1953 in sports
| Years in sports: | 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 |
| Centuries: | 19th century · 20th century · 21st century |
| Decades: | 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s |
| Years: | 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 |
Athletics
Marathon
- September 12 —
Enschede Marathon, Netherlands
- Men's Winner: Jim Peters (ENG) 2:19:22
- December 6 —
Fukuoka Marathon, Japan
- Men's Winner: Hideo Hamamura (JPN) 2:27:26
Auto Racing
- NASCAR Championship - Herb Thomas
- AAA Racing:
- Bill Vukovich won the Indianapolis 500
- Sam Hanks won the season driving championship
- Formula One Championship - Alberto Ascari of Italy
- 24 hours of Le Mans:
- the team of Tony Rolt / Duncan Hamilton won, driving a Jaguar C-Type
- Rally racing:
- the team of Maurice Gatsonides /Peter Worledge won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Ford Zephyr
- Drag racing - The NHRA held its first official race in April on a section of the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds parking lot in Pomona, California.
- World Sportscar Championship:
- Inaugural season
- Ferrari wins constructor's championship after 3 victories in the season.
Baseball
- World Series: New York Yankees won 4 games to 2 over the Brooklyn Dodgers
Basketball
- NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
- Indiana wins 69-68 over Kansas
- NBA Finals|NBA
Finals:
- Minneapolis Lakers won 4 games to 1 over the New York Knicks
- The eighth European basketball championship, Eurobasket 1953, is won by the Soviet Union.
- The fifteenth South American Basketball Championship in Montevideo is won by Uruguay.
Boxing
- September 24 in New York City - Rocky Marciano retains his World Heavyweight title with a TKO over Roland La Starza in the 11th round.
- October in New York City - Bobo Olson scored a 15 round decision over Randy Turpin to win the World Middleweight Championship
Cricket
- Pakistan becomes the seventh Test cricket playing nation.
Cycling
- Giro d'Italia won by Fausto Coppi of Italy
- Tour de France - Louison Bobet of France
- World Cycling Championship: Fausto Coppi of Italy
Figure skating
- World Figure Skating Championships:
- Men's champion: Hayes Alan Jenkins, United States
- Ladies' champion: Tenley Albright, United States
- Pair skating champions: Jennifer Nicks & John Nicks, Great Britain
- Ice dancing champions: Jean Westwood & Lawrence Demmy, Great Britain
Football (American)
- NFL Championship: Detroit Lions won 17-16 over the Cleveland Browns
Football (Australian rules football)
- Victorian Football League
- Collingwood wins the 57th VFL Premiership (Collingwood 11.11 (77) d Geelong 8.17 (65))
- Brownlow Medal awarded to Bill Hutchinson (Essendon)
Football (Canadian)
- Grey Cup: Hamilton Tiger-Cats win 12-6 over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Football (Soccer)
- Coronation Cup (football) - Celtic beat Hibernian 2-0 at Hampden Park.
England
- First Division - Arsenal win the 1952-53 title.
- FA Cup - Blackpool beat Bolton Wanderers 4-3 in what is known as "The Matthews Final", although it is Stan Mortensen who scores a winning hat-trick for Blackpool.
- England lose 6-3 to Hungary at Wembley Stadium their first ever loss to a team from Continental Europe at home.
Golf
- Grand Slam of golf results:
- May - The Masters - Ben Hogan
- June - US Open - Ben Hogan
- July - British Open - Ben Hogan
- August - PGA Championship - Walter Burkemo
- PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Lew Worsham - $34,002
- Ryder Cup: United States wins 6 1/2 to 5 1/2 over the British team in world golf.
- The US Women's Open - Betsy Rawls
Thoroughbred Horse Racing
- Australia - Melbourne Cup - Wodalla
- Canada - Queen's Plate - Canadiana
- France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - La Sorellina
- Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Chamier
- English Triple Crown Races:
- Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Nearula
- Epsom Derby - Pinza
- St. Leger Stakes - Premonition
Harness Racing
- Little Brown Jug for pacers won by Keystoner
- Hambletonian for trotters won by Helicopter
- Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
- Pacers: Captain Sandy
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: Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
- Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 1 over the Boston Bruins
- World Hockey Championship
- Men's champion: Sweden defeated the heavily favoured Soviet Union
- Canada did not participate in the World Hockey Championship, the government claiming it was not worth the expense.
- NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship - University of Michigan Wolverines defeat University of Minnesota Golden Gophers 7-3 in Colorado Springs, CO
Snooker
- World Snooker Championship: Fred Davis beats Walter Donaldson 37-34
Tennis
- Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
- Maureen Connolly became the first woman to win the Grand Slam in tennis. Women's results:
- Davis Cup: Australia won 3-2 over the United States in world tennis.
General sporting events
- Pan Arab Games held in Alexandria, Egypt
Awards
- Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year: Ben Hogan, PGA golf
- Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year: Maureen Connolly, Tennis
Births
January
- January 5 — Vassily Solomin, Soviet boxer
- January 10 — Bobby Rahal, American automobile racer
- January 29 — Juan Paredes, Mexican boxer
February
- February 9 — Vito Antuofermo, Italian actor and boxer
- February 14 — Greg Browning, Australian field hockey player
- February 14 — Hans Krankl, Austrian football (soccer) player and coach
- February 17 — Pertti Karppinen, Finnish rower
March
- March 1 — Jose Higueras, Spanish tennis coach and player
- March 11 — Ladislau Bölöni, Romanian football (soccer) player and manager
- March 13 — Stephanie Berto, Canadian track and field athlete
- March 14 — Tim McKee, American medley and backstroke swimmer
- March 15 — Randall Goff, Australian water polo player
- March 27 — Annemarie Moser-Pröll, Austrian skier
- March 27 — Herman Ponsteen, Dutch track cyclist
April
- April 2 — Janet Nutter, Canadian diver
- April 13 — Valeri Belyakov, Soviet field hockey player
- April 18 — Bernt Johansson, Swedish road bicycle racer
- April 18 — Vladimir Kolev, Bulgarian boxer
- April 19 — Sara Simeoni, Italian high jumper
- April 27 — Bruce Robertson, Canadian freestyle and butterfly swimmer
May
- May 16 — Pierre Hermans, Dutch field hockey goalkeeper
- May 19 — Shavarsh Karapetyan, Soviet Armenian finswimmer
- May 22 — Sylvia Filipsson, Swedish ice speed skater
June
- June 6 — Jerzy Rybicki, Polish boxer
- June 8 — Ad Tak, Dutch cyclist
- June 23 — Filbert Bayi, Tanzanian middle-distance runner
- June 28 — Jamtsying Davaajav, Mongolian wrestler
July
- July 14 — Harina Kohere, New Zealand field hockey player
- July 19 — John Murphy, American backstroke and freestyle swimmer
- July 26 — Piotr Zaev, Soviet boxer
August
- August 2 — Peter-Michael Kolbe, German rower
- August 4 — Alie te Riet, Dutch breaststroke swimmer
- August 6 — Reg Plummer, Canadian field hockey player
- August 11 — Wijda Mazereeuw, Dutch swimmer
- August 18 — Patrick Cowdell, English boxer
September
- September 12 — Ramesh Patel, New Zealand field hockey player
- September 14 — Judy Playfair, Australian breaststroke swimmer
- September 27 — Javier Cabot, Spanish field hockey player
October
- October 1 — Grete Waitz, Norwegian marathon runner
- October 9 — Hank Pfister, American tennis player
- October 12 — Richard McKinney, American archer
- October 27 — Adri van Houwelingen, Dutch road bicycle racer
- October 28 — Clay Evans, Canadian medley swimmer
November
- November 3 — Jürgen Straub, East German middle distance runner
- November 5 — Hugo Corro, Argentine boxer
- November 7 — Alexander Romankov, Russian fencer
- November 11 — Martín Mondragón, Mexican long-distance runner
- November 20 — Terry Walsh, Australian field hockey striker and coach
- November 22 — Matija Ljubek, Croatian canoer (d. 2000)
December
- December 15 — Gary MacDonald, Canadian freestyle swimmer
- December 20 — Ralph Evans, British boxer
- December 25 — Karl-Heinz Krüger, East German boxer
Deaths
- March 2 — Jim Lightbody (70), American middle distance runner (b. 1882)
- March 3 — Clyde Milan, Major League Baseball player (1907-1922)
- March 3 — James J. Jeffries, world heavyweight boxing champion
- March 28 — Jim Thorpe, athlete
- April 11 — Kid Nichols, Major League Baseball pitcher (1890-1906)
- May 27 — Jesse Burkett, Major League Baseball player (1890-1905)
- June 5 — Bill Tilden, tennis player
- June 19 — Norman Ross, American swimmer (b. 1896)
- August 11 — Tazio Nuvolari, race car driver
- October 5 — Piet de Brouwer (73), Dutch archer (d. 1953)
- December 2 — Reginald Baker (69), Australian athlete, sports promoter and film actor (b. 1884)
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