, Estonian triple jumper
* September 11 — Pauline Gibbon, British field hockey goalkeeper
* September 15 — Colin Cunningham, British swimmer
* September 17 — Jocelyne Villeton, French long-distance runner
* September 18 — Isobel Thomson, New Zealand field hockey player
* September 22 — Paul Kronk, Australian tennis player
* September 24 — Johnny England, British wrestler

October

* October 1 — Martin Strel, Slovene ultra marathon swimmer
* October 2 — Reinhard Krull, German field hockey player
* October 3 — Dennis Eckersley, American Baseball Hall of Famer
* October 17 — Hans Elzerman, Dutch freestyle swimmer
* October 23 — Reinaldo Lizardi, Venezuelan sprinter
* October 29 — Herman Frazier, American athlete

November

* November 7 — Li Byong-Uk, North Korean boxer
* November 8 — Arno den Hartog, Dutch field hockey player
* November 10 — Robert Colley, New Zealand boxer
* November 12 — David Edge, Canadian long-distance runner
* November 16 — Mamadou Diallo, Senegalese triple jumper
* November 17 — Mariano Scartezzini, Italian long-distance runner

December

* December 17 — Sergėjus Jovaiša, Lithuanian basketball player
* December 21 — Chris Evert, US tennis player
* December 23 — Carlos Peinado, Uruguayan basketball player
* December 24 — Graham Sligo, New Zealand field hockey player
* December 26 — Peter van Asbeck, Dutch field hockey player
* December 26 — Susan Butcher, American dog-sled racing champion (d. 2006)
* December 27 — Novella Calligaris, Italian swimmer

Deaths

*January 31 — Vivian Woodward, English amateur football player (b. 1879)
* March 21 — Jacques Keyser (68), Dutch athlete (b. 1885)
* July 16 — Harry Broos (56), Dutch athlete (b. 1898)
* July 29 — Coen de Koning, Dutch speed skater (b. 1879)
* December 12 — Ed Sanders (30), American boxer (b. 1930)