1939 in sports

1939 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

Note — many sporting events did not take place because of World War II

American football

NFL championship

• Green Bay Packers 27–0 New York Giants in the NFL championship game played at Milwaukee, Wisconsin

College championship

• College football national championship – Texas A&M

Association football

England

• First Division – Everton win the 1938–39 title.
• FA Cup – Portsmouth beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 4–1.
• The outbreak of World War II means all competitive football in England is suspended in September, and the 1939–40 season cancelled. Various regional leagues and cups are set up in place of normal Football League and FA Cup competition.

Athletics

• September 17 – Taisto Mäki breaks the 10,000 m world record, becoming the first man to run the distance inside half an hour.

Australian rules football

• Victorian Football League
  • Melbourne wins the 43rd VFL Premiership (Melbourne 21.22 (148) d Collingwood 14.11 (95))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Marcus Whelan (Collingwood)

Baseball

• January 24 – Hall of Fame election – The goal of 10 initial inductees from the 20th century is finally met as voters select George Sisler, Eddie Collins, and Willie Keeler.
• May 2 – Cap Anson, Buck Ewing, Charles "Hoss" Radbourn, Albert Spalding, Charles Comiskey, and Candy Cummings are named to the Hall of Fame by a special committee, just weeks before the Hall opens. Along with the previous selections of Cy Young and Keeler in the writers' elections, Anson, Ewing and Radbourn arguably complete the 5 initial inductees from the 19th century which were promised but long delayed; Spalding, Comiskey and Cummings were largely elected as pioneers and contributors.
• May 2 – Lou Gehrig's streak of 2130 consecutive Major League Baseball games played comes to an end. The record will stand for 56 years before Cal Ripken, Jr. breaks it.
• June 12 – The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is dedicated in Cooperstown, New York.
• July 4 – Gehrig announces his retirement from the game at Yankee Stadium after being diagnosed with a terminal illness.
• August 26 – The first televised major–league baseball game is Brooklyn's 6–1 victory over Cincinnati at Ebbets Field.
• World Series – New York Yankees defeat Cincinnati Reds, 4–0.
• The Winnipeg Maroons win the Northern League championship.
• Little League Baseball is formed in Williamsport, Pennsylvania as a three–team league.
• December – A special election results in Gehrig being selected to the Hall of Fame; he had announced his retirement after the Hall's June opening.

Basketball

NBL Championship

• Akron Firestone Non-Skids win three games to two over the Oshkosh All-Stars

Events

• The third European basketball championship, Eurobasket 1939, is won by Lithuania.
• The seventh South American Basketball Championship in Rio de Janeiro is won by Brazil.

Cricket

• May 29 - Northamptonshire gains (over Leicestershire at Northampton) their first victory for 99 matches, easily a record in the County Championship. Their last Championship victory was as far back as 14 May 1935 over Somerset at Taunton.

Figure skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion – Graham Sharp, Great Britain
  • Ladies' champion – Megan Taylor, Great Britain
  • Pair skating champion – Maxi Herber & Ernst Baier, Germany

Golf

Men's professional

• Masters Tournament – Ralph Guldahl
• U.S. Open – Byron Nelson
• British Open – Dick Burton
• PGA Championship – Henry Picard

Men's amateur

• British Amateur – Alexander Kyle
• U.S. Amateur – Bud Ward

Women's professional

• Women's Western Open – Helen Dettweiler
• Titleholders Championship – Patty Berg

Horse racing

Steeplechases

• Cheltenham Gold Cup –
• Grand National –

Flat races

• Australia – Melbourne Cup won by
• Canada – Queen's Plate won by
• France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by
• Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by
• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. 2,000 Guineas Stakes –
  2. Epsom Derby –
  3. St. Leger Stakes –
• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby – Johnstown
  2. Preakness Stakes –
  3. Belmont Stakes –

Motor racing

• Grand Prix racing – Main article: 1939 Grand Prix season. No European champion officially declared due to war breaking out.
• 23 August – at Bonneville, John R. Cobb in the Railton Special breaks G. E. T. Eyston's record for the flying mile (set 16 September 1938), with a new mark of 367.91 mph (592.09 km/h). Due to the Second World War, the mark will survive until 1947.
• August 11 – Jean Bugatti, automobile designer and the 30-year-old son of Ettore Bugatti, dies in a crash on the Molsheim-Strasbourg highway.

Nordic skiing

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships

• 12th FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1939 are held at Zakopane, Poland

Rowing

The Boat Race

• 1 April — Cambridge wins the 91st Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race

Rugby league

• 1938–39 European Rugby League Championship
• 1939 New Zealand rugby league season
• 1939 NSWRFL season
• 1938–39 Northern Rugby Football League season / 1939–40 Northern Rugby Football League Wartime Emergency League season

Rugby union

• 52nd Home Nations Championship series is shared by England, Ireland and Wales
• France is readmitted to the championship after the 1939 series is completed but will be unable to take part again until 1947 due to the suspension of international rugby during World War II

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship – Joe Davis beats Sidney Smith 43–30

Speed skating

Speed Skating World Championships

• Men's All-round Champion – Birger Wasenius (Finland)
• Women's All-round Champion – Verné Lesche (Finland)

Tennis

Australia

• Australian Men's Singles Championship – John Bromwich (Australia) defeats Adrian Quist (Australia) 6–4, 6–1, 6–3
• Australian Women's Singles Championship – Emily Hood Westacott (Australia) defeats Nell Hall Hopman (Australia) 6–1, 6–2

England

• Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship – Bobby Riggs (USA) defeats Elwood Cooke (USA) 2–6, 8–6, 3–6, 6–3, 6–2
• Wimbledon Women's Singles Championship – Alice Marble (USA) defeats Kay Stammers Bullitt (Great Britain) 6–2, 6–0

France

• French Men's Singles Championship – Don McNeill (USA) defeats Bobby Riggs (USA) 7–5, 6–0, 6–3
• French Women's Singles Championship – Simone Mathieu (France) defeats Jadwiga Jedrzejowska (Poland) 6–3, 8–6

USA

• American Men's Singles Championship – Bobby Riggs (USA) defeats Welby Van Horn (USA) 6–4, 6–2, 6–4
• American Women's Singles Championship – Alice Marble (USA) defeats Helen Jacobs (USA) 6–0, 8–10, 6–4

Events

• Alice Marble wins Wimbledon Ladies' Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles, US Open Women's Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles, as well as Associated Press Athlete of the Year.

Davis Cup

• 1939 International Lawn Tennis Challenge –  Australia 3–2  United States (15) Merion Cricket Club (grass) Haverford, United States

Awards

• Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Nile Kinnick, College football
• Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Alice Marble, Tennis

References